MONDAY Â Â EDITION
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT
Vol. 25 No. 15
Mary Hogan track Â&#x2021; <RXQJ 0LGGOH EXU\ DWKOHWHV VKRZHG WKHLU WDOHQWV DW 'UD JRQH 7UDFN 6HH 3DJH
Howlett spells his way to 33rd place Â&#x2021; 0806 eighth-grader IURP &RUQ ZDOO ERZV RXW LQ WKH Ă&#x20AC;IWK URXQG RI WKH QDWLRQDO VSHOOLQJ EHH 6HH 3DJH
Middlebury, Vermont
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Monday, June 3, 2013
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32 Pages
75¢
+DELWDW EXLOGV ÂżUVW RI IRXU &RUQZDOO KRPHV Grateful  family  moves  into  new  abode By  JOHN  FLOWERS CORNWALL  â&#x20AC;&#x201D;  Angela  McClus- key  had  grown  tired  of  seeing  her  son  Jonathan  turn  in  for  the  night  on  the  living  room  couch  in  their  small  apartment  while  she  and  her  daugh- ter  Caitlin  got  to  sleep  in  beds. So  McCluskey  took  what  she  be- lieved  was  a  long  shot:  She  applied  to  become  the  owner  of  one  of  four  new  Habitat  for  Humanity  homes  to  be  built  within  a  13-Âacre  subdivision  off  Cornwallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s  Delong  Road. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When  I  sent  the  application  in,  I  never  thought  I  would  qualify,â&#x20AC;?  Mc- Cluskey  said.  â&#x20AC;&#x153;But  as  the  process  went  on,  my  hopes  started  to  rise.â&#x20AC;? She  was  ecstatic  last  summer  when  Habitat  for  Humanity  of  Ad-Â
dison  County  (HHAC)  selected  her  to  own  the  home,  which  she  and  her  two  children  began  occupying  on  May  19  after  contributing  many  hours  of  labor  during  the  construc- tion  process. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I  love  it,  and  the  kids  love  it,â&#x20AC;?  she  said  of  the  two-Âstory,  1,500-Âsquare- foot,  saltbox-Âstyle  home. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And  Jonathan  was  the  one  who  JRW WR FKRRVH KLV URRP ÂżUVW LQ WKH new  house.â&#x20AC;? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s  Addison  County  Habitatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s  sixth  home,  located  in  Cornwallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s  ¿UVW HYHU DIIRUGDEOH KRXVLQJ VXE- division.  The  Cornwall  Planning  Commission  approved  the  Habitat  subdivision  in  June  of  2011.  The  (See  Habitat,  Page  32)
Police  and  public  works  costs  drive  $1.83M  city  budget  draft By  ANDY  KIRKALDY VERGENNES  â&#x20AC;&#x201D;  The  Vergennes  &LW\ &RXQFLO ODVW ZHHN JRW LWV ÂżUVW look  at  a  draft  2013-Â2014  city  bud- get,  one  that  City  Manager  Mel  Hawley  prepared  and  said  could  mean  the  second  increase  since  2008  in  the  tax  rate  devoted  solely  to  paying  for  municipal  services. $OGHUPHQ ZLOO PDNH WKH ÂżQDO decision  on  the  budget  and  the  mu-Â
nicipal  portion  of  the  tax  rate  by  the  end  of  June.  That  portion  of  the  tax  rate  does  not  support  school  spend- ing.  Hawleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s  proposed  general  fund  budget  â&#x20AC;&#x201D;  he  called  that  â&#x20AC;&#x153;proposed  with  a  small  pâ&#x20AC;?  because  of  its  pre- liminary  nature  â&#x20AC;&#x201D;  calls  for  spend- ing  of  about  $1.83  million,  up  by  a  little  more  than  5  percent  from  the  (See  Vergennes,  Page  30)
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By  XIAN  CHIANG-ÂWAREN STARKSBORO  â&#x20AC;&#x201D;  After  more  than  two  decades  at  Robinson  El- ementary  School,  art  teacher  Vera  Ryersbach  is  retiring  this  month.  She  leaves  quite  a  legacy  behind  â&#x20AC;&#x201D;  when  Ryersbach  came  on  board  as  a  volun- teer  in  1989,  Robinson  was  the  last  school  in  the  Addison  Northeast  dis- trict  that  did  not  have  an  art  teacher.  â&#x20AC;&#x153;I  volunteered  there  for  a  few  years  before  I  began  teaching,â&#x20AC;?  said  Ryers- bach,  a  Starksboro  resident.  â&#x20AC;&#x153;There  was  no  art  department  at  the  time.  I  had  done  all  my  work  for  cerWLÂżFDWLRQ 52%,1621 (/(0(17$5< 6&+22/ DUW WHDFKHU 9HUD 5\HUVEDFK ZKR IRXQGHG WKH 6WDUNVERUR VFKRROÂśV DUW and  I  was  just  beginning  to  apply  for  SURJUDP PRUH WKDQ WZR GHFDGHV DJR LV UHWLULQJ DW WKH HQG RI WKH VFKRRO \HDU (See  Ryersbach,  Page  7) ,QGHSHQGHQW SKRWR 7UHQW &DPSEHOO