Living space
Dog biscuits
Stick stars
Bristol designer Mitra SamimiUrich helps people love their homes. See Arts + Leisure.
Middle school kids are cooking up and selling treats to help the animal shelter. See Page 2A.
A Mount Abe senior leads the 2017 Independent Field Hockey All-Star Team. See Page 1B.
ADDISON COUNTY
Vol. 71 No. 46
INDEPENDENT Middlebury, Vermont
Thursday, November 16, 2017
50 Pages
$1.00
Porter seeks ‘Epic’ software upgrade
Project would unify electronic records
By JOHN FLOWERS not ADA-compliant. MIDDLEBURY — For 28 Diette and patients throughout the years now, Betty Diette has been state and region have been searching battling a formidable foe: multiple for a universal access ramp for their sclerosis, a neurological disorder electronic medical records, which that has confined her currently can’t be easily to a wheelchair — but “It’s a mess shared among doctors, has not diminished her for providers, therapists, hospitals and intellect or her dignity. specialists within the but really it’s Now a resident of University of Vermont Helen Porter Healthcare a mess for Health Network that & Rehabilitation Center, patients.” includes Porter Medical Diette often finds herself — Dr. Fred Kniffin Center. shuttling to medical In some cases, that appointments throughout Addison means a patient has to physically and Chittenden counties. Being in take his or her medical record to a a wheelchair, she can find it hard to specialist’s office that has different access some buildings. electronic software than the patient’s Sadly, her access problems aren’t primary care provider. And for only associated with venues that are (See Porter, Page 3A)
Huge Middlebury solar farm pitched On stage
VERGENNES UNION HIGH School students Kamren Kiefer and Caitlin Walsh rehearse a scene from the school’s production of “42nd Street” Tuesday night. The show opens Thursday night and runs through Saturday. For more photos see Page 12A.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell
By ANDY KIRKALDY VERGENNES — Vergennes residents in March will be asked to support a $500,000 bond to buy a new fire truck, one that will replace what Vergennes Fire Chief Jim Breur told the city council on Tuesday is a heavily used 1994 truck.
By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury Development Review Board on Nov. 27 will take its first look at a proposal to establish a medical marijuana dispensary at 1641 Route 7 South, the former home of Planned Parenthood. As previously reported by the Independent, Champlain Valley Dispensary (CVD) has been looking for a Middlebury location from which to serve Addison County patients with state identification cards to receive medical marijuana. The CVD currently supplies around 3,000 qualifying patients with medical marijuana through its dispensaries in Burlington and Brattleboro. (See Dispensary, Page 10A)
Stories are still trickling in from the big windstorm just before Halloween. We learned this week that a pregnant Ila Halby went into labor on the night of Oct. 29 — the night the wind started blowing. She was planning to have the baby at home so no problem, right? But trees that had fallen across the road to Ila and Peter Halby’s Lincoln home had blocked the way for their (See By the way, Page 7A)
Index Obituaries........................... 6A-7A Classifieds........................ 6B-10B Service Directory............... 7B-8B Entertainment.........Arts + Leisure Community Calendar......... 8A-9A Arts Calendar.........Arts + Leisure Sports................................. 1B-3B
the Middlebury selectboard a brief overview of their project on Tuesday. As currently envisioned, the solar farm would cover approximately 40 acres of the 112-acre parcel, owned by the estate of Ruth Quesnel. Jordana Jusidman, GroSolar’s director or project development, said (See Solar, Page 3A)
Vergennes eyes $500K fire truck
Medical pot dispensary proposed for Rt. 7 location
By the way
By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — A Vermont company is proposing to buy a 112acre parcel off Halladay Road in Middlebury as the potential site for 5-megawatt solar farm that would feed energy into the state’s electrical grid. Representatives of GroSolar gave
The council unanimously supported what was the recommendation of a Vergennes Volunteer Fire Department committee that included Breur and department officers and firefighters. The committee had been studying department needs for three years,
Breur said, and after deciding on replacing the 23-year-old truck had contacted about a dozen dealers and evaluated options at a number of price points before settling on what he called an “upper middle” choice. “This truck will serve our city (See Vergennes, Page 10A)
BRETT SARGENT KILLED this 166-pound, six-point deer in Lincoln during the productive first two days of rifle season. Hunters and reporting station operators reported a healthy herd, and opening weekend was the second most successful since 2005.
Photo courtesy of Lincoln General Store
Rifle deer season opens with bang-up weekend Big numbers build on youth, bow results By ANDY KIRKALDY ADDISON COUNTY — Area deer hunters enjoyed the second best opening weekend of rifle season since 2005, bringing 242 bucks to Addison County weigh stations on this past Nov. 11 or 12. That total of deer taken came just seven short of 2016’s opening weekend kill of 249. That total was the best opening weekend result since Vermont wildlife officials in 2005 banned the taking of spikehorn bucks during November’s 16-day rifle season, the most popular of the state’s deer hunting seasons. The 2016 rifle season total then went on to finish at 573 weighed locally, also the best total since 2005. In 2015 hunters weighed 188 deer
locally during the opening weekend. Opening weekend totals between 2011 and 2014 ranged from 122 to 154 deer. Last year eventually proved to be the most successful year for local hunters since 2005. Counting all of the 2016 deer seasons — including animals taken during the October archery season (206), Youth Hunting Weekend (94), rifle season (573), and December’s combined archery and muzzleloader season (191) — hunters brought 1,064 deer to one of the county’s eight reporting stations. This year’s overall numbers are putting 2017 on a record-breaking track when the opening rifle total is included. (See Deer season, Page 14A)
Under the sea
MOUNT ABRAHAM UNION High School student Eden Ginsburg has the title role in the school’s production of “The Little Mermaid.” The show opens Thursday and runs through Saturday. For more photos see Page 13A.
Independent photo/Trent Campbell