RepoRteR THE
www.essexreporter.com
ESSEX
APRIL 2, 2015
Vol. 35, No. 13
Prsrt Std ECRWSS U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 266 Essex Junction, VT 05452 Postal Patron-Residential
Connector road remains nameless Agency initiates right-of-way talks with property owners By JASON STARR The Essex Reporter The Ò Crescent ConnectorÓ has been a fine working title for the bypass road planned for Five Corners that the Village of Essex Junction is working with the Vermont Agency of Transportation to construct next year. But itÕ s time the road had a lasting name, Community Development Director Robin Pierce suggested last week at a meeting of the Village Board of Trustees. Pierce
offered the name Ò Railroad Street.Ó Ò It just seems to make sense, if youÕ re looking for directions or where to go Ñ take Railroad Street,Ó said Pierce. The thing is, there already is a Railroad Street in the village. The new road is designed to divert cars from Main Street with a bypass behind the Lincoln Inn. It would connect with the existing Railroad Street at an intersection with Maple Street. The seven homes on Railroad Street would have their address numbers changed if the connector takes the name, Pierce said. Trustee Andrew Brown asked if the residents of Railroad Street had been notified that their addresses will be changed if the board accepts the name. Pierce said they had not. The board then declined to take action on the recommendation.
Ò After you have that conversation with the property owners, IÕ d like to then revisit this,Ó said Brown. Ò I want to give people the opportunity to know in advance that itÕ s something that at least didnÕ t happen overnight.Ó Agency of Transportation Project Supervisor Ande DeForge said the project is entering the unpredictable Ò right-of-wayÓ phase, when the agency negotiates with property owners to acquire the land needed to build. An initial meeting with property owners is scheduled for April 14, Pierce said. The state has hired an appraiser to offer market value prices for the needed land. But a disagreeable negotiation could throw a monkey wrench into the roadÕ s planned 2016 construction start.
– See CONNECTOR on page 3a
Champlain Valley Fair changes carnival companies By JASON STARR The Essex Reporter
Children race across Maple Street Park in search of eggs during the Essex Egg Hunt on Saturday morning. OLIVER PARINI PHOTOGRAPHY
Community members scatter across Maple Street Park hunting for eggs.
Assessing ‘smarter balanced’
Riley LaBonte, 5, and her mother, Erin LaBonte, open eggs.
Maria Archangelo named editor/co-publisher of Essex Reporter
State downplays importance of this spring’s new standardized student tests By JASON STARR The Essex Reporter
The new standardized tests that Essex students are currently taking to measure their college- and career-readiness wonÕ t be used as a measuring stick of school performance, the Vermont Agency of Education announced in March. The State Board of Education is seeking a one-year federal waiver of accountability under the No Child Left Behind law that rates a schoolÕ s yearly progress on tests. The new tests replace the New England Common Assessment Program tests that the state had been using until this year to track yearly progress. The new Ò Smarter BalancedÓ test being administered over several weeks this spring to EssexÕ s third- through eighth-graders and 11th-graders are designed to determine how well the new Common Core curriculum standards
– See TESTS on page 3a
A new company will set up rides and concessions at the Champlain Valley Fair this summer after the organization ended its 30-year relationship with Reithoffer Shows. The fair has contracted with Strates Shows of Orlando, Fla., to set up on the midway lawn. The fair runs from Aug. 28 to Sept. 6 this year. Champlain Valley Exposition Executive Director Tim Shea said the organizationÕ s board of directors decided to explore new options when its contract with Reithoffer ended last summer. Ò We always knew about Strates Shows,Ó he said. Ò WeÕ ve gotten nothing but glowing reports about them.Ó Strates has been a fixture at the Eerie County Fair near Buffalo, N.Y., as well as the New York State Fair near Syracuse. This year, the New York State Fair changed vendors, freeing up the late-August/early September time frame for Strates to work the Champlain Valley Fair. Strates representatives visited Essex in October, and Expo representatives traveled to see one of their shows in Florida last fall. By Thanksgiving, the parties had agreed to work together. Fair-goers will notice some different rides and new food vendors. The fairgrounds carries a mix of local concessions that wonÕ t change and concessions provided by the carnival company. Ò There will be a new look and feel to the midway,Ó Shea said. Ò I think our guests will enjoy the change.Ó
Maria Archangelo
A new editor/ co-publisher will join the Essex Reporter and Colchester Sun newspapers starting next week as Elsie Lynn Parini, current editor and business manager, will accept a position at Addison Press Inc. in Middlebury as its business manager
and assistant publisher. Maria Archangelo, who worked for six years for the award-winning Stowe Reporter, will join Lynn Publications as the new editor/co-publisher of the two weekly Chittenden County newspapers. Ò Bringing Maria on as our editor/co-publisher at Essex and Colchester adds a great deal of
journalistic experience and proven business savvy to our operations there,Ó said co-publisher Angelo Lynn of Middlebury. Ò WeÕ re thrilled Maria has joined the team and look forward to building a strong network of digital, print and social media services in Chittenden County to help area businesses reach their markets while keeping residents informed about their communities.Ó Archangelo, 48, worked as publisher at the Stowe Reporter from 2006 to 2012, during which time the Reporter was named Newspaper of the Year for Vermont and New England several times and Archangelo was named Serious Columnist of the year by the New England Press Association twice in those six years. She and her husband, Tom Kearney, who is editor of the Stowe Reporter and Waterbury Record, have lived in Montpelier since 2003. She grew up in Philadelphia and has worked as a journalist for more than 25 years at publications including The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Baltimore Sun and was previously editor of The
– See ARCHANGELO on page 3a