The Other Paper - 05-12-22

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Task force rules against airport’s rezoning bid

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Intersections

Artist explore memories, dreams in real, imagined places

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the South Burlington’s Community Newspaper Since 1977

New kids in the House

Reps. Pugh, Townsend, Killacky to step down; LaLonde runs again

AVALON STYLES-ASHLEY STAFF

Only one sitting House representative will run to keep his seat in South Burlington. The other three, with 44 years of experience legislating between them, are passing the baton.

A few hopefuls have already stepped up to fill the holes left by Reps. Ann Pugh, John Killacky and Maida Townsend, meaning most of the South Burlington state delegation will be the new kids in the House.

Last one standing

Rep. Martin LaLonde, who’s been in the state legislature for eight years, serving on the House Committee on Judiciary, as chair of the committee on judicial rules, and now part of majority leadership, hopes to keep his seat to finish up some “unfinished business.”

“There are some issues that I have been working on for six, eight years, that are getting pretty darn close,” he said, pointing to his work to restructure the criminal code — he thinks that will take one more biennium at least — efforts to improve gun safety, work on climate change initiatives like the clean heat standard, and to reform state pensions and Act 250.

Last week, the governor vetoed the clean heat standard bill, H.715, arguing that the financial impact to Vermonters and to the state, from incentives and subsidies, are unclear.

“I think it’s important for some continuity that I am coming back. That’s one of the reasons that I decided to come back when I was trying to decide if I was going to run again,” he said. “It’s fun, it’s really interesting. It will be a whole bunch of new people, which is really enlightening.”

See HOUSE on page 14

Starbucks’ employees brew a union

South Burlington baristas advocate for change, labor rights

AVALON STYLES-ASHLEY STAFF WRITER

Gareth “Gaz” Romp never thought they could be part of the labor movement. As a 19-year-old barista, fresh out of high school faced with the daunting cost of college, Romp thought they might use their skills on the piano and bass to become a musician and write music while making coffee. But a $15 an hour paycheck and a free Spotify subscription doesn’t cut it to live and work in Chittenden County, they realized.

When they began unionizing with some coworkers at their Starbucks on Shelburne Road, Romp discovered a passion for labor rights and activism.

“Growing up, we learned about economic inequality and climate change, and how powerless we feel to make any change,” Romp said, adding that when they learned about unions, it felt like “a thing of the past,” an emblem of the 19th century labor movement but something that has been on the decline for years.

Now, Romp feels like organizing is a “definitive answer: organizing our work-

places, not just at Starbucks, but all over the state and country,” they said.

The Starbucks on Shelburne Road in South Burlington, a little island in the shopping plaza hugging Interstate 89, became the first in the state to file for a union election when it announced on May 1, coinciding with International Workers’ Day.

At least 18 other Starbucks stores have voted to unionize throughout the country and Canada in the last six months out of the company’s 8,000 locations, and anoth-

See UNION on page 2

WRITER

PHOTO BY AVALON STYLES-ASHLEY

The community has offered its support for the union push by local Starbucks employees, said 19-year-old barista and organizer Gareth “Gaz” Romp.

continued from page 1

er 170 other locations in 30 states have plans to vote in the coming months.

The workers are arguing for better pay, staffing coverage, training, benefits, stable scheduling and a seat at the bargaining table, among other things.

Fellow organizer and one of the store supervisors, Campbell Habetz, was the one who initially broke it to Romp, after they asked for a raise, that that isn’t really how pay works at Starbucks. The two started talking about the viability of a union, then met with some union reps in Buffalo and Rochester, in New York, where the first Starbucks stores to unionize are located.

They hit the ground running and began talking to their coworkers, rounding up support, educating folks on what unionizing would mean and signing union cards.

Almost everyone they talked to was “gung ho” about organizing, Habetz and Romp recalled. The community has poured out support for them as well.

“One of our regulars came in and she was so supportive of the union. I love her, she is awesome. She gets a venti black tea lemonade, with extra lemonade, and a cup of ice,” Romp recalled.

Last Friday, the Burlington Democratic Socialists of America organized a “Sip In” instead of a

sit in, stationing themselves in the Shelburne Road coffee shop to sip coffee and show support.

They’re also organizing a support rally outside of the store on Saturday, May 14 at noon, which Romp hopes the community comes to.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a champion of workers’ rights who has been bull-headed about a livable minimum wage for decades, among other things, also threw his support behind the baristas.

“I am proud to stand in strong solidarity with Starbucks workers in (South) Burlington who are seeking a vote to form a union. They understand that at a time of record profits, Starbucks can afford to pay decent wages and to treat its workers with dignity,” Sanders wrote on Twitter May 2.

The senator has been critical of the mega coffee chain recently, writing a letter to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz in March demanding he stop “union busting,” and firing workers “for ‘the crime’ of being pro-union.”

In the months since the company’s first Starbucks stores began unionizing, the company has been accused of violating labor laws by allegedly illegally threatening pro-union workers with income and benefit loss or firing, in dozens of complaints filed by Starbucks

State, hiking club will rebuild popular Camels Hump trail

One of Vermont’s most popular hiking destinations, the Burrows Trail on Camels Hump, will be rebuilt this summer.

The Green Mountain Club, in partnership with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation will undertake a top-to-bottom rehabilitation of the trail in Camels Hump State Park.

The project will cost more than $750,000, but $210,000 has already been secured through the park department’s trail grant program and another $250,000 will come from a one-time allocation of state general funds.

The club, state trail crew, Vermont Youth Conservation

Workers United with the National Labor Relations Board.

Last year, the company announced some new benefits for store partners, including a raise of minimum wage to $15-23 per hour by this summer, pay increases up to 5 percent for partners with two years on the job and 10 percent for partners with five years on the job, and over 70 new recruiters, with the goal of hiring 5,000 new employees each week.

However, Habetz and Romp argued these promises are hollow.

“These very significant wage increases only applied to partners who’ve been with the company two or five years, while 80 percent of the national Starbucks workforce have been with the company

Corps, Northwoods Stewardship Center and National Civilian Conservation Corps will provide the trail crews for the rehabilitation that will start in June and continue for three years.

The Burrows Trail, formerly known as the Huntington Trail, has been used as a footpath for over 100 years, and today it winds 2.1 miles before intersecting with the Long Trail to access Camels Hump summit at 4,083 feet.

Just a 45-minute drive from the state’s population center of Burlington, tens of thousands of Vermonters and visitors hike the Burrows Trail each year.

“The Burrows Trail is a

less than a year. It barely applies to all partners,” Romp said. “On top of that, they’re using it as intimidation and to coerce stores not to unionize.”

Habetz still hopes to be a manager at Starbucks, but now is skeptical of their chances. Activism and this new endeavor into union organizing aligns with how they were raised and their current values.

“So, when we heard about it, I was like, well, at some point I’m going to come to a crossroads and I’m going to have to decide whether I’m going to prioritize my career or my values. Once it came down to it, it just wasn’t even a question for me,” Habetz said.

jewel in thThe entire trail will be made more sustainable, narrow and durable, allowing thousands of hikers to enjoy it for decades to come,” Keegan Tierney, director of field programs for the Green Mountain Club, said.

Lower sections of the trail follow an old forest road and the upper portion was built decades ago on the fall line — straight up the hillside — resulting in severe erosion and widening from both water flow and foot traffic.

The trail will remain open to hikers throughout the project, though hikers are advised to be aware of trail crew traffic control when passing through work sites.

Since becoming a supervisor, they’ve gained deeper insight into the various struggles plaguing their coworkers, from paying bills, to paying off student loans, to finding secure housing close to work.

“I’m realizing that so many of the people around me are actively in crisis, are facing housing insecurity or are afraid to deal with their health issues, because they have to pay rent,” they said.

Both Habetz and Romp want to stay with their store — they genuinely love making coffee and getting to know their regular customers.

“Everyone is staying here right now because we love each other. We’ve never had such great friends as coworkers, but things aren’t really looking good, and there’s just so many systemic issues that affect us all so personally and individually that we need to collectively do something about it,” Romp said.

They intend to return to school with this newfound passion and get a degree in labor studies — anything to keep organizing, advocating for people and helping to better conditions for workers in and outside of their community.

“This has really sparked a passion,” they said. “I really want to keep doing this. I love talking to people and organizing, using all these different tools: agitate, educate, inoculate.”

“One of our regulars came in and she was so supportive of the Union. I love her, she is awesome. She gets a venti black tea lemonade, with extra lemonade, and a cup of ice.”

— Gareth “Gaz” Romp

Paw-ard season

Zoe and Ella are the most recent lucky inductees into South Burlington pet royalty.

Winning top dog is golden retriever Zoe, who belongs to William Harwood, while first feline went to, Ella, a domestic medium hair cat, who belongs to Roseanne Guyre.

Now in its ninth year, city clerk Donna Kinville announced the names of the top pets by drawing them randomly at the city council meeting April 18.

The contest began as a fun way to advertise and “create a buzz about registering your dog and cat,” Kinville said. After gathering intel from her fellow clerks around New England, she came up with her own version of the contest.

The number of dog and cat registrations across the city has been trending up, even coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kinville remarked. While she noted the city’s population is also growing, she hopes the top dog and first feline competition adds a little fun and incentive for folks to register their pets.

“Last year’s total was higher than we’ve ever had for dog and cat registrations even coming out of COVID. As of April 1 this year, we have the most registered than we’ve ever had,” Kinville said before drawing the names.

Winners receive tags and a goodie bag donated by local businesses; their photos are displayed in the city hall lobby, on the website and in advertising.

“A huge thank you to Pet Food Warehouse and Guy’s Farm and Yard for their continued support. They’ve been with us since day one,” she added.

COURTESY PHOTOS Zoe, above, and Ella, below.

Total incidents: 244

Public assists: 22

Traffic stops: 15

Alarms: 15

Directed patrols: 15

Suspicious events: 12

Larceny: 12

Welfare checks: 12

Car crashes

(property damage): 10

Mental health issues: 7

Leaving the scene of an accident: 6

Domestic incidents: 6

May 1 at 2:54 a.m., police assisted a motorist on 189 and Dorset Street.

May 1 at 12:44 p.m., an officer conducted a traffic stop off Williston Road and White Street.

May 2 at 10:52 a.m., someone reported a domestic incident on Lime Kiln Road.

May 2 at 1:08 p.m., someone reported threats and harassment on Dorset Street.

May 3 at 7:12 p.m., police responded to Farrell Street for an assault.

May 3 at 11:09 p.m., someone reportedly left the scene of an accident on Dorset Street.

May 4 at 10:22 a.m., officers conducted a well-being check on Hinesburg Road.

May 4 at 7:24 p.m., officers assisted with a reported mental health issue on Anderson Parkway.

May 5 at 9:48 a.m., a vehicle was reportedly stolen from Ethan

South Burlington Police Blotter

Allen Drive.

May 5 at 10:27 a.m., a car crash occurred on Palmer Court and Williston Road causing property damage but no injuries.

May 6 at 11:40 a.m., police responded to an animal problem on Shelburne Road.

May 6 at 12:21 p.m., a report of child abuse and neglect was called in at Dorset Street.

May 7 at 9:26 a.m., someone reported counterfeiting on Shelburne Road.

May 7 at 9:56 p.m., a mental health issue was reported on Ethan Allen Drive.

May 8 at 12:42 a.m., an officer conducted a traffic stop on Williston Road.

May 8 at 2:14 p.m., a case of retail theft was reported at the University Mall.

Arrests:

Joshua P. Burgess, 37, of Milton, was arrested May 2 on a state warrant.

William M. Prestegord, 35, address unknown, was arrested May 2 for violating an abuse prevention order.

Jordan P. Paquette, 31, of South Burlington, was arrested May 2 for misdemeanor retail theft.

Edward P. Lamson, 22, of Winooski, was arrested May 2 for violating conditions of release, resisting arrest, leaving the scene of an accident and negligent operations.

Tiffany L. Bessette, 34, of no address given, was arrested May 2 on a state warrant.

Roy A. Erno, 35, of New Haven, was arrested May 3 on a state warrant.

James G. Crowther, 27, of South Burlington, was arrested May 6 for domestic assault.

Robert B. Eley, 38, of Burlington, was arrested May 8 for unlawful mischief, larceny from a person and aggravated assault.

Untimely deaths: May 3, police responded to Cranwell Avenue for the untimely death of Jacqueline Rozzi, 85, of South Burlington. The medical examiner’s office is still determining cause of death.

Vermont State Police Blotter

May 7, 8:51 p.m., Vermont State Police arrested Mary Rebel, 47, of Shelburne for suspicion of driving under the influence

Telehealth for veterans now offered at library

Starting Monday, May 16, local veterans will be able to access Veterans Affairs telehealth at the South Burlington Public Library, 180 Market St.

Through a partnership with the White River Junction VA health care system, the library offers a private, comfortable space designated for veteran use. The space is fully equipped with an iPad that allows easy access to VA Video Connect, the application used for virtual health care appointments. The new space includes medical equipment that may be required for some visits and offers enhanced privacy features.

Andre Wing, program manager with the Veteran’s Outreach Program, will be at the library on Tuesday, May 17, at 6 p.m. Wing served for 25 years in the U.S. Army, Vermont Army and Air National Guard. His presentation will describe the valuable resources available to vets and their loved ones through the outreach program, which is available to members of all branches of service of all eras.

VA Video Connect allows veterans and their caregivers to meet with VA health care provid-

ers quickly and easily through live video on any computer, tablet or mobile device with an internet connection. Video encryption provides security and privacy. Virtual care offers convenience by eliminating the need for driving to appointments.

Volunteers from Vermont Veterans Outreach Program are available to meet veterans at the library and help them to sign into their appointment with advanced notice. All volunteers assisting with this program are fellow veterans.

“Partnerships with organizations like the South Burlington Public Library across Vermont and New Hampshire are an important component in offering care to veterans closer to where they live,” Dr. Daniel O’Rourke, chief of staff at White River Junction facility, said.

Veterans currently receiving VA health care can get more information about VA telehealth and use of the room by contacting the VA Telehealth Office at (802) 295-9363, ext. 6556, or by asking their VA provider.

The library is Americans with Disabilities Act accessible.

after being stopped for speeding on Interstate 89 in South Burlington.

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House candidate wants to bring community’s voice to Montpelier

Political Notebook

Emilie Krasnov

My name is Emilie Krasnov and I’m a Vermonter, community organizer and volunteer, and now a candidate to be your Representative for South Burlington’s Chittenden-9 District. As a proud South Burlington resident for the last 17 years, I look forward to doing everything I can to make sure the voices of everyone in this district are heard in Montpelier.

First, I’d like to thank retiring Rep. Ann Pugh for her incredible work on behalf of South Burlington for nearly 30 years. Her dedication to this community has made a difference in all our lives and we are so fortunate to have had her as our state representative. I’m grateful for her endorsement and support of my campaign and honored to be part of the legacy of her service.

Pugh’s legacy intertwines with my father Gerald Krasnow’s as well. He taught me the importance of community connection and service when he took me door knocking with him when I was just 7 years old. I watched as he engaged with voters, talked through issues big and small, and won a seat in the Vermont Legislature in 1994. He is a huge reason that I love politics and I hope to follow in his footsteps and serve my community in Montpelier.

The example he set is one of the reasons, I have organized and worked on a wide variety of municipal, county, statewide and national campaigns. I worked at the Statehouse for seven years as an assistant in the Senate and then in the Vermont lieutenant governor’s office until 2019. These experiences provided me with first-hand knowledge of local and state government systems and their short- and long-term impact on individual citizens, communities and the state. As a part of this work, I have organized community members to testify on legislation, and fostered relationships and friendships with community organizers, lawmakers and elected officials.

My commitment to service goes beyond my professional life. My volunteer work in South Burlington includes membership in the South Burlington Rotary club, volunteering at the South Burlington Food Shelf, and serving on the ASPIRE South Burlington Library

Foundation volunteer committee, South Burlington Housing Trust Committee, as vice chair of the Chittenden County Democratic Committee and secretary of the South Burlington Democratic Committee

I am continually inspired by the people I volunteer with and the community members I talk to in these roles. We live in a special community, where neighbors do help neighbors, and where many of us fight to ensure everyone feels welcome and safe.

I moved to South Burlington in 2005 as a renter. I know first-hand the difficulties of affordable housing in our city. When I talk with my neighbors, the most common economic issue that I hear is that South Burlington’s property tax burden is too high. I am committed to finding solutions that reduce the tax burden on our elderly, support our small businesses and encourage growth while protecting the social services and safety net policies that are vital to our community’s success.

It’s going to take many different perspectives and a lot of creative ideas to figure out how we can grow without leaving neighbors behind. My generation is uniquely aware of the dire need to reverse the effects of climate change, and to do so in a way that provides a future for our state through green energy and economic incentives for our business communities.

I am running to find the gaps in the systems for the people who have been left behind and find state and community-based solutions to bridge those gaps. Through my volunteer work at the food shelf, I have seen firsthand the discrepancies in race and socioeconomic status in those who walk through the doors. I have heard the cries of people who are homeless while serving on the housing trust committee.

And I have connected with youth in our community to re-engage them in a process they feel has left them behind, as they grapple with student debt, climate change and food and housing insecurities. We must do more to increase transparency in the legislative process and invite the voices of those we serve into the conversation. I am committed to being accessible to all my constituents and will strive to have one foot in the Statehouse and one foot in our community.

My favorite Ruth Bader Ginsberg quote is “fight for the things that you care about but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” My father did that with honesty and humor. He taught me how impactful that can be, and I intend to follow his lead.

More

Emilie Krasnov

We must do more to increase transparency in the legislative process and invite the voices of those we serve into the conversation.

Killacky won’t run again, urges humility, less judgment

In the final days of this legislative session, I am filled with gratitude for the opportunity to serve in the Vermont House of Representatives these past four years. I will not be seeing reelection as it is now time for me — turning 70 next month — to focus on other aspects of my life, including new artistic projects.

Most powerfully, I learned from so many as they shared lived experiences and traumas of surviving poverty, incarceration, addiction and discrimination. Visiting with women involved in the criminal justice system and folks living in homeless encampments was profound, life changing indeed, as I worked with fellow legislators to create more equitable policies.

My committee work had a diverse portfolio. In any given month we grappled with amending alcoholic beverage laws and updating statutes to reflect the current roles and duties of the Vermont National Guard to allocating tens of millions of dollars expanding affordable housing for homeless and low-income Vermonters.

Emotional victories included renaming Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day and working on a eugenics apology to

all Vermonters and their families who were harmed because of state-sanctioned policies and practices. Apologies are insufficient, so a truth and reconciliation commission was proposed to investigate systemic discrimination caused or permitted by state laws and policies and to propose legislative or administrative actions to remedy the effects on affected communities.

My regrets include the Legislature’s failure to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour and not overriding the governor’s veto on paid family and medical leave in my first biennium. The biggest disappointment was being unable to get a bill passed to improve the quality and increase the number of recovery beds throughout the state.

Advocates worked at cross-purposes, and we could not come to consensus on a path forward despite overdose deaths at an all-time high.

My tenure coincided with the infusion of billions of dollars of federal COVID-19 relief funds to rebuild our social, economic and civic lives, including business and creative sector recovery; schools and universities; extended unemployment; keeping people housed with rental, mortgage and property tax arrearages subsidies; providing food to our communities; and sheltering the homeless in hotels.

I am proud to be part of the

deliberate process to support workforce development, child care, broadband buildout and infrastructure needs, climate policies and resolving pension liabilities for educators and state workers. Balanced budgets providing tax relief and addressing the fraying societal safety net were delivered.

Some actions seem prescient in hindsight. Four years ago, we initiated the process of amending the state constitution guaranteeing women’s reproductive freedom. Vermont voters will now decide in November on this very timely issue. As well, a bill banning the LGBTQ panic defense in court cases passed in May 2021 came into high relief with the tragic murder of trans woman Fern Feather last month.

As my public service ends, I offer some reflections for the General Assembly. Current compensation of approximately $20,000 is not sustainable for diverse representation, skewing the demographics. Term limits would further expand participation. Legislative protocols and hierarchies are moribund with tradition and need to evolve to reflect current day realities.

To my colleagues in both the House and Senate, I urge all to listen without telling, question without judgement, believe without doubt and speak with humility.

Often when visitors are acknowledged during floor sessions, we ask the speaker to welcome guests to the “People’s House.” As we invite the public

into the People’s House remember it’s theirs, not ours. Maddeningly, people who use wheelchairs cannot access public seating in the balcony or at the back of the well of the House. I have more than once flinched when hearing the invocation to welcome all while excluding some.

Representation matters. Museums curate and contextualize collections as should the Statehouse. Although we formally apologized last year for the 1931 eugenics bill, “An Act for Human Betterment for Voluntary Sterilization,” the portrait of Gov. Stanley Wilson, who signed this bill into law, still hangs on the wall.

Furthermore, look more closely at the art exhibited throughout the building, all Vermonters do not see their lived histories portrayed in the corridors. Laudably, a newly commissioned portrait of Alexander Twilight, Vermont’s first state legislator of African descent, was unveiled last week.

Business association calls for Emery reprimand

(Editor’s note: The following letter was sent to South Burlington City Council chair Helen Riehle by the South Burlington Business Association.)

Dear Helen:

On behalf of the board of directors of the South Burlington

Finally, serving as a part-time citizen legislator has been indeed an honor and privilege. As someone whose professional career had been in the arts, these four years have been transformational. I learned so much and tried to contribute as best I could. Working on behalf of neighbors has been such a gift. I appreciate my constituents’ belief and support. Thank you.

To learn the final status of bills this session, join me and representatives Maida Townsend and Martin LaLonde, along with Sen. Tom Chittenden at this season’s final legislative forum on Monday, May 23, at 6:30 p.m. in the community room on the second floor of the South Burlington Public Library. To attend the meeting on Zoom, find the link at the library’s event page.

Rep. John Killacky is the author of “because art: commentary, critique, and conversation.”

Business Association, we respectively request that the council pass a resolution reprimanding councilwomen Meaghan Emery for her conduct at the May 2, 2022, council meeting. Her behavior, both in the council meeting and externally through social and other media, is unbecoming of an elected representative. Our elected representatives should be setting an example for public discourse when disagreements or issues arise. Her behavior encourages others to act in the same manner, as we saw with Mr. (James) Leas during the meeting. This is not the first time councilwomen Emery has exhibited this behavior, but we hope it is the last.

Michael Keller John Wilking Co-chairs South Burlington

Business Association

John Killacky

Vermont House of Representatives District 7-3

Legislative Update

Rep. John Killacky Letters

Purported animal welfare bills miss the mark

Guest Perspective

Ray Gonda

I oppose the several anti-trapping and anti-hunting bills — S.201, S.281, S129 and H.411 — as introduced in the Legislature this year. But I will focus on mainly trapping.

Enjoyment of wildlife and the outdoors have been central to my life. I hunted, trapped and fished during my youth. Such outdoor activities and experiences, especially trapping, give one an understanding of wildlife that even many game biologists never acquire — except from trappers — to the betterment of wildlife management. Those experiences made me care about and protect wildlife, not so much individual animals but to assure that sufficient populations of all animals continue to flourish.

Wildlife management is not an ephemeral idea; it is a necessary part of managing human interactions with wildlife. Danger to wildlife does not come from hunting or trapping, but from development that rarely takes the needs of wildlife corridors and habitat into account. Those threats range from direct loss of habitat, air and water pollution, pesticide and herbicide use, and loss of food sources due to man’s activities, such as roadways.

About predator and prey relationships: There is no truth to the claim that nature balances itself. If you want to see animal populations get out of balance with their habitat and each other, then take away the hunting and trapping tools that professionals must have to manage them.

Trapping is essentially

self-educational and is mostly a rural activity. Before starting, as a youth, it requires some formal education and certification through the state. It requires and teaches entrepreneurship through the need to plan a trapline, purchase traps, create the trapline after getting a landowner’s permission, and place each trap for a specific target species.

It requires maintaining the trapline by checking traps every day and re-setting them if needed, perhaps walking miles over often untrodden terrain. It teaches dependability by having to maintain the traps, keeping them clean and odorfree, taking the successful catch home, skinning pelts, cleaning and curing the pelts, storing them properly and caring for them for months — still endeavoring to get one’s schoolwork done each evening.

Finally, one must find a market to sell the pelts. If the season was successful, perhaps a few more traps will be acquired for the coming year.

Trapping is time consuming, hard work and the returns are generally not great, yet trappers keep at it. Why? Because it requires persistence and is character building, par excellence. These are valuable skills to have in society. These things cannot be acquired by any other means than by walking out the door every evening to “run the trapline” while simultaneously acquiring deep knowledge of wildlife behavior, travel pathways, habitat needs and interrelationships.

It also imparts a love of all things outdoors from having to spend part of each day acquiring

an intimate knowledge of the overall landscape and its detailed features. The result of all this is rare, valuable knowledge and skills in the face of an increasingly urban society. If it is a joint venture with one’s parent, it builds bonding that lasts a lifetime.

Anti-trapping organizations like Protect Our Wildlife select and use inflammatory photos and videos posted by unthinking persons on the internet to inflame public opinion. It is cheap politics and easy to do. These postings do not represent the behavior of the vast body of hunters and trappers who are ethical in behavior and caring about their treatment of wildlife. They also put their money and efforts where their beliefs are. Sportsmen are not a threat to wildlife. Rather, just the opposite. They are responsible for

today’s robust and balanced populations of wildlife. Hunters and non-commercial trappers were largely the originators of today’s conservation movement and continue to be to this day.

Seeing animal rights people try to tie the sixth great extinction to sportsmen is an outrageous, egregious, disingenuous claim, and illustrates the shallowness of these claimants’ understanding of the world around them. They are trying to punish an entire class of people for the foolishness of a few. In any other situation in society this would not be tolerated.

If you want to see rural youth deprived of the same wholesome, inspiring experiences that brought me to this place, pass these anti-trapping, anti-hunting bills. Either let rural youth continue to experience what their parents and grandparents did while hunting

and trapping, which will build character and better citizens, or leave them to turn to drugs or alcohol or who knows what else, to relieve their boredom.

Do not accept at face value the mostly false emotion-evoking claims the animal rights people make. Rely on science-based and common-sense rationale such as you will find among the personnel of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department and the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board.

Ray Gonda of South Burlington founded a local chapter of the Audubon Society, belonged to Defenders of Wildlife and was a founding member of the Vermont Conservation Voters. He brought the Vermont chapter of the Sierra Club into existence and served two terms on Gov. Howard Dean’s Council of Environmental Advisors.

Is nuclear power finally seeing its overdue revival?

Guest Perspective

John McClaughry

The growing reawakening of enthusiasm for nuclear-powered electricity has been a remarkable development over the past 10 years.

For decades enviros of various stripes have raged against nuclear power. Nuclear was bad, bad, bad because a plant might explode, fission products would contaminate the continent, careless security might allow proliferation of bomb material, nuclear plants were big and owned by big corporations, mining uranium was environmentally destructive, and so on.

Despite their protests, starting

in 1957 104 civilian nuclear stations went online, ultimately generating about a quarter of the nation’s electricity that dependably supplied the grid as needed 24/7. And the nuclear stations did so without causing air pollution, a single nuclear-related death, and the emission of greenhouse gases that environmentalists believe are producing a coming global climate catastrophe.

President Joe Biden’s energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, is an enthusiastic promoter of “the next wave of nuclear technologies.”

Generation II and III reactors, mostly built by General Electric and Westinghouse. Among them was Vermont Yankee. In its 42 years Yankee never had a core failure or release of dangerous radiation to the public. The now six decadeold design well served its purpose, but no one would build one of that early design today. The future of nuclear energy

This record was largely accomplished by what are called

Do not accept at face value the mostly false emotion-evoking claims the animal rights people make. Rely on science-based and common-sense rationale.

MCCLAUGHRY continued from page 7

today was first defined 20 years ago by a 10-nation conference called the Generation IV International Forum. In 2002 it announced the six most promising new technologies — clean, safe, likely cost-effective, and resistant to diversion of fissile materials.

In January 2014 the forums technology roadmap update projected that the Generation IV technologies most likely to be deployed first are the sodium-cooled fast reactor, the lead-cooled fast reactor and two very high-temperature reactor technologies. The molten salt reactor and the gas-cooled fast reactor were judged to be further down the road.

Since then, there has been a flood of new approaches. In a 2016 article in Reason, Ron Bailey wrote “that under the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s enabling legislation, the agency is only able to consider approving a new power plant when its application is complete. Filing a complete application requires doing all of the engineering and legal work in advance. That generally takes a decade for conventional designs financed by giant utility companies. Entrepreneurs pursuing innovative designs don’t have the capital to endure this.”

President Barack Obama cautiously supported some nuclear advances. In 2018 President Donald Trump signed the bipartisan (passed the Senate 87-4) Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act to further reduce those roadblocks.

President Joe Biden has aggressively swung behind Generation IV nuclear. In November 2021 his Department of Energy put $1.5 billion behind Bill Gates’ Natrium reactor (formerly Terrapower) and a Maryland startup called X-Energy. His energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, is an enthusiastic promoter of “the next wave of nuclear technologies.”

An April 15 news release from the New York Energy and Climate Advocates urged the endorsement of “a bold and inclusive climate strategy, embracing both

renewables and zero-carbon nuclear” by a coalition including the former director of NASA’s Goddard Institute Dr. James E. Hansen. Hansen is the revered guru of climate catastrophe prediction stemming from his 1988 testimony before Sen. Al Gore’s committee.

Unlike most of today’s climate change activists, Hansen has been steadfastly outspoken in his belief that nuclear is an indispensable component of America’s electric future.

Even Middlebury College climate activist Bill McKibben, who attracted a wide anti-nuclear following by demanding that Vermont Yankee be shut down, is cautiously moving toward nuclear. He still thinks that back then Yankee needed to be closed, but now he says for emissions reduction reasons, he does not believe that other operating nuclear plants should be shuttered.

What does this growing acceptance of nuclear energy —– smaller in scale, safe, reliable, distributed, cost effective and carbon-free — mean for Vermonters? First, we need to steer clear of emotional, irrational and ignorant political movements and, as the climate activists repeatedly say, “listen to the science.”

On the policy level, by the end of this decade there will be market-ready small nuclear reactors that can reliably and safely support the dramatically increased electrification that the climate activists are now urging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Our present and future governors should tell their public service commissioners to begin to identify suitable sites for new small nuclear stations, starting with a field in Vernon, which ratepayers have now spent $248 million to prepare.

John McClaughry is vice president of the Ethan Allen Institute. In 1960-1961, he was a reactor physicist in General Electric’s atomic power equipment division.

Striped maple provides food, shelter in understory

The Outside Story

Susan Shea

Beneath the forest canopy, or overstory, of towering trees is a second layer of vegetation known as the understory. It is composed of shrubs, saplings and understory trees that grow in the dappled shade of the overstory.

One understory specialist is striped maple, a small tree that seldom grows more than 20 feet high and 8 inches in circumference. Despite its moderate stature, striped maple plays an important ecological role in the forest, providing shelter and food for a variety of wildlife.

Striped maple trees (Acer pensylvanicum) are easy to identify in all seasons by their greenish bark with vertical white stripes or black mottling, and their smooth, green twigs. The red winter buds and large terminal bud (nearly a half inch long) are also good identification characteristics. These buds grow even larger as they swell during spring. The leaves that unfurl after bud burst are big, three-lobed and finely toothed. At 5 to 6 inches long and almost as wide, striped maple leaves are the largest of the Northeast’s native maples.

Because of the leaf shape, this tree is also known as goosefoot. Other names for it include moosewood and moose maple, since moose consume the trees’ buds, leaves and bark. Striped maple is sometimes confused with mountain maple, another common understory tree which has smaller, coarsely-toothed leaves and brownish bark.

Drooping strings of yellowgreen, bell-shaped flowers emerge on striped maple about the same time the leaves unfold. These flowers develop into clusters of samaras — the paired, winged seeds produced by all maple species — which ripen in fall and disperse on late autumn winds. A striped maple tree may produce only female flowers, only male flowers or both sexes in one year. Some striped maples have even been found to switch sex from year to year in response to stressors such as injuries and changing environmental conditions.

Widely distributed across the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada, striped maple grows as far west as Minnesota and Ontario and south in the Appalachians to Georgia. It prefers welldrained, acidic soils on cool, upland sites in northern hardwood, conifer and mixed forests. In our region,

striped maple grows best at elevations between 1,800 feet and 2,600 feet. Protected from wind by the overstory, this maple does not need deep roots, and its roots tend to be shallow and wide-spreading. It is well-adapted to survive in the deep shade of the understory but grows very slowly unless a nearby tree falls or the forest is thinned, allowing more sunlight to penetrate the canopy.

Striped maples over 100 years old have been found in forest openings.

Striped maple and other understory plants help create vertical diversity in a forest. Multiple layers of vegetation provide a greater variety of food and microhabitats for insects and other animals, enhancing the overall biodiversity of the forest. Vegetation layers are especially important for birds, as different species prefer to forage and nest at different heights. The black-throated blue warbler, for instance, often nests in understory shrubs or small trees such as striped maple.

Some Native American people traditionally used the wood of the striped maple for arrows and the bark to make a beverage and for medicinal purposes. Colonial farmers fed striped maple leaves to their horses and cattle and allowed their livestock into the woods to browse on the tree’s spring shoots.

In addition to its ecological value as an understory tree, striped maple is an important food source for a variety of wildlife. Honeybees feed on nectar from striped maple flowers. Moose, deer and snowshoe hare browse twigs and buds during winter and moose eat the leaves in summer.

I have often seen striped maples in the Green Mountains with rows of long, vertical grooves on their trunks, where moose scraped off the bark in early spring, using an upward motion of their lower incisors, likely to obtain minerals from the sap. Porcupines and beaver consume the bark. Ruffed grouse eat the buds, and grouse, squirrels and chipmunks feast on the seeds.

The next time you take a walk in the forest, keep your eyes open for this often overlooked, but valuable understory tree.

Susan Shea is a naturalist, writer, and conservationist based in Vermont. Illustration by Adelaide Murphy Tyrol. The Outside Story is assigned and edited by Northern Woodlands magazine and sponsored by the Wellborn Ecology Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, nhcf.org.

Help identify Vermont’s biggest trees

When hiking in Vermont’s woods, have you ever been wowed by a larger than average tree? Or perhaps you have a mammoth specimen growing in your own backyard. If so, you may be looking at a champion tree, one worth adding to the state’s big tree database.

The Vermont Big Tree Program is an ongoing effort to locate, measure and record the largest trees in the state. Currently 53 species are listed in the database, twice as many as when the list was first created in 1972 by Jeff Freeman, a now retired Castleton University botany professor. Today the database is maintained by the Vermont Urban and Community Forestry program, a partnership of University of Vermont Extension and the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.

Are trees individuals? Or

Into the Woods

Ethan Tapper

Are trees individuals? I started to think about this question after hearing a researcher say that trees are “colonial organisms” — more like colonies of autonomous branches than individuals. As I struggled to find answers, I found that this topic is as nuanced and as complex as our forests.

While humans and other animals are unitary organisms — with a single body — plants and trees are modular organisms, comprised of repeating modules. Unlike unitary organisms, modular organisms like trees are unconstrained by the determinate growth of a human or animal body. Instead, they have an indeterminate growth pattern, able to repeat themselves over and over again by creating new roots, branches, buds and sometimes trunks.

While branches are connected to a common trunk and root system, they may also behave autonomously, competing with each other for light and satisfying their own energetic needs before exporting resources to the rest of the tree. When they are shaded, or otherwise consume more than they produce, they die.

Through they have some autonomy, a branch is also part of a tree, an organism which must maintain its overall shape and growth pattern to survive.

Trees regulate their overall growth largely through processes known as apical dominance and apical control, using hormones to suppress the growth of certain buds and branches.

ically identical trees from their root system. Covering over 100 acres in Utah, an aspen clone called Pando is the most massive and perhaps the oldest organism — some would say clonal organism — on Earth, weighing an estimated 13 million pounds and thought to be between 14,000 and 80,000 years old.

While Pando looks like a forest of young aspen trees, each tree is a ramet — genetically-identical and connected, at least initially, to the same root system. To think of these ramets as individuals is both right and wrong: they compete for light and even for resources within their common root system but are also indisputably part of a larger entity.

Many of us have been captivated by the idea of the “wood wide web,” the underground networks of mycorrhizal fungi that can connect trees together, even facilitating communication and resource-sharing between trees. While some have taken this research to mean that forests are unified entities, or that they are entirely cooperative and altruistic, the truth is more complicated: While they cooperate at times, trees also compete with each other, often to the death.

Nominations for both native and introduced species are accepted from January through June each year. From July to December, a team of trained forests, parks and recreation staff, consulting foresters and tree wardens conduct site visits to measure nominated trees. They assign points to each tree using a formula that includes measurements of the circumference, height and crown spread, in accordance with the American Forests’ National Register of Champion Trees criteria.

If you think your tree may be eligible for inclusion, first view the list of confirmed big tree champions and list vacancies. A searchable database, formula to calculate size, nomination form and other details can be found at go.uvm.edu/bigtrees.

The listing for each tree, even if located on private property,

includes an image, measurements and date of last official visit. Location information is provided if the tree is on public land or viewable from the road or other public property if on private land.

The biggest tree in the state is an eastern cottonwood in Colchester. Other top contenders are a silver maple (Brattleboro), sugar maple (Westminster) and northern red oak (Shaftsbury).

Vermont has three national champions: sweet crabapple (Randolph), sweet birch (Chester) and roundleaf shadbush (Clarendon). To learn about these trees and view the list of more than 500 national champions, check out americanforests.org/champion -trees.

For more information about the program, contact Gwen Kozlowski at gwen.kozlowski@uvm.edu or (802) 651-8343, ext. 506.

Trees with high apical dominance and apical control — like conifers — are excurrent, resulting in a relatively symmetrical shape. Shrubs are decurrent, with low apical dominance and low apical control creating an asymmetrical growth pattern of many competing stems. Deciduous trees fall in between these extremes, with a more-or-less symmetrical (excurrent) overall growth pattern within which each branch is somewhat decurrent.

With some species of trees, such as eastern white cedar, branch autonomy is especially pronounced. Cedars form stem strips: sections of bark that connect groups of branches directly to groups of roots. When exposed to drought or other stressors a single stem strip, and its associated roots and branches, may die while the rest of the tree is relatively unaffected.

Some tree species produce clones, sprouting groups of genet-

Like a branch on a tree, a tree in a forest is both autonomous and dependent on a larger system. Even a small forest is comprised of billions or trillions of organisms, each living an autonomous, complex life. Trees rely on other organisms to build soils, to regulate populations of pests, for pollination and seed dispersal, and much more. Together, these countless independent organisms, their environment and natural processes form a natural community: an entity with behavior and properties of its own. As the fate of a branch is linked to the fate of the tree to which it is attached, the fate of a tree is inextricably linked to the fate of this natural community.

Like us, a branch on a tree or a tree in a forest is an individual but also part of something greater. As we exercise our autonomy as forest stewards, it’s up to us to recognize our part in the bigger picture, to learn how to sustain ourselves while also sustaining the trees, the forests and the living landscape to which we are connected.

Ethan Tapper is the Chittenden County forester for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. See what he’s been up to, check out his YouTube channel, sign up for his eNews and read articles he’s written at linktr.ee/ chittendencountyforester.

something more complex?

PHOTO COURTESY OF VERMONT URBAN AND COMMUNITY FORESTRY PROGRAM

Kris Dulmer, Milton tree warden, stands next to an eastern cottonwood in Colchester, the biggest tree of all species in Vermont.

Art exhibit explores memories, dreams of real, fabricated places

Ross Sheehan, an artist, illustrator and art educator who works and lives in South Burlington, is currently exhibiting a large painting, mixed media, maps, poetry and sculptures at the South Burlington Public Library through Tuesday, May 31.

The exhibition, “A Different Place, Altogether,” documents changing and overlooked places, spaces and landmarks in and around the city of South Burlington.

Sheehan investigates themes of psychogeography and explores layers of memory and dreams in relation to physical and subconscious spaces and places.

“I investigate physical environments, memories and dreams of and about real places and fabricated spaces by gathering topographical evidence through methods of documentation,” the artist said in a statement. “I employ processes of walking, drawing, object collecting, writing, video, photography, printmaking and other mixed media practices in my explora-

tions. I try to find meaning in the thresholds of everyday life experiences, uncanny realms, uninvited encounters and the places that are neither here nor there.”

He has exhibited at the Local Project in Queens, SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco, Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival and the International Print Center New York. He studied painting and art history in Florence, Italy, received his bachelor’s degree in illustration from Syracuse University, and his master’s in visual art from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

He currently teaches painting and drawing at several institutions in the greater Burlington area, and his work has been exhibited and collected internationally.

My work hovers between two worlds as I attempt to capture evidence of real situations, and to uncover layers of a contrived past,” Sheehan said. “It is important to me to emphasize the act of ‘getting lost’ in quasi-urban environments to dissect the true mean-

ings of in-between places, heterotopian spaces and transitional

microcosms that exist all around the expanding borders of our cities and towns in relation to the edge lands of the subconscious mind.”

COURTESY IMAGE

“Delineations,” 2020, oil, oil pastels, acrylic, gesso, ink and pencil on canvas, 41.75”x76.75”.

Green Up Day brings out eclectic crew of Vermonters

I’m hoping that’ll pick up.”

Many South Burlington residents participated in this year’s Green Up Day, from volunteers working the drop-off to youngsters pitching in for the first time.

Linda Collins, a South Burlington Rotary Club member, volunteered to help organize Green Up Day this year. On Saturday morning, when the annual state tradition kicked off, Collins stationed herself at 104 Landfill Road recording how many bags of trash people dropped off for disposal.

She was happy to see her community outside and picking up trash, although she wished more people had come to Landfill Road to dispose of the collected waste.

“I’m very surprised at how many people signed up at city hall,” she said. “We haven’t seen many people drop the bags yet, so

Chris Trombly, another South Burlington Rotary Club member, volunteered to help get rid of the trash. He believes that it’s essential for Green Up Day volunteers to dispose of waste safely.

“Part of our organization is giving back to the community. Green Up Day has been one of the centerpieces of giving back to the community,” he said. “One thing that we help support is the dropoff center so people can come to pick up bags. We are helping folks who pre-registered from city hall unload and categorize the trash into tires, wood and just general waste. It’s an easy way to donate time and make a difference.”

Trombly was very optimistic that more people would be by later in the day. There’s been an army of volunteers throughout the city that have really made a difference, he noted. And this was only as of noon.

Trombly’s son, Cole, an enthusiastic second grader at Chamberlain Elementary School also helped pick up trash.

“It’s really good and I really liked this. I picked up one full bag and unloaded 19. So, I picked up 20 bags,” he said.

Also at Chamberlin was a crew of South Burlington, Burlington and Williston residents — six elementary students and five adults — who talked about how the values of Green Up Day line up perfectly with their values as Jehovah’s Witnesses, in terms of taking care of the earth.

The adults all knew they wanted to do a Green Up Day project and spent some time trying to find an area to clean. Eventually, Amanda Woods, of South Burlington, suggested the Chamberlain School, and everyone agreed that it would be an excellent place to pick up trash.

Woods went to South Burlington City Hall and told them about her interest in cleaning up the school. City hall members were shocked when she asked for four trash bags for the project, insisting she would need fewer bags.

“He said, ‘I don’t think you can fill up four of those bags.’ And I was like, no, I think we’ll do four,” Woods said.

The group went through those four bags quickly, and fortunately someone else picked up more bags from city hall.

When asked why they wanted

PHOTO BY ALEX WEHR

A group of residents from South Burlington, Burlington and Williston filled five trash bags in five hours at Chamberlin Elementary School.

GREEN UP DAY

continued from page 12

to participate in Green Up Day this year, one group member said that they all wanted a greener earth. “We usually spend Satur-

South Burlington Rec says go fly a kite

Celebrate the first warm days of spring and the opportunity to get out in the city’s park for Kites in the Park, Saturday, May 21, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., in Veterans Memorial Park.

Bring your own kite or make one with South Burlington Recreation Department staff, who will provide all the materials to create a family kite. Color it, construct it and then fly it. The event is free.

Gardening questions?

Call a master gardener

Wondering when to plant your tomatoes? Confused about composting? Or maybe you need some advice on caring for your lawn.

University of Vermont Extension master gardeners are available to answer questions from gardeners in Vermont on a broad range of home horticulture topics including soil bed preparation and planting; vegetable and fruit gardening;

day mornings talking to people about the Earth being clean one day. We’re Jehovah’s Witnesses, so we go around and talk about

Community Notes

annuals and perennials; backyard composting; sustainable lawn care; plant diseases and integrated pest management, among others.

Volunteers answer calls from 9 a.m.-noon, Thursdays through Oct. 27. The number to call is (802) 656-5421.

Questions also may be submitted online at go.uvm.edu/gardenquestion for a speedier response. The online form includes an option for providing up to three photos. Gardeners also are encouraged to use the online system to submit photos of plants damaged by insects and diseases.

Event planner launches wedding business

Louis Godin of South Burlington has launched a new wedding consulting business, webeventplanner.com.

“Not everyone has the budget for a wedding planner,” says Godin.

He offers a 75-minute non-biased approach to planning, cutting costs, vendor selection, budgets,

the Bible. One of the things the Bible talks about is a clean earth and we’re trying to share that with people,” he said.

logistics, event management, timelines, and other concerns for couples planning a wedding.

He has 35 years of experience in the wedding and events industry and has helped plan over 1,700 events (500 weddings) in his career. He was named member of the year by the Vermont Association of Wedding Professional in 2019.

“Louis is amazing,” said Meghan Henning-LeBlanc in a press release announcing the business launch. “I was so confused and just needing someone to point me in the right direction. Louis provides not just help with planning but also gives anyone who uses him the comfort knowing he has your best interest at heart.”

Godin is also active in the community. He is founder of South Burlington Neighbors Helping Neighbors Project, served as logistics chair for the Champlain Valley Walk to End Alzheimers, and consultant for Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, and has volunteered for the Reason to Hope dinner.

PHOTO BY ALEX WEHR

A scene from Green Day on Saturday in South Burlington.

HOUSE

continued from page 1

Rep. Ann Pugh

Pugh, one of the most senior members of the House and perhaps one of the only representatives with a streak of blue hair, announced she was not running for reelection in her column for The Other Paper last week.

“It has been one of the greatest privileges in my life to bring the voices of residents of South Burlington to Montpelier, to bring their interests and concerns into the legislative discussions,” she said.

When she first ran for election, Pugh said she “hadn’t a clue” what she was getting herself into. She wasn’t a political scientist, but a social worker with a passion. Pugh lost her first election but returned the next year and won — then proceeded to be reelected every term for another 30 years.

“I’m curious. I’m a social worker. I believe in possibility. My roots are in social and economic justice, and the importance of and the possibility of change and including all voices. More personally, I wanted to make a difference,” Pugh said.

With 30 years in the state legislature, serving as chair of the House Committee on Human Services, vice chair of the Joint Legislative Child Protection Oversight Committee and as a member of the Health Reform Oversight Committee, Pugh helped to usher in historic change for Vermonters. She was in the House when it legalized civil unions for same sex couples and eventually same sex marriage, reformed the welfare system, added mental health support, improved care for older Vermonters, improved palliative and hospice care, passed the death with dignity bill — the list goes on, she said.

One of the most notable bills she’s championed, and perhaps most relevant at this moment as the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, is her work bringing Proposition 5 to the House floor where it passed earlier this year.

Last fall, as she was gearing up for the session, she said she felt “incredibly honored” for her role in passing the bill, penned by fellow Chittenden County Sen. Ginny Lyons, which enshrines reproductive liberty into the Vermont Constitution. One notable piece of the legislation, Pugh pointed out, is that the amendment protects the right to personal reproductive autonomy, not just abortion.

Looking back on all her work in the Legislature, and what she’s proudest of, Pugh reflected on how she takes some of it for granted now — it feels so necessary and embedded into the fabric of Vermont.

of service and efforts to ensure Vermonters’ reproductive freedom.

“I just want to thank the voters of South Burlington for putting their confidence in me and us. Sending us back to the Statehouse for so many years. It’s huge. I have a huge debt of gratitude,” Pugh said.

Rep. Maida Townsend

Townsend, the petite spitfire of the House Committee on Appropriations and co-chair of the Government Accountability Committee, has announced she will not run for reelection to the seat she’s held for 10 years.

“I’m curious. I’m a social worker. I believe in possibility. My roots are in social and economic justice, and the importance of and the possibility of change and including all voices. More personally, I wanted to make a difference.”

— Rep. Ann Pugh

“Some of these things I take for granted now. I want to say one of them is gay marriage. One of them is mental health parity,” she said. “We need to shore up and make sure that they don’t get rolled back.”

Last week, Pugh was honored with an award as a Democratic leader for her years

She is known for her diligence responding to residents, knocking on doors, going to Town Meeting Day polls every year to keep people informed and holding innumerous numbers in her head when allocating out the state budget. Not to mention, she’s a master figure skater and makes sure to hit the ice after legislating for the day.

“I absolutely still love the work. I still love the institution.

I still have energy to spare. I love my people and relationships that have developed over the last 10 years. But by the time we get to election day in November I will be 78 years old — 78 years of age. I really believe that it’s time that I stepped aside,” Townsend said.

She’s most proud of her work to estab-

lish what we know today as search and rescue, to reform oversight and transparency with law enforcement, to increase access to the polls, and establishing the state ethics commission, which she believes “should have more teeth,” but was an “uphill battle” that she’s glad at least exists.

Rep. John Killacky

The third rep to step down from his seat will be Killacky, who worked as director of the Flynn Theatre before being elected to represent South Burlington four years ago.

He joked about feeling like “the new kid on the team,” but the other reps were quick to say that he lent a fresh set of eyes and rightfully questioned the institution itself, pushing against norms and for broad, systemic change.

“I absolutely still love the work. I still love the institution. I still have energy to spare...

But by the time we get to election day in November I will be 78 years old — 78 years of age. I really believe that it’s time that I stepped aside.”

“I think that that’s going to be a reset moment again for Vermont,” Killacky said, adding that he hopes their “holistic” approach will help gather more data on ways in which systems discriminate against Black, Indigenous and other Vermonters of color. Housing, for example, is something he’s particularly tuned into, and something he’s worked on during the pandemic, when at one point 2,000 people were homeless, he said.

“Because we’re not as diverse a state as others, sometimes the whiteness blinds people to this kind of discrimination. It’s not as apparent. But it’s just as deeply embedded here,” he said.

Who’s next?

“John is generally so gentlemanly and kind and thoughtful and caring, but there can be a real edge come out, which needs to come out and a fierceness when somebody’s rights have been trampled upon,” Townsend said.

— Rep. Maida Townsend

South Burlington resident Emilie Krasnow announced Monday that she is running for Pugh’s vacant seat in Chittenden District 9.

For Killacky, who serves on the House Committee on General, Housing, and Military Affairs and the House Discrimination Prevention Panel, some of his proudest work has been to help pass the eugenics apology last year — an effort 10 years in the making — and to create the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to examine systemic discrimination throughout the state, among many other things.

Townsend said South Burlington resident Kate Nugent, a local justice of the peace and member of the South Burlington Board of Civil Authority, plans to run for her seat, and former South Burlington school board member Brian Minier is likely running for Killacky’s seat, the representative said.

No one has officially announced their candidacy for the new fifth House district, shared between South Burlington and Williston, which was allocated in the recent redistricting.

COURTESY PHOTO

Between Reps. Maida Townsend, Ann Pugh and John Killacky who do not plan to run for reelection, the city will be losing 44 years of legislating experience. Rep. Martin LaLonde has announced his candidacy and looks forward to leading the new crew of freshmen reps tossing their hats in the ring.

Rice students thrilled to be back singing

Trio travels to New England Music Festival

Grace Kline, Gabe Thompson and Connor Trombly, all Rice Memorial High School students, traveled down to Lewis S. Mills High School in Burlington, Conn., to participate in the New England Music Festival for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The return to in-person vocal and instrumental performance has been long awaited for many students and teachers after facing so many cancellations and socially distant performances.

Thompson, a junior who got into the festival in 2020 prior to its cancellation, expressed his excitement at the prospect of being able to sing in person again. “The experience is just awesome. I’m finally able to go and perform things again.”

The students went through an in-person audition before being selected for the festival. Kline and Trombly viewed the auditioning experience as a way to see themselves grow as performers.

“The audition process really allowed me to have more confidence in my abilities to sing because being in front of a live adjudicator is definitely not something you get to do on a normal basis,” Kline said.

“I always like progressing and being better. I did that a lot this year because I almost doubled my score,” Trombly said.

For Kline, the ability to go back to in-person performance has been monumental in bringing students together.

“It allows a lot of the more

introverted communities to be able to go back and do what they’ve appreciated doing, especially after being isolated for so long and having to do it alone.”

Rice Memorial High School chorus and vocal performance teacher Kevin Ginter said, “It’s been challenging for sure, but they’re getting it done. Just getting the kids back singing again, is just our whole mission, you know, just getting kids more involved and advancing because some kids do decide to pursue this as a career as well as just for their enjoyment and development.”

COURTESY PHOTO

From left, senior Grace Kline, junior Gabe Thompson and sophomore Connor Trombly sang at New England Music Festival in late March.

Kevin Ginter

News from South Burlington Public Library

180 Market St., South Burlington: 802-8464140 or southburlingtonlibrary.org for information about any programming, cancellations or in-person changes. Some events may change from in-person to virtual. Some events require preregistration.

Hours: Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; and Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Email sbplinfo@southburlingtonvt.gov.

KIDS & TEENS

Toddlertime

Tuesdays, May 17, 24 and 31, 10:30-11:30 a.m.

Join Miss Kelly and her puppets for storytimes geared to ages 1 to 3 with an adult caregiver.

Art & crafternoons

Tuesdays, May 17 and 31, 3-4:30 p.m.

From painting to print-making and from collage to sculpture, each crafternoon features a different kind of activity. For kids ages eight and up, or ages six and up with an adult helper. May 3: koinobori streamers. May 17: root children peg doll. May 31: newspaper chickens.

Lego builders

Wednesdays, May 18 and 24, 3-4:30 p.m.

Projects geared to kids ages eight and

up, or ages six and up with an adult helper. Each week, builders explore, create and participate in challenges.

Babytime

Wednesdays, May 18 and 24, 10:30-11 a.m.

A gentle, slow storytime that features songs, rhymes and lap play.

Kids’ Book Club

Thursday, May 19, 4-5 p.m.

Kids in kindergarten through second grade and their parents are welcome to join Ms. Natacha for a book club for kids. March title is “Half Magic” by Edward Eager. May title: “Cress Watercress” by Gregory Maguire. Preregister.

Friday movie

Friday, May 20, 3-4:30 p.m. “Chicken Run.”

Draw together

Tuesday, May 24, 3-4:30 p.m.

Use Wendy Mac’s magically inspiring drawing program virtually in the Katie O’Brien Activity Room. materials and watercolor paints supplied.

Youth advisory board meeting

Thursday, May 12, 4-5 p.m.

For teenage library lovers to help make decisions about how things run at the library.

ADULTS

Tech help in the digital lab

Fridays, May 20, 10 a.m.-noon

Do you have a new computer or device that you don’t know how to use? Come to the digital lab for one-on-one assistance.

English conversation circle

Monday, May 23, noon-1 p.m.

English as a Second Language discussion group, facilitated by an experienced instructor Louis Giancola.

Poetry club

Tuesday, May 24, 11 a.m.-noon

Come share your poetry in a supportive, comfortable setting facilitated by local poet Jodi Girouard.

Morning book group

Thursday, May 12, 10:30-11:30 a.m.

“Nomadland” by Jessica Bruder. “From the beet fields of North Dakota to the National Forest campgrounds of California, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labor pool, made up largely of transient older Americans who have taken to the road in late-model RVs, travel trailers, and vans, forming a growing community of nomads.” In-person and on Zoom.

Veterans’ outreach

Tuesday, May 17, 6-7 p.m.

Trained specialist conducts ongoing outreach to primarily combat veterans and their families to identify any potential needs and facilitate the process to access all available services for the veteran. Presented by program manager Andre Wing, who served for 25 years in armed forces.

Open mic

Wednesday, May 18, 6-7:30 p.m.

Performers have eight minutes each to share a song or poem. These can be original works or covers. No microphones at this open mic, just un-amplified voices and instruments.

Classical clusters: Breaking the mold

Wednesday, May 18, 1:15-2:30 p.m.

Classical clusters is a series of four presentations, each focusing on a different

group of composers and their music, all connected to each other in some way, with Lois Price, a library staff member and musician. May 18: Paris in the 20th century.

Legislative forum

Monday, May 23, 6:30-8 p.m. South Burlington delegation on hand in the community room, in person and remote.

Film screening, discussion with Nora

Jacobson

Wednesday, May 25, 6-8 p.m. Screening of the first wide-release feature film made by and starring Native Americans, “Smoke Signals,” followed by a discussion with adult services specialist and film enthusiast Yitzi Gittelsohn.

Evening book group

Thursday, May 26, 6-7 p.m. May evening book group selection is “Ridgerunner” by Gil Adamson. Set against the backdrop of a distant war raging in Europe and a rapidly changing landscape in the West, a vivid historical novel that draws from the epic tradition and a literary Western brimming with a cast of unforgettable characters touched with humor and loss and steeped in the wild of the natural world.

Spring Concert Series: Sky Blue Boys

Saturday, May 28, 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Part of the 2022 Friends of the Library spring concert series.

The Sky Blue Boys have been playing traditional and original acoustic music throughout the Northeast for over two decades. With two voices, guitars, banjo, mandolin, autoharp, 12-string, dobro and more, Banjo Dan and Willy Lindner, founders of the celebrated Banjo Dan and the Mid-nite Plowboys, deliver a lively program characterized by the passion of bluegrass, the authenticity of folk and the excitement of old-time string-band music. With a huge repertoire of ballads, vintage country numbers, Civil War-era songs, instrumentals and gospel, plus a few surprises thrown in along the way, The Sky Blue Boys consistently deliver a show full of energy and variety – good entertainment with a huge emphasis on fun. Refreshments will follow the concert.

COURTESY PHOTO

The Sky Blue Boys offer a concert at the South Burlington Library May 28.

Task force denies airport rezoning

Feisty residents advocate for neighborhood

AVALON STYLES-ASHLEY STAFF WRITER

Stop infringing on the Chamberlin neighborhood.

That was the main sentiment shared by South Burlington residents throughout months of meetings and discussion by the city airport rezoning task force, which has been considering a request to rezone 11 acres of airport-owned land from residential to aviation use.

The task force unanimously decided April 28 against the Burlington International Airport’s request, arguing that the neighborhood has already suffered enough from F-35 noise, the removal of hundreds of homes, the loss of critical affordable housing and the disintegration of its community.

“The city does not have the authority to regulate noise generated by aircraft operations. The city does have the authority to not allow BIA to expand airport uses beyond the limits established by the current zoning map,” task force consultant Brandy Saxton wrote on behalf of the members in a report that will be delivered to the planning commission for consideration.

The task force was formed in December last year after the Burlington International Airport submitted a request to the city to rezone 11 acres off Kirby Road Extension. The land, once dotted with houses that were demolished under a noise mitigation program in the early 2000s, now resembles a small undeveloped park where residents often walk their dogs, picnic and cross-country ski.

Acting aviation director Nic Longo offered a conceptual plan to use the land to “to promote business and support facilities for the airport,” adding that development of the land could help reduce noise in the area, a benefit to Chamberlin residents who bear the brunt of noise from the F-35 jets. Plus, more commercial buildings would’ve boosted South Burlington’s grand list, providing jobs and a bigger tax base.

The airport says it does not intend “to expand into any neighborhood.”

Its request, however, seems to have reopened old wounds in the neighborhood, sparking a group of feisty residents to advocate against the rezoning request.

Over 200 people signed a petition against the request, which the group created and took door to door around Chamberlin. One resident, Ashley Adams, who owns some apartments in the area and helped canvas, said she was surprised to discover how many residents had no idea about the rezoning request.

“I just see the injustice of this, and I don’t expect my tenants to get involved and go to meetings. They’re raising their families, they’re working hard, and I

feel like someone needs to step up and do something about this important moral issue,” Adams told The Other Paper in March.

The task force’s final report also emphasizes Chamberlin as a holdout of crucial affordable housing in a steeply increasing market.

It represents “an original ‘missing middle’ neighborhood,” filled with modest single-family homes, apartments, condos and duplexes, according to the report.

“Given the severe housing crisis in the region, it is critical that the remaining housing and quality of life in the neighborhood be preserved. The character, convenience, choice and affordability available in the Chamberlin neighborhood is not something that can be readily replaced with housing elsewhere in the city,” Saxton wrote.

The city’s fraught relationship with how the airport is governed, under the management of Burlington despite sitting on South Burlington soil, has also been thrown into the spotlight over the last few months.

Two different amendments to a bulk Senate transportation bill related to the airport were introduced by South Burlington city councilor and Sen. Thomas Chittenden in April, both with potentially serious implications for how the airport functions in South Burlington, although only one has survived so far.

The dead amendment, introduced at the behest of Gov. Phil Scott, could have loosened local control of parking near the airport. While part of the impetus was to ease a development plan for local business, Beta Technologies, an unintended impact might have allowed the airport to build parking lots on the empty land at the heart of their rezoning request. City manager Jessie Baker and city councilor Meaghan Emery (who also served on the rezoning task force) both spoke in opposition of the amendment, which was cut in a House vote before the bill was sent back to the Senate.

The other amendment, still attached to the bill although stripped down from its original language, would form a working group to examine airport governance, with regionalization being one possible option to explore.

With the task force’s research and recommendation complete, the airport’s request will head to the South Burlington planning commission where members will take action or take no action.

If the planning commission were to disregard the task force’s recommendation and approve the airport’s request to rezone the land, their decision would then move up for city council consideration. Should the council deny the airport, it has the opportunity to submit another request.

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To book, call 800-622-4000.

Dr. Aerwen Stagers, DMD

Charles Vallee

Charles Mack Vallee was born on July 18, 1994. He died on May 3, 2022. The Mack in Charlie’s name reflects his mom’s maiden name, an American version of Machoul, given to Charlie’s greatgreat grandfather as he transited Ellis Island from Lebanon and moved to North Carolina. Personally, Charlie made the lives richer of all he knew; professionally Charlie left a mark on the world of someone well beyond his 27 years.

Born in Burlington, Charlie grew up in South Burlington under the guiding hand of his brother Ted, three years his elder. Both boys attended the Mater Christi school, and the daily commute down Spear Street made a stop to pick up Charlie’s best friend, Mikey Miller. Mike, Charlie, and Basa Zvarova were inseparable pals at Mater Christi.

Charlie’s youth beyond school and home was equally blessed by the 12 first cousins on his dad’s side and nine on his mom’s side. Nearly every Vermont holiday was spent in Georgia, Vt., at Gramma Betty’s with the Vermont cousins and where Charlie dominated the pool table. North Carolina trips were spent in Mooresville at Sitti and Giddi’s — Lebanese for grandmother and grandfather — surrounded by the southern cousins, plenty of Krispy Kreme donuts, the strong personality of Sitti and Lebanese food. In the north, Charlie would spend a week a summer in a northern trout camp, each trip stacked with northern cousins and sponsored by his dad’s father, Papa, who strongly influenced Charlie’s love of nature. Later in life Charlie’s dad and uncle were able to reciprocate the sponsorship with a trip for salmon in Bristol Bay, Alaska, grizzly bears and

all. The southern cousins gathered every year on the South Carolina beaches, again lorded over by Sitti.

Following the lead of his brother, Charlie spent much of his youth playing soccer on the Far Post soccer team and, in a fluke of fate playing floor hockey with his cousin Wil, decided to become a hockey goalie, rising through the Chittenden-South Burlington youth program.

Charlie’s Vermont life was interrupted dramatically when his dad, selected by President George W. Bush to be ambassador, plucked him and his brother from Vermont to accompany him to Slovakia. The embassy was very helpful in suggesting sports teams for the boys. Unlike the U.S. and its seasonal sports opportunities, the European system is based on yearround clubs.

Charlie was forced to choose between hockey and soccer, and chose, with the guiding hand of his brother, soccer, joining the Venglos Soccer Academy run by a famous European trainer. Both boys were mortified when the armored limousine conveying them and Dad would drive to the edge of the soccer field to drop them off; they both also seemed to acquire Slovak swear words faster than their dad.

It was during Charlie’s stay in Slovakia that he gained a love for foreign affairs and security studies, still a pre-teen but absorbing all around him, intrigued by the military as he played pool with the Marines in the sky-room at the ambassador’s residence — and acutely aware of a residence and travel surrounded by armed security. Charlie also acquired his rich love of hunting, accompanying his dad on weekends to small Slovak villages and the army forests to hunt red stag, mouflon, wild boar

and roe deer. Because Charlie’s return to the states was midyear in 2008, he was homeschooled in Slovakia by a Slovak American poet to whom much of Charlie’s writing skills can be attributed.

Charlie’s return stateside was also a return to sports, primarily Far Post Soccer. But early in the season, the South Burlington hockey team was without a goalie, and someone noted that Charlie Vallee used to do that. After receiving some of Dad’s shots on the pond by the house, Charlie had enough confidence to join the team and played for the next year and one half, before repeating his junior year for two years at the Taft School, where he captained the soccer team and was the third backup goalie for the hockey team. In the one hockey game he played — against an admittedly weak opponent — he had a 6-0 shutout, so he probably leads Taft’s goals against record.

It was at Taft that Charlie’s simmering interest in security studies began to glow, his writing improving under the inspired guidance of Mr. Magee and his foreign affairs interest inspired by a Middle Eastern affairs course, whose pupils included a Saudi prince and an American of the Orthodox Jewish faith, a course so popular that both Taft teachers and students began to audit it. Mr. Magee suggested to Charlie that the experiences of that course form the basis for his college applications. It did.

In the end, Charlie’s desire to play Division I soccer overcame his security interests, and he chose not to apply to the Naval Academy, opting instead to play soccer at Colgate University, where his playing time reminded him of being a Taft hockey goalie. Still, he was a leader on and off the field, and

he was awarded a special scholar/ athlete award his senior year.

It was at Colgate that his slowburn interest in security studies began to flame — a degree in international affairs, four years of Arabic studies, and the only college student in the U. S., helped by an energetic Colgate professor, who had a website to track jihadis. His summer internships were likewise focused: a summer in Israel at Herzliya University’s security studies area, a summer at General Keane’s Institute for the Study of War and, upon graduation, at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, where he resided in the Transnational Threats Group for several years, and where he received the most extraordinary mentorship under Seth Jones, its leader.

From the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Charlie joined the U.S. government, spending several years in Tampa,

Fla., attached to Special Operations Command, an attachment that included deployment to the Middle East. Upon his return Charlie was awarded, among other accolades, the Command’s civilian Employee of the Year Award. From Tampa, Charlie was transferred to the Washington, D.C. area, where he continued his fine work and award receipts.

Early this year, Charlie contracted COVID-19, and while weathering the mild respiratory symptoms, he was devastated by a host of long COVID-19 symptoms so severe that he ultimately had to reject a further deployment and, in the end, take a leave of absence from work. It was in this state, that Charlie left us on May 3.

Charlie is survived by his mom, Denise Vallee; his brother, Teddy Vallee; and his dad, Skip Vallee; grandparents, Rod and Betty Vallee; uncles, Jim Driver, Kevin Norris, Tim Vallee, Tom Dukas, Ron Mack, Mitchell Mack, Jeff Mack and Maurice Williams; and aunts, Amy Norris, Lisa Driver, Lynn Vallee, Andrea Dukas, Katherine Mack, Anya Mack and Dr. Yvonne Mack.

A memorial Mass will be held Friday, May 13, 2022, at 11 a.m. at the Catholic Center at the University of Vermont, 390 South Prospect St., Burlington. The University of Vermont has graciously set aside parking on the top floor of the parking garage by the Gutterson Field House with easy access to the Catholic Center.

Donations in memory of Charlie should be made to the Charles M. Vallee Foundation for Long Covid Research, with checks now sent c/o Skip and Denise Vallee, 4043 Spear St., Shelburne VT 05482, with a website for donations soon to be made available.

Arrangements are in care of Corbin and Palmer Funeral Home, Essex Junction.

Charles Vallee

Softball continues win streak

LAUREN READ CORRESPONDENT

Softball

South Burlington 15, Burlington 3: Emma Stevens got the win on the mound as South Burlington beat Burlington 15-3 on Friday, May 6. The team moves to 6-2.

Stevens allowed three runs and struck out seven in five innings of work, while also scoring three runs and adding an RBI. Emily Borrazzo was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs and Tori Smith had an RBI.

It was the second win in a row for the Wolves, who beat North Country 14-0 Thursday.

Borrazzo got the win. She allowed just one hit and struck out 12 in five innings. Sofie Richland scored two runs and Miah Lafayette went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs.

Baseball

South Burlington 10, Burlington 0 (5): Nick Kelly got the complete game shutout, allowing just three hits in five innings of work over Burlington last Friday.

Sully Beers had two doubles and Brady Havers added two hits to pace the offense.

With the win, South Burlington is 4-5.

The Wolves also took on Mount Anthony during the week, falling to the Patriots on Thursday 4-0.

Girls’ lacrosse

South Burlington 16, Essex 6: Mercedes Rozzi had a seven-point game in a win over Essex Friday in lacrosse.

Rozzi scored four goals and dished out three assists for the Wolves, Miranda Hayes had a hat trick and two assists and Rachel Kelley and Sam Crane each had three goals.

Greta Heldman made six saves in goal. South Burlington moved to 6-2.

Boys’ lacrosse

South Burlington 13, Burlington 10: The boys continued their strong start with a win over Burlington Thursday.

Will Goyette had five goals and three assists for the Wolves, who move to 8-1. Will Hershberg added four goals and two assists, while Ryan Sweet chipped in with a goal and three assists.

Evan Knoth stopped eight shots in goal for South Burlington.

Boys’ tennis

South Burlington 5, Essex 2: South Burlington grabbed another win, beating Essex 5-2 Thursday.

Sriram Sethuraman, Will Bradley and

Mayeo Duracek each got a win in singles, while Yuyang Zhry and James Bradley and Robin Hokenmeir and Nicolas Charelbois won in doubles action.

Girls’ Ultimate Frisbee

Burlington 11, South Burlington 9: The team surrendered a lead in a loss to Burlington last Thursday.

Emma Cooley had three goals for the Wolves, who led 7-4 before Burlington made a comeback. Moriya Gelfenbein added two goals and two assists, while Liz Toupin tallied twice for South Burlington.

Girls’ tennis

Stowe 5, South Burlington 2: The girls struggled in singles as they fell to Stowe on Saturday, May 7.

The Wolves lost all five singles matches to the Raiders but got two wins in doubles.

Lilla Erdos and Winnie Aelamson won in No. 1 doubles and Ivey Howard and Ranjani Sethuraman were victorious in No. 2 doubles.

South Burlington falls to 3-2.

On Thursday, May 5, South Burlington beat Essex 7-0. Izzy Partilo, Sage Bennet, Anna Bennett, Tenzin Tselha and Ella Maynard each won in singles, while the two doubles duos grabbed wins as well.

PHOTOS BY AL FREY

Above: South Burlington’s Emma Cooley and Montpelier’s Susha Beniot collide while racing for the disc during the Wolves’ game against the Solons in South Burlington on May 3. Below: South Burlington’s Christina Conklin makes the catch as Montpelier’s Sophia Jerome tries to knock the disc free.

South Burlington family golf classic to fight cancer

The Cancer Canknot Golf Classic will be held Saturday, June 4, at the Williston Country Club. The event is one of the largest fundraisers for South Burlington-based Cancer Canknot, a grassroots organization dedicated to funding cancer research and supporting cancer patients and their families.

Eric and Anna Gilcris of South Burlington conceived the idea for Cancer Canknot after Eric was diagnosed with Grade 4 glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer, in 2011.

An aggressive type of brain tumor, patients often have a median life expectancy of less than one year. “His doctor told us 6 to 12 months,” said Anna. “But his next words were, ‘You fight like hell,’ and that’s exactly what Eric continues to do.”

Now a father of two and entering his 11th year living with his cancer, Eric is considered an extreme survivor, a term used to describe the less than 1 percent of patients

who have lived with glioblastoma for 10 years or more.

“It’s a different kind of unknown now,” he said. “They can’t tell us what’s next because there haven’t been a lot of patients who’ve gotten this far.”

The Gilcrises founded Cancer Canknot in 2014 to help fund cancer research and support cancer patients and their families. To date, the organization has donated close to $70,000 to the Dana Farber Cancer Research Center. In addition to the golf classic, the couple created jewelry and apparel lines to spread the Cancer Canknot message and wrote “Bear Hugging and Cancer Crushing,” a children’s book inspired by conversations with their son.

“We created what we didn’t have 10 years ago,” Eric said.

Find out more at cancercanknotclassic. com.

COURTESY PHOTO

Eric Gilcris in a Cancer Canknot shirt he designed.

May rides

Green Mountain Bike Club

For rules of the road, liability waivers and other club information, visit thegmbc.com.

Saturday, May 14

Introductory ride: For new riders, 12-20 miles at a leisurely pace. Goal is to teach new cyclists the rules of the road and how to ride in a group.

Meet at 10 a.m., Veterans Memorial Park, South Burlington, Wheeler lot. Leader is Brian Howard, 802-304-0610.

Sunday, May 15

Kingsland Bay: 35-mile ride rolls from Shelburne through Charlotte to Kingsland Bay Park and back. A 51-mile ride heads toward Vergennes and climbs to Monkton Ridge, returning through Hinesburg while a 65-mile option heads into Huntington but will not have a leader.

Meet at 9:15 a.m., Shelburne Village Shopping Center. Leader is Brian Howard, 802-304-0610.

Sunday, May 22

Grand Isles Flats: One of the flattest rides of the season. The 28-mile ride circles Grand Isle. Riders on the 73-mile ride can visit St. Anne’s Shrine and a fossil bed.

Meet at 9:15 a.m., Folsom School, South Street in South Hero. Leader is Phyl Newbeck, 802-734-5166.

Saturday, May 28

Gravel stone walls and solar panels: Scenic 30-mile ride from Underhill to Cambridge on mostly dirt and gravel roads past a myriad

CLASSIFIEDS

Classified ads are free for South Burlington residents. Ads run for two weeks, as space and time allows. Ads should be 30 words or less. Call 802-864-6670 with questions or to run a paid ad for Services, Real Estate, For Rent, Employment, Business Opportunities, etc.

FOR SALE

LG GAS STOVE TOP: Brand new, still in original box. Lowe’s price $1,499. Buy now for $699. Located in South Burlington. Email dbdesignvt@yahoo.com.

MAPLE HUTCH: 2 pieces, 71in high. Storage below with shelves and doors. $125. Call 802-8465245.

Meet the coaches

NOW

us today! Email

of old stone walls and not so old solar panels. Eight-mile roundtrip extension possible.

Meet at 9:15 a.m., St. Thomas Church of Underhill, 6 Green St. Leader is Newbeck, 802-7345166.

Sunday, May 29 St. Albans explorer: Light,

COURTESY PHOTO

rolling hills with beautiful views by Lake Champlain. The 35-mile route goes out to Kill Kare State Park and returns, while the 50-mile route continues to Swanton and back.

Meet at 9:15 a.m., Georgia Park and Ride. Leader is Amy Otten, 802-878-4070.

OPEN YOUR HOME!

MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR A PERSON!

Shared Living Provider

LCMHS is currently seeking a home provider for an 18-year-old female with an Intellectual Disability. This is an in-home position and the individual would need their own bedroom in the home. We are looking for a quiet home with no children, other consumers, or males of any age. Preferably located in Lamoille County. Tax-Free Stipend plus Room & Board. To learn more about this opportunity, contact Ross King at (802) 888-5026.

Join our team of amazing individuals making a difference every day!

More information and all job opportunities: www.lamoille.org/careers

LCMHS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

64

Why not have a job you love ? Join our dedicated team and together we’ll build a community where everyone participates and belongs. Positions include a $500 sign on bonus, a strong benefits package and the opportunity to work at one of the “Best Places to Work in Vermont”

System Administrator: Provide I.T. support, oversee the electronic health records system and ensure all systems are up to date and working smoothly. Experience and/or certifications in a variety of information technology systems required.

Direct Support Professional: Provide 1:1 supports to help individuals reach their goals. Full and part time positions available starting at $18/hr.

Service Coordinator: Continue your career in human services in a compassionate & fun environment by providing case management and help individuals create and realize goals. Compensation package is $45k annually plus mileage and on call stipend.

Shared Living Provider: Open your home to someone with an intellectual disability or autism and open a whole world to them, and to you. There are a variety of opportunities available that could be the perfect match for you and your household.

Residential Direct Support Professional: Work just two days, receive full benefits and have five days off each week! Provide supports to an individual in their home and in the community in 24h shifts including asleep overnights in a private, furnished bedroom. Starting wage is $18/hr.

Employment Specialist: Be a part Vermont’s leading supported employment program and help individuals discover their career path. The successful candidate will demonstrate reliability, strong communication skills, and the ability to solve problems effectively and professionally. Starting wage $19.50/hr.

Make a career making a difference and join our team today!

EOE

Thursday, May 26, 6-8 p.m., marks the official return of Meet the Coaches and signup night at the PRIDE Complex for athletes involved in South Burlington Dolphins Football to sign up for the season or summer training programs, as well as meet the members of the coaching staff. This week, members of the Dolphin’s coaching staff were on hand at Franklin Tuttle Middle School for their annual recruiting visit with current and prospective players. The Dolphins are also looking a adding a weekly football specific skills clinic for players of all ages. If interested, email oleballcoach1@gmail. com as soon as possible.

RABIES BAIT

continued from page 2

The week-long bait drop is a cooperative effort between Vermont and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services to stop the spread of the potentially fatal disease.

saliva. If left untreated, rabies is almost always fatal in humans and animals. However, treatment with the rabies vaccine is nearly 100 percent effective when given soon after a person is bitten by a rabid animal. So far this year, 23 animals in Vermont have tested positive for rabies, and 14 of those have been raccoons.

Rabies is a deadly viral disease of the brain that infects mammals. It is most often seen in raccoons, skunks, foxes, and bats, but unvaccinated pets and livestock can also get rabies.The virus is spread through the bite of an infected animal or contact with its

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Shelburne display lead dors WHY GO LOCAL?

from

SHELBURNE continued

ARIES

March 21 - April 20

Avoid going down the rabbit hole that can be social media, Aries. Put your phone or tablet to the side for a little bit and focus your attention elsewhere.

TAURUS

April 21 - May 21

Try to stay calm and grounded right now, Taurus. Others can learn from your example at work, as you likely will be the voice of reason among your colleagues.

GEMINI

May 22 - June 21

Gemini, if you are having trouble guring out a path this week, try to meditate on a solution. Find a quiet spot and visualize your goals and how you can achieve them.

CANCER

June 22 - July 22

Be mindful of whom you con de in this week, Cancer. Not everyone has your best interests at heart and may use the information you share to his or her advantage instead of yours.

LEO

July 23 - Aug. 23

A partner or close friend may seem to pull away from you this week, Leo. Don’t take it personally as it won’t be a permanent break. Soon things will be back to normal.

VIRGO

Aug. 24 - Sept. 22

Sticking to your normal routine this week simply will not be possible, Virgo. Start brainstorming ways you can get things done more quickly.

LIBRA

Sept. 23 - Oct. 23

Libra, your ego may take a temporary hit as someone in your sphere gets a promotion or a recognition before you. Don’t take this to heart as it is only time before you get to shine.

SCORPIO

Oct. 24 - Nov. 22

Try not to trigger any people in your home who seem to be more tense than usual, Scorpio. It may be tricky, but keep the calm and maintain the status quo for now.

SUDOKU

Here’s How It Works:

Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must ll each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can gure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!

CROSSWORD

SAGITTARIUS

Nov. 23 - Dec. 21

Well-meaning advice can back re if it is offered unsolicited, Sagittarius. Unless someone comes to you seeking help, it’s best to stay silent for now.

CAPRICORN

Dec. 22 - Jan. 20

Try to avoid any impulsive spending for the next several days, Capricorn. The temptation will be high, so this will be a bit of a challenge for you. Stick to the essentials.

AQUARIUS

Jan. 21 - Feb. 18

Aquarius, stay calm and keep your nose to the grindstone during a potentially hectic week. This may mean taking a day off or at least a step back.

PISCES

Feb. 19 - March 20

Some truths are dif cult to hear and swallow, Pisces. Only through learning all sides of the story can you grow as a person.

CLUES ACROSS

1. Amounts of time

5. A ship’s place at a wharf

10 Point a nger at

12 Large, burrowing rodent

14. Raises the stakes

16. Measure of illumination

18. Cast out

19. One who is staid

20. A word used for emphasis

22. Military missions

23. Wet with rain

25. Selling at specially reduced prices

26. Word element meaning ear

27. __ student,

28. Blood relation

30. Make into leather

31. One billionth of a second (abbr.)

33. Containing salt

35. A seat

37. A type of ne pottery

38. You’re caught red-__!

40. “Heat” director Michael

41. Expression of creative skill

42. Title of respect

44. Crony

45. Payroll experts

48. Actress Remini

50. Famed consumer advocate

52. Indigenous Thai person

53. Fitzgerald and Baker are two

55. Cooking tool

56. Decorate a cake with frosting

57. The seventh note of a major scale

58. Transfer from private to state ownership

63. A set of ve

65. Removes

66. Foolish persons

67. Lower parts of a wall

CLUES DOWN

1. Old EU money

2. Some put it on steak

3. Sign language

4. Sowed on the ground

5. Tags

6. Everyone has one

7. Arguments

8. N. African capital

9. Midgame (abbr.)

10. Change as needed

11. Functioning as a consonant

13. An island in the north Atlantic

ANSWERS

15. Carpenter’s tool

17. Small football player

18. Ghosts say it

21. Explain through logic

23. Having ten

24. Criticize

27. Arms of the sea

29. Belonging to a bottom layer

32. __ Caesar, comedian

34. Licensed health care pro (abbr.)

35. Swiss cottage

36. Cleft lip

39. Loud, unpleasant noise

40. Dis gure

43. Kayakers traverse them

44. Authored

46. Small freshwater shes

47. Macabre poet

49. Carthaginian statesman

51. Principle underlying the universe

Looking to serve our community? It’s that time of year.

The City Council is looking for residents who would like to serve on appointed committees. Service terms vary. We want your time,

talents, and passion!

Affordable Housing Committee

OPEN POSITIONS: 3

Meets monthly. (3 year appointments)

Responsible for advising the City Council on policy related to housing in the City.

Bicycle & Pedestrian Committee

OPEN POSITIONS: 4

Meets monthly. (1, 3 year appointments)

Oversees and advises City Council and Development Review Board on the City’s recreation path system and future development.

City Charter Committee

OPEN POSITIONS: 2

Meets as needed. (3 year appointments)

At direction of City Council, provides recommendations for changes to City Charter.

Common Area for Dogs Committee

OPEN POSITIONS: 2 Meets monthly. (3 year appointments)

Makes recommendations for integrating the needs of dog owners and dogs into City spaces, including enclosed dog parks and open, off-leash areas.

Development Review Board

OPEN POSITIONS: 2

Meets twice per month (3, 4 year appointments)

Charged with reviewing applications for land development and making determinations on compliance with the City’s Land Development Regulations. Knowledge or strong interest in architecture and engineering, construction, natural resources, transportation, land use law, and/or broad knowledge of the community.

Economic Development Committee

OPEN POSITIONS: 4

Meets monthly. (3 year appointments)

Develop a strategic economic development plan & promote City businesses’ future prosperity.

Energy Committee

OPEN POSITIONS: 6

Meets monthly. (1, 2, 3 year appointments)

Addresses the City’s goals to promote energy efficiency, affordable energy, and lessen our reliance on non-renewable energy resources.

Housing Trust Fund Committee

OPEN POSITIONS: 1 Meets as needed. (3 year appointment)

Works to support strategic participation in development increasing the City’s stock of affordable housing. Evaluates application and financial materials and makes investment recommendations to City Council.

Library Board of Trustees

OPEN POSITIONS: 6 Meets monthly. (1, 2, 3 year appointments) Works closely with the public library director to guide policy development and ensure the library is meeting its mission.

Natural Resources Committee

OPEN POSITIONS: 4 Meets monthly. (1, 3 year appointments) Promotes community awareness and recommends policy, to sustain and enhance natural resources on behalf of current and future generations within the City.

Pension Advisory Committee OPEN POSITIONS: 1 Meets quarterly. (1 year appointment) Reviews South Burlington Retirement Income Plan and investments. Makes recommendations to City Administration.

Planning Commission OPEN POSITIONS: 1 Meets twice per month. (3 year appointment) Ccharged with preparing the City’s Comprehensive Plan, reviewing and updating the City’s Land Development Regulations, and undertaking long range planning studies for the community.

Public Art Committee OPEN POSITIONS: 1 Meets monthly. (3 year appointment) Make recommendations for the selection of artists and acquisition of public art in public facilities and space.

Recreation & Park Committee OPEN POSITIONS: 3 Meets monthly. (3 year appointments) Supports goals to provide recreation and program opportunities; and to acquire and maintain recreation facilities and open space.