Reporter
May 18, 2017 • The Essex Reporter • 1
THE ESSEX May 18, 2017
Vol. 37, No. 20
Prsrt Std ECRWSS U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 266 Burlington, VT 05401 Postal Patron-Residential
Unified board debriefs after lockdown
A WHEELIE FUN TIME
By COLIN FLANDERS
PHOTO BY KYLE ST. PETER
Max Perkov completes the Cycle De Mayo obstacle course last Saturday morning at Maple Street Park. See more photos on page 4.
As the investigation into the April lockdown at Essex High School continues, law enforcement and state education representatives met with the unified school board earlier this month to reflect on lessons learned. The April 12 incident began when a male suspect informed Essex police he intended to harm EHS students with weapons and explosives. The call sent all Essex Jct. schools into an hours-long lockdown while more than a dozen police and emergency response agencies rushed to the high school. The Chittenden Central Supervisory Union updated parents via messages over the next 12 hours as police swept the building’s interior and exterior. The next day, police determined the event was a so-called “swatting” incident, in which a caller reports a fictitious threat to create a large law enforcement response. Still, the event represented real fears for many parents and gauged the capacity of both school officials and police to respond to emergency situations. “As the person ultimately responsibility for public safety in this See LOCKDOWN, page 10
Women’s Build takes over Essex Jct. property try.
By COLIN FLANDERS
UVM Medical Center president Eileen ammers thwacked in the rhythm Whalen, donning a green baseball cap and of exploding popcorn last week vest to match, stood on scaffolding and lison the site of Essex Jct.’s first- tened before taking aim. ever Green Mountain Habitat for Whalen was named honorary chairHumanity build. woman of the event and said Habitat’s misFourteen women leaders from sion “aligns beautifully” with the the University of Vermont hospital’s goal of population Medical Center, spanning health management. roles from physicians to “We believe that nurses and business having a safe, sustainadministrators, apable home is one of proached their fourth the most important hour onsite by the social determinants time the sun peeked of health,” she said. through the clouds “If people have a roof around 11 a.m. last over their head, and Thursday. they’re not worried Some paired off to about where their next lug large slabs of wood, meal is coming from, Eileen Whalen winding around towering then they’re really able UVM Medical Center piles of dirt that outlined the to participate in their own home’s footprint. Others tried health care.” their hand at roofing, spreading shinCoinciding with National Nurses gles across three sheds that will serve as Week, the event doubled as a celebration of storage for the 57 Park St. property’s newest some of the medical field’s hardest working tenants. employees. It was the final leg of Habitat for Hu“We’re celebrating the power of women manity’s 10th annual Women’s Build Event, working together to make a difference in a four-day affair that invites women to help our community,” Whalen said. construct local affordable housing with the Volunteers from both Green Mountain guidance of experienced builders. More Keurig and Lowe’s, which helped launch than 17,000 women were expected to volun- the Women’s Build week in 2008, also parteer at construction sites across the counSee BUILD, page 3
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“We’re celebrating the power of women working together to make a difference in our community.”
PHOTO BY COLIN FLANDERS
Chris Oliver, left, and University of Vermont Medical Center president and COO Eileen Whalen take a break from nailing shingles on Thursday, May 11.
Selectboard set to discuss land transfer with district By COLIN FLANDERS
PHOTO BY COLIN FLANDERS
Christine Tornello, right, listens to testimony during the selectboard’s dog bite hearing Monday night. The selectboard ordered Tornello’s dog, Stella, be muzzled and harnessed whenever in public after a biting an Essex woman last month.
Dog muzzled after bite By COLIN FLANDERS The Essex Selectboard unanimously ordered a dog be muzzled and harnessed whenever in public after a biting incident last month. The board issued the decision Monday night after an hourlong hear-
ing during which the victim, Deborah Terrill, and her husband described the April 26 attack by Stella, a 3-year-old, 60-pound American bulldog mix. The Terrills were walking near the corner of Jackson and Elm streets when they saw Stella and her owner, See DOG, page 11
The Essex Selectboard will approach the Essex Town School District to discuss possible land transfers before the unified district’s July 1 start date after a narrow vote Monday night. Selectwoman Irene Wrenner requested the meeting after considering recent voter-approved purchases by the Essex Westford School District’s two other two communities. She urged the town to consider doing the same. “Knowing that we as elected officials are only temporary custodians of other people’s assets made me think … we could do nothing less than stand up for our voters, have this conversation and warn a meeting as soon as possible,” she said. By a 3-2 count, the board agreed to contact the ETSD board and request a joint meeting. Andy Watts
PHOTO BY COLIN FLANDERS
Selectwoman Irene Wrenner explains her request to meet with the Essex Town School District to discuss potential land transfers before the unified school district’s July 1 start date. and chairman Max Levy dissented. The town currently maintains the Prairie Fields
at Essex Middle School and the Foster Road Park fields. It also leases 90 acres in the See LaND, page 10