Shelburne News - 1-4-24

Year in photos A visual look back at life in Shelburne in 2023

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A recap of CVU titles and tilts

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Volume 53 Number 1

shelburnenews.com

January 4, 2024

School district seeks bond

Rapt attention

COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER

PHOTO BY LEE KROHN

While Shelburne Farms is running its horse-drawn wagon rides during the winter months, Craig Newman, director of Outreach for Earth Stewardship, an independent wildlife education organization whose facilities are located at the farm, often brings along a raptor ambassador to say hi to the passing visitors. The birds — and Craig — are always a hit.

The Champlain Valley School District will ask the school board to approve a $3.6 million bond to complete infrastructure projects that were already bonded in 2022 but, because of inflation and supply chain issues, have grown well past previous estimates.

While the $7.5 million bond approved in March 2022 has successfully funded some initiatives, including the phase two of capital improvements at the Charlotte Central School that began this past summer, market and supply-side issues have driven up costs for the remaining projects by a “considerable” degree, Gary Marckres, the district’s chief operations officer, said.

See SCHOOL on page 4

Chittenden County lawmakers prep for 2024 session COREY MCDONALD AND LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITERS

From investing millions into the state’s early child care sector to introducing landmark legislation around housing and development, the Vermont Legislature had a busy session in 2023 as many new faces entered the Statehouse amid a record turnover in both chambers.

With this year’s session ramping up, Chittenden County legislators are wasting no time in setting priorities.

“We have a workforce shortage because

we have a housing shortage and people are turning down jobs because they cannot find a place to live. We have high property taxes because we are increasingly putting the educational finance burden on a shrinking number of habitable homes. Our climate emissions are coming from transportation as people live further away from where they work,” Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, a Democrat, said. “As chair of the economic development and housing committee, we will be focusing on housing, workforce and climate infrastructure.”

But balancing “a much more difficult

budget” will also be on legislators’ minds, said Sen. Thomas Chittenden, who is also a Democrat. Flood recovery assistance will be front and center as legislators amend the state budget and adapt to the loss of federal funds.

“I don’t want to pay more, I don’t want you to pay more, and although there are a zillion things we all wish we could accomplish, I think it’s important to be realistic about what we can afford and what smart investments we can make now in the people, infrastructure, and government of Vermont that will help us save money later on,” Char-

lotte Rep. Chea Waters Evans, D-Chittenden-5, said.

Housing and homelessness Shelburne Rep. Jessica Brumsted, D-Chittenden 5-2, the vice chair of the House Committee on Human Services, said she believes the first order of business will be to address the homeless population.

Vermont remains behind only California with the second highest per capita rate See 2024 SESSION on page 2

Page 2 • January 4, 2024 • Shelburne News

2024 SESSION

continued from page 1 of homelessness in the country. start the next year of the biennium.”

According to an analysis of the South Burlington Rep. Emilie 2023 point-in-time count released Krasnow (D-Chittenden-9) and by the U.S. Department of Hous- Hinsdale, alongside Vermont ing and Urban Development in Treasurer Mike Pieciak, recently mid-December, Vermont expe- announced legislation that would rienced the largest percentage establish a baby bond program increase in experiences of family in Vermont by investing $3,200 homelessness since the pandemic for every Vermont child born on began, increasing by 213 percent Medicaid. The program would since 2020. “address intergenerational poverty, “We need to understand better support rural economic developthose struggling ment, and retain due to economic young people in difficulties versus Vermont,” Kras“Unlike some who those struggling now said. would call for from mental On the other illnesses and side of the coin austerity, I think the substance abuse is addressing disorders and how the state’s housonly appropriate and ing crisis with we can address these challenging further statewide responsible way to issues,” Brumsted development said. “We plan to of affordable deal with this issue begin with a close and “missing look at shelters middle” housing. is to strengthen that prioritize the While the provision of wrappassed support for our most state around supports.” the HOME DemocratAct last year, vulnerable.” ic Chittenden which effecCounty Sen. tively banned — Rep. Brian Minier s i n g l e - f a m i l y Ginny Lyons said that one goal zoning, legisis to “determine if appropriate lators like Krasnow, Evans and services are available for those Hinesburg Rep. Phil Pouech, with chronic illness, mental health D-Chittenden-4, among others, say issues, disabilities or substance use access to housing remains at the disorders as people are placed in forefront. supportive housing,” noting that “This can take the shape of legislation surrounding the state’s Act 250 changes, incentives for general assistance motel voucher developers to build more affordprogram hasn’t been updated in able options, and working with many years and will be considered municipalities to help strengththis year. en their town plans or follow the “This is an amazing program paths they’ve already chosen with that helps thousands of Vermonters currently existing town plans,” every year,” said South Burling- Evans said. ton Rep. Noah Hyman, D-ChitOther committees are focusing tenden-8, adding that although the on the modernization of land use program has been running for many regulations, adjusting tax policy to years, the Legislature has learned support housing revitalization and that housing the state’s most vulner- creating more incentives for small able must be done better, smarter and mid-size investors and builders and in a more fiscally responsible to create more housing opportuniway. “We must strive to do better ties in communities throughout the for all Vermonters, and we will be state. receiving studies back when we “All summer I’ve been joining

colleagues in advocating for Act 250’s modernization. I believe that futurizing Act 250 is necessary to help us address pressing problems,” said Shelburne Rep. Kate Lalley, D-Chittenden-6. “These include a shortage of income-diverse housing, especially in communities that offer active transportation and proximity to jobs and daily needs, and to have whole systems approaches for managing climate change stressors like the recent flooding.”

Affordability in Vermont was already a problem before it was exacerbated first by the pandemic, then by this year’s flooding, and now by the drying up of federal dollars, said South Burlington Rep. Brian Minier, D-Chittenden-11.

“While extra resources are going away, the problems they are meant to address are not,” he said.

“Unlike some who would call for austerity, I think the only appropriate and responsible way to deal with this issue is to strengthen support for our most vulnerable.”

Minier said he hopes the state will succeed in passing a robust paid family and medical leave plan, and he plans on advocating for increases to the base budgets for food assistance programs like SNAP and Meals on Wheels.

Meanwhile, Krasnow says she will be introducing a bill tasking the housing division of the Department of Housing and Community Development to develop metrics for measuring progress against the statewide needs assessment required under the HOME Act. Chittenden said that the Legislature needs to spend more time looking at the how the state assesses non-homestead properties and consumption-based sources.

“Vacation homes sitting empty in Vermont 10 months out of the year has an opportunity cost in missed economic activity, services, construction and of housing not being used — during a housing crisis,” he said. “Other consumption taxes like what Airbnbs pay are worth considering more to find equitable sources to fund education

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and to lighten the property tax bills Vermont residents are struggling to pay.”

Mental health, public safety In addition to dealing with housing, Lyons said that mental health and substance use supports will again be a main topic on the agenda.

“Our work will focus on improving local access to recovery services,” she said. “Improving linkage between substance use disorder and or mental health services with public safety, EMT, schools, corrections and the judicial branch is an ongoing effort in committee. This includes the distribution of opioid settlement funds for long-term investments in prevention, treatment and recovery.”

Being on the House Committee on Education, Minier says he sees these issues through the lens of children and the effects of the “mental health crisis” on schools with resources that are continually being stretched thin.

“The medium-term goal has to be properly staffing our designated community-based health agencies,” he said. “Our already overburdened schools have increasingly been put in the position of providing services for which they were never designed. However, our current statewide dearth of health care providers means that in the short-term addressing these needs may require continued school-level supports such as increased numbers of school-based counselors, interventionists and paraeducators.”

Other legislators have said the state government needs to take on a larger role in public safety. Hinsdale says the state has “increasing public safety needs, including a devastating number of opioid deaths and acute mental health and health care access concerns,” and added she has asked colleagues in judiciary and human services to join the economic development committee

for a joint hearing later this month “focused on public safety in our downtowns and beyond.”

Many downtowns, like South Burlington’s, are experiencing upticks in retail theft. Chittenden said he witnessed a “brazen unapologetic, forceful (if not violent) shoplifting” at Kohl’s during the holiday week.

“I asked a few of the employees about this and they were not surprised at all — this was commonplace behavior they were experiencing regularly. This isn’t right,” Chittenden said. “There needs to be serious consequences for brazen forceful theft — or else this will continue to perpetuate and grow in a vicious cycle leading to tragic ends. Those who don’t respect the law are inspiring others to not respect the law creating more of this violent theft.”

He said the Legislature should set stricter penalties for repeated misdemeanor offenses. “We should make knowingly receiving stolen property in exchange for narcotics a felony,” he said.

Climate change, environment For the House Committee on Transportation, Lalley said this year’s transportation bill will focus on carbon reductions and climate resiliency. The bill proposes funding for equipment for vehicular electrification, more electric vehicle chargers in public places, and funding to upgrade older chargers to faster ones. The bill will propose substantial increases in rebates for e-bikes, as well.

She also plans to introduce a bill to make active transportation safer for all ages and abilities and to make it easier to build new pedestrian facilities within communities.

The bill includes updates to traffic regulation and would make federal and state grants to expand walking and biking projects more cost-effective for communities.

See 2024 SESSION on page 13

Shelburne News • January 4, 2024 • Page 3

JetBlue may reconsider, bring back flights to Burlington

Toy drive nets $5k

SARAH MEARHOFF VTDIGGER

COURTESY PHOTO

SeaComm employees recently donated $5,112 to the Toys for Kids program of Vermont after a year-long employee fundraising effort. The all-volunteer program is operated by the Vermont Marine Corps League and distributes toys to children and teens in need through the age of 17. From left, senior teller Brayden Button and financial service representative Nicole Sumner.

JetBlue may restore its popular route between Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport and New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport by October 2024 after abruptly terminating it earlier this year, according to Vermont’s congressional delegation.

The airline cited a chronic shortage of air traffic controllers, both at John F. Kennedy International Airport and nationwide, when it announced in October that it was pulling out of the Burlington airport.

Due to the shortage, the Federal Aviation Administration has offered airlines “slot waivers” through October 2024, allowing them to temporarily suspend air routes but retain the right to reinstate them when the workforce shortage eases.

During a meeting with Vermont’s three members of Congress last week, JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes reportedly said that “When the slot waiver expires, JetBlue expects to restore service from Burlington to New York,” according to a press release from the delegation.

“We expect the current air traffic controller shortage to last for some time and will continue to engage policy makers

in Washington to address the current ATC staffing shortages,” JetBlue wrote in a statement to VTDigger. “If the controller shortage is resolved and slot waivers are removed, we will be happy to reconsider our plans for Burlington.”

News of JetBlue’s intentions to suspend the Burlington-JFK route was met with criticism in late October, including from U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., as well as U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt. At the time, the delegation wrote in a letter to Hayes that the airline’s decision “has the potential to harm businesses in our state and make travel for constituents between Vermont and New York significantly more difficult.”

“We urge you not to leave rural America behind by abandoning this essential service in places like Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport and remain willing to work with you to help address some of the circumstances that led to your decision,” the delegation wrote at the time.

For Vermont’s busiest airport, the twice-daily route was critical. Roughly 10 percent of Burlington’s air travelers flew to and from JFK each month, many of whom utilized the major hub as a layover point to reach their final destinations.

Green Mountain Transit will start charging fares in March Green Mountain Transit will restart charging passengers on March 6 on its Chittenden County commuter and LINK Express routes.

GMT will use a new fare system that will increase non-cash payment options, increase speed of payment onboarding, and limit the daily and monthly costs to individual riders through a capping

system.

The proposed new fare structure will create a seamless travel experience with standardized fares across both local and commuter services, said general manager Clayton Clark.

“Our new fare system is pretty much ready to go, but the delayed components are key to making service affordable for

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cash-based riders,” said Clark to explain why fares won’t start in January as originally planned.

Rides on all Chittenden County routes, including commuter routes, will go to $2 on March 6. GMT will no longer offer free transfers but will cap the daily cost of transit rides to $4 or $2 for discount fare riders. Discount fares are offered to riders

aged 6-17, over 60, or with a disability.

In addition to capping the daily cost of fares, GMT will also offer a monthly fare cap. If a rider reaches $50 ($25 for discount fare riders), the remaining rides in a 31-day will be free.

For questions or comments, contact Jamie Smith, director of planning and marketing, at jamie@ridegmt.com.

Page 4 • January 4, 2024 • Shelburne News

SCHOOL

continued from page 1 Marckres told the school board that they “weren’t even close to have enough funding for what was planned in 2021,” and that they were “significantly short” in meeting those projects.

“That’s where we are — $3.6 million short to finish previously approved projects,” he said.

Many projects are on hold, such as the roof of Champlain Valley Union High School, and an upgrade to the school’s HVAC system. Others are scheduled for work in 2024 or have request for proposals pending.

Board members will decide whether to bring the bond to the ballot for voter approval during their next meeting.

Williston Board member Josilyn Adams, asking what would happen if either the bond didn’t pass or the board chose not to move it forward, said she was curious about “the optics of going back to voters and asking them for more money for projects that were voted on in 2022 — just with the increase in the budget overall.”

If the bond didn’t pass, or if the board chose not to move it forward, they could decide which of the remaining projects they can finish with the funding they have, Marckres said.

“We’d have to reprioritize them all and see, other than CCS, what we could possibly do with the little that’s remaining,” he said. “We certainly can’t do most of this.”

Angela Arsenault, board chair, said that the new cost “is not the result of poor planning or underestimating anything, it’s just world events completely out of anyone’s control.”

The bond ask from the administration marks a growing reality for many schools across the state who need to renovate or, in some cases, fully replace infrastructure but struggle to find the financing.

In April 2022, an independent analysis commissioned by both chambers in the Statehouse reviewed a broad range of facility-related factors in 54 school districts across the state, and found a considerable need for improvements, and aired concerns for the overall condition of school infrastructure across the state.

That study used an index to measure the aggregated depletion percentage of facilities for each district. Champlain Valley School District’s overall depletion percentage of 48 percent fared better than other districts — the South Burlington School District had an overall depletion percentage of 81, while the average for districts participating in the study was 71.4 percent.

But staff in the Champlain Valley district are nonetheless dealing with a slew of issues related to failing infrastructure due to aging buildings.

The new bond, if approved, would not address future capital

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projects that the district will soon need to tackle.

The Allen Brook School in Williston, for example, will need a “major renovation” that could top $50 million. The B-Wing at Shelburne Community School, meanwhile, needs to be renovated, ad phase three of the Charlotte Central School upgrades will need to be funded, among other various projects at Hinesburg Community School School and CVU. By spring, the district will have created a facility study committee that will try and prioritize the needs of each school. A draft architectural study for the Hinesburg Community School, recently received by the district, shows there is significant work to be done, while a similar study for the high school should be done by early this year.

The question of whether state government should help in funding Vermont schools has loomed over recent meetings and budget talks.

Vermont stopped a program to help fund schools in 2007. At the time, the state was spending $10 million a year on school construction, according to a previous report from VTDigger, and by the time the program was halted, the state had more than $70 million in debt that was not fully paid off until 2016.

But lawmakers have a renewed interest in some kind of state-funding program. Arsenault, who also serves as a representative in the House, said there is a bill that was modeled after Rhode Island’s funding system, and added that the state impaneled a school construction task force that worked through

the summer.

“I think construction aid has support in the House, but I don’t know the political ramifications of where it’s going to go,” Marckres said. “I think it’s critical.”

The new bond came up as part of a continuing series of budget presentations as the district works to finalize a budget this month to bring to the voters in March.

The district’s spending for fiscal year 2025 would increase by 9.9 percent, if approved.

The district also has roughly $1 million left for potential one-time spending to remain under the 10 percent per pupil spending cap included in Act 127. The administration earmarked several facilities projects the district could spend that on at schools in Williston and Hinesburg.

Shelburne Police Blotter: Dec. 18 - Dec. 31 Total reported incidents: 96 Traffic stops: 23 Warnings: 23 Tickets: 1 Arrests: 1 Medical emergencies: 37 Mental health incidents: 1 Suspicious incidents: 9 Domestic incidents: 1 Citizen and citizen assists: 14 Welfare check: 4 Car crash: 5 Noise Disturbance: 3 Theft: 6 Dec. 18 at 7:38 a.m., a two-car crash was reported with no injuries on Shelburne Road.

Dec. 18 at 8:27 p.m., a retail theft from Tractor Supply was reported.

Dec. 20 at 10:52 a.m., Shelburne police assisted the Department of Children and Families with a site visit and welfare check.

Dec. 20 at 4:32 p.m., a two-car crash was reported on Pine Haven Shores Road with no injuries.

Dec. 20 at 4:48 p.m., Shelburne police arrested Matias Frias, 54, of Shelburne, at the Countryside Motel and charged him with aggravated assault after he reportedly stabbed another guest at the motel. The victim refused transport to the hospital and police said he appeared in stable condition.

Dec. 22 at 1:02 a.m., Shelburne police issued five warnings for violations of the town’s winter parking ban. The following day, they issued 22 more warnings.

Dec. 23 at 2:29 p.m., Shelburne police assisted Williston police in locating an individual involved in a retail theft.

Dec. 23 at 9:44 p.m., police were called about an erratic motorist and stopped the driver on Shelburne Road near Harrington Avenue. They were identified and released.

Dec. 25 at 2:59 p.m., police were called to the Countryside Motel when a guest complained that

someone was banging on the wall.

Dec. 25 at 7:47 p.m., a caller reported a domestic disturbance at the Shelburne Campground. Officers assisted in mediating the dispute.

Dec. 26 at 12:34 p.m., a two-car crash on Bostwick Road was reported with no injuries.

Dec. 26 at 2:53 p.m., a vandalism was reported at Shelburne Veterinary Hospital and is under investigation.

Dec. 29 at 8:02 a.m., a theft reported from Almartin Volvo is under investigation.

Dec. 29 at 10:27 a.m., a caller reported receiving threatening text messages.

Dec. 31 at 11:44 a.m., a caller reported their car had been vandalized on Route 116.

Note: Charges filed by police are subject to review by the Chittenden County State’s Attorney Office and can be amended or dropped.

Shelburne Parks & Rec News Sun 73 tai chi This class builds on movements learned in the introductory class.

Each new movement is broken down and emphasized in a slow and gentle manner while emphasizing the health and well-being

Correction

Don Rendall is the chair of the Shelburne Natural Resources and Conservation Commission, not Gail Albert as noted in our reporting last week.

aspects of tai chi. Although Sun 73 is a competitive form of tai chi, you will be practicing a relaxed, non-competitive style while learning new movements and increasing your understanding and depth of tai chi.

The free sessions are held on Mondays and Wednesdays, 12:30-1 p.m., from Jan. 22 to May 22.

Introduction to tai chi Tai chi originated in ancient China and is practiced for health benefits throughout the world by people of all ages. Often called meditation in motion, the slow and relaxed movements have been

shown to increase flexibility, reduce stiffness and keep joints mobile as you develop body awareness and decrease anxiety.

You can also improve balance and agility and increase lower and upper body strength by practicing this gentle exercise program. Tai chi can be done standing or seated by just about anyone. In this beginning level program, you will be learning basic Sun-style tai chi forms.

The free sessions are held on Mondays and Wednesdays, 11 a.m.noon, from Jan. 22 to May 22.

Preregistration is required for both programs by Wednesday, Jan. 17. The instructor is Chris Curtis.

Shelburne News • January 4, 2024 • Page 5

OPINION Reps set the record straight on independent schools Guest Perspective A recent commentary by Vermont House representatives Rebecca Holcombe of Norwich, Erin Brady of Williston and Monique Priestley of Bradford, while making a few fair points about the rising cost of education, unfortunately ended with inflammatory rhetoric about independent schools and the Vermont style of school choice that has provided amazing opportunities for generations of students in rural Vermont. (“Gov. Scott needs to get serious on affordability,” Dec. 21, 2023) The thrust of this argument is that students from rural parts of Vermont are driving up taxes because they attend independent schools. These three representatives then assert that students are served by an “uncontrolled, poorly regulated” voucher system. We are compelled to set the record straight.

First, Vermont does not have an education voucher system. A voucher system, like we see in some other states, is one where a school district operates a public school, while also providing an option for families to withdraw their children and take a voucher to another school. This voucher has the effect of draining resources from the local public school.

But, under Vermont law, families have no entitlement to tuition payments from their school district if the district operates a public school. In rural parts of Vermont, some school districts do not operate public schools for some or all grades. In these rural areas without public schools, school districts can pay tuition for students to attend independent schools, such as Burr & Burton Academy, St. Johnsbury Academy and others.

Often, public schools located in operating towns are only peripherally available — if at all — to these rural areas. They are not a viable alternative. Independent schools fill the gaps.

Second, this is not an “uncontrolled, poorly regulated” system that is driving up taxes for the rest of Vermont. As a benchmark, Hanover High School, the out-of-state public school serving students from Norwich, has the highest tuition rate of any high school paid by Vermont taxpayers at $23,598. By comparison, the Taconic & Green School District, which serves parts of Bennington, Windham and Windsor counties and is served by independent high schools, pays a tuition rate of $19,987 to Vermont independent schools — a savings of $3,600 per student that benefits all Vermont taxpayers.

Unlike public schools, Vermont’s

A look back: Year marked by gun violence, indictments Guest Perspective Bob Stannard For some, this past year has flown right by. For others it felt like it would never end.

Let’s look at some of the events that helped shape the year and may have consequences for the future.

January: We kicked off the year in the dumps with the former disgraced president announcing in November 2022 that he’d be running for president again. Most people could see that he had to run again as it’s his only chance to stay out of prison. If you’re thinking of running away to Canada, fuhgeddaboudit. Canada just voted for a two-year ban on foreigners buying property.

February: America saw five gun shootings. Courts shot down a New Jersey law that would allow victims to sue the gun industry. The U.S. military shoots down a Chinese spy balloon and more classified documents were found at former vice president Mike Pence’s house.

March: NATO increases its membership as Finland joins. The indicted former president would have America pull out of this important global alliance. Romania becomes the first country to have an artificial intelligence) advisor. Prominent South Carolina

attorney Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his wife and son.

About 171 trillion pieces of plastic now litter the world’s oceans, an increase from 16 trillion in 2005. Oil company Saudi Aramco posts earnings of $161 billion for 2022, the highest ever recorded annual profit by a publicly listed company. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the world has less than a decade to stop catastrophic warming and must reduce greenhouse gasses by half by 2030.

April: U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk suspends the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, leading to a U.S. government legal appeal to stop nationwide ban.

Fox News settles its lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million, moments before trial, with Fox admitting it had defamed Dominion during 2020 election by broadcasting conspiracy theories.

A Guinness world record for the largest afro is set at 5 feet, five inches for the third time by Aevin Dugas of Reserve, La. May: Geoffrey Hinton, “The Godfather of AI,” resigns from Google to speak out See STANNARD on page 6

independent schools require approval and re-approval by the State Board of Education at least once every five years, and they must demonstrate compliance with strict regulations laid out in statute and in rules promulgated by the State Board of Education. This includes compliance with anti-discrimination rules that protect vulnerable students and staff, including the LGBTQ community.

In addition to complying with stringent regulations, Vermont’s independent schools are held accountable to the highest standards of all — the need for the support of families and local school districts. Independent schools survive only when they deliver high-quality education, for the simple fact that families can exercise a choice of where to send their children.

If the availability and quality of independent school options is not meeting the needs of the community, the local voters always have the power to end tuition payments by building and maintaining their own public school.

Of course, the construction of several new public schools across rural parts of Vermont, for which the authors appear to advocate, would not be without considerable expense to Vermont taxpayers.

Where would that money come from?

This takes us to a powerful truth often ignored by those attacking the extraordinary opportunities independent schools provide for rural students. Independent schools are not eligible for state construction aid and, therefore, fund their capital construction and improvement programs on their own, resulting in huge savings to Vermont taxpayers. These avoided costs result in increased state bonding capacity available to meet the overwhelming capital improvement needs currently faced by

so many public schools. It cannot possibly make sense to require the construction of new schools in areas that are already so well served by the current system.

Finally, contrary to erroneous claims made by our colleagues, Vermont’s four historic academies were never public schools. These academies were incorporated as non-public, nonprofit entities and have operated as such since their founding in the 19th century. In fact, some of them pre-date the arrival of public education.

While several other historic academies voluntarily converted from non-public, nonprofit entities to public schools — Leland & Gray Seminary, for example — the remaining four historic academies made the decision to forego this transition and have remained independent throughout their history.

While the authors advocate for a ubiquitous, one size fits all system, we suspect most people recognize that just because something is different doesn’t make it something we need to kill. Over the course of the last 200 years, rural parts of Vermont have developed a rich mosaic of options for their children, often public in some grades and independent in others.

That mosaic provides extraordinary opportunities for our children at the same time we have saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of construction dollars. The system deserves to be celebrated, not demonized.

This commentary is from the following representatives in the Vermont House: Rep. Seth Bongartz (D-Manchester), Rep. Scott Beck (R-St. Johnsbury), Rep. Michelle Bos-Lun (D-Westminster), Rep. Bobby Felice-Rubio (D-Barnet), Rep. Robin Chestnut-Tangerman (D-Middletown Springs), and Rep. Mike Rice (D-Dorset).

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Page 6 • January 4, 2024 • Shelburne News

STANNARD

continued from page 5 about the dangers of artificial intelligence. The 40-year-old weight loss company Jenny Craig announces it will close due to the weight of crushing debt. The World Health Organization declares COVID-19 over as a global health emergency, but says the virus remains a significant threat, with seven million known deaths. The real total is likely 20 million.

The Canadian province of Alberta declares a state of emergency over unprecedented wildfires, more than 100, that have forced the evacuation of 25,000 people. Vermonters fear tourists might not see fall foliage.

June: Trump is found guilty of sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll and fined $5 million. George Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun” becomes first Beatles song to register a billion streams on Spotify.

Mike Pence and Chris Christie announce they’re running for president. New York’s air quality sinks to the lowest in the world thanks to Canadian fires. Trump pleads not guilty to stealing top secret documents found in his house.

Claims Mr. Nobody brought them to Mar-a-Lago.

July: Israel launches its biggest military operation against militants in the Jenin refugee camp, West Bank, in 20 years, killing eight people. The hottest global temperature ever is recorded as the average global temperature tops 17.18 degrees Celsius. NASA beams Ringo Starr’s voice wishing “Peace and Love” across the universe via the Deep Space Network in honor of his 83rd birthday. Elton John completes his final tour.

A finger was removed from the dike of the Dutch government. It collapsed.

“Barbie.” SAG-AFTRA strike.

The show will not go on.

Join the 2024

VERMONT

INVENTION FAIR FEBRUARY 10, 2024

Open to all K-8 students

Design an invention that solves a real world issue and share your idea at the youth Vermont Invention Fair!

January 15th Registration Deadline Hosted by Vermont Day School 6701 Shelburne Road, Shelburne VT vtdayschool.org/inventionfair

The 2023 wildfire season in British Columbia is now most destructive on record. City of Phoenix, Ariz., breaks five-decade heat record of 19 consecutive days of temperature at or above 110°F. August: Trump is indicted by special prosecutor Jack Smith for election conspiracy. Trump and 18 others are indicted by Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis in Georgia. July is declared the warmest month in 172 years.

A 5,300-year-old mummified Anatolian farmer is discovered.

Evangelicals who believe the Earth is only 6,000 years old scramble to determine how long he’d been farming. Trump is arrested and has his mugshot taken in Georgia.

September: Aerosmith begins a final tour. Former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio is sentenced to 22 years in prison — the longest so far — for seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The heaviest rainfall in 140 years recorded in Hong Kong causes intense flooding, while the U.S. sets a record for the number of 23 weather disasters in one year costing more than $1 billion, in less than nine months.

Aerosmith postpones the tour after Steven Tyler blows out his voice.

October: The Colombian Army apologizes for the murder of 6,402 civilians and falsely passing them off as left-wing guerrillas to boost its kill rate 15 years after an armed conflict with Farc. Yeah, gotta keep those kill rate numbers up.

New research confirms fossil footprints found at White Sands National Park in New Mexico are 23,000-21,000 years old, probably the oldest evidence of humans in the Americas. This throws a monkey wrench into the Earth only being 6,000 years old. Hamas attacks Israel. RFK Jr. launches

an independent bid for president.

Taylor Swift begins her Eras Tour.

Not to be outdone, Madonna goes on tour. Kevin McCarthy is ousted as U.S. House Speaker, breaking the record for the shortest term ever.

November: One-hundred-twenty fires are confirmed to still be burning across Australia. Speaking of monkey wrenches, two astronauts lose a tool bag during a spacewalk 200 miles above earth which officials say will disintegrate safely as it falls to Earth ... we hope.

The Beatles release John Lennon’s “Now and Then,” the band’s first No. 1 single in 54 years. Ohio votes to protect abortion rights and legalizes pot.

SAG-AFTRA ends its 118-day strike.

Taylor Swift is Spotify’s moststreamed global artist of the year

with 26.1 billion streams. Russia’s Supreme Court outlaws LGBTQ movement, calling it an extremist organization.

December: As of the second week of December there will have been 627 mass shootings in America. That’s down 18 from last year, but don’t worry, we still have a few weeks left. The House GOP gives George Santos the boot for lying, but still supports Trump, a known pathological liar. We kiss KISS goodbye as their tour ends. Taylor Swift is named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year.”

A big deal: Shohei Ohtani signs a North American pro-sports record 10-year, $700 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Homelessness in the U.S. increased by 12 percent, now totals 650,000 people.

Rudy Giuliani is ordered to pay $148 million to two former

Georgia election workers in civil defamation suit. Channeling his inner Hitler, Trump says immigrants coming to the U.S. are “poisoning the blood of our country.” Homophobic, climate denying, religious zealot Speaker Mike Johnson adjourns the U.S. House for the year after accomplishing absolutely nothing.

And so ends another year here on Planet Earth. A note to my faithful readers: Thanks to all who have offered positive comments on my 24 columns this year. To those who offered not so positive comments, keep reading. You may find one you like. Here’s hoping for a very Happy New Year to all.

Bob Stannard has been a Vermont political commentator for over two decades. He is an author, musician and former state legislator and lobbyist.

Letters to the Editor Leftists are turning U.S. into third world nation To the Editor: According to your Nov. 11, 2023, article, “Municipal budget takes shape in Shelburne,” Shelburne has not participated in the past regional task forces.

It should read, “In the recent past, Shelburne taxpayers have not contributed in helping those towns and cities who have defunded the police and have banded together to ask for a coalition of state and local law enforcement for help, because their leftist policies resulted in rampant violent crime, drug infestation and lawlessness in general from an influx of criminals who know they will not be held accountable for their actions.

Thanks to funding by George Soros — who has openly stated on many occasions that he hates the United States and whose son Alexander now carries his father’s mantle — and who has

visited the White House 17 times since the 2020 presidential election, these leftist-held communities have asked surrounding towns and cities, which have not defunded the police, for police protection.”

Recently the Shelburne News offered “Police, committees rally together to help neighbors in need” (Dec. 21, 2023), as if homelessness is a relatively new concept. Meanwhile our open border policy by Joe Biden has resulted in 3.8 million illegal unvetted immigrants entering our country. Funnier are sanctuary cities now busing those illegal immigrants out of their cities because they are overwhelmed by homelessness. As the article states, for some reason there are no longer any hotels with empty rooms being offered to those “homeless people,” free of charge.

Your reporting is intimating that we pay more taxes to help those who are holding signs at

traffic light intersections saying, “Homeless, anything helps, God bless you,” while standing 50 feet away from “Now Hiring” signs.

We’re now a third world nation that produces nothing except pizza, pharmaceutical drugs to combat diabetes and other maladies born of poor nutrition, along with becoming a fleabag hotel for those looking for a taxpayer-funded handout.

I resent having my taxes go toward funding those who have decided that police are evil, should be limited in scope, plead for increased funding for homelessness while millions of homeless people flood our borders — while their own houses are being broken into — and then ask for help to survive in a civilized fashion.

If it’s not too late there may be an alternative path in November 2024. Maybe!

Tim Dudley Shelburne

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Shelburne News • January 4, 2024 • Page 7

Community Notes

Gingerbread festival

Audition for Shelburne Players’ ‘Kodachrome’ The Shelburne Players hold auditions for its spring 2024 production, “Kodachrome,” on Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 8-9, 6-8:30 p.m. at the Shelburne Historic Town Hall, accessed from Pierson Library, 5376 Shelburne Road.

Callbacks, if needed, will be Thursday, Jan. 11, from 6-8:30 p.m.

Welcome to Colchester, a small town where everybody knows each other, and the pace of life allows the pursuit of love to take up as much space as it needs. Our tour guide is Suzanne, the town photographer, who lets us peek into her neighbors’ lives to catch glimpses of romance in all its stages of development. ‘Kodachrome’ is a play about love, nostalgia, the seasons and how we learn to say goodbye.”

The spring production will be April 5-13.

For information, audition materials go to shelburneplayers.com.

Shelburne host blood drive, sign up now St. Catherine of Siena Parish is hosting another Red Cross blood drive on Tuesday, Jan. 23, noon-5 p.m., in its parish hall, 72 Church St., Shelburne.

To give, call 800-733-2767 or visit redcrossblood.org and enter Shelburne to schedule an appointment. Appointments are strongly recommended as walk-ins cannot always be accommodated.

If you are an eligible type O, B - or A donor, consider making a power red donation. Red blood cells are the most transfused blood component.

Streamline your donation experience and save up to 15 minutes by visiting the website to complete your rapid pass, pre-donation health history.

Age Well, church host Frosty Funfair Luncheon St. Catherine of Siena and Age Well are teaming up to offer a Frosty Funfair Luncheon on Tuesday, Jan. 16, in the St. Catherine of Siena Parish Hall, 72 Church St. in Shelburne.

The check-in time is 11:30 a.m. and the meal will be served at noon. There is a $5 suggested donation.

The menu features roast pork with sauce, diced cabbage, sliced carrots, home fries, dinner roll, apple cake and milk.

There will also be a 50/50 raffle and door prizes.

Register by Wednesday, Jan. 10. Contact Kerry Batres, nutrition coordinator, at 802-662-5283 or email kbatres@agewellvt. org.

Tickets are also available at the Age Well Office, 875 Roosevelt Highway, Suite 210; Colchester.

Restaurant tickets will be available for distribution for a suggested $5 donation.

Students invited to Vermont Invention Fair All K-8 students in Vermont are invited to participate in the Vermont Invention

COURTESY PHOTO

The Vermont Day School displays its gingerbread creations at its 8th Gingerbread Festival at the Pierson Library for the community to enjoy. This year’s theme was “Imagine the Future!”

Fair on Saturday, Feb. 10, in Shelburne. To participate, students must come up with an invention that addresses a problem or need in society.

Students design, build and test their inventions, and then showcase them at the fair. Top inventors in each age group will have the opportunity to compete in the U.S. National Invention Fair with inventors from all over the world.

The Vermont Invention Fair is offered as a partnership between the Young Inventors’ Program and Vermont Day School in Shelburne.

To register for the fair or for additional information, visit vtdayschool.org. The registration deadline is Jan. 15.

Lasagna on the menu at January Age Well meal Age Well and St. Catherine’s of Siena Parish in Shelburne are teaming up to provide a meal to go for anyone age 60 and older on Tuesday, Jan. 9 The meal will be available for pick up in the parking lot at 72 Church St. from 11 a.m. until noon and are available for anyone 60 or older. Suggested donation is $5.

The menu is baked cheese lasagna rollettes with marinara and beef, spinach, biscuit, pineapple chunks and milk.

To order a meal contact Kathleen at agewellstcath@gmail.com or 802-503-1107.

Deadline to order is Wednesday, Jan. 3. If this is a first-time order, provide your name, address, phone number and date of birth.

If you haven’t yet filled out a congregate

meal registration form, bring a completed registration form with you or send one to: Age Well; 875 Roosevelt Highway, Ste. 210, Colchester VT 05446. Forms will be available at meal pick up.

Learn about restaurant tickets to dine at participating restaurants at agewellvt.org.

Secretary of State talks on elections, democracy The League of Women Voters of Vermont presents the third in its 2023-24 lecture series on elections and democracy.

The third program, on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m. at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main St., Montpelier, will feature Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas and Martha Diess, global citizenship specialist with the Vermont Agency of Education, will discuss innovations in inspiring youth in democracy, state policy on civics education in schools, and the secretary’s outreach program to encourage student engagement.

The League of Women Voters of Vermont Lecture Series, now in its eighth season, is designed to bring outstanding speakers to discuss contemporary issues related to democracy and social justice. More at lwvofvt.org.

Ambassador headlines MLK remembrance events Former U.S. ambassador Suzan Johnson Cook and Talladega, Ala., mayor Ashton Hall will be the speakers at the 2024 Burlington Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Remembrance

event at City Hall, Contois Auditorium, on Sunday, Jan. 14, 3 p.m., sponsored by the Greater Burlington Multicultural Resource Center.

Twenty-two-year-old Hall said he hopes to be a voice and advocate for community members. Hall served as vice chair for the city’s planning commission and has been active in other public office positions. As the newly elected mayor of Talladega, he said he wants to create a more community-oriented atmosphere with activities for youth.

Cook, 65, is a U.S. presidential advisor, pastor, theologian, author, activist and academic who served as the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom from April 2011 to October 2013.

She served as a policy advisor to President Bill Clinton and later to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros and has been a dean and professor of communications at Harvard University, a professor of theology at New York Theological Seminary, a pastor at several churches, television producer, and the author of nearly a dozen books.

She was the first female senior pastor in the 200-year history of the Mariners Temple Baptist Church in New York City and a close friend of Coretta Scott King.

The 2024 MLK recognition will be presented to the Howard Center, Rev. Dr. Arnold Thomas, Rep. Kevin “Coach” Christie and City Market. Tickets for the free public event are available at City Market, ECHO, and Fletcher Free Library.

The events will end with a civil rights panel on Monday, Jan. 15, 3 p.m., at ECHO.

Page 8 • January 4, 2024 • Shelburne News

FILE PHOTOS

Shelburne

2023 Year in Review Top Left: A mid-March snowstorm blankets Shelburne.

Middle Left: Two members of the Shelburne equity and diversity committee at the farmers market.

Above: Mike Ireland of Shelburne captured this photograph of three bobcats in his yard.

Left: The rain and heat of summer 2023 made for topnotch garden production at the Shelburne Community Garden. Eileen Siminger, one of the garden coordinators, is shown here with one of her 11 beautiful cabbages.

OPPOSITE PAGE Top Left: Shelburne Community School students challenge themselves to meet reading goals during the school’s first-ever read-a-thon.

Top Right: Shelburne Museum’s popular Winter Lights returns.

Middle Left: Shelburne Engine 1 arrived on the scene of a fully involved garbage truck fire on Juniper Ridge in Shelburne in May. Crews quickly knocked down the bulk of the fire from the cab and body of the truck.

Eleven Shelburne firefighters were assisted by a crew from the South Burlington Fire Department.

Middle Right: More than 200 Shelburne residents attended the first meeting in a three-month community building initiative in partnership with the Vermont Council on Rural Development under the tagline Shelburne Forward Together.

Bottom Left: Champlain Valley Union High School graduation speaker Anders Erickson encourages fellow graduates to find the good moments in life even when it might seem impossible.

Bottom Right: The ongoing Canadian wildfires create a smoky haze on Bostwick Road.

Shelburne News • January 4, 2024 • Page 9

Page 10 • January 4, 2024 • Shelburne News

SPORTS

Year in Review LAUREN READ CORRESPONDENT

It was a season of memorable moments for Champlain Valley, with banners raised and records broken. Here are some of the most notable moments from 2023 for the Redhawks.

CVU boys’ basketball claims first title It took 100 tournaments, but the Champlain Valley boys’ basketball team finally came out on top.

The Redhawks claimed the program’s first Division I state title in March, beating three-time defending champs Rice 42-38 at the University of Vermont’s Patrick gym.

It was just the second title game appearance for the Redhawks, who lost to Rutland in the final in 2017.

It was not easy for CVU, who rallied from a 9-point deficit to beat a veteran squad and Kyle Eaton’s 19 points.

Cross country runs a perfect race The girls’ cross-country team has plenty of accolades. But entering the 2023 D-I state championship, the Redhawks found a new mark to set.

CVU had one of the best single-season performances even before it came into the title race. Then the team ran a perfect race.

The Redhawks had a 1-2-3-4-5 perfect score in the state championship.

Alice Kredell was first, Estella Laird was second, Audrey Neilson came in third, Lydia Donahue was fourth and Charlotte Crum came in fifth place.

CVU then followed up the win with the program’s seventh New England championship.

Redhawks win baseball title behind first-year coach Behind a duo of top pitchers and a firstyear coach, Champlain Valley baseball captured the program’s third title in the last four seasons.

One of the team’s star pitchers, Stephen Rickert, threw a complete-game, one-hitter in the state championship game to beat Mount Anthony 6-0.

It was the second shutout in CVU’s three postseason games — with Chris Robinson also racking up innings and strikeouts on the mound for the Redhawks.

Champlain Valley also became just the second school to sweep the D-I football, basketball and baseball titles in the same

FILE PHOTOS

Above: The Champlain Valley Union High School Redhawks with their championship trophy. The girls defeated St. Johnsbury in the Division I title game on March 3 at the University of Vermont’s Patrick gym.

Left: A Mt. Mansfield runner gets safely back to first as CVU’s Lewis Kerest readies for the throw. CVU won 8-5.

school year after the former won breakthrough crowns in fall 2022 and winter 2023.

Shelburne’s Berger pitches for Team USA After winning a D-I state title with the Champlain Valley baseball team, Shelburne resident Elise Berger took the ball for the red, white and blue.

The right-handed pitcher took the mound for the U.S. women’s national baseball team last spring as part of five-game series.

Berger pitched four innings and allowed one hit in a 2-0 win for Team USA against Mexico. She also earned a win on the mound against Australia in the tournament.

CVU girls’ basketball returns to the top Champlain Valley had been in a title drought, for them at least. The Redhawks went six seasons without winning a girls’ basketball state championship. CVU shared the state title when the tournament was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19 — a long run for a program that won five titles

in a row from 2017 to 2022.

That drought ended in 2023 as the Redhawks beat St. Johnsbury 43-29 to win the D-I state title.

The Redhawks controlled play throughout the title game, with Addi Hunter and Elise Berger leading the way offensively.

Penalty kicks sealed title for boys’ soccer The boys captured its 20th D-I state championship in the most dramatic fashion

possible — on penalty kicks.

The Redhawks beat defending champs South Burlington 5-4 for the program’s first title win since 2019, and the boys tied the CVU girls’ program for the most titles in the state’s history.

The back-and-forth game saw South Burlington take the lead, then CVU go ahead before the two teams finished regulation tied at 2-2 and headed into overtime and, eventually, penalty kicks.

It was a dramatic end to a dramatic game to give CVU its record-tying title.

Shelburne News • January 4, 2024 • Page 11

FILE PHOTOS

Above: Anderson McEnaney runs the ball in a Redhawks win over the Burlington-South Burlington team last fall.

Top Right: CVU’s sprint relay team in action during the state championship.

Bottom Right: Tucker Tharpe battles for the ball against BFA-St. Albans last January. Tharpe had 12 points.

Below: The Champlain Valley Union High School boys’ soccer team won its 20th state title against South Burlington on penalty kicks.

Bottom: Rose Bunting and a Burlington High School player battle it out at the top of the net in the Redhawks’ seventh win in a row in October.

Page 12 • January 4, 2024 • Shelburne News

Champlain Valley basketball beats opponents over break LAUREN READ CORRESPONDENT

Girls’ basketball Champlain Valley 57, Kingston, N.Y. 53: The girls team rallied from a halftime deficit to beat Kingston on Wednesday.

Samara Ashooh had a double-double to pace the Redhawks, with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Elise Berger chipped in 16 points and seven rebounds.

Gymnastics

PHOTOS BY DWIGHT MAZUR

Above: CVU/MMU Cougarhawks girls’ varsity hockey team forward Miles Brien moves the puck down the ice in a Dec. 31 overtime win against Missisquoi. Right: Megan Rivard in action.

Notice of Public Hearings for Town of Shelburne Selectboard 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 9, 2024.

Shelburne Town Office Meeting Room 1, 5420 Shelburne Road This Selectboard meeting will include two public hearings. A complete copy of all relevant documents can be viewed on the Town of Shelburne’s website at shelburnevt.org or at the Town Office during business hours. Call the Town Office at 802-985-5031 with any questions.

All are welcome. Reasonable accommodations will be provided upon request to ensure that public meetings are accessible to all individuals regardless of disability.

General Fund Operating Budget for 2024-2025 The General Fund supports most of the Town’s operations, although not the water, sewer, and stormwater utilities. The fiscal starts on July 1 and ends June 30. For Fiscal Year 2024-2025, the Town staff propose the following budgets for public review and Selectboard adoption. The General Fund budget is balanced at $12,897,727. The largest department categories are Police ($2,530,701) and Highways ($1,850,597).

Town revenues come primarily from real estate taxes ($8,681,102), with smaller amounts from user fees, local option sales tax, and fund balance reserve from previous years. The estimated tax increase for a typical property is 3.4%.

The Selectboard is also considering several ballot measures for additional spending in the general fund. They are: an ambulance for $375,000; a fire engine for $1,000,000; an open space fund investment of $173,000. The number $173,000 represents one cent of tax rate per $100 of assessed property value. The Town purchases fire and rescue vehicles using a bond, so the cost is paid over 15 or 20 years, not all at once.

2024-2025 Capital Improvement Plan and 2024-2029 Capital Program State law calls for a capital plan connected to the Town’s long-range development plan. Capital investments are land, buildings, and equipment which last for years and are often purchased with loans. The current plan continues to pay off old Town loans such as the library, while routinely replacing vehicles such as dump trucks and police cars, and investing in new infrastructure such as bike paths. The total cost of the five-year program is $9.39 million. Level funding the program costs $1.88 million per year. The General Fund budget noted above does fully fund the first year of the capital plan.

You can share your thoughts about how these budgets help us meet our community goals.

-Ordered printed by Matthew Lawless, Town Manager

The Champlain Valley gymnastics team was led by an overall team effort to beat St. Johnsbury 127.45 to 103.55 on Wednesday.

Mckena Lesage was second in the vault, while teammate Gabriella Serafini came in third place. On the bars, Serafini

was second and Ruby Opton came in third.

Cadence Haggerty came in second on the beam and Opton was second in the floor exercise.

Boys’ basketball Champlain Valley 60, Mount Mansfield 37: The Champlain Valley boys’ basketball team remained undefeated with a win over Mount Mansfield on Wednesday, Dec. 27.

Jack St. Peter led the Redhawks (4-0) with 13 points, with 11 points in the first quarter. Kyle Eaton also had 13 points, while Tucker Tharpe chipped in 10.

Champlain Valley also beat the Colchester Lakers on the Friday before the holiday break, 63-48.

Tharpe had 20 points and 10 rebounds for CVU, while Eaton added 12 points and Russell Willoughby had nine.

Shelburne News • January 4, 2024 • Page 13

2024 SESSION

continued from page 2 “To reduce emissions and extend healthy lifestyles to more Vermonters, it’s important that communities like ours can expand walking and biking facilities. Most communities depend on state and federal grants for planning and construction, and federal dollars can have ‘strings’ that add expense and delay projects,” she said. “My bill could speed up the rate Vermont builds critically necessary infrastructure while making it happen more affordably.”

Climate change will continue to be on the legislative agenda.

Pouech said the Legislature will follow up on the clean heat standard and consider proposals to update Vermont’s renewable energy standard.

“It is likely we will debate how we might hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for the cost burden of climate change in the same way the tobacco industry was required to pay for the societal costs of smoking,” he said.

South Burlington Rep. Martin LaLonde (D-Chittenden-12), chair of the House Committee on Judiciary, is also proposing a bill to establish a climate superfund, which will require large producers of fossil fuels to pay for the damage caused by their greenhouse gas emissions.

Additionally, Brumsted and others explained that one of the first orders of business will be to deal with Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of H.158, an act relating to the beverage container redemption system.

H.158 would update Vermont’s landmark environmental bottle bill by expanding the redeemable container list to include PET and HDPE water bottles, hard cider and kombucha containers, and glass wine bottles.

“Selfishly, as our long-standing Green-Up Coordinator, I look forward to overriding our governor’s veto and passing an updated our bottle bill,” Pouech said.

Vermont passed its first bottle bill in 1972 to clean up litter, Brumsted said. Since then, it has become a successful statewide recycling program, which allows Vermonters to redeem certain beverage containers such as beer bottles and

soda cans.

The current bottle bill covers only 46 percent of the beverage containers sold in the state, and plastic water bottles are the second-most littered piece of trash in Vermont, Brumsted said, noting that nationally, 75 percent of plastic water bottles end up in landfills.

Not all are in favor of the veto and bottle bill expansion. Chittenden says it represents a “regressive tax on peoples time, storage and transportation costs.”

“To the people who don’t care about a couple of dollars in cans on their Saturday mornings, they will just put the cans in the blue bin to save them the time and hassle of storing, lugging, driving and then manually stuffing each can individually into the automated machines.

This will cost poor people proportionately more time, storage and transportation costs, which is why it is a regressive tax,” he said. “A deposit/refund system expansion I would support would be on batteries and circuit boards. We are not doing enough to keep these toxic materials out of our landfills and our main waste streams.”

Additionally, several environmental issues may be addressed this session — including actions to eliminate PFAS in all commercial products and address existing contamination, Pouech said.

In the other column There are many other topics and issues on legislators’ minds. Evans, for example, says she plans on introducing two bills.

One would add to the state ethics laws and would create financial penalties for political candidates who miss campaign finance deadlines and add mandates about disclosing information about themselves or spouses that could present a conflict of interest.

The other would provide a standard code of ethics for all municipalities in the state and would give investigation and enforcement authority to the ethics commission.

“Accountability is my jam and I’m excited to be working on these important bills,” she said.

A bill is also on the works,

shelburne news

service directory to advertise call 985-3091 or email advertising@shelburnenews.com

Evans said, that would create a path to file complaints about animal welfare, would create a director of animal welfare position, and clarify standards for animal adoption and rescue organizations.

The Legislature is also expected to explore options for a universal paid medical leave program, Pouech said. And Hinsdale says she plans on introducing legislation on age-appropriate coding and software, and prescription drug pricing.

Krasnow says she will introduce a bill relating to public health

outreach programs regarding dementia risk. By 2025, the number of Vermonters living with dementia will increase “by an astounding 30.8 percent from 2020.”

Her bill would “ensure we utilize all existing opportunities to educate providers and the public about brain health, the importance of early diagnosis, ways to reduce the risk of dementia, and the value of the care partner as part of the health care team.”

Chittenden, meanwhile, said he will push for a bill that would stop

collecting tax revenue on military benefits earned by those who serve in the military.

“Sadly, Vermont is one of only a few states that tax the military benefits these selfless individuals earn with their sacrifices through their years of military service,” he said. “Sixteen of the 30 Vermont state senators co-signed a bill (S.118) to address this. It is time for Vermont to stop collecting tax revenue on military benefits earned by those who serve our country in the U.S. military.”

SHELBURNE The Shelburne Planning Commission wants to hear from community members about RE: Shelburne, our effort to rethink, reshape and reform the town’s land use regulations. Four neighborhood meetings and two virtual Q&A sessions have been scheduled: • Q&A Session on Thursday, Jan 19 at 6:30 pm via Zoom (Meetng ID: 768 094 9854) • Shelburne Road & Neighborhoods on Saturday, Jan 27 at 9 am in the Shelburne Town Hall • Shelburne Village & Neighborhoods on Wednesday, Jan 31 at 7 pm in the Shelburne Museum Auditorium • Rural Shelburne West Side on Saturday, Feb 3 at 10:30 am at the Shelburne Vineyard • Rural Shelburne East Side on Thursday, Feb 1 at 7 pm in the Shelburne Town Hall • Q&A Session on Saturday, Feb 10 at 3:30 pm via Zoom (Meeting ID: 768 094 9854) The Neighborhood Meetings are designed as facilitated discussions of important policy choices under consideration by the Planning Commission.

The Shelburne Road and Shelburne Village meetings will focus on how to support housing creation and mitigate the impacts of higher density development within the growth areas established in the Shelburne Town Plan.

The two Rural meetings will consider how to reconcile housing with resource protection. The West Side meeting will also explore how to mitigate the impacts of agri-tourism and on-farm businesses. The East Side meeting will also provide an opportunity to discuss how to mitigate the impacts of active recreation and manage open space.

The Q&A Sessions will provide a forum for Shelburne residents to ask specific questions about zoning changes under consideration for their property or neighborhood.

Community members are encouraged to submit questions or comments at any time via the RE:Shelburne project website at www.placesense.com/shelburne. Additional materials related to the project are accessible on the website.

More information about zoning changes under consideration and more detailed agendas for the Neighborhood Meetings will be available after the January 11 Planning Commission meeting.

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Septic Tank Pumping Line Jetting & Thawing Camera Inspection Hydro-Vac Services Catch Basin Cleaning Lift Station Maintenance

Water Wells Complete Geothermal Systems Water Treatment Pump Sales & Service Aggregate- Gravel & Stone Products Pond Aeration

24/7 EMERGENCY SERVICE

24/7 EMERGENCY SERVICE

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120 NORTHGATE PLAZA, SUITE 2 MORRISVILLE 802.888.5722 | MANOSH.COM

Cutting, Punching, Drilling and Bending Services

802-864-0326 800-540-4692

We’ll even recycle your ferrous and non-ferrous metal

35 Intervale Rd, Burlington

www.qcsteel.com

Delivery available

802.355.7148

N Wolcott Rd ews & The2175 Citizen

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CALL US TODAY!

Siding/Remodeling

BEAGLE BUILDERS, LLC Remodeling & Additions

ALL TYPES OF SIDING Vinyl/Wood/Composite

Windows & Doors • Decks & Porches

Kitchens & Bathrooms Sunrooms & Garages

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beaglebuilders@gmavt.net

802-453-4340 CALL US! 802-355-0807

Shelburne News • January 4, 2024 • Page 15

Horoscope January 4, 2024

ANSWERS FROM THIS ISSUE

Weekly Puzzles

Page 16 • January 4, 2024 • Shelburne News

Island Memorial Pet Service

Looking to Lead?

Howard Center is looking for passionate and driven individuals to lead its Crisis Programs.

Become a leader at Howard Center and make an impact today!

CRISIS STABILIZATION: Program Director and Operations Director FIRST CALL FOR CHITTENDEN COUNTY: Program Director and Operations Director • Master’s degree or higher • Vermont clinical licensure in good standing and ability to supervise others toward licensure (Program Director positions only) • Full Time

Premium Compassionate Care for Your Pets Because

Gomer & Gunther

“LOYALTY DESERVES DIGNITY”

We understand the love you have for your pets and the importance they hold in your life. Our compassionate staff is devoted to easing the difficulties at this challenging time.

Our staff is here for you 24/7 • The Island Memorial Difference: • Pet Funerals • Cremation Services • Your Pet is Always in Our Care • Dignified Pet Transportation from Your Home or Vet • Immediate & Witness Cremation Available • Full Line of Pet Loss Products

Tiger & Buster

1176 Main St. • Fairfax, VT 57 Main St. • Essex Jct., VT www.islandmemorials.com Northwestern Vermont’s Only Pet Crematory A Member of the A.W. Rich Funeral Home Family • www.awrfh.com

802-316-2284

$3,000 Sign-On Bonus!

• 36 days of combined time off per year (increases with years of service)

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802-488-6946

howardcentercareers.org

12/20/23 11:03 AM

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