MONDAY EDITION
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT
Vol. 30 No. 47
Middlebury, Vermont
Monday, April 8, 2019
Paid family leave law takes steps toward reality in Vt. Disc sport takes flight
• Utlimate, the game played with a flying disc, moves from a club activity to a varsity sport at MUHS. See Page 20.
Search on for new teen center leader
Rep. Scheu was leader in promoting bill H.107
By JOHN FLOWERS, Addison Independent, and XANDER LANDEN, VTDigger MONTPELIER — The Vermont House late last week advanced legislation that would establish a statewide paid family leave benefit funded by a payroll tax paid by workers, or employers who volunteer to cover the cost. In a vote of 92-52 on Friday, lawmakers approved the program, which
would be administered by a private insurance carrier and grant employees 12 weeks of family leave or eight weeks of medical leave per year. The body gave final approval on Friday. While the paid family leave bill, H.107, won a wide margin of support, the vote demonstrated that Democrats may fall just short of the support they would need to revive the measure if the bill is vetoed by Gov. Phil Scott. Rep. Robin Scheu, D-Middlebury, was lead sponsor of H.107. A member of the House Ways & Means Committee, (See Family leave, Page 26)
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Couple recovering after attack by rabid coyote By JOHN FLOWERS SALISBURY — George Gilman, 79, has harvested game and wood from his property off Hubbard Road in Salisbury for decades. He’s dealt with everything Mother Nature could throw at him. He remains undefeated, but a little worse for wear, in the aftermath of an attack by a rabid coyote on Monday, April 1. He and his wife Priscilla, 76, are now going through a progression of rabies shots after having been bitten by the coyote, which George was able to kill with a shotgun blast so that its remains could be tested at the Vermont Department of Health lab in Burlington. “I think it was an isolated thing, but I do keep a closer watch,” (See Rabid coyote, Page 26)
• Around 12 candidates have applied thus far for the post serving Middlebury-area youth. See Page 2.
Salisbury eyes conservation fund • A local couple has provided seed money for a plan to preserve important parcels. See Page 3.
Taking the lead Civic-minded youth recognized • More than two dozen Salisbury Community School students win the Good Citizen Challenge. See Page 23.
THE VANGUARD OF the “Next Steps Climate Solutions Walk” leaves the Middlebury town green Friday morning to begin the first leg of a five-day, 65-mile walk to Montpelier. More than 270 climate justice activists signed up to make the 350Vermont-sponsored walk in order to bring attention to the climate change crisis and highlight solutions. See more photos on Page 15. Independent photo/Steve James
Clean water, low milk prices put dairy in a bind By MICHAEL FRETT St. Albans Messenger JAY — Dairy farmers have a role in the water quality debate in Vermont, but they might not survive to participate in that debate if market pressures continue as they are. These conclusions could be drawn from presentations at the Jay
Peak resort last week, where, after state officials opened the Agency of Agriculture’s Northern Tier Dairy Summit on Monday, three work groups were invited to present abridged versions of their reports to the 150 dairy farmers and many others in the audience. The first of those workgroups, the Vermont Dairy and Water
Collaborative, presented their call to action studying the intersection of stabilizing agriculture and improving water quality in Vermont. “We all know the importance of ag in this state,” said Mark Magnan, a dairy farmer from Fairfield and one of five farmers in the collaborative working group. “I also think we’re
all here today because we know the importance that ag plays in water quality.” Per their report, farmers’ roles in land stewardship meant that, through conservation-minded practices, farmers could positively impact their respective watersheds. At the same time, however, that (See Dairy farming, Page 18)