Reporter
October 27, 2016 • The Essex Reporter •1
THE ESSEX
OctOber 27, 2016
Vol. 36, No. 43
Prsrt Std ECRWSS U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 266 Burlington, VT 05401 Postal Patron-Residential
Town clerk defends rec vote date
By COLIN FLANDERS
W
hile Vermonters vote for president and statewide offices in less than two weeks, voters in Essex won’t consider the unified recreation district plan despite November 8 being the preferred date to do so by both the local governing boards and the committee that proposed it. Instead, the selectboard and trustees will vote whether to warn the
question for December. That’s because town clerk Cheryl Moomey chose to not hold both elections on the same day, she said. “It was my decision and my decision alone that this would be difficult, if not impossible,” Moomey wrote in a memo to the Recreation Governance Study Committee. Her decision has unsettled those who think it was possible, with some maneuvering, to hold the See VOTE, page 10
Photo by KAYLEE SULLIVAN Athletic trainer John Stawinski of Fit2Excel performs an ocular motor screen test on South Burlington High School hockey player Alex Rozhansky on Tuesday at the company's Essex Jct. facility. Rozhansky was assessed for a baseline test just one week before sustaining a concussion.
A bruise on the brain
Essex thinks about concussion protocols By KAYLEE SULLIVAN
D
izziness, headaches, sensitivity to light and sound and feeling in a fog – these are symptoms of a concussion.
As awareness and education spreads throughout the country and Essex alike, these symptoms are becoming more and more recognizable, Essex High School athletic trainer Seth Rebeor said.
Diagnosis of a prolonged headache versus a concussion is not always clear-cut, however, EHS nurse Karen Harlow said, but the protocol the school follows is. See CONCUSSION, page 11
Nightmare on Pearl Street Haunted circus rattles guests at Expo
By MICHAELA HALNON Photo by JASON STARR Emir Heco of Excelerate Essex and Heco Engineering gives a talk Friday at the Vermont Tech Jam at the Champlain Valley Exposition.
Essex stakes out Tech Jam presence By JASON STARR In its 10th incarnation, the Vermont Tech Jam landed at the Champlain Valley Exposition last week. Produced by Seven Days, the annual technology expo, career fair and speaker series has been a nomad in Chittenden County for the past decade. It has taken place
in hotel conference rooms, a vacant Church Street building, Winooski’s Woolen Mill and Burlington’s Memorial Hall. The location has remained unsettled partly to keep the event fresh, said organizer Cathy Resmer of Seven Days, but also because Burlington lacks a dedicated convention center. Will the expo See TECH JAM, page 2
Nightmare Vermont event creator and Colchester-native Jana Beagley doesn’t usually act in her show. But after a few of her recruits suddenly dropped out last Saturday night, she took to the stage. As a makeshift tour guide, Beagley welcomed See NIGHTMARE, page 11
Photo by MICHAELA HALNON Actors dressed as spooky clowns at the 10th annual Nightmare Vermont haunted house at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex last weekend.
Town corrects VOSHA violations By COLIN FLANDERS A Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspection of town buildings in August found three violations, Photo by COLIN FLANDERS including one carrying a penalty Essex public works mechanic Jerry Lesage points of more than $1,800. to a metal guard last Friday that he placed on a The violation stems from the saw to correct a Vermont Occupational Safety and town’s failure to properly guard Health Administration (VOSHA) violation the town received in August.
a saw in the highway maintenance garage. The other violations, both without penalties, involve labeling electric boxes and guarding a generator at the Alder Brooke Pump Station. Doug Fisher, director of Essex town administrator services, said he presented evidence of corrective actions via a phone See VIOLATIONS, page 18
CANDIDATES CONTEND AT DEBATE SUNDAY
M
ajor party candidates for Vermont's next governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general squared off in a series of debates hosted by the Vermont Press Association at St. Michael's College in Colchester last Sunday. Held in the McCarthy Arts Center, the three 90-minute debates began with candidates for AG at 1 p.m. and lasted throughout the day, broadcast live by Channel 17. VPA
members and St. Michael's College faculty and students served as moderators, questioners and time keepers at each debate, including Essex Reporter associate editor Abby Ledoux, who questioned candidates for attorney general. Voters head to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Watch last Sunday's debates in full at http://livestream.com/cctv/freespeechtv/ DebateSunday. VPA pool photo by GREG LAMOREUX, County Courier
See the Reporter's coverage of the debates on pages 3,8 and 9.
Major party candidates for Vermont's next governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general gathered for a debate at St. Michael's College last Sunday.