Monday, June 18, 2018

Page 1

MONDAY EDITION

ADDISON COUNTY

INDEPENDENT

Vol. 30 No. 8

Singin’ about highs & lows • The Renee Dion Trio will bring soulful R&B and Jazz to Brandon Music. See Arts Beat on Page 10.

Mt. Abe names top graduates

Middlebury, Vermont

Monday, June 18, 2018

32 Pages

$1.00

County prosecutor talks record, priorities Wygmans unopposed in bid for four-year term By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — After 15 months on the job, Addison County State’s Attorney Dennis Wygmans is seeking a new four-year mandate from area voters. Barring an eleventh-hour write-in campaign by

another candidate, Wygmans will run unopposed in his first election for the position. And while “Dennis Wygmans” is likely to be the only candidate name under “state’s attorney” section of the Nov. 6 ballot, the incumbent

wants voters to know what he’s done and would like to accomplish during his first full term. And it involves a lot more than presiding over an office that prosecutes a full docket of criminal cases that routinely range from larceny to aggravated sexual assault. “I made a few promises when I

was first appointed,” said Wygmans, who was appointed to the post in January 2017. One of those promises involved giving qualifying Addison County defendants access to a “treatment court,” where they would be given up to 18 months to resolve their (See Wygmans, Page 19)

• When the members of the class of 2018 got their diplomas two Eagles were singled out as valedictorian and salutatorian. See Page 32.

City manager search lengthens

• The Vergennes City Council is talking about an interim solution in the ongoing effort to replace the soon-to-depart Mel Hawley. See Page 3.

Power help

WEYBRIDGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL kindergartner Tata Mia Harper helps drive some of the final screws into the school’s new playground castle structure last week. The castle was completed and officially opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony this past Thursday, the last day of school. Independent photo/Trent Campbell

OV junior tops on the diamond

• Players from all four local high schools are honored on the 2018 Independent Baseball All-Star Team. See Page 16.

Middlebury to celebrate judge in anti-slavery case Historical marker planned for Court Square By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — Thousands of vehicles flirt with Court Square every day as they negotiate its serpentine roundabout. Drivers pausing at the Court Street stoplight at the crest of the square have but a few seconds to

admire the lush green park fronting the Middlebury Inn. Unless you’re a historian or the member of a multi-generational Middlebury family, you wouldn’t know the unassuming park once (See History, Page 14)

Bristol police chief search hits snag By CHRISTOPHER ROSS BRISTOL — The Bristol Police District will not get a new police chief by July 1, as had been hoped. The Bristol selectboard was slated to conduct June 25 public interviews of the final two candidates, whose names are being withheld. That plan was scrapped, however, after the five-member Police Chief Review Committee

(PCRC) raised a number of concerns at the June 11 selectboard meeting. The PCRC was formed April 2 to review candidates for the position and make recommendations to the selectboard, but the selectboard recently relieved the committee of some of its duties. “We were charged to carry out a process whereby we would make (See Police chief, Page 15)


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