Late surge
‘Being There’
Champions!
The Tiger girls’ lax team came on strong in the second half to nail down a playoff win. See Page 1B.
Middlebury College offers a look at the work of a renowned photographer. See Arts+Leisure.
The Panther women’s lax team won its second title in four years and seventh overall. See Page 1B.
ADDISON COUNTY
Vol. 73 No. 22
INDEPENDENT Middlebury, Vermont
Thursday, May 30, 2019
Homelessness report sends mixed signals
State numbers down, but local shelters full By JOHN FLOWERS ADDISON COUNTY — While a statewide estimate indicates the number of homeless people living in Vermont declined this past winter by 15.5 percent (202 people), local advocates said they saw no let-up — or vacancies — in Addison County shelters during
Middlebury considers future of Creek Road
the coldest months. Discussion on the topic arose recently after the Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness and the Chittenden County Homeless Alliance the “2019 Point In Time Count.” The report provides a snapshot of homelessness in the Green Mountain State during a
count taken on Jan. 23 of this year. That count found, among other things, a homeless population of 1,089, down from 1,291 at the same point in 2018. The 1,089 homeless people represented 772 total households — a decrease of 16 percent (145 households) compared to the year before. But the report also placed the number of unsheltered Vermont
individuals at 114, a 39-percent bump from last year. “Insufficient affordable housing units, housing subsidies and capacity to provide individualized services that fit the needs of individuals and families who are homeless continue to burden prevention and intervention efforts,” the report reads. (See Report, Page 12A)
42 Pages
Brandon retailer keeps expanding, innovating By RUSSELL JONES BRANDON — Sometimes, frustration can lead to inspiration. Anyone who has driven through Brandon during the Route 7 construction knows how frustrating the time spent waiting
By ANDY KIRKALDY VERGENNES — With a study in hand that states an alternate truck route through northern Vergennes would not only remove unwanted truck traffic from the city’s downtown but also enhance the city and the region’s economic prospects, Vergennes officials have started the first step of making the new road a reality: mustering regional support for it. Although the truck road, which city officials are pitching as the (See Vergennes, Page 12A)
for your turn to go can be. But it was a moment like that, sitting in traffic in her car near the Brandon Town Hall, that inspired Gina Germond to take a new path in her life. (See Brandon, Page 10A)
Advocates lobby for free meals at schools
New system touted as learning catalyst
By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury selectboard will soon invite public feedback on a new report suggesting four options for fixing flood-damaged Creek Road. Options range from spending around $4.9 million to reopen the road from Route 7 to Three Mile Bride Road, to $671,563 to make the most dire repairs up to the Bingham property, where Creek Road would stay closed to vehicular traffic. Local engineer Peter DeGraff presented the four options to the Middlebury selectboard Tuesday night. It’s the first step in picking a repair plan for Creek Road, which was closed to through traffic during the spring of 2015 after some large sections of its pavement surrendered to the forces of the adjacent Otter Creek. Creek Road is closed by a gate near the site (See Creek Road, Page 13A)
Vergennes officials take plan for truck route on the road
$1.00
By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — Hunger Free Vermont, a statewide anti-hunger advocacy organization, is engaged in a major lobbying campaign to allow all public schools to stop charging families for breakfasts and lunches during the academic year. They’re called “universal free meals,” and Addison and Windsor counties are the only areas in the state with zero schools offering such an amenity, according to Hunger Free Vermont Executive Director Anore Horton. The concept of Universal Free School Meals is a model that allows all students to eat school meals for free. Participating schools build the meal program into the overall curriculum, creating a learning lab for healthy eating and a mealtime experience where all children are equal and enjoy meals together, Horton said. “Learning is the student’s responsibility, and making sure students have what they need to learn is our collective responsibility,” Horton told a group of Addison County human services providers at a recent Middlebury gathering of the Hunger Council. She added, “No student should learn about hunger and shame through personal experience at school.” But Horton said that’s just what’s happening with the current food service model at most Vermont public schools, where children pay varying amounts (or nothing) for (See Meals, Page 10A)
Time to remember
A SHRINER MARCHING in the Vergennes Memorial Day Parade, above, gives a balloon animal to a girl in a star-spangled dress. Right, veteran Ernie Cyr salutes as a bugler plays “Taps” at the Soldiers Monument near the Middlebury green Monday, before the laying of a wreath. Joyous Memorial Day parades in both towns, as well as in Bristol and Orwell, each took a somber turn when crowds gathered to pray and honor those who died defending the country. See more photos from local festivities on Pages 3A, 4B and 5B.
Photos by Dana Ambrose Photography and Steve James/Addison Independent
Middlebury College grads urged to ‘get close’ By the Joy, doubts mingle on a bittersweet day way
MIDDLEBURY NATIVE BOBBY Ritter is clearly having a great time as he lines up with other members of the Middlebury College class of 2019 before marching into their commencement ceremony Sunday morning.
Independent photo/Steve James
By CHRISTOPHER ROSS MIDDLEBURY — At Middlebury College’s 218th graduation ceremony on Sunday, student speaker Angie McCarthy confessed that during her freshman year she’d considered transferring to another school. “I didn’t feel like I fit into this greater vision of what Middlebury was supposed to be and what it meant to be a Midd Kid,” said McCarthy, a joint Geography and Environmental Studies major from Virginia, Colorado and Malaysia. “It seemed like everyone spent their high school careers name-dropping classical philosophers, and they also happened to design a bridge in their hometown that was not only environmentally sustainable but also engaged the local moose community in building it.”
She’d been scared of her classmates, she added. She’d felt like a fluke. Then her older brother gave her some advice, she recalled. “Get a little closer,” he’d said. “Proximity is everything.” So McCarthy went for it, she said, and four years later, surveying from the commencement stage an audience that numbered in the thousands, she spoke with awe and gratitude about the fruits born of having followed that advice. But her story didn’t necessarily have a happy ending. Her peers, she explained, are wondering how they’ll have an impact. They’re afraid to become teachers or park rangers because they’re afraid of “living up to this expensive degree of ours.” (See Graduates, Page 14A)
The Addison County Solid Waste Management District is hosting a free hazardous waste collection event for residents of three communities on Saturday, (See By the way, Page 3A)
Index Obituaries.........................6A-7A Classifieds......................8B-10B Service Directory.............6B-7B Entertainment...... Arts + Leisure Community Calendar.......8A-9A Arts Calendar...... Arts + Leisure Sports...............................1B-3B