Thursday, September 20, 2018

Page 1

Sweet lodging

New eatery

Late flurry

A new Route 7 motel has candythemed rooms & Vermont’s biggest candy story. See Arts + Leisure.

The former Lobby restaurant will be home to The Arcadian and Haymaker Buns. See Page 3A.

The Mount Abe boys scored all their goals in the second half to win at VUHS. See Page 1B.

ADDISON COUNTY

INDEPENDENT

Vol. 72 No. 38

Middlebury, Vermont

Thursday, September 20, 2018 

Telemedicine puts doctors on call

Bristol Family Practice is first to offer video appointments with physicians By JOHN FLOWERS BRISTOL — Dr. Natasha Withers of Bristol Family Practice makes house calls that don’t add a single mile to her vehicle odometer. No, she doesn’t take a bus, nor does she have a helicopter. Withers is the first family practice physician within the entire University of Vermont Health Network to pilot a new technology called “telemedicine.” It allows the doctor to see and converse with patients from her office, thus saving them, in some cases, a ton of travel time and lost wages that would have been required for a conventional, face-to-face meeting.

Withers arrived at “One of the biggest Bristol Family Practice benefits of this is the “Now that around a year ago with patient doesn’t have to we’ve worked some past experience travel,” Porter Medical out the kinks, serving patients remoteCenter spokesman Ron I’d use it for ly. But those “e-visits” Hallman said of the new were largely through service, which during any kind of the next few months will follow-up visit.” email, without a video be extended at all Porter — Dr. Natasha component. Still, she primary care practices in Withers saw the potential for new technology to cut Middlebury, Vergennes, through the many miles Bristol and Brandon. “It’s the convenience and efficiency that some frail patients have to travel that comes with being able to have to get to their physician, sometimes the patient be seen in the privacy and just for a follow-up appointment to comfort of their own home, especial- discuss symptoms. “When I came here, I really wantly if they have transportation issues.”

ed to hit the ground running and use technology in a way that’s beneficial for patients and providers,” Withers said. When she learned UVM Health Network was looking to pilot a telemedicine program at one of Porter Medical Center’s family practices, she enthusiastically volunteered. Todd Young is director of the network’s telemedicine services. “I emailed (Young) and said, ‘We’ve got to get this started,’” Withers recalled with a smile. Young assigned a team to outfit Bristol Family Practice with (See Telemedicine, Page 16A)

44 Pages

$1.00

Vermont Green Line back on two county towns’ radar By ANDY KIRKALDY NEW HAVEN — The Vermont Green Line was the ill-fated high-voltage power line that developers wanted to run through northwestern Addison County until late 2017, when sponsors pulled the plug after failing to get contracts to deliver energy to southern New England. But now the project, which could bring millions of dollars in payments to New Haven and Ferrisburgh for hosting the infrastructure, could be back on the table.

Last week representatives of National Grid, a British energy firm that is a major player in the New England electricity market, contacted officials in New Haven and Ferrisburgh to say the company will revive the Vermont Green Line, or VGL, if it wins a contract to transmit power from Hydro Quebec to Connecticut. That contract will be awarded in December, according to company officials. The VGL high-voltage line (See Vt. Green Line, Page 11A)

Producer eyeing Vermont nature books for television Middlebury native in L.A. looks homeward

Badges for blood

STATE POLICE LT. Jeffrey Danoski, commander of the New Haven barracks, gives blood Tuesday afternoon in Middlebury with the help of American Red Cross collections technician Barbara Howell. Danoski and other local first responders gave blood Tuesday in the “Battle of the Badges” blood drive, a friendly competition between local firefighters and law enforcement officials meant to encourage community members to join first responders and perform their own heroic act by donating blood. Independent photo/Trent Campbell

By CHRISTOPHER ROSS VERMONT — Could humorous stories about Vermont fish-and-game wardens make for good television? Hollywood producer Geoffrey Sharp, who grew up in Middlebury, believes it could. Sharp recently inked a “shopping agreement” with “Vermont Wild” series author Megan Price and will spend the next year pitching the idea to television networks. Price’s five “Vermont Wild” books are a conglomeration of insightful and oftenfunny stories told from the perspective of Vermont game wardens. “People love animals and they love it when authority figures get their comeuppance, in a light-hearted way,” Sharp said. “The characters in these books have this way of being both universal and also specific to Vermont.” Five volumes of “Vermont Wild” contain nearly 100 stories — plenty of fodder for an ongoing TV series.

Kids offered more at club’s new home

By the way Those with an interest in the future of through truck traffic in northwestern Addison County might want to set time aside this coming Wednesday, Sept. 26. That’s when a 7 p.m. forum in the Vergennes Opera House will look at the issue of the more than 800 trucks a day that now rumble through Vergennes and how their impact might be reduced. The Addison County Regional Planning Commission and the Vermont Agency of Transportation have commissioned a study to assess options. Those include two bypasses, one that might make use of (See By the way, Page 13A)

Index Obituaries........................... 6A-7A Classifieds........................ 8B-10B Service Directory............... 6B-7B Entertainment.........Arts + Leisure Community Calendar......... 8A-9A Arts Calendar.........Arts + Leisure Sports................................. 1B-4B

City nonprofit now in its own building

By ANDY KIRKALDY VERGENNES — After spending about five afternoons each at the new home of Boys & Girls Club of Greater Vergennes, 15-year-old members Renee Marshall and Bethany Cram both gave it thumbs-up reviews. On a warm Monday after school the two friends from Vergennes were relaxing on the lawn of the club’s new 20 Armory Lane headquarters — and lounging in a yard was something they couldn’t do back at the group’s old clubhouse on School Street, where each had hung out regularly for at least the past two years. “We can just go outside and lie down,” Marshall said. “Every time we go outside we don’t just have to sit and stay there, stay on the porch.” “Or we can play a basketball game with our friends,” Cram said, pointing out the new hoop nearby where the lawn meets the paved parking lot. In all, the club’s 3,400-square-foot, one-story building (that includes a side unit that provides the club rental income) sits on 1.87 acres. And, they said, the inside has both shared space for teen and younger members, such as game, computer, multi-purpose and dining rooms, but also a separate teen space with comfy furniture and more gaming consoles, plus a small, quiet library tucked in the building’s back corner.

MASON MALANEY-MCCAIN, 13, left, and Stephen Kittredge, 9, work in the computer room in the new Boys and Girls Club of Greater Vergennes clubhouse Tuesday afternoon. The new clubhouse, which opened Sept. 10, is getting great reviews from kids and staff. Independent photo/Trent Campbell

The School Street clubhouse had been nicely renovated, but it was smaller and with an open layout. In the club’s new home Marshall and Cram both like not only the roominess, but also the option of quiet or private spaces.

Marshall said they enjoy acting as role models for younger members, but also want time for themselves. Now she feels more “independent” at the club, freer to make choices. “There are a lot more places to chill out, to do our homework and calm

down when we want to be alone,” Marshall said. Cram said she feels the same way. “I really like how much more room we have, and we have more to do,” Cram said. “Like the areas where we (See Club, Page 11A)

“Mr. Sharp understands Vermont,” Prices said. “We met recently and within minutes were swapping stories and laughing.” Sharp graduated from Middlebury Union High School in 1979. He spent his 20s acting in New York, where (See Vermont Wild, Page 13A)

Free summer lunches in jeopardy in some towns By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — Seven Addison County towns hosted free meals sites this past summer that delivered thousands of meals to hungry local kids, though human services providers are concerned some of those communities might soon have to cut off the food supply due to federal income eligibility standards. Summer meals was but one of several food-related topics discussed by the Addison County Hunger Council on Tuesday. The council advocates for programming aimed at making sure area families have enough nutritious food to eat. Council members heard reports from a variety of advocates on their efforts to feed hungry kids and their families. Several local lawmakers and candidates for office this November listened intently to the discussion. Laura LaVacca is the leader of the food service cooperative for both the Addison North(See Kids’ lunches, Page 13A)


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