RepoRteR The
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essex
MARCh 24, 2016
Vol. 36, No. 12
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Hockey Crowd pleasers misconduct confirmed By COLIN FLANDERS The Essex Reporter Essex High School confirmed allegations of student misconduct between two varsity hockey players are true, according to a statement released Tuesday afternoon by Pietro Lynn, the school’s attorney. The statement says a student’s conduct violated the school’s policy on harassment, hazing and bullying. The incident was initially reported to an assistant principal at the school on February 5, resulting in one player — sophomore Alexander Giummo — being suspended from the boys’ hockey team. After learning of the allegations, the school notified Essex police, who then passed on the investigation to the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations, a county-wide taskforce that investigates sexual crimes and child abuse, Sgt. Michael Warren confirmed last week. The CUSI investigation ended March 15 and is now under review by Chittenden County State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan, he said last Friday. Donovan declined to estimate how or when he’ll announce any decision to file criminal charges and provided no further comment. According to Lynn’s statement, “the accused student admitted that he engaged in the misconduct supporting the finding,” adding the administration found the accusations were credible. In a phone interview Tuesday afternoon, Lynn declined to elaborate on the nature of the misconduct. The written statement comes a week after the school finalized a report detailing the findings of its internal investigation into the incident. Lynn denied The Essex Reporter’s public records request for the report, filed with the Chittenden Central Supervisory Union School District. The report won’t be made public, Lynn said. “There is no way we can produce this report without violating federal privacy,” he said Monday. On Tuesday, Lynn denied a subsequent appeal sent to superintendent Judith DeNova for a redacted version of the report. In a follow-up interview Tuesday afternoon, Lynn said the statement was only released after both parties involved consented to its content. “The school has taken
EMS chefs take home prize By COURTNEY LAMDIN Essex Middle School’s Junior Iron Chef team was ready for action last Saturday and proved its cooking chops by taking home a prize. The Action Ready Team won the Crowd Pleaser Award at the ninth annual creative cooking contest, held Saturday, March 19 at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex Jct. The award is given to teams who best incorporate color, texture and taste for a true crowd-pleasing dish, said Jennifer Sutton, Essex Town School District farm-toschool coordinator. Team members Laura Printon, Aidan Mejia, Kayla Chicoine, Kaitlyn Myers and Grace Arcovitch cooked up a falafel rainbow spinach wrap with mango drizzle. They were coached by Sutton and Jacqueline Hoff, EMS head chef. EMS’ second team, Flaming
Eagles, also competed with a recipe for Green Mountain pesto risotto with Parmesan crisps. Team members Gracie Welch, Chloe Daniels, David Roberts, Jordan Stevens and Chelsey Bearor were coached by family and consumer science teacher Mary Viglotti and Bonnie Szarkowski, ETSD child nutrition coordinator. “Both our teams did an exceptional job of showing team work, collaboration, communication and, of course, culinary skills,” Viglotti said. Junior Iron Chef asks student teams to create recipes using seasonal ingredients, which they have to source themselves. Coaches help students along the way, but on competition day, they’re on their own. Teams have just 90 minutes to prepare their dishes, which are taste-tested by a panel of judges. This year’s group included Vermont Rep. Jill Krowinski,
Essex police looking for suspect in child luring incident By COLIN FLANDERS Essex police are asking for help identifying a man they say tried to lure a 13-year-old boy into his vehicle around 8 p.m. on March 16. Police say the boy was walking home when the man pulled up near him and told him to get into his truck. The boy refused and took off running toward his residence. The man left the area immediately after. The truck was described as a dark blue Toyota truck with slightly tinted windows and a dark blue cap covering the truck’s bed.
– See POLICE on page 2
James Beard-winning cookbook author Molly Stevens and St. Johnsbury Academy student Peggy Fischer, a finalist in the Food Network’s Kids Baking Championships, among others, a press release said.
The event is sponsored by VT FEED, a statewide farm-to-school program that raises awareness about healthy food and nutrition. See portions of the students’ recipes on our food page, 17.
A few cuts above the rest Essex Jct. barber celebrates 50th anniversary
By COLIN FLANDERS The Essex Reporter
– See MISCONDUCT on page 2
POLICE BEAT
Essex Middle School students participate in the ninth annual Junior Iron Chef competition. PHOTOS | HARJIT DHALIWAL
This vintage photo depicts Garry Montague, owner of Garry’s Barbershop in Essex Junction, who celebrated his 50th anniversary as a barber on Tuesday. COURTESy PHOTO
Fifty years is a long time for anyone, but for a small business owner? It’s a lifetime. Just ask Garry Montague, owner of Garry’s Barbershop in Essex Junction, who celebrated his 50th anniversary as a barber on Tuesday. Montague, who turns 70 in May, began cutting hair as a 19-year-old. He worked for six years before purchasing the Essex Junction barbershop in 1972. “The looks have changed a little bit, but the atmosphere’s the same. You always get a good joke when you come through the door,” said Lori HammondSmith, who has worked at the barbershop 21 years. Three conversations advanced
to a soundtrack of purring clippers early Monday afternoon. Montague and a young serviceman discussed the latter’s time spent training in Korea. Occasionally, Montague referenced the man’s girlfriend, who sat in a waiting chair along the wall — his way of inviting her into the conversation. Robin Yates, Montague’s daughter, stood nearby. She trimmed the hair of a recent Champlain College graduate, listening on as he detailed the relationship with his siblings. Hammond-Smith spoke with a couple browsing the shop’s immense selection of hair products resting atop a seventiered shelf that boasts over 23 different brands.
– See BARBERSHOP on page 11
Efforts underway for better rail service By COLIN FLANDERS The Essex Reporter
The long-sought goal of restoring passenger rail service between Vermont and Montreal got a boost earlier this month as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly endorsed an agreement aimed at expediting border travel. During the first official visit by a sitting Canadian prime minister in nearly two decades, Trudeau voiced support for expanding the current agreement at a joint press conference with President Barack Obama on March 10. “Today we also reaffirmed our determination to move ahead with an agreement to pre-clear travelers through immigration
and customs, making it even easier for Canadians and Americans to travel and visit and do business together,” Obama said. Trudeau’s endorsement came a week after Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy introduced legislation to expand current pre-clearance facilities, which accelerate customs and immigration for U.S.-bound travelers, and two months after the Essex Junction Village Board of Trustees approved $1.1 million of structural improvements to the village’s train station. The U.S. currently runs nine pre-clearance stations in various Canadian airports. An agreement signed in March 2015 between the U.S. and Canada now allows for pre-clearance to expand to marine, land and rail.
The issue of pre-clearance is a major domino in the fight to bring back rail service to Montreal. The Montrealer began service in 1972, operating for over 20 years before Amtrak eliminated the train in 1995 due to financial constraints. The main issue plaguing the service was lengthy stops at the Canadian-U.S. border, according to Brian Searles, former head of the Vermont Agency of
Summer camps See pages 6-7
Transportation. Amtrak crews had to switch out with Canadian National crews at the border, an issue that is now cleared up after a restriction in the Canadian contract. Passengers also had to get off at the border and go through customs, costing at least an hour of travel. “Basically, it wasn’t a service that could compete with the
– See AMTRAK on page 11