Fall is here
Hall of Famer
Opening up
Read about where to see the best foliage and what to do and eat along the way in our Fall Guide.
Lucien Paquette has been inducted into the Vermont Agriculture Hall of Fame. See Page 5B.
A veteran defense and a new QB will lead the Panthers when they kick off on Saturday. See Page 1B.
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT Vol. 68 No. 38
Middlebury, Vermont
â—†
Thursday, September 18, 2014 â—† 84 Pages
Group  seeks  to  aid  ‘disconnected  youth’ By  JOHN  FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY  —  Representa- tives  of  Addison  County’s  business,  human  services  and  education  sec- tors  are  banding  together  to  tackle  one  of  Vermont’s  —  and  the  nation’s  —  most  pressing  social  and  econom- ic  quandaries:  How  to  draw  into  the Â
workforce  a  growing  segment  of  the  population  known  as  “disconnected  youth,â€?  citizens  between  the  ages  of  16  to  24  who  are  either  unemployed  or  not  in  school. Statistics  show  that  9.62  percent  of  county  residents  between  the  ages  of  16  and  24  were  not  working  or  in Â
school  in  2013,  and  assisting  them  KDV HPHUJHG DV WKH ÂżUVW PDMRU DV- signment  of  the  four-Âyear-Âold  Addi- son  County  Economic  Development  Cabinet.  “The  reason  this  cabinet  group  came  together  is  that  even  though  we  have  been  moving  our  own  groups Â
forward,  we  knew  we  could  have  more  of  an  impact  if,  at  the  mini- mum,  we  shared  information  across  sectors  or  collaborated  across  sec- tors,�  said  Addison  County  Transit  Resources  Executive  Director  Jim  Moulton. (See  Youth,  Page  12A)
75¢
Getting  the  band  back  together:  The  Grift  marks  decade  and  a  half By  ZACH  DESPART MIDDLEBURY  —  They’ve  been  together  longer  than  the  Beatles,  had  almost  as  many  members  as  Spinal  Tap,  and  have  traveled  half  a  million  miles  on  the  road.  Now,  they’re  pre- paring  to  commemorate  their  15th Â
anniversary  with  a  big  reunion. They’re  the  band  with  the  Ad- dison  County  roots  known  as  The  Grift,  and  after  dozens  of  tours,  thousands  of  shows  and  six  albums,  the  band  is  still  going  strong. (See  The  Grift,  Page  16A)
Truckstop on Route 7 to be done in 2014
Addison-Â1  candidates’  debate  set  for  Sept.  23 MIDDLEBURY  —  Candidates  running  for  the  two  Addison-ÂI  seats,  the  Vermont  House  district  that  rep- resents  Middlebury,  have  been  in- vited  to  take  part  in  a  forum  on  Tues- day,  Sept.  23,  at  Middlebury’s  Town  Hall  Theater.  The  forum  will  begin  at  7  p.m.  and  run  to  about  8:30  p.m.,  allowing  time  for  the  audience  to  ask  questions  of  the  candidates  and  time  to  visit  with  the  candidates  after  the  forum.  Democrat  Betty  Nuovo;Íž  Democrat  Amy  Sheldon,  who  is  also  supported  by  the  Progressive  Party;Íž  and  Inde- pendent  candidates  Calvin  McEath- ron  and  Thomas  Hughes  are  vying  for  Middlebury’s  two  seats.  Nuovo  is  running  for  her  15th  two-Âyear  WHUP KDYLQJ ÂżUVW EHHQ HOHFWHG LQ 1980.  Paul  Ralston,  who  had  served  in  the  House  for  two  terms,  chose  not  to  run  for  a  third  term. The  format  will  have  moderator  Angelo  Lynn,  publisher  of  the  Ad- dison  Independent,  posing  questions  WR WKH FDQGLGDWHV IRU WKH ÂżUVW SRUWLRQ OMAR  EVANS  REACHES  for  just  the  right  apple  while  picking  at  Sentinel  Pine  Orchard  in  Shoreham  Tuesday.  Growers  say  this  year’s  apple  crop  of  the  forum,  then  opening  the  ques- tioning  to  members  of  the  audience.  ORRNV JRRG ² QRW JUHDW ,QGHSHQGHQW SKRWR 7UHQW &DPSEHOO Each  candidate  will  also  have  a  few  minutes  to  make  an  opening  state- ment  and  a  closing  statement.  Time  after  the  forum  will  be  made  avail- able  for  residents  to  visit  with  the  By  ZACH  DESPART done  a  lot  of  planting  lately.  A  lot  of  young  trees  and  help  develop  its  rich  color. candidates.  ADDISON  COUNTY  —  Local  orchards  are  are  maturing.â€? Because  of  Vermont’s  changing  climate  and  Nuovo,  80,  was  trained  as  an  at- reporting  mixed  results  for  this  year’s  apple  Champlain  Orchards  plants  on  just  over  200  WKH GHOD\ RI WKH ÂżUVW IURVW 6XKU SODQWHG YDULHWLHV torney  and  is  currently  Addison  County’s  longest  serving  legislator.  crop:  Growers  say  it’s  not  as  good  as  last  year’s  acres,  and  averages  around  80,000  bushels  per  of  apples  this  year  that  require  longer  growing  seasons. She  serves  on  the  House  Natural  Re- larger-Âthan-Âaverage  harvest,  but  is  still  consid- harvest. ered  at  least  close  to  typical. Suhr  said  the  size  of  apples  this  year  is  good,  “With  the  extended  season,  some  of  that  fruit  sources  and  Energy  Committee.  “We  are  picking  less  fruit  than  we  originally  but  not  excellent.  He  added  that  crops  are  ben- is  doing  well,â€?  Suhr  said,  pointing  to  Granny  Hughes,  58,  is  a  historian  who  manages  the  Crown  Point  State  thought  we  would,â€?  said  Bill  Suhr  of  Cham- HÂżWLQJ IURP FRRO HYHQLQJV DQG EULJKW VXQQ\ Smith  and  Pink  Lady  varieties  that  normally  plain  Orchards.  “But  we’re  grateful  that  we’ve  days  in  September,  which  help  mature  the  fruit  (See  Candidates,  Page  14A) (See  Orchards,  Page  14A)
Orchards: Apple crop OK, but not the best
Ferrisburgh  McDonald’s and  gas  station  on  track By  ANDY  KIRKALDY FERRISBURGH  —  Champlain  Oil  Company’s  major  project  on  Route  7  in  Ferrisburgh,  including  a  Jiffy  Mart  and  a  McDonald’s  Restau- rant,  is  under  construction  now  and  expected  to  be  completed  before  the  end  of  the  year,  according  to  Cham- plain  Oil  President  Tony  Cairns. COCO,  as  the  company  is  known,  LQ )HEUXDU\ FOHDUHG LWV ÂżQDO OHJDO hurdle  —  a  Vermont  Supreme  Court  denial  of  an  appeal  by  project  op- ponents  that  ended  a  four-Âyear  court  battle.  At  that  time  Cairns  said  he  be- lieved  work  would  be  done  by  April  2015.  In  an  email  on  Monday,  Cairns  said  there  is  a  new  timetable  for  the  project  on  the  former  home  of  the  Ferrisburgh  Roadhouse  and  Burdick’s  Country  Kitchen.  “We  expect  to  be  open  in  the  mid- dle  of  December,â€?  Cairns  wrote.  Basically,  he  said,  a  combination  RI JRRG ZHDWKHU DQG DQ HIÂżFLHQW contractor  allowed  COCO  to  meet  its  goal  of  not  “sitting  on  the  project  DOO ZLQWHU´ DQG ÂżQLVKLQJ LW GXULQJ WKH 2014  construction  season.   “We  got  a  contractor,  Naylor  and  Breen  (Builders),  we’ve  worked  with  before,  and  they  were  able  to  jump  through  the  hoops  and  get  things  done  quickly,â€?  Cairns  said.  When  the  construction  dust  settles  on  a  9.7-Âacre  site  about  a  half-Âmile  VRXWK RI )HUULVEXUJKÂśV WRZQ RIÂżFHV and  a  mile-Âand-Âa-Âhalf  north  of  Ver- (See  COCO,  Page  12A)
By the way Beth  Bearor  of  the  Vergennes  Area  Rescue  Squad  was  honored  as  an  EMS  Child  Passenger  Safety  Seat  Technician  of  the  Year  in  a  statehouse  ceremony  on  Monday.  Bob  Ide,  commissioner  of  the  De- 025( 7+$1 SHRSOH ZDONHG IURP WKH 5REHUW )URVW ,QWHUSUHWLYH 7UDLO LQ 5LSWRQ WR WKH WRZQ JUHHQ LQ 0LGGOHEXU\ RQ $XJ RQ WKH ÂżUVW GD\ RI D ÂżYH GD\ ZDON WR %XUOLQJWRQ WR partment  of  Motor  Vehicles,  and  UDLVH DZDUHQHVV RI JOREDO ZDUPLQJ 7KLV ZDV RQH RI WKH ÂżUVW ELJ PDUFKHV LQ WKH PRYHPHQW WR VWRS FOLPDWH FKDQJH Chris  Bell,  director  of  Public  Health  Preparedness,  presented  awards  to  11  technicians  representing  emer- gency  responders,  hospitals,  com- munity  members,  and  law  enforce- ment  from  around  Vermont.  State  RIÂżFLDOV VDLG WKDW DSSUR[LPDWHO\ 80  percent  of  the  2,000  child  pas- senger  car  seats  checked  annually  E\ FHUWLÂżHG WHFKQLFLDQV LQ 9HUPRQW By  ZACH  DESPART This  coming  Sunday,  McKibben,  are  incorrectly  installed.  There  are  ADDISON  COUNTY  —  Eight  a  journalist  and  Middlebury  College  FHUWLÂżHG WHFKQLFLDQV ZRUNLQJ \HDUV DJR %LOO 0F.LEEHQ OHG D ÂżYH scholar  in  residence,  will  learn  the  (See  By  the  way,  Page  6A) day  march  from  Ripton  to  Burling- impact  of  his  efforts  over  the  inter- ton  to  raise  awareness  about  climate  vening  eight  years  when  he  leads  an- change.  It  culminated  in  a  rally  in  other,  slightly  larger  march,  this  time  Battery  Park  that  drew  1,000  people,  through  the  streets  of  Manhattan. making  the  event  likely  the  larg- Organized  by  350.org,  a  group  est  climate  change  demonstration  in  McKibben  co-Âfounded,  and  billed  Letters  to  the  editor  ........... 4A-Â5A U.S.  history  at  the  time. as  the  People’s  Climate  March,  he  &ODVVLÂżHGV  ....................... 7B-Â11B McKibben  was  pleased  with  the  expects  more  than  100,000  people  Service  Directory  .............. 8B-Â9B turnout  that  day,  but  was  shocked  to  to  participate,  which  would  make  Entertainment  ........................ 15A hear  it  had  set  an  attendance  record.  the  event  the  largest  ever  held  in  this  Community  Calendar  ...... 8A-Â10A Sports  ................................ 1B-Â4B Wasn’t  climate  change  on  the  radar  country. elsewhere  in  the  United  States? While  climate  change  activism  has  “When  we  read  that,  we  realized  grown  into  a  movement  that  spans  %,// 0&.,%%(1 6+2:1 LQ KHOSHG SODQ WKH ZDON DQG XOWLPDWH UDOO\ ZKLFK GUHZ SHRSOH ² WKH we  had  a  lot  more  work  to  do  in  the  the  far  reaches  of  the  country  and  largest  climate  change  rally  in  the  United  States  up  to  that  point.  Organizers  have  learned  a  lot  in  the  past  intervening  six,  seven,  eight  years,â€?  the  globe,  some  of  its  roots  can  be  eight  years  and  hope  to  attract  100,000  to  a  climate  change  rally  in  New  York  City  this  Sunday. McKibben  said. (See  Climate,  Page  6A) ,QGHSHQGHQW ÂżOH SKRWRV 7UHQW &DPSEHOO
McKibben,  350.org  eye big  NYC  climate  march Movement  traces  roots  to  Middlebury
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