MONDAY Â Â EDITION
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT
Vol. 27 No. 9
Teens hitting the open road ‡ $ VXPPHU SURJUDP ZLOO JLYH \RXQJVWHUV FDPHUDV DQG PLFURSKRQHV DQG VHQG WKHP RXW WR PDNH GRFXPHQWDULHV 6HH 3DJH
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Middlebury, Vermont
X
Monday, May 18, 2015
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36 Pages
75¢
Bristol  Elementary  budget  revised  for  revote June  16  picked  for  third  try  on  plan
At  a  Monday  meeting,  board  members  are  expected  to  settle  on  an  exact  spending  amount  to  warn  for  that  public  revote. By  JOHN  FLOWERS Bristol  residents  will  actually  be  BRISTOL  —  The  Bristol  Elemen- asked  to  go  to  the  polls  twice  in  tary  School  (BES)  board  is  targeting  June.  In  addition  to  a  third  refer- Tuesday,  June  16,  for  revote  on  a  re- endum  on  the  Bristol  Elementary  YLVHG ÂżVFDO \HDU EXGJHW EXGJHW YRWHUV ZLOO ÂżHOG D 0RXQW proposal  that  will  be  roughly  $11,000  Abraham  Union  High  School  spend- less  than  the  spending  plan  local  resi- ing  plan  (also  for  the  third  time)  on  dents  last  rejected  on  April  14. Tuesday,  June  9. Â
%ULVWRO (OHPHQWDU\ RIÂżFLDOV FRQ- sidered  holding  their  budget  vote  in  tandem  with  MAUHS  on  June  9,  but  ultimately  agreed  that  waiting  the  additional  week  would  give  them  more  time  to  prepare  and  send  out  WZR LQIRUPDWLRQDO Ă€\HUV WR DOO ORFDO taxpayers,  hold  some  public  meet- ings,  and  inform  residents  of  their  ability  to  vote  by  absentee  ballot,  if  needed. Draft  minutes  from  the  board’s Â
most  recent,  May  11  meeting  indi- cated  at  least  two  board  members  —  including  Chairman  Steve  Barsa- lou  —  were  opposed  to  holding  the  BES  revote  on  the  same  date  as  that  of  Mount  Abraham’s.  Some  board  members  indicated  they  believed  it  might  be  in  the  BES  budget’s  best  interest  to  distance  itself  from  a  Mount  Abraham  spending  plan  that  has  proven  even  less  popular.  (See  Bristol,  Page  35)
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The  three  amigos TIGERS  GARRETT  TROUMBLEY,  left,  Lewis  Short  and  Ian  McKay  are  neck  and  neck  in  the  110-Âmeter  hurdle  race  at  last  Thursday’s  track  DQG ÂżHOG PHHW KRVWHG E\ 0LGGOHEXU\ 7URXPEOH\ 6KRUW DQG 0F.D\ ÂżQLVKHG VHFRQG WKLUG DQG IRXUWK UHVSHFWLYHO\ )RU PRUH FRYHUDJH RI WKH PHHW VHH 3DJH Independent  photo/Trent  Campbell
Weybridge 6th-grader proves a real quiz-whiz in geography 7LJHU JLUOV¡ OD[ faces Div. I iron ‡ 'XULQJ D EXV\ VWUHWFK DW WKH HQG RI ODVW ZHHN WKH 08+6 WHDP SOD\HG WKUHH JDPHV ³ WZR DW KRPH 6HH 3DJH
By  JOHN  FLOWERS WEYBRIDGE  —  David  Liebowitz  is  only  11,  but  he’s  traveled  to  more  places  than  a  lot  of  people  will  see  in  their  lifetimes.  And  the  Weybridge  Elementary  School  sixth-Âgrader  has  the  uncanny  ability  to  remember  where  he’s  been  and  what  he’s  seen  —  even  in  the  pages  of  books  and  magazines. His  intelligence,  memory  and  love  of  geography  recently  paid  off  in  a  big  way.  Liebowitz  earned  his  place  as  Vermont’s  representative  at  the  27th  annual  National  Geographic  Bee  held  in  Washington,  D.C.,  May  11-Â13.  And  while  he  didn’t  take  the  title,  he  answered  a  majority  of  the  brain-Âcrushing  queries  tossed  his  way  by  the  folks  at  National Â
Geographic. He  brought  home  some  souvenirs  from  a  great  family  trip,  along  with  some  memories  that  will  last  him  a  lifetime. “It  was  interesting  to  meet  so  many  people,�  said  David,  the  son  of  Ron  and  Jessica  Liebowitz.  “It  was  really  fun.� Liebowitz  had  to  clear  two  hurdles  on  his  way  to  punching  his  ticket  for  the  nationals. It  began  with  the  annual  Weybridge  Elementary  Geography  bee  that  Liebowitz  —  referred  to  by  many  of  his  teachers  and  classmates  by  his  middle  name,  Heshie  —  had  won  for  three  years  in  a  row.  He  prevailed  over  other  contestants  in  grades  4  (See  Liebowitz,  Page  7)
0-&& DJDLQ Ă€RDWV plan  for  childcare  center  in  Vergennes By  ANDY  KIRKALDY VERGENNES  —  Mary  Johnson  Children’s  Center,  which  has  long  been  established  in  Middle- bury  and  has  operated  summer  programs  in  Ver- gennes  and  elsewhere  in  the  county,  is  once  again  working  toward  building  a  childcare  center  in  the  Little  City. Mary  Johnson’s  goal,  said  Co-Âdirector  Barbara  6DXQGHUV LV ZKDW 0DU\ -RKQVRQ RIÂżFLDOV EHOLHYH LV a  badly  needed  Vergennes  childcare  center  to  serve  30  preschoolers,  one  that  would  be  built  on  a  1.5- acre  Armory  Lane  lot  near  the  city’s  three-Âyear-Âold  senior  center.  (See  Childcare  center,  Page  35)