The Other Paper - 3-14-24

the South Burlington’s Community Newspaper

Barritt appointed council chair, Chalnick vice chair

COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER

South Burlington’s three newly elected city council members were sworn in last week while the council appointed a new chair and vice chair.

At its annual organizational meeting on Thursday, Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Michael Scanlan and Laurie Smith were welcomed to the dais and each took the oath of office during a swearing-in ceremony held by city clerk Holly Rees.

The three councilors were victors in a six-way race for three open seats. It’s an almost entirely new council after the departure of former chair and vice chair Helen Riehle and Meaghan Emery, who together held nearly three decades

of experience on the council. The third seat was vacated by Tyler Barnes in October, just eight months after he was elected.

Scanlan bested Julian Keenan and Lydia Diamond for Emery’s two-year seat, while Smith bested his opponent, Linda Bailey, by about 450 votes for Riehle’s threeyear seat. Fitzgerald ran unopposed for the remaining term of Barnes’ two-year term.

“I’m really excited about the new councilors that we have. I want to work together collaboratively with you and collect useful feedback from the public,” said councilor Tim Barritt, now the city’s longest-tenured member. “I just want to remind everybody that we have a wonderful city — we have great leadership within the city itself, we have excellent infra-

structure, and we want to continue our growth but balance it with the environment and the school and our tax capacity that our homeowners have.”

While city manager Jessie Baker presided over the beginning of the meeting, Barritt soon took over the proceedings after being unanimously appointed chair of

the council.

Barritt was previously the

See CITY COUNCIL on page 13

School board adopts leaner budget

LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER

Following a failed Town Meeting Day vote of the school district’s proposed $71 million budget, the board voted on a leaner spending plan last Wednesday with a re-vote set for Thursday, April 4.

In addition to adopting a new budget of $69,530,000 — which represents an 11 percent spending increase over last year — the board also opted to apply a $2.27 million surplus that the community voted last week to allocate to the district’s capital reserve fund to offset its new budget.

The cut in spending of $1,662,891 will result in a tax-rate increase of 14.5 percent, 40 percent lower than the tax increase associated with the initial budget.

The original budget featured

See BUDGET on page 16

COURTESY PHOTO

The newly seated South Burlington City Council, from left, Michael Scanlan, Andrew Chalnick, city manger Jessie Baker, Tim Barritt, Laurie Smith and Elizabeth Fitzgerald.

SERIES

Jolivette Anderson-Douoning

FREE Community-Building Events, Performances and Hands-On Art Programs through April 6 with Poet and Spoken Word Artist Dr. Jolivette...TELL YOUR STORY!

Saturday, 3/16

10:30-11:30 a.m.

Five Black Birds in an Ivorian Sky

Tuesday, 3/19 6-7:30 p.m.

My Vermont Eyes

Thursday, 3/28

6:30-7:30 p.m.

Birds, Butterflies, and the Human Spirit Can Fly Saturday, 4/6 5-6 p.m.

Part of Illuminate Vermont

South Burlington Public Library, Auditorium, 180 Market St. southburlingtonlibrary.org/artist-in-residence

In Partnership with Clemmons Family Farm clemmonsfamilyfarm.org

Grades

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In its second year

Illuminate VT hopes to capture eclipse crowd

COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER

In its first year, South Burlington’s winter artisan fair, Illuminate VT, was by any measure very successful, drawing anywhere from 1,200 to 1,500 folks from the city and surrounding communities to the event.

But this year, the event will take on new importance — and could be far more crowded than that first year.

Illuminate VT was held in December 2022, but this year the city decided to push the event to April 5 and 6 to coincide with the solar eclipse on April 8, when much of the Green Mountain State will be directly in the eclipse’s path of totality — when the moon completely blocks the sun from view and will cast a shadow over the earth.

having events on that Monday, South Burlington’s event is meant to draw the folks arriving for the weekend, said Adam Matth, the city’s director of recreation and parks. Given that many of the hotels, motels and short-term rentals have minimum stays, guests are expected to begin arriving on Friday or Saturday.

Market Street, more art and craft vendors and more musical acts over two nights.

Roughly 30 to 40 vendors are expected to attend the entirely free event, Matth said. In total, 14 different musicians and artists will perform.

“It’s something which we’re building, and we’re looking to continue to do on a on a yearly basis and just grow it year after year.”

— Adam Matth

Food trucks like Maharaja Spice will be on hand both nights. Musicians like Ryan Sweezey — a five-time New England Music Award Nominee and the 2023 Seven Daysies Best Pop Artist or Group in Vermont winner — will perform.

It is Vermont’s first total eclipse since 1932, and we won’t see another one until 2106.

The once-in-a-lifetime event is expected to draw a massive crowd to Vermont, with some estimates expecting a bigger crowd then peak foliage season. Tens of thousands of visitors are expected to begin arriving the week before to experience the event. Many hotels and motels in the area have been booked out for months now.

While many communities are

“This was our way to kind of take advantage of that without competing with everything else that’s going on the day of the eclipse itself,” he said. “We’re jumping on that Friday and Saturday as people are arriving to provide them with some entertainment and opportunities to do stuff here in South Burlington.”

The overall template and plan for the two-night event has stayed the same, Matth said — music, food trucks, art and craft vendors lining Market Street.

But this year, thanks to an additional injection of funds from a surplus balance in the city budget last fiscal year, the event will expand. More food trucks on

Vendors like Emma Riesner, a sculptor based in Bristol, will line Market Street.

Two bands will perform each night at the main stage on Market Street, while solo performers and other bands will be performing in the City Hall auditorium or in the library.

“It’s something which we’re building, and we’re looking to continue to do on a on a yearly basis and just grow it year after year,” Matth said.

COURTESY PHOTO

A crowd gathers at South Burlington’s first Illuminate VT event in December 2022.

Sunshine Week

Don’t think open government matters to you? Here’s why it does

Guest Perspective

Justin Silverman

Open government mattered to all of us during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Government played an outsized role in our day-to-day lives then. Schools closed, storefronts shuttered and the officials making decisions about quarantines, mask mandates and vaccines often met in secret or exclusively online.

We demanded access to their Zoom meetings and to information about how long our kids would remain home and when our businesses could reopen. We requested reports on public health data underlying the policies decided by our local and state representatives. We used public record and open meeting laws to get answers to our questions.

• Following the worst mass shooting in Maine’s history, newsrooms are making public record requests to better understand how the tragedy in Lewiston unfolded. Through records obtained using the Maine Freedom of Access Act, we know more about the shooter’s military history and what, if any, attempts were made to treat his mental disorders prior to last October. The information learned through public records will almost certainly fuel arguments for — and against — gun reform in the state.

to July 2023 when the bridge last passed inspection.

The attorney general’s office said that while the charges are legal, they can also be waived by the governor. Legislation to change the state’s Access to Public Records Act would require those fees be waived and make it easier for us to understand what caused one of the biggest travel headaches in the state’s history.

With the pandemic largely behind us, however, it can be easy to forget about government transparency. Outside of newsrooms, few of us regularly make public records requests or attend open meetings. The decisions of government don’t seem to weigh as heavily on us as they once did.

Sunshine Week is March 10-16 and is a reminder that the need for open government never abated. The sunshine reference is attributed to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, who famously wrote that “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” In other words, an informed public is the best way to rid government of corruption.

We don’t need a global pandemic to appreciate our personal stake in government accountability. Consider the following examples of how sunshine laws are playing out in the region:

• Regular FOIA scofflaws in Connecticut rarely pay fines despite the law allowing up to $5,000 in penalties. As of last month, the state’s Freedom of Information Commission imposed only six fines for FOIA violations since 2012. Changes in the law now require the fines to be paid by officials personally. This is a strong incentive to follow the law, but only if fines are imposed and the message is sent to agencies that they cannot disregard their FOIA obligations with impunity.

• A proposal by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey would make the format of local open meetings completely discretionary instead of guaranteeing both in-person and remote access. Do you have a disability, parenting responsibilities, odd work hours or any other reason preventing you from traveling to a government meeting? Under this proposal, you’ll be shut out when city councils, select boards or school committees decide to hold their meetings exclusively in person.

• Vermont state agencies are turning the public records law on its head, requiring reporters to submit formal requests for basic information that should be readily accessible. As Diane Derby at VTDigger recently explained, agencies are using the law “as a shield to deny reporters timely access.”

Rather than just answer a straightforward question, she said, they force the reporter to file a formal request, slow the process and deprive readers like you of much-needed information.

turning the public records law on

requiring reporters

submit formal requests for basic information that should be readily accessible.

• In a state where the right to know about government is enshrined in its constitution, New Hampshire lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow excessive fees to be charged for public records. The bill makes no exception for those who cannot afford the fees or for information of high public interest.

Instead, the legislation incentivizes government officials to overestimate the time to comply with a records request, needlessly redact and review documents, and ultimately deter even modest requests from being made in the first place.

• Want to know how the Washington Bridge in Providence fell into disrepair and why it ultimately closed? You’ll need to pay. Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee is charging thousands of dollars for records that date back

Still not convinced you have a personal stake in government transparency? Consider sunshine an insurance policy. Even if none of the situations above resonate with you or relate to your daily life, know that transparency discourages government misconduct from occurring at all. Those in government are less likely to act in their self-interest when the public is looking over their shoulder. When malfeasance does occur, we can utilize our sunshine laws to learn what happened and hold those responsible accountable for their actions.

Let’s not wait for another pandemic or public health crisis to make transparency a priority. Sunshine is a cause we should always be rallying around.

Justin Silverman is executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition and a Massachusetts-based attorney. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Maine School of Law, New England Law-Boston and the University of Connecticut.

Justin Silverman

South Burlington Police Blotter: March 4-10

Total reported incidents: 235

Selected incidents:

March 5 at 7:55 a.m., a fraud was reported to police from the Mobil gas station on Williston Road.

March 7 at 12:36 p.m., an incident of illegal dumping at Staples Plaza.

March 8 at 10:57 a.m., a fraud was reported from a Twin Oaks Terrace residence.

March 8 at 1:42 p.m., a fraud was reported to police its station.

Deaths:

March 8 at 10:31 a.m., Sarah Dopp, 77, of South Burlington, was found dead at a Cheesefactory Road residence. A medical examiner is determining the cause and manner of death.

March 8 at 11:49 a.m., Donald Wright, 86, of South Burlington, was found dead at a Farrell Street residence. A medical examiner is determining the cause and manner of death.

Arrests:

March 4 at 7:45 a.m., Abedamola O. Tombrown, 30, of Burlington, was arrested on Meadow-

the

land Drive for simple assault.

March 5 at 2:32 p.m., Alexis B. Pelletier, 28, of St. Albans, was arrested on Dorset Street for misdemeanor retail theft.

March 5 at 6:01 p.m., Timothy S. Lamore, 51, of Milton, was arrested on an in-state warrant on Shelburne Road.

March 6 at 9:08 a.m., Brandon

M. Godfrey, 31, of Stowe, was arrested on Dorset Street for misdemeanor retail theft.

March 8 at 9:41 a.m., Jordan M. Holstein, 33, of South Burlington, was arrested on Lime Kiln Road for domestic assault.

March 10 at 4:19 p.m., Julie L. Coolidge, 38, of Burlington, was arrested on Dorset Street for misdemeanor retail theft and violation of conditions of release.

March 10 at 5:57 p.m., Paul E. Ryerson, 56, of South Burlington, was arrested while driving on Shelburne Road for driving under the influence, first offense.

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

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Man arrested on drug charges at motel on Shelburne Road

MIKE DONOGHUE CORRESPONDENT

A Shelburne man has been arrested on new federal drug charges after he reportedly had more than two pounds of cocaine delivered to his residence, court records show.

Raul Velez has at least three previous drug trafficking convictions over the past two decades, including a federal court case in Vermont for possession of heroin with intent to distribute from 20 years ago, records show.

Velez, 54, had his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Burlington Friday, March 8 and was ordered held pending further hearings.

Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle set a probable cause hearing for March 22, but that will turn into an arraignment if a federal grand jury indicts Velez in the interim.

Federal authorities arrested Velez when he retrieved the mailed package shortly after it was delivered to the office of the T-Bird Motor Inn on Shelburne Road in Shelburne where he lives last Thursday afternoon.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Masterson said Velez, while using the name “Tony Laboy,” was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for heroin trafficking in 2003.

Masterson said Velez/Laboy, after getting out of prison in that case, violated his supervised release “because, among other things, he used cocaine, operated a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and failed to communicate with his probation officer.”

Masterson told the court that Valez was also convicted for drug trafficking in 2010 and for selling heroin in 2013.

In seeking Velez’s detention, Masterson noted he was both a flight risk and a danger to the community. The defense did not object.

Federal officials intercepted a mailed package before it could be delivered to Valez at the Shelburne Road motel. The package had a return address for a woman in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

A police K-9 and his agent, U.S. Border Patrol supervisory agent Derek Joyal, discovered the package, which held 2.2 pounds of

cocaine, records show.

Authorities hatched a plan to deliver the re-sealed package to the motor inn — sans the drugs — on March 7, according to postal inspector Alex M. Borofsky.

After the package was delivered to the motel, Velez retrieved it from the office and took it to his room. He was immediately taken into custody.

Shelburne police said they were notified about the planned raid but did not participate.

When Valez was arrested 20 years ago, federal authorities said they believed he was “often working in conjunction with his brother Edwin Laboy” in transporting large quantities of heroin between Massachusetts and Vermont, federal court records show. They were named in separate indictments at the time.

Edwin Laboy, originally from Holyoke, Mass., set up a network of drug sellers at various points between Burlington and St. Johnsbury and he was implicated in a near fatal drug overdose at a South Burl-

See MOTEL on page 16

Fire damages S. Burlington home

South Burlington firefighters quickly brought a fire under control on Oakwood Drive Saturday, March 9, around 6 p.m., limiting damage to two rooms.

The South Burlington Fire Marshal’s Office said the accidental fire was caused by combustible materials being too close to a heating appliance. No one was injured, and there is no damage estimate.

Crews arrived in just over four minutes and found smoke coming from multiple places. The fire was burning in the walls on both floors and some parts of the attic. The fire was brought under control within 40 minutes.

One family member was home at the time of the fire.

Fire crews from the Vermont Air National Guard Fire Department, Burlington Fire Department, Williston Fire Department and University of Vermont Rescue provided coverage for the city during the fire and responded to three other emergencies while South Burlington

stayed on the scene.

The department is reminding building owners of the importance of properly functioning smoke detectors.

Car fire

Firefighters quickly put out a car fire at an apartment building at 345 Farrell St. in South Burlington on Monday.

Firefighters arrived within five minutes to find heavy smoke coming from the garage. Crews confined the fire with hoses; the sprinkler system also activated.

Smoke traveled throughout the fourfloor building, and residents were evacuated by South Burlington police and fire personnel.

Within 15 minutes, the fire was control. Extensive ventilation was required to remove smoke from throughout the building.

The city’s fire marshal determined the fire to be accidental. No damage estimate was available.

Please

join

MENTAL HEALTH IS COMMUNITY HEALTH

Dr. Simha Ravven, Howard Center’s Chief Medical Of cer, will offer insights and perspectives on mental health treatment and services within our community.

Followed by Q&A.

March 27, 2024 | 6:30-8:00 pm

Dealer.com, 1 Howard Street, Burlington, VT

SUBSTANCE USE AND OUR COMMUNITY

A panel discussion about substance use and how we can work together to create a safer, healthier community with Howard Center clinical staff: moderator Beth Holden, MS, LCMHC, LADC, and panelists John Brooklyn, MD; Dan Hall, LADC; Heidi Melbostad, PhD, and others. Followed by Q&A.

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PHOTOS BY SOUTH BURLINGTON FIRE DEPARTMENT

A last tour for the senior man: Senior firefighter Todd Poole retires from his 20-year career with the South Burlington Fire department and one of his last shifts included fighting a structure fire on Oakwood Drive Saturday.

Fire crews quickly doused this car fire in a South Burlington apartment building garage.

Want world-class education? Grow the economy

Guest Perspective

Christopher R. Smith

The current debate surrounding Act 127, which changes the funding formula for education, has made the significant kinks in the current system visible. If we want to continue to provide a quality education to students, we must act now and re-examine how we fund one of, if not the most important responsibilities the state takes on: educating the next generation.

In the last week, school districts across the state have voted down their school budgets.

Although there has been significant discussion about the problems that Act 127 and the current economic environment create, I find that most of the proposals for change are simply band-aids or simply kick the can further down the road. If we step back and take a big picture look at what has caused the problem, we may be better able to find long-term solutions.

My experience, having worked as a businessman, a South Burlington city councilor and a public-school teacher, lead me to posit that the current funding crisis stems from three main factors: significant increases in the amount we spend on public education, a stagnant population and a lack of economic growth.

In terms of spending, school districts in Vermont have continued to spend as a way to resolve

many of the problems in their communities. These costs are particularly concentrated in health care and education. A report from the Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce (Feb. 23, 2024) states that health care costs in Vermont between 1991 and 2020 grew faster than any other state.

This is one of the factors that led to spending on public education increasing by more than 80 percent since 2000. These spending increases come at a time where the population requiring these services has declined. For example, there are 20 percent fewer K-12 students in the state today than in 2000 based on data from the Vermont Department of Education and the National Center for Education Statistics.

While we have seen significant increases in spending, the sources for funding these costs have stagnated. First, since 2001, the state’s population — and potential tax base — has only grown by 5.4 percent over the course of that entire period.

Second, the state’s gross domestic product has similarly lagged, growing at 1.24 percent a year between 2004 and 2021 as reported in the chamber report. So, over the last 20 years, Vermont has seen significant increases in educational costs with no real growth in the ability to pay for these increases.

The factors I have described impact all areas of public service in the state. They are particularly challenging in education, howev-

er, given particularities of how we fund education in the state.

Other factors that have exacerbated the funding issue for education include:

• There is little incentive for a town to grow its grand list as the revenues go to the state, not the local school district.

• Property taxes are subsidized (sensitized) for over 65 percent of taxpayers, which disconnects voters from the reality of tax increases, according to the chamber’s report.

• Vermont centralizes funding, while the decisions about how the money is spent is decentralized. This leads to perverse incentives for towns.

All these factors have brought us to the point where Vermont could have the most expensive cost per student in the U.S. in 2024. According to census. gov, the average spending for the nation was $14,347, with Vermont’s spending at $23,586. This, even though Vermont’s income per person ranks 36th in the country, according to statista. com.

From my analysis of all this information, no matter how we change our educational funding structure, it will not fix the basic problem — spending growth does not match the economic growth in the state. We cannot simply tax more or tax differently if we do not have enough of a tax base to support that change.

Rather, the only sustainable way to change the crisis in

education funding is to increase our potential tax base, whether by increasing the population, each town’s grand list or both. Only by increasing the economic prosperity of Vermont will we be able to afford the educational system that we have built and that students deserve.

We can and should build a world-class education system for students, but this will only happen through growing our economic base. Until then, we are

merely playing a shell game of figuring out how to fund the costs in an unsustainable fashion.

Christopher R. Smith of South Burlington has had a wide-ranging career in Vermont as a business owner and high school history and economics teacher. He also served on the South Burlington City Council for 10 years, as well as on the boards of both United Way and the Lake Champlain Chamber.

Letters to the Editor

Newspaper displays bad judgement with story

To the Editor:

I write for an explanation why you decided not to follow the standard journalism ethics when you published a rushed, one-sided article based on one email from disgruntled board member Alex McHenry without any attempt to reach out to me or any board member for response. (“South Burlington school board member resigns,” March 7, 2024)

The Associated Press News Values and Principles states: “We must make significant efforts to reach anyone who may be portrayed in a negative way in our content, and we must give them a reasonable amount of time to get back to us before we send our reports. What is ‘reasonable’

may depend on the urgency and competitiveness of the story. If we don’t reach the parties involved, we must explain in the story what efforts were made to do so.”

What is most troubling to me about your article is not the fact that McHenry’s aim is clearly to paint me in a negative way, but that this seems to be part of a larger trend whereby the voice of a person with privileged identities — in this case older, white male — is taken at face value as fact, and the points of view of those holding historically marginalized identities are not elevated to the same level.

With so much at stake in our current state of education in Vermont, reporting with integ-

The freebird’s finale

Guest Perspective

Walt Amses

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”

— Albert Camus

My body feels as though I’ve volunteered for a scientific study; becoming a proving ground of sorts, evaluating various pieces of adaptive equipment as I put my own durability to the test, slipping, sliding, slogging and crunching over back roads whose fluctuating consistency becomes more unpredictable with each passing winter.

Every step marks a new adventure, never quite certain if I’ll slide sideways, turn my ankle or twist my knee in a frozen rut or sink in above my shoes, squishing along for several miles, obscenities providing the soundtrack of my discontent.

Deep in muck, submerged in thought, walking has become the go-to activity, especially since traditional winters have migrated somewhere else, limiting skiing and snowshoeing to a smattering of one-off rambles fraught with deteriorating conditions, often infusing the whole enterprise with more trouble than it’s worth.

So, I find myself down the road on a perfect afternoon — warm temperatures, little wind and glorious sunshine — in other words, it sucks, figuratively and literally, as the quagmire does its level best to exert its will on my feet, which too frequently require just enough of a steady yank to pull free, subtly destroying my lower back.

That I find this small restriction so infuriating gets me thinking about our notion of freedom and the desire we all have to do what we want, when we want and how we want, unconstrained by outside forces, whether governmental or environmental, each of which can be uniquely intrusive. While the historical perception of freedom has been bastardized with political ramifications —the Freedom Caucus or the Alliance Defending Freedom are designed to do the opposite — we continue to maintain a grasp of what it means in its purest form and, like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said of obscenity in 1964, we “know it when we see it.”

And many saw it quite clearly personified in Flaco, a Eurasian eagle owl who, after escaping his enclosure at the Central Park Zoo a year ago, became a spirit animal for the masses, soaring above New York City’s granite canyons from Greenwich Village to a favorite Central Park oak tree near 104th Street in upper Manhattan.

Once zoo officials abandoned recapture efforts after a few weeks, Flaco became a social media sensation, every flap of his majestic 6-foot wingspan recorded, his movements charted, and data compiled of his whereabouts at a given moment.

When he died last week after a collision with one of the Upper West Side skyscrapers that became his habitat, the outpouring of grief was a palpable illustration of how — even amid the towering concrete monoliths that permeate the urban

landscape — we strive for an acquaintance to wild nature that goes well beyond simple observation, verging at times on the mystical. Ample evidence reveals that those of us with a connection to the natural world are usually happier in life and more likely to feel our lives worthwhile with enhanced positive emotions such as joy, calm, creativity and an increase in concentration.

I’m lucky enough to live in a place where encountering wildlife on my walks isn’t unusual but I’m still grateful for every loon, fox, eagle, coyote, beaver, moose and all the rest that enhance my life by just being there. After 40 years on this road, it’s still enthralling to stop when I see some critter going about its day and just watch for a precious moment or two.

I’ve always found owls especially beguiling and the goings on in New York City reminded me of what I like to recall as a relationship I had with a barred owl several years ago that lasted a couple of winters, as ridiculous as it was sublime. He showed up one late autumn afternoon, alternating between an apple tree behind the house and a limb over the compost pile, stayed until spring, even returning the following year.

Although seen in some cultures as a harbinger of death because of its nocturnal nature, owls also represent wisdom and knowledge and, according to mystic Inbaal Honigman, a visit from one points you to your own wisdom, an invitation to tap into your inner knowledge, perception and intelligence. I would go out and talk to him — he never answered — but he was completely undaunted, and I was able to get ever closer, eventually close enough to stroke his feathers while quietly making small talk. He still never answered.

Watching him regularly slam into the snow, I learned that he was hunting. Owls have incredibly sensitive hearing, allowing them to hear activity through several inches of fluff. Returning from a walk one day, I stopped by his tree and hung out with him for a bit while he swiveled his head, scanning the ground with his ear. Suddenly, he dropped silently, crashing through 6 inches of snow, coming up with a fat vole that he downed in a couple of gulps. It was stunning.

Since the beginning of the pandemic three years ago the world has closed in around us and consequently more people have rediscovered the emotional and mental health benefits of city parks, woodland forests or blue spaces like beaches, rivers and wetlands. Our psychological well-being, including a reduction of stress, anxiety and depression is enhanced by connecting with wildlife and the natural world.

Trapped in what arguably has become a far more dangerous world since 2019, with threats lurking everywhere, the profound exuberance over Flaco’s fleeing his cage, eluding capture and commanding the skies over New York for a year is completely understandable. He was flying for all of us — the very embodiment of freedom as rebellion.

Walt Amses is a writer. He lives in North Calais.

LETTERS

continued from page 6

rity is more important than ever. As local stories like this get picked up by statewide circulations, I see this as a much larger issue than this one article in South Burlington. I ask you to do better gathering a more complete understanding of the story, particularly when men accuse women of “humiliating” them.

I do not seek positive press, but Vermonters expect press that is fair and impartial. I request an explanation why this process of asking for comment was not followed and what steps you will take to ensure a response is requested in the future.

Kate Bailey

South Burlington

Thank you, voters of South Burlington

To the Editor:

I am grateful for your trust and thank you for your support. l will work to represent everyone and will listen to every community and voice.

I congratulate my newly elected colleagues and applaud all candidates for contributing their ideas and voices to our inclusive civic process in South Burlington.

I also want to thank all the people who came out and supported me in so many ways; I am truly humbled and grateful.

We are at a critical juncture of opportunity and challenge for South Burlington. I pledge to work for fair, inclusive solutions that work for all the neighborhoods that make up this great, diverse and complex city. To that end, I commit to a process of listening and learning with my fellow councilors.

Only together can we tackle the challenges and open up the opportunities that lie before us. South Burlington is already a great city, and we can work together to make it even better.

Mike Scanlan

South Burlington

Reader recommends book discussion series at library

To the Editor:

Our beautiful library on the Market Street offers not only books and other media, but places for the community to meet. One such community meeting is a series co-sponsored by the city’s energy committee on an issue pivotal to our future.

The first meeting of this series was held Jan. 18 when we discussed the book, “Braiding Sweetgrass,” by a native American author and biology professor. She used many personal stories to open our eyes to how nature works. For example, the interdependence of corn, beans and pumpkins, and between lichen and alga. One may not like the taste of beans or pumpkins, or care for the look of lichen and alga, yet it is striking to realize how these living beings in many ways resemble human societies, and how they will continue to live affect our lives.

Energy, ecology and human welfare are interdependent.

This book discussion series will continue with “Ministry for the Future” (March

21), “All We Can Save” (Sept. 19) and “Road to Nowhere” (Nov. 14), all from 6:30-8 p.m. at South Burlington Public Library. Please try some of these books and join the discussions. The event coming up on March 21 is posted at southburlingtonlibrary.org.

Hayley Shen South Burlington

Board reorganization will politicize wildlife management

To the Editor:

It may be time for the changing views of Vermonters toward wildlife to be addressed, but bill S.258 will not accomplish it. Currently, and historically, the 14 members of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board have been appointed by the governor with input from the Legislature. One seat represents each county.

Under S.258, the governor will be stripped of their appointments. The appointments would be allocated this way: commissioner of Fish and Wildlife, five; Speaker of the House, five; and the Committee on Committees, five. Somehow, those 15 appointments will be divided across 14 county seats and one at large seat. A perfect set up for gerrymandering.

S.258 proposes to force a “balanced” mix of licensed and non-licensed members. Who will be appointing the licensed and non-licensed? Adding politics where it doesn’t belong is what this will do.

The board will also be stripped of its current authority over fish and wildlife rules and the Department of Fish and Wildlife will have the authority. The current setup is in place because a half century ago the Legislature acknowledged its lack of expertise around wildlife management and wisely placed it with citizens. Why would we want to make the same mistake again? Keep the power with the citizens, not the Legislature.

The anglers, hunters and trappers on the current Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board are Vermont’s most committed wildlife advocates and conservationists. Don’t think for a second that because they fish, hunt and trap that they don’t have a deep love for all species and understand the challenges of conserving and protecting the people and wildlife of Vermont.

The starting point for change should be for special interest groups to work with their legislators and donors to find financing and new management structures for the wildlife management they seek, not re-allocate taxes mostly paid by anglers, boaters, shooters and hunters and replace a fish and wildlife management structure that has been successful for over 50 years.

The promoters of S.258 are determined, vocal and have resources. They are truly anti-hunting and trapping, despite their occasional claims about fair-chase. They should put their effort and money toward future programs that reduce development and vehicle traffic and increase regenerative land use. That will do far more for wildlife in Vermont than S.258 could ever do.

John Gonter Williston

Community Notes

Elks serve up corned beef for St.

Paddy’s Day

The Burlington Elks Lodge St. Patrick’s dinner will be held Friday, March 15, 5:30-7 p.m., at the Elks Lodge, 925 North Avenue.

A corned beef dinner is $15; Reuben sandwiches are $12 and fries are $2.

For information, contact David Ely at davidely1986@gmail.com or 802-862-5109.

Rick Marcotte bottle drive

Fifth graders at Rick Marcotte Central School in South Burlington are having their annual bottle drive on Saturday, March 23.

This fundraiser helps to pay for an end of the year trip to Smugglers’ Notch Resort. The kids typically raise between $1,800 to $2,000, which means a long day of collecting cans and bottles. Through this fundraiser the school can offer the trip at no cost.

Put your bottles out in a bag

or box by 9 a.m. on March 23 for pickup. The collection will take place from 9 a.m.-noon.

If you need more information, call 802-652-0829.

‘Fund racing’ event aims for accessible waterfront

The Community Sailing Center kick-offs its Access for All Virtual Regatta, a three-month campaign to raise the final funds for a new construction project with an experiential learning space on the Lake Champlain waterfront, multi-craft launch facilities, a deep-water basin for keelboats and universal accessibility.

The Sailing Center has raised 95 percent of the money needed to create safe, accessible infrastructure at the waterfront. To help raise the remaining funds, the virtual regatta will see teams of “racers” set a fundraising goal and then compete

See COMMUNITY NOTES on page 9

Community Sailing Center fundraisers hope to make the Lake Champlain waterfront more accessible.

Friends of the Library host free concert

The Evans/Asbell Duo will present a free program of jazz from the 1940s and 1950s on Saturday, March 23, noon-1 p.m., in the auditorium. Doors open at 11:45 a.m.

Their playlist will include tunes featured in this year’s Vermont Reads’ title, “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” by Malinda Lo.

During her career as a performer and recording artist, Samirah Evans has become known for her dynamic and soulful approach to music, especially jazz and blues. Her musical style is heavily influenced by the New Orleans sound, where she was one of the city’s most popular and in-demand singers for nearly 20 years.

The New Orleans Times Picayune named Evans’ debut CD, “Give Me a Moment,” the fifth best new release of 2002. She has also appeared as a featured or supporting vocalist on other artist’s recordings in New Orleans and New England. Evans dedicates time to perpetuating American Jazz and blues music.

From his early years playing blues on Chicago’s South Side, to his present multi-faceted career

COMMUNITY NOTES

continued from page 8

to meet that goal through sponsorships, donations, events and matching gifts.

Prizes for reaching fundraising milestones will be awarded throughout the event, and on June 1 an actual on-water regatta will be held for participants who meet their goals.

Learn more at lakeaccessforall. org.

Francophones meet in Winooski this year

The 2024 Vermont Francophonie Celebration will be held Thursday, March 28, in the performing arts center of the Winooski School

based out of northern Vermont, Paul Asbell’s professional career spans 50 years.

In 1978, seeking an outlet for more personal musical visions, he formed Kilimanjaro, and recorded two award-winning albums. In

1981, Paul and other members of Kilimanjaro joined forces with a legendary saxophonist and blues singer to form Big Joe Burrell and the Unknown Blues Band.

The concert is free, and tickets are not required.

District, 60 Normand St. The official ceremony will be held from 1-2 pm.

Representatives of France, Canada, Vermont and Quebec will be in attendance. The event this year is being hosted by the mayor of Winooski.

Energy committee book talk eyes climate change

Join the South Burlington Energy Committee for a conversation about the book, “Ministry for the Future,” by Kim Stanley Robinson on Thursday, March 21, at 6:30 p.m. in the library community room and online. This event is co-hosted

by the South Burlington Library.

“The Ministry for the Future” has been called a masterpiece of the imagination, using fictional eyewitness accounts to tell the story of how climate change will affect us all. Its setting is not a desolate, postapocalyptic world, but a future that is almost upon us.

Chosen by Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of the year, this novel from Robinson may change the way you think about the climate crisis.

Multiple copies of the book are available to borrow. Visit the library website for more details.

PHOTO BY PAUL SHAUGHNESSY

Samirah Evans

SPORTS

Wolves play solid hockey, narrowly lose championship to Rice

LAUREN REED CORRESPONDENT

Through two periods of the Division I boys’ hockey state championship game South Burlington goaltender James Bradley had an answer for everything the Rice team threw at him.

It took two perfect shots to finally solve the senior netminder.

“He’s so confident, really comfortable in himself and the situation,” South Burlington coach Sean Jones said of his goalie. “He held us in early, gave us that chance to get momentum going, couldn’t ask anymore of him.”

The top-seeded Wolves fell 2-1 to No. 2

Rice on Thursday night at Gutterson Fieldhouse after two third-period goals helped the Green Knights to their first title in 29 years.

“We came in with a plan,” Jones said. “I thought we did everything we could tonight. It was a here-and-there hockey thing, Rice played outstanding — great championship game.”

South Burlington took a lead around the five-minute mark of the second period on a goal from Will Bradley. The senior forward collected a loose puck in the slot and threw a shot on net that squeaked by Rice goalie Henry Monaghan (30 saves) for the 1-0 lead.

Lucas Van Mullen and Jules Butler

Alpine skiers end season

LAUREN READ CORRESPONDENT

Alpine skiing

The South Burlington alpine ski team competed in the Vermont alpine state championships on last week at Burke Mountain.

For the boys, the Wolves came in fourth overall after top 20 showings in the slalom race. Dylan Karpinski was the top finisher for South Burlington in the slalom, in 16th. Teammate Jay Eagle followed just behind in 17th. Sam Harm followed 24th, Jackson Rothman was 37th and Jesse Poor was 38th.

In the giant slalom, Poor came in first for the Wolves. He finished 21st, while Karpinski followed in 26th, Eagle was 29th and Harm was 30th. Jackson Rothman came in 40th place and Russell Rothamn finished 56th.

Leila Macias-Aunave was the top finisher in the girls’ slalom race, coming in 32nd for the Wolves. Penelope Harm was 48th, Kate McNeil was 56th and Mira Epstein was 59th. In the giant slalom, MaciasAunave was 41st, Epstein 61st and McNeil came in 62nd.

Boys’ hockey

Four South Burlington boys’ hockey players were named to the Metro All-League first team by the Vermont Boys Hockey Coaches Association.

Nick Kelly was named to the first team as a forward, Lucas Van Mullen made the roster as a defenseman and James Bradley and James Chagnon split first team goaltender honors.

Miles Van Mullen was named to the second team as a defenseman and South Burlington coach Sean Jones was named the Metro Division Coach of the Year.

each had an assist on the play.

“Here we are, we go into the third period down and we’re down 1-0, the whole thing was, ‘We are prepared for this,’” Rice coach Justin Martin said. “It was just stick to the plan … and give it everything you’ve got for the last 15 minutes.”

For a while, it looked like that was all that the Wolves would need to claim their first title since 2013. Bradley — who split time in goal this season with fellow senior James Chagnon — was in control of the net, stopping 21 shots through the first two periods.

“We have been a resilient group all year,” Martin said. “The guys just stepped up. Every night has been someone different. Tonight, it was Quong and Hank in the net.”

“Rice played outstanding — great championship game.”

—

The Wolves nearly tied the game in the final minute, with a wide-open chance for Bradley at the side of the goal. The Rice keeper was able to slide across and get enough of the puck to keep it out and the Green Knights in the lead.

Coach Sean Jones

“If we finish that, obviously a different game,” Jones said. “But that’s not how hockey wanted it to be.”

Rice finally broke through just three minutes into the third period, but it took a great shot that Walter Morris fired top shelf to tie the game 1-1.

“It was an absolute snipe,” Martin said. “We had to be on our best, we got one more bounce than they did.”

Five minutes later, the Green Knights jumped in front on a perfectly executed tip play. Colin Banks shot a puck toward the net from the left side right to the stick of Oliver Quong, who redirected it perfectly past Bradley.

South Burlington’s new team wrestles at state tournament

COURTESY PHOTO

The inaugural season for the South Burlington High School wrestling team ended on a positive note at the junior varsity state tournament at Spaulding High School in Montpelier on Feb. 17. Several wrestlers earned medals, including team captain Ryan Bailey. The team was made up of 10 wrestlers who endured tough workouts since late November, including a number of early morning practices. The team is coached by Ken Phillips and three-time state champion Jack Carney. Volunteer assistant coaches were Alex Zuchman and Louis Meyers. Right, Team captain Ryan Bailey in his championship match.

The Wolves, who finished the season 20-3, will now look to regroup and build off the experience of playing the program’s first title game since 2015. With only five seniors on the roster, including both Bradley and Chagnon in goal, South Burlington will return most of the team next year.

“There are some pretty emotional guys in there right now and the message we said to them was to learn from it, learn from the seniors and grow from it and move forward,” Jones said. “Hopefully that turns into the same sort of success next year.”

continued from page 9

Drive-thru lasagna

dinner benefits wilderness camp

Join Faith United Methodist Church for a drive-thru homemade lasagna dinner fundraiser with salad, bread and dessert (maple and chocolate fudge), at 899 Dorset St., South Burlington, on Saturday, March 23, to support of Machia Wilderness Camp.

Suggested donations are $15 per dinner. Email events@faithsbvt.org with the number and type of meal to reserve and a preferred pickup time ‚ 5 p.m., 5:15 p.m. or 5:30 p.m. Questions? Call 802-8636764.

Garden club hosts talke on Asian jumping worm

Burlington Garden Club will host the talk, “The Asian Jumping Worm and other Emerging Diseases and Pests,” on Tuesday, March 26, 1 p.m., 899 Dorset St., South Burlington.

Speaker Ann Hazelrigg is a plant pathologist with University of Vermont Extension and is the direc-

tor of the Plant Diagnostic Clinic.

The Asian jumping worm is a relatively new invasive earthworm in Vermont that is spreading rapidly throughout the U.S. It presents a threat to gardeners, farmers, nurseries and forest managers. Hazelrigg will talk about it and other emerging diseases and pests that challenge us as gardeners, homeowners and forest stewards.

More at bgcvt.org.

Tropical fish hobbyists host fish, reptile expo

The Delta Hotel in South Burlington is the site for the 2024 Burlington Aquarium Fish, Coral Frag and Reptile Expo, Saturday, March 23, 1117 Williston Road, noon-3 p.m.

Come see what other hobbyist breeders have to offer. Local breeders, hobbyists and retailers will be selling freshwater fish, shrimp and plants, saltwater coral frags, reptiles and new and used equipment and aquariums.

The free event sponsored by the Tropical Fish Club of Burlington

features door prizes and a raffle. More at tfcb.org, or call David Banks at 802-372-8716.

‘Songs Remember’ celebrates Abenaki stories

“Our Songs Remember” is a combination lecture and performance focusing on the ways in which the Abenaki oral traditions of storytelling and music play a part in the preservation of Indigenous ways.

“Songs” will be held on Sunday, March 17, 2 p.m., on Zoom at Ethan Allen Homestead.

Incorporating Pakholigan (drum) and Pabekongan (flute), father and son Joseph and Jesse Bruchac will take you on a journey to the enduring roots of the Western Abenaki nations, showing how songs carry the heart and meaning of this enduring Native American culture. will be told that exemplify the way.

To register for the free program, go to ethanallenhomestead.org. Registration is required for the Zoom-only program.

Vermont Watercolor Society is exhibiting its annual spring membership show, “Spring Release,” at the South Burlington Public Art Gallery from Saturday, March 16, through May 29. The juried exhibition showcases 40 paintings that illustrate the diverse styles of expression possible with this dynamic medium. This show’s exhibit entries were judged by watercolorist Mick McAndrews of Downington, Pa. The Vermont Watercolor Society, founded in 1995, celebrates its 29th year, and remains dedicated to promoting the awareness and appreciation of watercolor to its membership at all levels of ability and to the larger community. A reception will be held in the Gallery at 180 Market St., South Burlington, on Saturday, March 16 from 1-3 p.m. The event is free and all are welcome.

COURTESY PHOTOS

The

Above, “Spring Swans,” 13”x19” by Lynn Zimmerman

Left, “Red Daylilies,” 9”x12” by Kathleen Fiske

‘Spring Release’

South Burlington School Board appoints chair, clerk

Board votes to fill seat vacated by McHenry

LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER

Chelsea Tillinghast, a two-year veteran of the South Burlington School Board, was the unanimous pick to become its new chair Wednesday night.

Tillinghast ran unopposed for reelection to the board on Town Meeting Day, and netted 3,598 votes. First elected in March 2022, Tillinghast is now the longest-reigning member on the board next to board member Laura Williams, who was appointed in August of the same year.

“I’m definitely a little nervous,” she said. “It’s important for the chair to be committed to supporting board members to be the best that they can be. It’s my personal philosophy that a good leader — you don’t even really know they’re there — because they’re good at leading and they’re not creating a spectacle.”

She said she’d seek regular feedback from other board members about how to best support them and “move our district forward.”

Tim Warren was voted unanimously to serve as board clerk.

CITY COUNCIL

continued from page 1

clerk of the council and has served on the library board of trustees as well as on the city’s development review board.

“I’m really thrilled to be in this position,” he said, “and I’m about as nervous as I was in May 1976 when I opened up on the stage as Paul Berthalet in the Rogers and Hammerstein musical ‘Carnival.’”

Councilor Andrew Chalnick, after nominating Barritt for the position of chair, said that he knows Barritt “to be fair.”

“He says what he means with just the right amount of words, he has a steady moral voice (and) I know he would make an excellent chair,” Chalnick said.

Barritt then nominated Chalnick as the vice chair, who was approved unanimously. Despite being elected last year, Chalnick is now the second most tenured member of the council.

Scanlan was appointed clerk of the council.

Town meeting turnout

Last week’s Town Meeting Day elections saw some 5,038

Warren, appointed in September to fill the seat left vacant by former board member Bryan Companion after he resigned, got 3,672 votes to finish the remaining year of his term. He also ran unopposed.

The board also welcomed its newest board member, Elaine Cissi, during its reorganizational meeting. It is also once again down to four after Alex McHenry, a seven-year member of the board, abruptly resigned from his seat just hours after the Town Meeting Day vote, citing an “enormous amount of disrespect and incivility,” on the board.

and return to open session to announce a decision.

“This is a really a big challenge,” Warren said. “What you’re looking at is a board of four people, one of whom is brand new.”

“This is a really a big challenge. What you’re looking at is a board of four people, one of whom is brand new.”

— Tim Warren

Board members voted unanimously Wednesday to fill the seat, “as soon as conceivably possible.” Applications for the position are due by March 27. Interviews will take place during an open board meeting on April 3. Board members will then discuss the candidates in executive session

While he said it’s a position the board does not want to be in, “unfortunately, it’s where we are,” and he encouraged people to apply to serve.

Both Tillinghast and superintendent Violet Nichols thanked McHenry for his service to the board for the last seven years.

“I’d like to thank Alex McHenry for his service on the school board. It’s an enormous amount of time to volunteer,” Tillinghast said.

Nichols added her gratitude to McHenry for his “incredible service,” adding that the commitment to being a board member is, “no small feat. I just really want to acknowledge him and thank him.”

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ballots cast on new councilors, a water tower bond, and city and school budgets. The school budget was voted down.

With 16,714 registered voters, the election saw a 30.14 percent turnout, which is higher than previous years, said Baker. Town Meeting Day last year had 21 percent turnout.

The difference this year was the presidential primary, which generally draws more voters to the polls. Baker said during the meeting that this year was lower than past elections with presidential primaries on the ballot.

“Not necessarily ideal from a democracy standpoint,” she said.

The South Burlington School

District’s budget was among dozens throughout the state that were shot down by voters facing varying tax rate increases averaging 19 percent. Only one district in the city, Chittenden-11, or the Orchard District, voted in favor of the budget.

But the city budget was also a close outcome. The $64.9 million budget eked out by just 205 votes, with 2,555 to 2,350.

A majority of voters in two of the city’s three voting districts — Chittenden-8 or the southeast quadrant, and Chittenden-10, commonly known as the Chamberlin district — shot down the city budget.

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BUDGET

continued from page 1

a 23 percent tax rate increase.

Superintendent Violet Nichols said that those numbers are subject to change as other factors in the education formula will not be officially finalized until the legislative session ends sometime this spring.

Nichols added that the reductions will affect all staff —union and non-union employees, support staff, educators and administrators.

Although voters approved allocating the surplus funds to the capital reserve, Tim Jarvis, the district’s senior director of operations and finance explained at the meeting last week that the language on the ballot didn’t technically bind the board to that decision.

“What the voters approved yesterday was for the board to authorize using the surplus to put in a capital reserve fund. They didn’t mandate you to do that. They authorized you to do that,” he said. “The only way to get the tax rate down to a more palatable level is to use that surplus to offset expenditures.”

Nichols outlined three potential options for the board to consider last week, each one representing a 40 percent, 45 percent and 50 percent decrease from the initial estimated tax rate increase.

“The first option has just under one and a half million dollars in reductions. In option two, it is just under two and a half. In option three, it is just over $3 million,” she said.

Staff cuts possible

The newly adopted $69.5 million budget could represent a cut of approximately 20 full-time employees or their equivalents, but exactly where those cuts will come from has not yet been finalized. The board will outline more concrete options at its meeting March 13, after The Other Paper went to press.

Nichols said that district officials and a team of administrators will prioritize not reducing positions that directly serve students, positions added to the early literacy program, and positions necessary for the district to remain in compliance with regulations outlined by the state’s agency of education.

“We always try to communicate with our staff first. I would never want a staff member to find out in a board meeting that their role potentially might not be moving forward,” she said. “We could have millions of different combinations of staff reductions and flashing those all over would not be beneficial to anyone.”

She did say that some changes expected to occur would be to increase class sizes and to eliminate positions not required by law, like extra-curriculars.

The vote to present the $69.5 million budget to voters did not pass unanimously, with board member Tim Warren casting the lone vote against. His motion to adopt a budget of $68,770,000 million, which corresponds to a 45 percent decrease from

the initially projected tax rate increase — failed.

“I continue to go back to the fact that almost two-thirds of the people voted against the budget,” he said. “That’s a significant statement from the community and while I am not comfortable going to alternative three and seeing those kinds of reductions, I do feel this was a pretty clear statement from the taxpayer that we have to make some changes.”

Board members Laura Williams, Elaine Cissi and board chair Chelsea Tillinghast voted in favor of the new $69.5 million budget.

“This is really difficult because so much of why education works is because your educators are feeling confident and

MOTEL continued from page 4

ington hotel in 2001, officials said.

The younger brother continued to operate his ring after he got arrested, a prosecutor stated.

During his sentencing in June 2003, Edwin Laboy, then 28, initially received a 30-year prison term for being part of a six-person drug conspiracy. He also agreed to forfeit up to $450,000 and three vehicles that prosecutors said were used to sell drugs or bought with proceeds.

Edwin Laboy and two of the co-conspir-

supported,” Williams said. “What happens to the adults in these buildings is absolutely critical and impacts all our children.”

Nichols explained that while each option represented significant reductions to programming and staffing, the hope is that the community finds the second option more palatable, mostly because the district is in a crunch to pass an approved budget.

“If we do not have an approved budget prior to the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, we were only approved to borrow with interest up to about 65 percent of the operating budget,” she said. “So, we are extremely incentivized to have a passed budget prior to June 30. Otherwise, we’re in a position where we’re paying interest to borrow money to continue operating.”

ators left a woman for dead at the University Inn on Dorset Street in South Burlington, records show. Her body was dumped into a bathtub. He had provided the 18-year-old woman heroin in exchange for sex, according to the investigation by South Burlington Police and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The 30-year sentence was later reduced to 20 years in 2011 after Edwin Laboy challenged the competency of his defense lawyer, records show.

Avoid jury duty scam, sheriff warns

A Chittenden County resident was cheated out of a large sum of money through a jury duty scam, according to the Chittenden County Sheriff’s Department.

The caller, who is identifying himself as deputy Greene, says because someone missed jury duty, they must pay a fine.

In the example cited by the department, scammers were able to get a large sum of money through bitcoin from the individual.

Law enforcement officials remind citi-

zens to hang up the phone on such calls and never provide personal information such as date of birth, Social Security numbers, bank or credit card information.

The sheriff’s office never clears arrest warrants or court cases by asking for money, either in person or over the phone.

Report these incidents to the Vermont Attorney General’s Office at 800-6492424 or 802-656-3183. Contact the county sheriff’s office at 802-863-4341 for more information.