Reporter
September 8, 2016 • The Essex Reporter •1
THE ESSEX
Vol. 36, No. 36
September 8, 2016
Prsrt Std ECRWSS U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 266 Burlington, VT 05401 Postal Patron-Residential
Stabbing suspect faces murder charge By MICHAELA HALNON
J
acob St. Amour, 20, of Williston pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder charges in Chittenden Superior Court on Tuesday after prosecutors said he stabbed a man at the Champlain Valley Fair late Sunday night. Police say 22-year old Ryan Durkin of South Burlington was fatally wounded just after 11 p.m. on Sun-
day and was pronounced dead at the hospital. An autopsy detailed in the affidavit showed Durkin suffered a single stab wound to the torso. The courtroom was full as St. Amour appeared before Judge James Crucitti. Family and friends of the victim were emotional as they waited for the arraignment to start. St. Amour’s friends appeared to record the proceeding on cell phones,
shouting their support as he was escorted out. The judge ordered St. Amour held without bail. St. Amour was arrested just after 11 a.m. on Monday near Best See STABBING, page 11 Right: Jacob St. Amour appeared in court Tuesday where he pleaded not guilty to second degree murder. Police say St. Amour fatally stabbed 22-year-old Ryan Durkin at the Champlain Valley Fair last Sunday night.
Burlington Free Press photo by RYAN MERCER
PAC aims to halt rec district By COLIN FLANDERS
Photos by BOB LOCICERO
fair-well to summer
"The 10 Best Days of Summer" came to a close last Sunday evening when the Champlain Valley Fair wrapped up its seasonal run at the Expo. From August 26 to September 4, fairgoers enjoyed rides, concessions, concerts, demonstrations, animals and more.
A political action committee was formed to combat the recreation governance study committee’s proposal to create a union municipal district for the Essex town and village recreation departments, the latest step in a brewing controversy over the merger. According to its website, PlanBforEssex.org, the PAC was formed by residents to help voters “parse the issues behind the Dec. 13 ballot.” The PAC says it’s dismayed by the RGSC’s proposal and offers an alternative: con-
solidate both departments under the town government. Much of the PAC’s rhetoric mimics that of selectboard member Irene Wrenner, who’s been extremely vocal in her criticism of the plan. In an interview Friday morning, Wrenner confirmed she’s part of the PAC. Neither hers nor any other PAC members’ names are published on the website, and Wrenner made clear she’s acting as a resident, and the selectboard is not involved. She also confirmed See PAC, page 4
Town pursues lawsuit against building owner By COLIN FLANDERS The selectboard voted to pursue a lawsuit against a building owner whose six-unit apartment complex at 96 Pearl St. has been overrun with cockroaches. The decision came during the board’s Aug. 29 meeting, a week after town health officer Jerry Firkey issued an emergency order to one of the building’s tenants. Tenant Stacy Davis and building owner Robert Shea, who purchased the
building last December, had five business days to appeal the decision. Neither did. Acting as the board of health, the selectboard also upheld Firkey’s emergency health orders instructing Shea to contract a pest control company to fumigate the building. Additionally, Davis must remove anything that might serve as food or breeding ground for the cockroaches. The orders remain until the board votes to See BUILDING, page 2
Essex women take to the stage By MICHAELA HALNON
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obin Owens, 57, can count the number of plays she’s worked on using one hand. Fifty-fiveyear-old Carole Vasta Folley can barely keep track of her credits. But when the Essex women perform Vasta Folley’s newest show “Seymour Sisters,” they say they enter an alternate world together. The two-person play follows a pair estranged sisters, thrown together to sort through their deceased parents’ belongings.
The set is purposely minimal, Vasta Folley said – only cardboard boxes contain the characters. “As they open the boxes, so, too, [they open] their past,” Owens explained. The meeting is orchestrated by Vasta Folley’s character, Cecile, in a thinly veiled attempt to reconnect with her sister. Eleanor, played by Owens, is the practical eldest with little interest in reminiscing. “Seymour Sisters” is the first drama for Vasta Folley, a playwright, director, producer and ac-
tress extraordinaire who typically writes comedies. She began writing early last year after she was awarded the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts Vermont Artist’s Space grant. Vasta Folley, who also works as the assistant editor for South Burlington’s The Other Paper, has overseen the show from script to stage. The result, she said, is her most intimate work to date. “I feel like I’ve grown up as a playwright,” she said. See STAGE, page 2
COURTESY PHOTO Carole Vasta Folley (right) and Robin Owens (left), both of Essex, act out a scene in Vasta Folley's newest play, "Seymour Sisters."