Chinka chides some for “playing Indian”

OCSU Concert
Holiday concert showcases
middle school talent.
City council
Newport aldermen adopt
new zoning code.
9
3
Craftsbury
Academy
Old school gets major
renovations.
12
the Chronicle
THE WEEKLY JOURNAL OF ORLEANS COUNTY
VOLUME 37, NUMBER 49
TWO SECTIONS, 60 PAGES
DECEMBER 8, 2010
EIGHTY-FIVE CENTS
Deputies bash Dancing on air
wrong door
by Joseph Gresser
BARTON — When Nicholas Coburn heard
loud footsteps headed up the outside flights of
stairs to his third-floor apartment on October 29,
he said he thought it might be friends playing a
joke on him.
It was no joke.
Rather it was a group of Orleans County
Sheriff’s deputies, led by Deputy Daniel Locke,
executing a search warrant. The warrant ordered
the search of a different man and listed a
different, but similar, address.
On October 27 Deputy Locke sought and was
granted a warrant by Judge Robert Bent allowing
him to search John Doe and his home at 89 Lake
Street in Barton “for evidence of criminal
violations involving the possession, sale and
distribution of regulated drugs,” specifically
marijuana.
(Editor’s note: We have changed the name of
the intended target of the search warrant for the
purposes of this article.)
Mr. Coburn lives at 89 Main Street in Barton.
Main Street becomes Lake Street as the street
(Route 5) heads south out of the village.
In the sworn affidavit he filed along with the
warrant, Deputy Locke said he spoke with a
(Continued on page thirty-two.)
Gwynne Jones, Kyla Paul, Allison Whittemore (left to right) float gracefully as they perform “The Waltz of the
Snowflakes,” from The Nutcracker. The trio were among the dozens of students who performed at North Country
Union High School’s Winter Dance and Drama Concert Wednesday night, December 1. For more photographs
of the concert, please see page thirty-eight.
Photo by Joseph Gresser
Chinka chides some
for “playing Indian”
Explosive-laden truck
ro l l s n e a r F i r s t W i n d s i t e
by Tena Starr
SHEFFIELD — There was no
explosion when a truckload of high
explosives slid backward down an
icy hill Monday and upended into a
ditch.
But New Duck Pond Road was
closed for most of the day as police,
firemen, the Vermont Hazardous
Materials Response Team and the
truck’s owners cleaned up the
situation.
The explosives were being
hauled up the twisty, snow-packed
road by a subcontractor for First
Wind, which is preparing access
roads and sites for 16 industrial
wind towers, expected to arrive next
year.
At the scene Monday, Mitch
Green, vice-president of Maine
Drilling and Blasting of Auburn,
New Hampshire, said there was no
explosion hazard in the incident.
He said the truck carried about
2,000 gallons, or 18,000 pounds, of a
“1.5 blasting agent.”
“It’s a very insensitive agent,”
Mr. Green said, that is not easily set
off. “It takes a lot of energy” to
detonate the explosive, he said.
WHEELOCK – Chinka
Whitekiller of Wheelock is not happy
with the state’s new law allowing a
recognition process for the Abenaki.
Nor is he convinced that many of
those seeking recognition under the
law are authentic.
And he says that “playing
Indian,” as he put it, is far from
harmless.
Mr. Whitekiller (also known as
Chinka Buck) said he’s an enrolled
member of the Cloverdale Pomo
Indians and northeast director for the
American Indian Movement (AIM), a
sometimes radical organization that
protects Indians, their culture and
traditions. He said Whitekiller is his
grandfather’s name; his stepfather’s
name was Buck. He’s not selfnamed, and he’s not a self-made
Indian.
He won’t say the same about the
Vermont tribes that are seeking
recognition under the state’s new law,
giving Abenakis a recognition process,
allowing them to sell crafts as “native
made” and to access federal programs
and money available to American
Indians.
“Most of these people are not
Indian at all,” he said in a recent
interview. “I doubt any of them have
Indian blood.”
Who is and is not a “real” Indian
has been a political hot potato in
Vermont, as well as a source of strife
among those who claim to be Abenaki.
In 2002, the federal government
refused to recognize the Vermont
Abenaki, saying their petition fell
short on at least four of the seven
federal criteria for recognition.
The state law passed this year set
up a new nine-member Native
American Commission to implement
the state recognition process and hold
hearings. Individuals apply for
membership in a tribe; the law
recognizes tribes rather than
individuals.
(Continued on page thirty.)
by Chris Braithwaite
The driver, Jonathan Ingerson,
25, of Whitehall, New York, lost
traction on the slippery, snowcovered road as he neared the top of
a steep hill, according to State
Trooper Denis Girouard. The truck
slid backwards down the hill, hit the
ditch, and rolled over onto the
driver’s side. Mr. Ingerson escaped
without injury.
Mr. Green said there was no
evidence of any leak of the
explosive, which has the consistency
of tapioca pudding.
Sheffield Fire Chief Marc Brown
said a 35-gallon container of
antifreeze spilled into a small brook,
but was “100 percent contained.”
A First Wind spokesman
applauded the Sheffield Fire
Department’s quick response to the
accident, which happened at 7:14
Monday morning.
“Safety is a top priority for First
Wind, and we take pains to ensure
that our contractors — from
everything to engineering to
construction and operations —
working on our projects are
qualified and have excellent safety
records,” the spokesman, John
(Continued on page thirty-four.)
Page Six
the Chronicle, December 8, 2010
Opinion
Vermont’s pending price shock
by Lisa Linowes, executive director of the
Industrial Wind Action Group
Last month, Massachusetts approved the most
expensive power purchase agreement in the
country — a 15-year contract between Cape Wind
and National Grid to sell one-half the project’s 468
megawatts at 18.7 cents per kilowatt hour.
National Grid understood from the outset that
the sticker shock of selling Cape Wind’s energy on
monthly electric bills would be enough to send
some customers, particularly large industrial and
commercial users, shopping for low-cost energy
suppliers. To buffer the impact, the state approved
allocating the entire cost of the project to the
delivery side of the bill. By spreading the cost to as
many customers as possible the price shock to any
one customer would be less, or at least that was
the thinking.
The population of Massachusetts is 6.5 million
— National Grid’s customers number in the
millions. There is plenty of opportunity to spread
the pain. But what if a similar proposal were
presented to a state like Vermont with a tenth the
population?
We may learn soon enough.
Vermont is served by over twenty utilities, the
largest being Central Vermont Public Service
(CVPS) and Green Mountain Power (GMP) which
together represent 70 percent of the customers.
Most of the electricity they sell is purchased
through low-cost long-term agreements with
Vermont Yankee and Hydro Quebec, whose
contract was just renewed. Vermont is a very
small electricity consumer, its electric sector
produces the lowest carbon emissions in the
country, and has the lowest electricity rates in New
England.
With uncertainty about VY’s future, CVPS and
GMP have signaled they’re looking for replacement
power, including renewables.
This year, each signed 20-year agreements to
acquire 85 percent of the energy from a 99 MW
wind facility to be built in New Hampshire. While
no prices were disclosed publicly, apparently the
wholesale price will be 9-11 cents per kwh. This
represents 6+ cents above VY’s contracted rates, 45+ cents over in-region natural gas rates, and 3+
cents higher than the renewed HQ contract.
And more wind is on the way.
Vermont’s Public Service Board (PSB)
approved three wind projects to be built in-state
since 2007: Sheffield Wind (40 MW), Deerfield
Wind (30 MW), and Georgia Mountain Community
Wind (12 MW). A fourth project now under review
will add another 63 MW bringing the total to about
230 MW — about the same number of megawatts
under contract between Cape Wind and National
Grid.
For each of the in-state projects, Vermont’s
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PSB included wording similar to the below from
the Deerfield order:
“...given the significant impacts from the
construction and operation of the Project, we
conclude that the general good will not be
promoted, nor are sufficient economic benefits
obtained, unless we condition our approval of the
Project on the requirement that Deerfield enter
into stably-priced power contracts with Vermont
utilities.” (Deerfield Wind PSB Docket #7250)
So let’s be clear: With onshore wind selling at
9-11 cents per kwh in New England, the state is
forcing the high cost of wind on its ratepayers and
calling it an economic benefit? It may be a benefit,
but the ratepayers are not the ones benefiting. For
them, it’s more like an energy tax.
For Vermont, spreading 230 megawatts of wind
across a much smaller customer base — even at
half the price per kwh of Cape Wind — will be a
shock to the state’s economy. Since none of the 230
megawatts has been built, the public has not felt
the impact, but that will change in three or four
years when the projects come online. Vermont
does not allow electricity users to shop for
competitive energy suppliers. Their only choice
will be to pay the higher rates or leave the state.
Vermont’s Department of Public Service is well
aware of the economic impacts of above-market
electricity prices. This year, the department
published a study evaluating the consequences of
adding 50 megawatts of renewable energy at prices
above market based alternatives. The report
concluded that “above-market energy costs due to
higher electricity prices would have the deleterious
effects of reshuffling consumer spending and
increasing the cost of production for Vermont
businesses.”
Vermont’s Legislature, which has enacted
aggressive policies promoting wind, appears to lack
even a fundamental understanding of how its
policies will impact the state’s economy. The same
holds for the PSB. With project approvals
conditioned on the energy being sold to in-state
utilities, can the state change its mind once the
higher costs are realized? Unlikely.
It’s time for Vermonters to stand up and
demand a realistic accounting of its pending energy
costs.
The Industrial Wind Action Group is based in
Lyman, New Hampshire.
181 Main St. Newport, VT 802-334-2930 Open T-F:9:30-5:00; Sat:9:30-Noon
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Page Eight
the Chronicle, December 8, 2010
NVDA launches study of job opportunities
by Tena Starr
ST. JOHNSBURY — The Northeastern
Vermont Development Association (NVDA) has
launched a study to identify where the jobs are
in the Northeast Kingdom, where they will be in
the future, what areas of the economy show
potential for growth, and what skills people will
need for those jobs.
The main areas that will be looked at are
value-added agriculture, tourism, biomedical
companies, and a less specific category that will
explore what industries have the most potential
for sustainable growth and higher wages.
The study is funded by a federal grant in
conjunction with the Vermont Department of
Labor.
Dave Snedeker, a planning manager at
NVDA, is heading the project. He said that
NVDA wrote the application about two years
ago when the Northeast Kingdom was losing a
lot of manufacturing jobs. “We applied for the
grant back when the Bush Administration was
still in office. We thought it was dead.”
The decisions about what employment areas
to explore had to be defended in the grant
application and took some research as well, Mr.
Snedeker said. He said that NVDA owns an
industrial park, but it turned out that potential
clients are more interested in value-added
products than in manufacturing.
He said that Tom Stearns, owner of High
Mowing Seeds in Wolcott and instrumental in
the Hardwick local food movement and the
Center for an Agricultural Economy, said that
effort has created about 150 jobs in the
Hardwick area in the past three years.
Although it’s tough to survive in dairy
farming, there are agricultural opportunities,
Mr. Snedeker said. He said that NVDA is
looking at how to create a region-wide
agricultural economy similar to what’s been
built in Hardwick and the surrounding area.
Orleans County is one of the bigger participants
in the new agricultural economy, he said. “We
saw some opportunities for people to stay in
farming.”
The study will identify local food sources,
distribution networks, packaging, and
marketing. The challenges that producers and
buyers face will also be explored.
Biomedical companies are involved in
medical manufacturing. That effort would
build on work Bill Stenger, head of Jay Peak
Resort, has already started. Mr. Stenger has
proposed a biomedical company for Newport.
There are biomedical companies in the area
that are poised for growth, Mr. Snedeker said.
The idea of developing a consortium could
further that growth. If existing manufacturing
companies work together, they may be able to
help each other as well as attract similar firms
to the area.
One of the study’s specific goals is to
“determine ways that biomedical companies in
the Northeast Kingdom can cooperate for
mutual economic benefit and determine whether
a formal organization should be established.”
Another says it should develop a system to
better gather tourism data and improve tourism
planning. It will focus on developing better
research techniques, marketing plans, branding
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and budgeting. Burke will be used as a model.
“We knew early on that our consultants
were going to find that tourism, whether we like
it or not, is going to be one of our biggest
industries,” Mr. Snedeker said.
NVDA will work with the Center for an
Agricultural Economy on the regional food
system plan. The Economic and Policy
Resources Company, which does much of the
state’s economic forecasting, will do the
economic sector analysis and the biomedical
consortium research. A national marketing
company and the Burke Area Travel and
Tourism Committee will work on the tourism
part of the study.
The results of the study, parts of which
should be completed as early as February, will
be used to develop further ideas on how to
create jobs. “Let’s say, if we use value-added,”
Mr. Snedeker said, “maybe there’s a niche
opportunity for a certain business. We could go
for a rural business grant.”
NVDA will look at private investment, too,
not just grant funding, he said. And it will look
at public-private partnerships to develop job
opportunities.
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Page Thirty-four
the Chronicle, December 8, 2010
Falling snow made road extremely slippery
(Continued from page one.)
Lamontagne, said in an e-mail.
Falling snow made Duck Pond
Road extremely slippery Monday
morning. Hours after the accident,
a small dump truck was dispatched
to sand the road.
Mr. Brown, the fire chief, said
Tuesday that two wreckers were
called in to get the truck out of the
ditch and back on its wheels. It was
about 3 p.m. Monday, he said, when
the truck was judged to be intact
and ready to be towed from the
scene with its load of explosives.
According to Kent and Riegel’s
Handbook of Industrial Chemistry
and Biotechnology, class 1.5 blasting
agents are “so insensitive that there
is very little probability of
accidental initiation to explosion….”
Unlike class 1.1 explosives, the
book says, class 1.5 high explosives
can’t be set off with a blasting cap.
HAIR &
BEAUTY
A truckload of high explosives rests in a ditch after sliding backward down the hill in
the background.
Photos by Chris Braithwaite
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