REPORTER THE ESSEX MAY 26, 2016
Vol. 36, No. 21
Prsrt Std ECRWSS U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 266 Essex Junction, VT 05452 Postal Patron-Residential
PFOA tests negative in Saxon Hill forest Testing begins at GlobalFoundries By JASON STARR
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he first groundwater tests for PFOA at the GlobalFoundries site in Essex Junction were conducted last week in cooperation with an Environmental Protection Agency program to track the suspected carcinogen. The tests are part of an ongoing
round of groundwater tests at 11 industrial sites in Chittenden and Grand Isle counties, led by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. They follow last year’s discovery of elevated levels of perfluorooctanoic acid in groundwater around former material manufacturer Chemfab in North Bennington. Gov. Peter Shumlin announced
earlier this month that groundwater at the former Belden Wire and Cable location in the Saxon Hill Industrial Park and at the former Super-Temp Wire and Cable location in Winooski tested free of PFOA. Previous testing at Phoenix Wire in South Hero was also reported clean. Results from the tests at GlobalFoundries were not available this week. The EPA and DEC have focused on current and former manufacturSee PFOA, page 3
Local woodworker prepares for Open Studio Weekend
Photos by JASON STARR Good Stuff, “a store for adults,” opened on Pearl Street last Wednesday.
Good Stuff or bad stuff? ‘A store for adults’ opens on Pearl Street By JASON STARR
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Skunk Hollow Studios owner Russ Fellows uses a lathe to create the final shape for one of his bowls Monday afternoon at his Jericho workshop. He’s preparing for the 24th annual Vermont Open Studio Weekend, which runs May 28-29. Below, Fellows applies primer to one of his wooden bowls.
By COLIN FLANDERS
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uss Fellows’ workshop is located at the end of a gravel road that meanders through a sparse Jericho woodland. Emerging past the tree line, as if entering the Narnian wardrobe, reveals a hidden world, with blue sky stretching past the treetops in search of distant mountains. Fellows’ home, a two-story “earth shelter” where he’s lived with his partner since 1981, appears to have naturally grown within this alcove. Its roof dons a fuzzy grass cover, while the back porch overlooks a man-made pond a hundred yards away. He brushed off a pile of wood-
Photos by COLIN FLANDERS
See WOODWORK, page 5
Jules café enlivens Essex Town Center Restaurant coming to site of historic Butler house By JASON STARR
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our years after one of Essex’s original homesteads was demolished despite the efforts of local historic preservationists, a sign has sprouted on the vacant lot in Essex Center where it once stood. The sign advertises the coming of a café — Jules on the Green — the brainchild of restaurateur Silvio Mazzella. An Essex resident, Mazzella owned and operated the Dunkin’ Donuts on Pearl Street in downtown Burlington for 10 years until selling it last summer. Jules on the Green will be the most visible entity in the so-called “Essex Town Center,” a fledgling growth center near the Essex Shoppes and Cinemas. The restaurant will be located along Route 15 near the intersection of See JULES, page 10
Photo by JASON STARR Jules on the Green owner Silvio Mazzella stands on the site of the future restaurant near the intersection of Route 15 and Old Stage Road.
om Massey has a go-to line to explain the intentionally vague name and logo on the signs of his now seven Good Stuff stores in Vermont. The latest opened on Pearl Street in Essex last WednesGlass pipes are sold at Good day. Stuff on Pearl Street in “It’s everything Essex. Wal-Mart doesn’t have,” he said, "A lot of people smirking. You realize, think our when perusing the customers shelves and racks are kids, filled with sex toys, pipes, bongs, elecbut it’s tric cigarettes, gag everyone." gifts and psycheTom Massey delic memorabilia, Massey is correct: Nothing inside the store would ever find its way into Sam Walton’s retail empire. The tagline is also intentionally non-descript — “A store for adults” — but it is apt. “A lot of people think our customers are kids, but it’s everyone,” Massey said. “The poor, the rich, professionals, college students, See STORE, page 3
Essex woman pleads guilty to embezzlement By COLIN FLANDERS
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n Essex woman pleaded guilty to a federal forgery charge after prosecutors say she stole $165,000 from a local non-profit organization. Sally Kirby, 61, pleaded guilty last week in U.S. District Court in Burlington, according to a press release sent by the U.S. District Attorney’s office. Federal prosecutors say Kirby forged checks from her employer, Hunger Free Vermont, a South Burlington-based education and advocacy organization aimed at ending hunger in the state. The organization hired Kirby as director of finance in 2004. Her duties included handling payroll, accounts payable and financial statements, the press release said. Between June 2009 and September 2015, Kirby embezzled by issuing herself checks and forging the signature of the organization’s executive director, the press release said. Kirby deposited many of the checks into a personal credit union account and then tried to hide the theft by altering the accounting system to make it look like checks were made payable to vendors, the press release said. The incidents were discovered in October 2015. The FBI led the investigation. District Judge William K. Sessions III released Kirby on conditions until sentencing, which is set for September 26. She faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.