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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2015
CALEDONIANRECORD.COM
ESTABLISHED 1837
SPORTS
75 CENTS
LYNDON
Essex Cuts
Down Hilltoppers
COMMUNITY
Board Weighs Waste
Treatment Plan
PAGE B1
Families Celebrate
Milestones
PAGE A3
PAGE B5
SUTTON
ST. JOHNSBURY
PRINCIPAL BUYOUT REPORT: PRUE COMPETENT TO STAND TRIAL
TO BLOW UP BUDGET Jenkins Murder Suspect Still Wants To Take State Offer Of Life Without Parole
By todd wellington
Staff Writer
Stradling To Receive Two
Years Salary Plus Benefits
By James Jardine
Staff Writer
The separation agreement
negotiated with Sutton School
Principal Roberta Stradling
will swell Sutton’s school
budget.
On Monday afternoon, the
Sutton School Directors released a statement detailing the
financial package negotiated
with Stradling as part of her
departure. Under the agreeRoberta Stradling
ment, Stradling will receive
her full salary for both the
2015 fiscal year and the 2016 fiscal year. In addition, she
will receive paid health insurance coverage for both fiscal
years.
Essentially, Stradling will receive the agreed upon salary
and health insurance in her current contract, which ends on
June 30, 2016. Her salary for the current year is $75,300,
while next year’s salary is $77,600. Because Stradling is
not employed by the district, the cost of her insurance is
higher. The Sutton School District will pay an estimated
$22,000 for insurance coverage for her.
See Principal, Page A6
BARTON
TRUSTEES DISCLOSE
FINANCIAL CRISIS
Village Accountants, Lawyer
Detail ‘Serious Problems’
From Bond Mismanagement
A psychiatrist has found Patricia Prue competent
to stand trial for the kidnapping and murder of St.
Johnsbury resident Melissa Jenkins in March of
2012.
Prue, 35, was examined by Montpelier psychiatrist Dr. Jonathan Weker on Dec. 24 at Chittenden
Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington,
where she is being held prior to her upcoming murder trial scheduled for March.
Marsicovetere, who attended the conference by
speakerphone, asked Judge Robert Bent to schedule
a competency hearing for the court to consider
Weker’s report, and determine if Patricia Prue was
able to understand the charges against her and the
related legal proceedings at trial.
Marsicovetere also told the court that his client
still wants to accept the state’s initial offer of a plea
agreement in which she would plead guilty to the
Jenkins murder in exchange for a sentence of life
in prison without the possibility of parole, as long
See Prue, Page A6
PEACHAM
REFLECTIVE REVEREND ROLLS DESPITE DISRUPTIONS
Seasoned Through Sixties, Rev. Potter Counters Statehouse Protesters With Levity
By taylor reed
Staff Writer
PEACHAM – Rev. Robert Potter, the
Peacham Congregational Church pastor interrupted by protesters while delivering a benediction Thursday in Montpelier at Gov. Peter
Shumlin’s inauguration, said it was the most extraordinary 12 minutes of his life.
Potter, who was acquainted with Dr. Martin
Luther King and was pastor to famed actress
Katherine Hepburn, wasn’t offended but said the
100 plus Statehouse protesters were disrespectful
by any measure. They chanted, sang and unfurled
a banner decrying Shumlin’s December decision
to dump his goal of establishing single payer
health care in Vermont.
“I’m a product of the sixties,” Potter said Tuesday during an interview at the quaint Peacham
Congregational Church. “I once led 4,000 people
down the main street of Hartford, Connecticut. It
was a rally to protest what happened at Kent
State, the shooting. So I’m not a chicken in these
things. It didn’t throw me off that they were up
there chanting. I could handle that and I did.”
Potter said his prepared four minute benedic-
By roBin smitH
Staff Writer
tion took 12 minutes to deliver, and he spoke
every word of it. There were five interruptions
and upon conclusion he was whisked through an
exit behind the podium contrary to typical protocol.
“I was surprised,” Potter said. “The question
was how to handle it all. It was kind of an out of
body experience for me. The power of humor got
us through it. Laughter is the carbonation of holiness.”
Potter was interrupted before he even started
Thursday.
“I said to them, ‘When you think of how other
countries stifle dissent, aren’t you glad you’re an
American?’” Potter said. “Everyone stood up and
cheered. It was everyone outshouting the
shouters and it seemed like it wouldn’t stop. The
protesters weren’t the only guys who were spirited. We all are.”
The young protesters occupied the House
chamber balcony and Statehouse hallways, Potter
said. Balcony protesters, in addition to chanting
PHOTO BY TAYLOR REED
and singing, unfurled a banner that read someRev. Robert Potter of Peacham Congregational thing like “The Time is Now,” Potter said.
Church reflects this week on being interrupted by
“I said, ‘In 55 years in the ministry I’ve never
heath care protesters Thursday during his benediction
at Gov. Peter Shumlin’s inauguration.
See reverend, Page A6
SUPERIOR COURT
By Jennifer Hersey Cleveland
Staff Writer
NEWPORT CITY — An Irasburg couple with
flood lights to spot deer in their back yard and a
shooting port in their bedroom was released on
minimal conditions after pleading not guilty to
charges related to whitetail deer poaching, spotting and baiting.
Wayne Dion, 66, pleaded not guilty to nine
misdemeanor counts, while his wife, Jennie Dion,
61, pleaded not guilty to one count of possessing
a big game animal taken by illegal means.
But before pleas were entered, attorney Kyle
Hatt argued against probable cause on a count of
shooting a blue jay.
“I didn’t know that was a crime either,” Judge
Timothy Tomasi said, noting that he had to look
it up.
TODAY: Mostly sunny
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VOL. 177, NO. 134
© T HE C ALEDONIAN -R ECORD
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NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK
$
18,095,494,980,977
Population: 319,799,613
Your share: $56,583.86
“The budget should be balanced; the
treasury should be refilled; public
debt should be reduced; and the arrogance of public officials should be
controlled.” –Cicero, 106-43 B.C.
Deputy State’s Attorney Sarah Baker said
Wayne Dion confessed to shooting the jay because it was eating food he’d placed in a bird
feeder, which Dion also admitted was placed
there to attract wildlife to the area.
The charges came about as a result of a multiyear investigation into reported illegal hunting by
the couple, according to a press release from the
Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department.
While not noted in the many affidavits filed,
wardens located 91 antler plaques and 15 shoulder mounts in the couple’s home on Young Lane
during the execution of a search warrant after
Wayne Dion was caught shooting a nine-pointer
the night before rifle season opened in November.
Baker asked Tomasi to set conditions of release
forbidding the couple from possessing firearms or
hunting.
In his argument on behalf of Wayne Dion, Hatt
said the no hunting condition would violate
France To Boost Anti-terror
Measures As Official Says Arms For
Deadly Attacks From Abroad
–––––
Chicago-area Police Officer Stands Trial For
Fatally Shooting 95-year-old With Beanbag Gun
–––––
Boy Driven Away In
Stolen Car Is Found After
Answering Phone
VSAC
Page A9, A10
Information Night
TONIGHT • 5:15–9 PM
Main Building (MAC)/Library
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REGION
See Barton, Page A6
COUPLE PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO LARGE-SCALE POACHING OPERATION
NATION
BARTON – Barton Village trustees on Monday announced serious problems in the village electric department
with mismanagement of a $1.85 million bond.
The three trustees, in a letter to the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) and at a village trustees meeting to a handful of residents, promised to find out how the bond money
intended only for construction of a new 46 kV utility line
was co-mingled with general electric department funds and
used to cover operating expenses.
They also may have to seek a rate increase soon. The
flush of bond funds as general revenue masked a lack of operational funds in the electric department.
The problems are not criminal, the village’s utility attorney Elijah Emerson and certified public accountant Ron
Smith of HRH Smith & Company said.
“It is critical to state … that Barton has not discovered
any conduct that rises to a criminal nature,” Emerson stated
in the letter to the PSB.
“The problems … are the result of either a lack of understanding of, or a disregard for, the applicable rules, coupled
with a lack of expertise in how to track the flow of funds,”
Emerson stated.
“In providing this disclosure, the Barton trustees fully un-
Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . B8
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Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . A4
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1
Television . . . . . . . . . . B7
Caledonia Superior Court
“Dr. Weker has now weighed-in and has given
the opinion that Ms. Prue is competent,” said Prue’s
defense attorney Brian Marsicovetere of White
River Junction at a status conference in Caledonia
Superior Court Tuesday.
The hearing was attended by Patricia Prue’s
mother-in-law, Donna Prue of Waterford, who recently watched her son Allen Prue get sentenced to
life in prison for his role in the murder of Jenkins.
“I’m just here to make sure justice is served,”
said Donna Prue. “Her and all her little games.”
Dion’s constitutional right to hunt in Vermont and
the no firearms condition would violate his Second Amendment right to bear arms.
To do either would be to punish Dion for being
accused, but not convicted, of fish and game violations, Hatt argued.
Theses aren’t just tickets, Baker said, but misdemeanor offenses, and the conditions would prevent Dion from committing further crimes.
Furthermore, she said, Wayne Dion confessed to
some of the criminal activity involving both
firearms and hunting.
But Hatt said that’s an improper use of conditions of release, which are supposed to assure the
defendant’s appearance at future court hearings.
Here, there is no risk of flight, he said.
Tomasi agreed and set basic conditions as well
as one mandating that the couple obey fish and
See Poaching, Page A6
Vermont Man Heads To Trial In
Wife’s Death In New Hampshire
–––––
Effort To Draft Warren Into 2016
Race Heads To New Hampshire
Page A5, A7
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THE REcORD • WEDnESDAY, JAnuARY 14, 2015
FOR THE RECORD
OBITUARIES
DOROTHY PIERCE MAIN
NEWS BRIEFS
PRISCILLA ELIZABETH POWERS
About 2/3’s of Vermont dairy
farmers get price protection
1916-2015
Dorothy Pierce Main, 98, Groton, Vt., formerly of Scott Highway, died at Woodridge Nursing
Home, Berlin, Vt., on Sunday, Jan.
11, 2015.
Dot was born in Ryegate, Vt.,
on Nov. 2, 1916, to Herbert and
Beth (Renfrew) Pierce. She was a
graduate of Woodsville High
School and Plymouth State College. On May 7, 1938, she married
Walter G. “Spicer” Main.
For many years, Dot was an elementary and high school teacher
and for a time she worked with special education students.
Since 1939, Dot was a member of the Groton United Methodist Church
where she served as organist, choir director, and belonged to the women’s
group. She was active in the town of Groton as a member of the Groton
Historical Society, the Groton Library, and as the Auditor. She was a member of the IONA Chapter Order of the Eastern Star in Bradford and served
as the secretary. Along with Spicer, Dot enjoyed traveling, taking multiple
trips to Arizona, Europe and a cruise in the Caribbean. For eight years they
wintered in Sedona, AZ. She had a great love of antiques and for decorating her home to the time period.
Dot was predeceased by her husband of nearly 70 years Walter “Spicer”
Main on April 17, 2008, and her sister, Margaret Pierce Davidson.
She is survived by two daughters, Ann Winter and husband Owen of
Barre, Vt., and Susan Page and husband Gordon of Cottonwood, Ariz.; a
son, Jon P. Main of Phoenix, Ariz.; three grandchildren, Jon Winter,
Melissa Mauro and Steven Page; five great-grandchildren, Dustyn, Logan
and Kaylin Thomas, Taylor Winter and Christian Page; two great-greatgrandchildren, Piper Jean Thomas and Parker Thomas; and several nieces
and nephews.
There will be no calling hours.
A memorial service will be held later on Thursday, May 7, 2015, at 1
p.m. in the Groton United Methodist Church, with Pastor Candace Ricker
officiating. Burial will follow in Groton Village Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Groton United Methodist
Church, P.O. Box 157, Groton, VT 05046.
For more information or to offer an online condolence, please visit
www.rickerfh.com.
Ricker Funeral Home & Cremation Care of Woodsville is in charge of
arrangements.
Priscilla Elizabeth Powers, 92,
of Monroe, N.H., died unexpectedly on Friday, Jan. 9, 2015.
Priscilla was born on Sept. 24,
1922, in Monroe to Forrest and
Ruby (Beattie) Emery. She was a
graduate of McIndoe Falls Academy. On Feb. 8, 1950, she married
Merle R. Powers.
Priscilla raised her family and
helped on the family farm. She
also worked at the Monroe Town
School. She was a member of the
Monroe Methodist Church and
was a member and officer of the Monroe Grange. Priscilla was a former
4-H leader and would cook for her group when they would be attending
fairs. She belonged to the North Country Chorus, McLure’s Student
Band and the Monroe Town Band. Along with her husband Merle, they
ran the old Monroe ski tow where she would make hot chocolate and
provide homemade donuts for the skiers. She enjoyed both downhill
and cross country skiing. For many years she made mittens for the mitten tree. She was an avid birdwatcher and loved sewing and tending
her garden.
Priscilla was predeceased by her husband, Merle Powers on Sept.
25, 1988.
She is survived by her daughter, Heather Long and husband John of
Axtell, Texas; her son, Daniel L. Powers and wife Jan of Monroe; three
grandchildren: Scott Powers of Franklin, Vt., Hilary Noyes of Plainfield, N.H., and Brett Lamont of Luling, Texas; three great-grandchildren: Dillon Powers, Talan Patkul, and Connor Noyes; and her sister,
Edith Anne Emery of Monroe.
There will be no calling hours.
A memorial service will be on Saturday, May 23, 2015, at 11 a.m. at
the Monroe Community Church in Monroe. Burial will follow in the
Monroe Village Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Monroe Community
Church, c/o Mr. Winston Currier, Harley View Drive, Monroe, NH
03771.
For more information or to offer an online condolence, please visit
www.rickerfh.com.
Ricker Funeral Home & Cremation Care of Woodsville is in charge
of arrangements.
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont’s congressional delegation
says about 67 percent of the state’s dairy farmers have signed up for a
new price protection program.
Sens. Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch
say that figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that 582
dairy farmers are now enrolled in the Margin Protection Program that
began last year.
The voluntary program offers financial assistance to participating
farmers when the difference between the price of milk and national average feed costs falls below the coverage levels selected by individual
farmers.
An additional 28 Vermont dairy farmers signed up for the Livestock
Gross Margin Insurance program which offers protection based on the
margin between the cost of feed and the average dairy income.
RAYMOND “RED” WILLIAMS
CALEDONIA COURT LOG
FAYSTON, Vt. (AP) — Two lost skiers are safe after being rescued
at Sugarbush Resort. Vermont State Police say the two men from
Burlington went off the trail while skiing at Mount Ellen and became
disoriented on Monday.
Police received a report around 5:20 p.m. The Vermont State Police
Search and Rescue team, Sugarbush Ski Patrol and Warren constables
were called in to help with the search. The skiers were located quickly.
Police say it was snowing and the skiers were not dressed appropriately for the conditions.
1922-2015
Vermont State Colleges
to mediation with faculty union
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The administration of the Vermont
State Colleges system is heading into mediation with the union that represents 262 full-time faculty members.
Lisa Olson, president of the colleges’ Faculty Federation and a sociology professor at Castleton State College, says the contract expired in
August, and negotiations through December have broken down.
Olson said the administration did not make counteroffers after hearing proposals from the faculty. She says the proposals from faculty
touched on salaries, teacher evaluations and contract language about
layoffs.
The colleges’ chief financial officer, Thomas Robbins, tells the Barre
Times Argus he disagreed with the union’s characterization of the status
of the negotiations, but he declined to discuss the details of the bargaining.
Goddard College finalizes divestment
PLAINFIELD, Vt. (AP) — Vermont’s Goddard College says it has
completed its divestment from fossil fuel company investments, making
it the third college in the state to divest after Sterling and Green Mountain College.
Interim President Robert Kenny says the college’s recent efforts to
reduce its carbon footprint have led to a number of energy-saving activities, including a proposal to converts its 20, oil-burning heating furnaces to a locally sourced wood chip plant. He said the divestment is a
logical extension of those efforts.
Kenny said Tuesday the college has moved its endowment funds into
fossil fuel-free accounts at Trillium Asset Management in Boston.
Two lost skiers found at Sugarbush
1925-2015
Raymond “Red” Williams, 89, of Westfield, Mass.,
passed away Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015, at Westfield Care and
Rehab Center.
Red was born in St. Johnsbury, Vt., to Thomas Williams Sr. and
Laura LaChance Williams on Dec. 10, 1925. He attended St. Johnsbury Schools.
At age 19, March 14, 1944, he enlisted in the U. S. Military Marine
Corps. and served in the Asiatic Pacific Area from Nov. 12, 1944, to
April 26, 1946. He was stationed on Okinawa from April 1, 1945, to
July 2, 1945.
In June of 1944 he married the love of his life, Margaret “Peggy”
Dresser in St. Johnsbury and went off to war.
After his discharge he went to work at Red Wing Express until he
landed a job with St. Johnsbury Trucking Co. as a truck driver. He
worked his way up the ladder with the Zabarsky Brothers, who owned
St. Johnsbury Trucking and became VP until the business was sold to
Sun Oil. He retired after 22 years of service and they moved to Johnson, Vt., and Florida. After Peggy passed away in 2009, he moved to
Massachusetts.
Red was one of six children. Survivors include Pauline Hawkins
(sister) of St. Johnsbury, Aline and George Trask (sister) of Randolph,
Vt., Jacqueline Williams (sister-in-law) of St. Johnsbury, Marjorie
Dresser (sister-in-law) of St. Johnsbury, Elwin Dresser (brother-inlaw) of Gilman, Beverly Walker (sister-in-law) of Lancaster, and
many nieces and nephews and families.
He was predeceased by his parents, wife Peggy in 2009, two sisters,
Lucille McGinnis (1996), Beatrice Liberty (2004) and one brother,
Thomas Williams Jr. (2000).
Burial will be in the spring at Mt. Calvary Cemetery.
The Numbers
LUCKY FOR LIFE (Monday)
6-24-29-32-38; Lucky Ball: 35
DAILY PICKS (Tuesday)
Day Draw — Pick 3: 1-1-2; Pick 4: 7-5-9-0
Evening Draw — Pick 3: 8-2-5; Pick 4: 3-1-3-2
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Editor’s note: All information is
from Caledonia Superior Court
documents.
Steven C. Colflesh, 53, St.
Johnsbury, pleaded guilty by
waiver to taking big game by illegal means in St. Johnsbury by
pouring “apple crush juiced sweet
and salty mineral lick” under his
tree stand on Dec. 13 in the woods
behind the FedEx building on
Route 5 in St. Johnsbury and was
ordered to pay a $500 fine and
$222 in court surcharges.
Gary Walker, 52, Brownington, pleaded guilty to driving with
a suspended license on Nov. 25,
2014, in St. Johnsbury in exchange
for 59-60 days on the work crew.
David Poginy, 22, St. Johnsbury, pleaded guilty by waiver to
noise in the night on Dec. 20,
2014, at 1194 Main Street, Apt.
302 and was ordered to pay a $50
fine.
Heath R. Doyon, 26, Waterford, pleaded guilty by waiver to
negligent operation of a motor vehicle on High Street in Lyndon on
Jan. 3 and was ordered to pay
$1,297 in fines and court surcharges with $500 suspended if he
completes the DWI reparative
panel and a safe driving course.
Nicholas Boivin, 21, Lyndonville, pleaded guilty to drunken
driving on Main Street in Lyndonville on Jan. 1 in exchange for
a sentence of 1-3 months on administrative probation and an order
to complete the DWI reparative
panel and a safe driving course.
POLICE LOG
HAVERHILL, N.H.
Bruce Lemear, 58, of Monroe,
was taken into protective custody
Jan. 6 for alcohol intoxication after
police responded to a Woodsville residence for the report of an unwanted
person.
————
Dustin Huntington, 17, of Newbury, was arrested Jan. 5 for driving
after suspension. He was released on
$500 personal recognizance bail and
is scheduled to appear in court Feb.
9.
————
Donna Marie Rowe, 49, of Irasburg, Vt., was arrested Jan. 3 for
shoplifting at Walmart. She was released on $1,500 personal recognizance bail and is scheduled to appear
in court Feb. 9.
————
Nicholas Cacio, 27, of
Woodsville, was arrested Jan. 3 for
simple assault after police responded
to a Woodsville residence for the report of a domestic disturbance. He
was released on $500 personal recognizance bail and is scheduled to
appear in court Feb. 9.
————
On Dec. 27, police arrested Allison Hirschman, 19, of North Haverhill, for possession of drugs in a
motor vehicle and unlawful transportation of alcohol; Tyrone Rock,
19, of Newbury, and Nicholas Nunn,
19, of Bradford, each for drug possession and unlawful possession of
alcohol. All were released on personal recognizance bail and are
scheduled to appear in court Jan. 26.
————
Cameron Gover, 19, of
Woodsville, was arrested Dec. 23 on
a Haverhill Police Department warrant for disorderly conduct. He was
released on $250 personal recognizance bail and is scheduled to appear
in court Feb. 9.
————
Devin Paquin, 20, of Woodsville,
was arrested Dec. 22 for drunken
driving, unlawful possession of alcohol, unlawful transportation of alcohol and littering. He was released on
$1,500 personal recognizance bail.
————
Peter Mossey, 59, of Libson, was
arrested Dec. 22 on a Haverhill Police Department warrant for issuing
bad checks.
————
Snow ban parking violations were
issued to Lorna Jewell, 62, of Colchester; Carol Marcot, 68, of Fairlee;
Alyshia Mitchell, 24, of Groton;
Robert Valliant, 52, of Bradford; Scot
Gordon, 25, of Woodsville; Peter
Lavoice, 57, of Woodsville; and
Robert Gelsleicter, 47, of South Ryegate.
Citations for speeding were issued
to Deborah Davidson, 59, of Haverhill; Frank Gilroy, 47, of Prospect,
Conn.; Tina Woods, 44, of Benton;
and Mary Blanchete, 39, of Haverhill.
————
Citiations for driving an uninspected vehicle were issued to
Richard Hannaford, 29, of North
Haverhill; Natalie Jackson, 26, of
Woodsville; Katherine Perkins, 30,
of Woodsville; Elizabeth Dunnells,
49, of Haverhill; and Travis Levreault, 20, of Woodsville.
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Teachers union: Loss of single-payer
hurts cost-saving
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The head of Vermont’s statewide teachers’ union says efforts to trim school costs may have been set back by
Gov. Peter Shumlin’s decision to shelve his push for a universal, publicly-financed health care system.
Joel Cook of the National Education Association made the comment
to the House Education Committee on Tuesday, adding later that the
NEA had a plan to save between $35 million and $100 million in
statewide property tax funds, but it depended on a publicly financed
health care system. Shumlin announced last month he was shelving
plans to ask the Legislature to approve a financing plan for the health
care system, which some call single-payer.
House Education Committee Chairman David Sharpe says he agrees
that health insurance adds significantly to school costs.
Local Forecast
Today: Mostly sunny and not as
cold. Highs from the mid teens to
around 20. Light winds, variable to
south.
Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows ranging
from 5 to 15 below. Light and variable winds.
Tomorrow: Mostly sunny early, then
some high clouds in the afternoon.
Highs in the low to mid 20s. Winds
again light, variable to south.
Extended Forecast:
Thursday Night: Increasing clouds.
Lows in the lower teens.
Friday: Mostly to partly cloudy.
Slight chance of a snow shower.
Highs in the lower 20s.
Friday Night: Scattered clouds.
Lows around zero.
Saturday: Mostly cloudy. Chance of
snow showers. Highs around 20.
Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy.
Lows in the low to mid teens.
Sunday: Mostly cloudy. Chance of
light snow. Highs in the lower 30s.
Daily Weather Highlights
Arctic high pressure is now nearly
overhead, with its oval-shaped center
extending from the Adirondacks and toward the northeast, into the waters off of
Nova Scotia. This high will continue to
drift northeastward today. As it does so,
clockwise circulation around it will generate a slight southerly wind. Although
sunshine will be filtered through some
high clouds at times, southerly flow
should interact with it in order to boost
temperatures back to near 20 degrees
today. A similar but slightly warmer day
appears likely for tomorrow. By tomorrow
night a cold front will be approaching our
region form the northwest. This could
generate a few periods of light snow or
snow showers on Friday. Another system over the northern Great Lakes will
be pushing a warm front in our direction
on Saturday. That front could bring some
additional light snow on Sunday, as well
as temperatures in the 30s, says
Lawrence Hayes of the Fairbanks Museum weather station.
CONDITIONS AT
4 P.M. YESTERDAY
Clear
TEMPERATURE
Temp. at 4 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Maximum past 24 hours . . . . . . . . .28
Minimum past 24 hours . . . . . . . . . .-6
Yesterday’s average . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Normal average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Maximum this month . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Minimum this month . . . . . . . . . . .-22
Maximum this date (1932) . . . . . . .62
Minimum this date (1914) . . . . . . .-38
HUMIDITY
54%
DEWPOINT
-9
WINDS
7 mph,11 max . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NNW
BAROMETER
30.59 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Falling
PRECIPITATION
New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.06 in.
Total for Month . . . . . . . . . . . .1.11 in.
Normal Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.05 in.
SNOWFALL
Past 24 Hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.3 in.
Monthly Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12.5 in.
Season Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45.6 in.
Season Norm To Date . . . . . . .37.4 in.
Snowpack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7.8 in.
ALMANAC
Sunrise today . . . . . . . . . . . .7:21 a.m.
Sunset today . . . . . . . . . . . .4:33 p.m.
Length of day . . . . . . . .9 hrs. 11 min.
DEGREE DAYS
Average temp. difference below 65°
Yesterday* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
To date since July 1 . . . . . . . . . .3525
To date last year . . . . . . . . . . . . .3826
* calculated for the day before yesterday
CALEDONIAN Black Cyan Magenta Yellow
THE REcORD • WEDnESDAY, JAnuARY 14, 2015
A3
LOCAL
ST. JOHNSBURY
ST. JOHNSBURY
FIRST STATE GOVERNMENT SOLAR PROJECTS COMPLETE
ings each year and provide over
$2.5 million in taxpayer savings
over 20 years with no cost and no
risk to the state. The projects were
developed by SolarSense, a
provider of reliable and affordable
renewable energy in the U.S.
“Vermont is at the forefront of
the renewable energy revolution in
America, and this is just one more
example of how we are leading the
way,” Gov. Shumlin said. “We will
continue to invest in energy innovation going forward because it
creates jobs, saves money for Vermonters and helps ensure a more
livable planet for future generations.”
“Let the sun shine on Vermont,
where its captured renewable energy will power state buildings and
save the taxpayers’ money while
protecting the environment,” said
Buildings & General Services
Commissioner, Michael Obuchowski.
The projects in St. Johnsbury, St.
Albans and Windsor all utilized
Vermont-made AllEarth Solar
Trackers, which follow the sun
throughout the day to maximize
energy production. They are manufactured in Williston, Vt. by AllEarth Renewables. Construction
of the projects began this past September and were installed utilizing
local labor from ECI of Williston,
Vt., Stone Hammer of Marshfield,
Vt., and Timberline Electric of
Williston, Vt.
“Through the hard work of our
manufacturing team and local installation partners, we are making
great progress on this initiative.
2015 should be another busy and
exciting year. This initiative
demonstrates some of the best recent advances in solar technology
and project finance have to offer —
reliable, local renewable energy
that can save customers money
right out of the gate,” said Andrew
Savage, Chief Strategy Officer at
AllEarth Renewables.
WOMAN WHO RAMMED HUSBAND, HIS LOVER, SENTENCED
SPWIN ABO AS
ECTERUT OKU
IA TIR R
LS E
!
NEWPORT CITY — A Newport Center woman who rammed
her husband’s vehicle as well as
his lover’s vehicle and threatened
to kill them was sentenced in Orleans Superior Court-Criminal Division Tuesday.
Tina Matten, 44, was sentenced
to serve one to three years, suspended except the four months
she’s spent in jail awaiting trial, as
well as an additional 60 days on a
work crew.
Matten had to return to Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility
Tuesday afternoon, but by press
time, she had been released.
Matten, who had a clean criminal record until her marriage to
Allen Matten eroded, engaged in a
series of events that included violence, injury to others, property
damage, and violations of court orders in three incidents, State’s Attorney Alan Franklin said.
In December, a jury found Matten guilty of grossly negligent operation, domestic assault, unlawful
mischief, and three counts of violating conditions of release, while
acquitting her of a count of leaving
the scene of an accident.
On Tuesday, Matten pleaded
guilty to additional charges of resisting arrest and violating an
abuse prevention order. The jury
was hung on a count of reckless
endangerment, and Franklin
agreed to dismiss that, as well as
counts of violating conditions of
release and disturbing the peace by
phone.
Franklin wanted to Matten to
serve a full year in jail, but in her
argument for less time, Public Defender Jill Jourdan asked Judge
Timothy Tomasi to consider who
Tina Matten was before her marriage fell apart and her husband
started cheating on her for the fifth
time during their marriage.
“This is not the sum total of Ms.
Matten’s life,” Jourdan said.
Matten told Tomasi that she
knows she did not handle the end
of her marriage well. “I’ve learned
the hard way, unfortunately,” she
said.
Matten said she wants to be
there for her three children and her
grandchildren and to get back to
work, “so I can feel good about
myself again.”
More jail time would do no
good, Matten said, but her time
there taught her some things. “It
makes you appreciate the things
you take for granted every day,”
like opening doors for yourself,
she said.
She said she also learned that
there are good people in jail who
make bad mistakes and that she
can’t judge people on a first impression.
Matten apologized to Allen
Matten, saying she wished she’d
handled the situation better. “I
hope someday he can forgive himself for the things he did,” she said.
Matten apologized for not being
able to provide her husband the
happiness he sought, and she
hoped their children don’t think
this is what all relationships look
like.
In April, Tina Matten followed
her husband in his state truck,
rammed his truck, and back at
home, retrieved a revolver that
went off when Allen Matten tried
to take it from her.
In June, after Tina Matten had
been ordered to stay away from
her husband, she went to his home,
rammed two vehicles - including
the one belonging to Allen Matten’s girlfriend Donna Howard and then injured her husband when
he attempted to take her car keys
from her.
In September, Tina Matten
drove by her husband’s house after
he’d obtained a relief from abuse
order and during her son’s birthday
party, called the house to find out
who was parked outside, and then
threatened to shoot everyone at the
house except her own children.
She refused to allow the police to
handcuff her.
In a sentencing memorandum,
Jourdan wrote that Matten was
abused by her father as a child, as
was her first husband. “She felt
that Allen was her Knight in Shining Armor, her great protector,”
Jourdan wrote.
But then Allen Matten became
both verbally and physically abusive and started the first of a series
of affairs with other women, Jourdan wrote.
Jourdan asked Tomasi to consider letters from Tina Matten’s
daughter Abbie Matten and from
her sister Rose Royer.
“My mom is the foundation for
my entire life,” her daughter
wrote. “She nurtured me, taught
me, supported me and has been my
example throughout the years.”
Even though she worked extensive days and came home exhausted, Tina Matten made supper,
helped with homework, and got
everyone bathed and into bed. She
made sacrifices for her children,
Abbie Matten wrote.
Abbie Matten has her own 2year-old son now, and it is hard to
explain to him why he can’t speak
to the only grandparent in his life,
she wrote.
“She is one of very few people
I have who loves me selflessly and
unconditionally,” Abbie Matten
wrote.
“Tina is not a perfect woman,
but she is a loving, kind, compassionate, generous, giving and the
greatest sister anybody could hope
for,” Royer wrote.
Tomasi said up until this series
of crimes, Tina Matten was hardworking, a good mother, and a
productive member of society. But
she also committed eight crimes
that damaged her family and the
community, and a sentence with
no jail time would minimize the
seriousness of the crimes.
Matten is subject to several special probation conditions. She
must engage in counseling and her
probation officer can set a curfew.
She must submit to electronic
monitoring, and is not allowed to
possess firearms or deadly
weapons or have contact with
Allen Matten, his girlfriend Donna
Howard, or her best friend Melissa
Nelson.
LYNDON SELECTMEN WEIGH WASTE TREATMENT PLAN
By James Jardine
Staff Writer
Relief from persistent sewage
odors reported by Lyndon residents for years may be near.
Selectmen met Monday with engineer Gary Leach to review some
final cost documents for a proposal
to add a bio-filter to the Lyndon
wastewater treatment plant. According to Lyndon Municipal Administrator
Justin
Smith,
discussion of a method to reduce
odors from the plant have been ongoing since 2010, when the first
engineering study was undertaken.
The treatment plant, according
to residents living in the area, oc-
casionally generates an offensive
odor that smells like leaking
propane gas or ammonia. Recently,
Lyndon firefighters were called out
for a report of a propane smell but
determined the odor was coming
from the plant, which is located on
a private, dead-end street that runs
parallel to Broad Street in Lyndonville.
Leach told selectmen on Monday that an engineer from AMBIO company located in Ontario
could design a filter to help with
the stench.
According to figures presented
by Leach, the final estimate for the
bio-filter project is $428,747.27.
Lyndon has $369,617 available
from the USDA. The local share
would be $59,129. That amount
would need approval by Lyndon
voters. It could be presented as either a bond vote or as a question on
the warning for Town Meeting.
The project would accomplish
two goals: reduce the offensive
odor associated with the plant’s
operation and reduce the amount
of expensive chemicals needed to
control odor at the plant.
According to Smith, the bio-filter is essentially a slab with pipes
underneath it and with chemically
treated wood chips located on top
of the slab. Air from the treatment
plant passes through the filter and
the odor is removed.
CHARGES FILED FOLLOWING ROAD RAGE FIGHT
By todd wellington
Staff Writer
Two people have been charged
with assault following a road rage
incident in Hardwick.
Chad Hopkins, 28, of Morrisville pleaded not guilty to unlawful mischief and simple assault
in October. Athanasios Koutkoutsis, 65, of St. Johnsbury appeared
in Caledonia Superior Court Monday where he denied the allegation
against him of simple assault.
Judge Robert Bent then entered a
pro-forma not guilty plea on
Koutkoutsis’ behalf.
Both were released on conditions.
Caledonia Superior Court
The charges stem from an incident police say occurred on June
15, 2014 and resulted in Koutkout-
sis and Hopkins assaulting each
other behind the Hardwick House
of Pizza on Wolcott Street.
According to an affidavit filed
by Hardwick Police Ofc. Steven
Mitchell, Hopkins told police he
was a passenger in a car driven by
Nicole Leonard, 25, that was traveling behind Koutkoutsis’ car as
both drove from St. Johnsbury to
Hardwick.
“When she tried passing Koutkoutsis he sped up, so she slowed
down and when he slowed she
tried passing again,” wrote
Mitchell in his report. “Koutkoutsis then sped up again so she followed him all the way back to
Hardwick.”
Hopkins told police the confrontation became physical after he
and Leonard followed Koutkoutsis
to the rear side of the pizza shop
where Koutkoutsis pulled out a
piece of PVC pipe from the trunk
of his car and allegedly struck
Hopkins with it.
Koutkoutsis told police a different story about the confrontation
with Hopkins behind the pizza
shop.
“He got out of the car and
kicked my car door,” wrote Koutkoutsis in a sworn written statement
he gave to police. “He was yelling
at me saying he was going to kill
me, you ****ing old man. He also
said He was going to be looking
for me. I walked around the car to
the passenger side and that’s when
he punched me. I then said ‘What
the hell is your problem’ and thats
when he kicked me in the left leg.”
Koutkoutsis said he went to his
trunk and retrieved the PVC pipe
and that when Hopkins tried to hit
him again he swung the pipe at
him.
By Jennifer Hersey
Cleveland
Staff Writer
PHOTO BY DAnA GRAY
Jaclyn Mertz, an Americorps volunteer from Maryland, uses a toothbrush to clean the polar bear’s
base at the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium in St. Johnsbury on Tuesday. Mertz is assisting other
volunteers and museum staff in a project to improve the museum’s displays and lighting.
FINANCING AVAILABLE
LOW INTEREST RATES! FLEXIBLE TERMS
Maple Center Motors, Inc.
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14 Ford Focus SE
4-dr., 4-cyl., 5-spd., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks, 11,000 miles.................$14,900
13 Nissan Sentra SR
4-dr., 4-cyl., auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks, 13,000 miles...................$15,900
12 Chrysler 300
4-dr., V6, auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks/seat, 15,000 miles. ..............$19,900
12 Honda Accord SE
4-dr., 4-cyl., auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks/seat, leather, 21,000 mI..$17,000
12 Ford Fusion SE
4-dr., 4-cyl., auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks/seat, 31,000 miles...........$14,900
11 Nissan Rogue SV AWD
4-dr., 4-cyl., auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks/seat, 42,000 miles...........$17,900
11 Toyota Rav4 Sport
4-dr., 4-cyl., auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks, moonroof, leather,..........................
69,000 miles...................................................................................................$17,500
11 Nissan Altima 2.5S Special Edition
4-dr., 4-cyl., auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr.win/locks, 31,000 miles.....................$13,900
11 Honda CRV EX 4x4
4-dr., 4-cyl., auto., air, pwr. win./locks, cruise, tilt, pwr. sunroof,
42,000 miles...................................................................................................$18,500
10 Honda Civic LX
4-dr., 4-cyl., auto., air, pwr. win./locks, tilt, cruise, 87,000 miles .....................$9,900
10 Dodge Grand Caravan SE
V6, auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks, “stow-n-go”, 57,000 miles ...........$13,000
10 Mazda 3s Grand Touring
4-dr., 4-cyl., 5-spd., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks./seat, leather,
moonroof, 60,000 miles .................................................................................$12,900
2013
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$
17,500
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auto., air, tilt,
pwr. win./locks,
14,000 miles.
2005 TOYOTA
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ACCESS CAB
SR5 TRD 4X4
$
16,900
4-dr., V6, auto., air, cruise,
tilt, pwr. win./locks,
ONLY 33K! 1 owner truck!
2009
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HIGHLANDER
$
15,900
4-dr., 4-cyl., auto.,
air, cruise, tilt,
pwr. win./locks,
64,000 miles.
MONTPELIER — Construction
has been completed on three solar
projects at state correctional facilities in St. Johnsbury, St. Albans and
Windsor, the first projects to go online in the largest public solar initiative in the history of Vermont.
These 500kW projects are part
of an initiative to provide solar
power to state government facilities, including each of the state’s
correctional facilities, several state
office buildings, as well as the
pavilion building that houses several state offices, including the
Governor’s. Utilizing Vermont’s
group net metering law, the three
recently-completed projects will
provide power to 12 state facilities.
The completed initiative is slated to
provide energy for a total of 19
state buildings. Construction of the
additional projects will continue
through 2015.
Overall, the solar initiative will
produce more than 7 million kilowatt hours of energy for state build-
Gary Sanborn • Kevin Sanborn
Doug Stetson • Serena Parker
Josh Nelson • Mike Guay
10 Kia Soul !
4-dr., 4-cyl., 5-spd., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks, 114,000 miles .................$7,800
09 GMC Sierra 1500 Ext. Cab SLE 4x4
4-dr., V8, auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks/seats, 75,000 miles..............$18,500
09 GMC Sierra 1500 SL 4x4
Reg. cab, 8' box, V8, auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. locks, 41,000 miles..............$16,900
09 VW Jetta 2.5 S
4-dr., 5-cyl., auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks, 43,000 miles...................$11,500
08 Chevy Colorado Crew Cab LT 4x4
4-dr., 5-cyl., auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks, moonroof,
76,000 miles...................................................................................................$17,500
08 Volvo S40
4-dr., 4-cyl., auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks, 55,000 miles .....................$8,900
07 Toyota Corolla S
4-dr., 4-cyl., auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks, 84,000 miles .....................$8,900
07 Dodge Dakota SLT 4x4
4-dr., V8, auto, air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks, 99,000 miles........................$12,000
07 Jeep Patriot Sport 4x4
4-dr., 4cyl., auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr.win/locks. 83,000 miles ......................$10,000
07 Chevy Impala LT
4-dr., V8, auto., air, cruise, tilt,pwr. win./locks/seat, leather heated seats. ONLY
72,000 miles! One owner, must see! ................................................................$9,500
05 Cadillac DeVille DTS
2-dr., V6, auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks, 85,000 miles..........................$8,900
04 Chevy Monte Carlo LS
2-dr., V6, auto., air, cruise, tilt, pwr. win./locks, 85,000 miles..........................$5,800
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Black Cyan Magenta Yellow
CALEDONIAN Black Cyan Magenta Yellow
A4
THE REcORD • WEDnESDAY, JAnuARY 14, 2015
Todd M. Smith, Publisher
OPINION
Dana Gray, Executive Editor
Editorial Comment …
Guilty Until
Proven Innocent
According to a recent article in the Burlington Free Press, a small
herbal supplement company in Burlington is getting serious heat
from the Food & Drug Administration.
Urban Moonshine, founded in 2009, is having trouble with the
cost of proving that a dandelion is actually a dandelion - to the satisfaction of federal regulators.
The FDA has ruled the company’s products are perfectly safe,
but that it isn’t filing the right paperwork or following the prescribed bureaucratic protocols. Specifically, the BFP reports, it hasn’t filed the correct chromatography data for all of the ingredients
it uses in each of its products. Nor can it trace every single natural
ingredient to its origin - even though it has all the paperwork on
where it bought all of its raw materials and to whom it sold all its
finished product.
In order to be in compliance, the company will have to spend
dozens of (unbudgeted) thousands of dollars to have its natural ingredients chemically fingerprinted. Then it will have to devote
countless more hours to tracking the full life-cycle of each ingredient before hiring lawyers to file the “right” paperwork. The costs
are the difference of profitability.
It has six months to do these things. Or the FDA will shut it
down.
We can’t vouch for Urban Moonshine but we see this heavyhanded approach everywhere the feds decide to save the world. In
the eyes of the enlightened bureaucrat, it’s always guilty until
proven innocent.
In My Opinion…
China buying
U.S. companies
To the Editor:
According to Forbes Magazine
November 24, 2014 issue, which
I paraphrase below, since the year
2000 Chinese companies have
made almost 900 purchases of
U.S. assets worth $43 billion.
China’s billionaires are gobbling
up U.S. companies at a record
pace.
Most disturbing are the implications of these purchases by Chinese Communist companies on
our national security. Ralls/Sany
purchased four wind farms in Oregon near a Navy weapons system
base. Wanda group purchased 342
movie theaters previously owned
by AMC Entertainment. WH
Group bought Smithfield Foods,
the world’s largest pork processor.
Lenovo purchased Motorola and
part of IBM’s server business.
“In five years China’s direct investment in the United States has
grown from $2 billion a year to
$14 billion.”
We should limit the purchase of
U.S. companies by the Chinese
Communist regime, and probably
restrict the ownership of U.S.
companies to less than 30% of
outstanding shares of stock.
Donald A. Moskowitz
Londonderry, N.H.
Wake up America
before it is too
late
To the Editor:
My mother and aunt always
told my cousins and me about
when they were young.
I remember one story…. My
grandmother couldn’t find my
mother. She was calling “Rose,
Rose.” My grandmother’s godmother called to her that my
mother was in her apartment. At
that time they were living in a 3
story apartment house in East
Boston.
My mother went downstairs to
her godmother’s apartment. There
my mother was sitting in front on
the godmother’s Christmas tree.
She was just sitting there looking
at the tree with its lights and ornaments.
The godmother took my grandmother aside and told her that she
is now in America and must take
on American traditions. She said
she would watch my mother, so
my grandmother could go out and
get a Christmas tree . I still have
ornaments from that first tree.
Some of the paint is gone. They
are so fragile… But to me they are
the most beautiful ornaments on
the tree.
My family assimilated into the
American culture. Yes, I still cook
Italian food. I make my own sauce
from scratch… but I am an American and proud of it.
Today, America does not ask
immigrants to assimilate. I don’t
think a country can survive if it is
being split apart.
Let’s look at Europe to see how
immigrants not assimilating is
working. More and more of European cities have “No Go Zones”
for non Muslims … Signs are
posted that people are entering an
area where they enforce Sharia
law. Women must wear veils.
In France there are 751 “Sensitive Urban Zones.” What is a Sensitive Urban Zone? These are no
go zones by the French police.
In Europe, these no go zones
are areas where the police, fire departments and emergency workers
do not travel. If you are not Muslim and do not follow the Muslim
traditions, they make your life so
miserable, that you move out.
This is happening in England,
France, Italy, Sweden, Germany
and Netherlands. Most police will
not admit this publicly in all countries but there are lists. A court in
ordered that the list be released to
the public.
Is this what we want here in the
United States? Well it is here already in Dearborn Michigan.
About 45% of the city’s population is in its own no go zone. They
have their own laws and their own
schools. There is no separation of
church and state. The mosques determine the law.
I read that an FBI agent said
that police are afraid to enter.
There are areas by our southern
border where the drug lords rule,
that have signs for people not to
enter.
So in Paris, 12 people died. It
happened in Paris and it can happen here. Even here in NH. We are
a tourist area. Bike week… Races
at Louden… skiing at the mountains…. Summer at the lake…..
America, wake up. Europe,
wake up.
There are fighters in ISIS that
have American passports….. European passports which gives
See letters, Page A5
Guest Commentary
RECESSION ROULETTE
By Cyrus Patten
Last week, the Governor signaled where his attention will be
directed during this legislative session: energy and the cleanup of
Lake Champlain. Both are good issues that need his attention. But I
can’t help but notice his inaugural
speech seems to have been written
for the few from whom he still enjoys strong support: his friends in
renewable energy and environmental protection.
The speech he styled as an announcement of policy proposals
was light on actual policy recommendations. In fact he spent most
of the speech touting his past accomplishments. It wasn’t until the
end that he proposed some interesting initiatives – the creation of an
RPS-like program and Clean Water
Fund – both of which are already
underway.
As many have noticed, he left
out issues that dominated not only
the election but also the minds of
voters for months and years.
• A budget deficit caused by
spending that has outpaced revenue since 2010;
• A sputtering economic recovery evidenced by a shrinking workforce and stagnant job growth;
• Rising education property
taxes juxtaposed with declining
pupil numbers.
All of which contribute to an affordability trend line that is pushing middle class families out of
Vermont.
These are not sudden and unexpected issues. They have been festering and predicted for years. In a
vacuum of leadership and action,
these issues have grown to crisis
proportions. Only now have they
1,700, willing to push on our leaders to affect change.
We are, at our core, an economic
prosperity advocacy group. The issues Vermonters are most concerned about pertain to their ability
to survive here and thrive here.
It is vital that the Governor and
Legislature address budget reform,
education funding reform, and our
stagnant economy this session.
While no one can predict the fu-
While no one can predict the
future, it’s clear that our
statehouse leaders are playing
“Recession Roulette” with the
vital services of state government.
become priorities for the Legislature and we can only hope, the
Governor.
Campaign for Vermont was
formed because these critical issues were in plain sight, undermining our state’s well being. In
response, we authored a series of
evidence-based, detailed policy
proposals (http://www.campaignforvermont.org/issues) and assembled a network of concerned
citizens, now numbering over
ture, it’s clear that our statehouse
leaders are playing “Recession
Roulette” with the vital services of
state government. Since 1974,
there have been six recessions –
one every seven years on average.
The last recession ended in June,
2009, over 5 years ago though its
effect lingers. Should the next recession be just around the corner,
Vermont stands naked to its cold
winds. Our state budget is a mess
and stretched well beyond avail-
able revenues, our education funding system is chaotic and expensive and our overall economy is
stuck in neutral and the state has
less than a 5 percent reserve fund.
Clearly our state government is
not prepared for the next economic
downturn, should it arrive soon.
When staring down $100 million budget gap, advocates will be
pouring out of the woodwork to
defend their program budgets. The
reality is if we don’t address the
structural spending problems
within the state budget and the next
recession does hit it will decimate
our social and healthcare services,
environmental and consumer protection programs, our transportation infrastructure, and even our
education system. The risk to middle class Vermonters is too great to
ignore.
If the Governor has truly heard
the voice of Vermonters, he will
give these matters prompt attention
this session. To kick the can down
the road another year or two is a
dangerous path to take.
Cyrus Patten is an educator and
executive director of Campaign for
Vermont, a nonprofit, nonpartisan
advocacy organization. He lives in
Williston with his wife and two
children.
Guest Commentary
REBUILDING THE AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS
By sen. Bernie sanders
Let me take this opportunity to
wish all Vermonters a healthy and
happy 2015, and give you a brief
update on some of the issues that
I’ll be focusing on as Congress
begins a new session.
There is, in Vermont and across
this country, widespread frustration about the inability of Congress to address the most
important issues facing the American people. The simple truth is
that, over the last 40 years, the
middle class of this country has
been in decline. Millions of working families have seen a reduction
in their incomes, young people are
finding it harder to afford higher
education and seniors are struggling to pay for their food, heat
and medicine. At the same time,
the wealthiest people in this country are doing phenomenally well,
corporate profits are soaring and
the gap between the very rich and
everyone else is growing wider.
Where do we go from here?
What kind of policies do we need
to rebuild the middle class, lower
the poverty rate and reduce the
obscene level of income and
wealth inequality?
First, we need to understand
that while the economy has significantly improved over the last six
years, we still face a major crisis
in terms of high rates of unemployment and underemployment.
Today, while the official unem-
ployment rate is 5.8 percent, real
unemployment (counting those
who have given up looking for
jobs and those who are working
part time when they want to work
full time) is 11.4 percent, youth
unemployment is 17.7 percent and
African-American youth unemployment is close to 30 percent.
We need to create millions of decent paying jobs NOW.
The fastest way to create jobs is
to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. Every day, in Vermont
and across this country, we see
bridges in disrepair, congested
roads with potholes and inadequate transit services. According
to the American Society of Civil
Engineers, nearly a quarter of the
nation’s bridges are structurally
deficient or functionally obsolete,
and more than 30 percent have exceeded their design life. Almost
one-third of America’s major
roads are in poor or mediocre condition, and 42 percent of major
urban highways are congested.
Our airports and seaports desperately need upgrades. Our passenger and freight rail lines are
obsolete. Our water and wastewater systems, energy grid, dams
and levees, schools and parks all
need improvements.
As the former mayor of
Burlington, I can tell you that
roads and water systems do not
get better by ignoring their deterioration. If we want our country to
be more productive, efficient and
Black Cyan Magenta Yellow
safe we need to make a substantial
and sustained investment in infrastructure. The bad news is that the
American Society of Civil Engineers says we must invest $1.7
trillion by 2020 just to get our nation’s roads, bridges and transit to
a state of good repair – more than
four times the current rate of
spending. The good news is that a
$1 trillion investment in infrastructure will create and maintain
13 million jobs. That is what we
should do and I will introduce legislation to try to make that happen.
Second, at a time when most of
the new jobs being created are
low-wage and part-time, it is imperative that we raise the national
minimum wage of $7.25 per hour
to a living wage. Vermont and a
number of other states have made
progress in raising the minimum
wage but we must go further. Nobody in America who works 40
hours a week should be living in
poverty. We must also pass legislation that supports pay equity for
women. It is not acceptable that
nationally, women earn 78 cents
on the dollar compared to men
who do the same work.
Third, I will fight for new trade
policies that end the outsourcing
of American jobs. American
workers should not have to compete against desperate people in
developing countries who make
pennies an hour. Trade agreements like NAFTA, CAFTA, and
Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China (PNTR) have
cost us millions of decent-paying
jobs and have led us to a race to
the bottom. Since 1991, we have
lost some 60,000 factories in our
country and millions of good paying manufacturing jobs. Anyone
who has recently done some holiday shopping can attest to the fact
that it is increasingly difficult to
buy products made in the United
States. I will vigorously oppose
the Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP) which continues the failed
trade policies of the last three
decades supported by both Democratic and Republican presidents.
Fourth, in a highly-globalized
and competitive economy, we
need to have the best educated
workforce in the world if our
economy is to prosper. Tragically,
that is no longer the case. Over 40
years ago, the United States led
the world in the percentage of our
people who graduated college.
Today, we are in 12th place. For
many working parents, higher education for their kids is now unaffordable and many of young
people are graduating college and
graduate school deeply in debt. In
my view, all Americans who have
the ability and the desire, regardless of the income of their families, should be able to receive a
higher education. As a member of
the Education Committee, I will
do my best to make that happen.
CALEDONIAN Black Cyan Magenta Yellow
THE REcORD • WEDnESDAY, JAnuARY 14, 2015
A5
NEW ENGLAND
REGION
BRIEFS
Vermont inmate dies several
days before prison release
Man acquitted of negligent
homicide in crash, judge killed
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the death
of a Vermont inmate who was hospitalized days before she was to be
released.
State Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito says 43-year-old Annette Douglas died Friday after spending two days at the University
of Vermont Medical Center. She was an inmate at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility and was scheduled to be released Wednesday.
Pallito said Douglas was sent to prison Dec. 28 for allegedly violating a community service sentence for a petty larceny conviction. He
confirmed she was moved to a special housing unit after allegedly
threatening someone.
Pallito said Douglas had a medical condition, but he was not able
to discuss it, citing privacy laws.
Douglas’ sister, Melissa Monfreda, tells WCAX-TV her sister had
a drug problem, was depressed, and diabetic.
DOVER, N.H. (AP) — A jury acquitted a man of negligent homicide in connection with a February 2013 collision that killed a retired
judge, but convicted him of a lesser charge in causing injuries to his
passenger.
Police said 74-year-old Bruce Larson of Durham, a former Candia
District Court judge, died in the Route 4 crash in Durham. He was
heading west when he collided with a vehicle that appeared to have
been attempting to pass another vehicle heading east.
Police said 24-year-old Ryan Marchant of Wakefield, Massachusetts, was driving.
Foster’s Daily Democrat reports (http://bit.ly/14vpQC2) the jury
was deadlocked Monday on a second negligent homicide charge alleging Marchant caused Larson’s death by driving at an unsafe speed
and passing in a no-passing zone.
Marchant’s passenger, Martin Hyppolite, suffered a broken hip.
Marchant awaits sentencing.
Vermont mayors announce
legislative goals
New Hampshire providers offer
“text to 911” services
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The Vermont Mayors Coalition has released its priorities for the legislation session.
The coalition of eight mayors is calling for education reform and
waterway protection from stormwater runoff.
The mayors released their legislative session goals and their commitment to advocate for these areas of common interest at a State
House press conference on Tuesday.
The coalition was created in 2013 and includes the mayors of Vergennes, St. Albans, Montpelier, Barre, Rutland, Newport, Winooski
and Burlington.
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger says the Vermont Mayors Coalition will work hard this session “to see that action is taken to keep our
education system strong and financially sustainable and to create a fair,
effective, and efficient system for protecting our waterways.”
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — People in New Hampshire can now text
emergencies to 911.
The four biggest wireless providers — Sprint, AT&T, Verizon and
T-Mobile, began voluntarily providing the service last year and the
Federal Communications Commission required it from all providers
by the end of 2014.
The FCC tells people to limit texts for help to circumstances when
voice calls can’t be made, such as for the deaf, or in cases when it’s
not safe to speak.
People with a text plan type 9-1-1 into the “To” field on a mobile
device then enter a brief description of the emergency. Don’t use abbreviations, shorthand, photos, video or emoticons. Use simple words
and be prepared to answer the dispatcher’s questions.
If a text message does not go through, the sender will receive a notification.
5-year-old sitting in school bus
driver’s seat causes crash
MERRIMACK, N.H. (AP) — Police said a New Hampshire school
bus driver allowed her 5-year-old son to sit in the driver’s seat with
the bus running and the boy put it in reverse, sideswiping cars and
crashing into a carport.
Merrimack police said Tiffanie Brown was doing a safety check outside the bus last week at an apartment complex parking lot. Her 8year-old son was with her.
Capt. Peter Albert tells WMUR-TV Brown instructed the 5-year-old
to activate the different lights to check them. But the boy somehow
put the bus in reverse. The 8-year-old was hanging onto a door at the
time.
No one was hurt, but Brown was arrested Monday and charged with
reckless conduct and endangering the welfare of a child. It wasn’t immediately known if she had a lawyer.
Letters
continued from Page A4
them access to our country.
Let’s look at the Marathon bombing case in Boston. He hated us so
much to bomb innocent people. Why
didn’t he just leave! If you don’t like
our laws, the laws of our Constitution, then leave. Go back where you
came from.. But they sure do like our
laws when they are in a courtroom
and are on trial. Hypocrisy… Tsar-
It’s cold enough for ice harvest
at New Hampshire lake
HOLDERNESS, N.H. (AP) — It’s cold enough for annual tradition
of harvesting lake ice at a New Hampshire campground.
Crews started sawing blocks for the Rockywold-Deephaven Camps
in Holderness on Tuesday. The event goes back a century.
It’s a timely start, helped by very low temperatures. In 2013, the threeday harvest at Squam Lake didn’t start until on Feb. 6, due to rain, warm
temperatures and wind.
Instead of refrigeration units, campers use lake ice packed into insulated ice houses that keep the blocks frozen through summer. The 16by-19-inch ice blocks weigh between 120 and 160 pounds each.
On their Facebook page Tuesday, organizers honored Norman Lyford,
who headed out to the ice for his 70th year of harvesting. The posting
said, “We are grateful that he continues to share his wisdom with us.”
naev’s lawyers asked the court for a
change of venue, thinking he would
not get a fair trial in Boston. How fair
was he to the people he killed or
maimed. We all know he committed
the crime.
I welcome legal immigrants who
want to be here and want to be a part
of our country. But the rest, go back
where you came from! I bet the
French are saying that now.
Linda Riley
Meredith, N.H.
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Black Cyan Magenta Yellow
VERMONT MAN HEADS TO TRIAL IN
WIFE’S DEATH IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
By lynne tuoHy
Associated Press
NEWPORT, N.H. — Kelly Robarge texted a friend that she had
just filed for divorce from her husband of 21 years. As she pulled
into her driveway, she added:
“He’s here.”
Then, she vanished.
That was on the morning of
June 27, 2013.
Her husband, James Robarge of
Saxtons River, Vermont, was eventually charged with first- and second-degree murder in connection
with her death. Jury selection
wrapped up Tuesday in Sullivan
County Court in New Hampshire.
The same night Kelly Robarge
disappeared, James Robarge was
picked up by police on a road
about two miles from where his
42-year-old wife’s body would ultimately be found. He had blood
on his shorts and the car he said
had broken down had a bloodstained trunk.
Kelly Robarge’s decomposing
and animal-ravaged body was
found nine days later in a remote
area of Unity, about 10 miles from
her home. State police Sgt. John
Sonia testified at a hearing last
year that her neck was missing.
“It’s a grisly scene. It really is
quite disturbing,” public defender
Alex Parsons said as he asked a
prospective juror Tuesday whether
he could closely study the images.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Susan Morrell focused on the
one thing investigators don’t know
for sure: How Kelly Robarge was
killed. She declined to comment
on the trial, which is expected to
last five weeks.
Jurors will visit Kelly Robarge’s
home Wednesday and testimony
will begin Thursday.
Public defender Caroline Smith
said Robarge has maintained his
innocence.
“He’s looking forward to trial so
he can have his day in court,” she
said.
AP PHOTO
In this Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014,
file photo James Robarge,
right, talks during his arraignment in Sullivan Country Superior Court in Newport, N.H.
At trial, jurors will hear friends
testify that Kelly Robarge told
them her husband had threatened
to put her through a wood chipper
if she left him. They will also testify about comments she made in
the days before she disappeared
that his abuse and mood swings
were escalating.
Superior Court Judge Brian
Tucker ruled last week that the jury
can see text messages and pictures
of wounds on James Robarge’s
body — including a large scratch
through a tattoo that reads “Love
Dies Slowly.”
Sonia, the state police detective,
testified in January 2014 that 45year-old James Robarge texted one
of the couple’s two adult children,
Sierra, on June 27 to ask if she
knew where her mother was. He
also asked when Sierra would be
home. He told her that he had
found his 18-month-old grandson
alone in the house.
Sonia said he believes Kelly Robarge’s body was in the trunk of
James Robarge’s car when their
daughter arrived about an hour
later to the house she shared with
her mother.
Robarge has pleaded not guilty.
He has been held without bond
since his arrest the week Kelly Robarge’s body was found.
CALEDONIAN Black Cyan Magenta Yellow
THE CALEDONIAN-RECORD
A6
Prue
continued from Page A1
as she can have written communication with her husband.
“Nothing’s changed in terms of
Ms. Prue’s wishes and I’ve confirmed them as recently as yesterday
evening,” said Marsicovetere. “I do
not see a trial…that’s what I can tell
you and I don’t think there’s anything in Dr. Weker’s report from his
meeting with Ms. Prue that suggests
that she is not interested in moving
forward exactly as stated and as I
confirmed yesterday evening.”
But Marsicovetere is not giving
up efforts to find a doctor that might
declare his client to be incompetent
prior to trial. A diagnosis of incompetence would open up the possibility that Patricia Prue could avoid
criminal liability for the Jenkins
killing and be turned over to the Vermont Department of Mental Health
for hospitalization instead of facing
trial and incarceration.
“I do have concerns about Ms.
Prue’s competency notwithstanding
Dr. Weker’s report,” said Marsicov-
Principal
continued from Page A1
According to the Sutton School
Directors, the base salary and usual
health insurance costs are already in
the proposed FY16 budget. But
$80,000 will need to be added to
meet the salary and insurance costs
of a new principal.
“The Sutton School Directors,
Caledonia North Supervisory
Union Business Manager Tisha
Hankinson and school administrators are all carefully monitoring this
year’s budget,” the school board
wrote in their statement. The board
anticipates any deficit will be paid
through future budgets.
The board has scheduled a
FY2016 proposed budget informational meeting for Wednesday, Feb.
25, at 6 p.m. at the school. The
board will also discuss tentative
Reverend
continued from Page A1
had anybody tell me the time is
now to give a benediction,’” Potter
said. “Everybody laughed…I also
said, ‘Don’t be scared, I’ve got the
mic.’ Everybody stood up again.”
Potter’s benediction, his second
for Shumlin, was likewise popular.
It attracted laughter and ovations,
he said.
“We Vermonters are not given to
doubt, despair and difficulties beyond doing,” Potter said during the
benediction. “We are, after all,
Green Mountain boys and girls.
We have come across these hills
and valleys and up too many
mountains to ignore the beautiful
view over this land we love. We
are folks of vision and vitality both
in the valley and on the mountaintop. You and I know the precious
people of Vermont expect and pray
that we will figure it out, fund it
out, tough it out and faith it
through because we are together
Poaching
continued from Page A1
game rules.
The Affidavits
Wayne Dion is charged with the
following counts: failure to tag big
game, baiting deer, feeding deer,
taking game by illegal means using
lights, taking deer out of season,
taking a big game animal by illegal
means, taking bird in closed season, possessing a big game animal
taken by illegal means or in a
closed season, and transporting big
game taken by illegal means or
during a closed season.
Wardens Jenna Reed, Jason
Dukette, Marc Luneau, and David
Gregory, Specialist Russell Shopland, and Colonel Jason Batchelder
essentially surrounded the Dion
house Nov. 14, the day before the
opening of rifle season.
At 5:12 p.m., Dukette heard a
gunshot from the vicinity of the
Dion home, and more than an hour
later, saw Wayne Dion leave the
residence with a flashlight, looking
down at the ground and searching
a field. When the shot rang out,
Dukette could see that the flood
lights in the yard were on.
From that point until the rifle
season opened at 6:16 a.m. the next
morning, no other shots were heard
in the area from several vantage
etere. “I would like for our expert Dr.
(Philip) Kinsler to conduct his evaluation of competency.”
The court ordered the December
competency evaluation at Marsicovetere’s request. Marsicovetere argued at the time that his client’s
recent interest in accepting the state’s
offer was a sign she was suffering
from mental problems.
On Tuesday he told Bent he’d like
to have Prue evaluated again but that
he needed the court’s help to make it
happen because he’d already been
turned down for additional funding
by the Vermont Defender General’s
Office. He said he would file a motion with the court formally asking
for help in getting the money.
“I do not have authorization from
the defender general’s office,” said
Marsicovetere. “My only recourse is
to ask the court to order it and that is
something I plan to file by tomorrow.”
“Alright, you can feel free to file
it,” said Bent.
Marsicovetere has been preparing
an insanity defense for Patricia Prue
claiming she suffered from multiple
personality disorder - known clini-
cally as disassociative identity disorder (DID) - when she killed Jenkins.
He told the judge that Weker’s report did not fully address the DID
theory but did not rule it out. Bent
said he wasn’t convinced it was a
critical factor.
“I’m not so clear that even a diagnosis of disassociative identity disorder creates incompetence,” said
Bent.
Patricia Prue has previously
pleaded not guilty to all the charges
against her.
Under the terms of the state’s
Nov. 12, 2014 offer she would plead
guilty to 1st degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder in exchange for life in prison
without parole, while all other
charges – including aggravated murder, improper disposal of a dead
body and multiple counts of possession of child pornography – would
be dismissed.
Allen Prue was convicted by a
jury in October on all charges related
to the kidnapping and murder of
Jenkins. He was sentenced in December to life in prison.
plans for the principal search and
selection process at this meeting.
Stradling has been the principal
at the Sutton School for six years.
Her resignation was accepted by the
Board on Jan. 2. Attorney Pietro
Lynn negotiated the resignation on
behalf of the board.
In November, Stradling was accused of assaulting a school staff
member. In the weeks that followed
the reported assault, the Vermont
State Police investigated the incident, then forwarded the results of
its criminal investigation to Caledonia County State’s Attorney Lisa
Warren for review. Warren reviewed the investigation and made
the decision not to file any criminal
charges against Stradling.
In the meantime, Caledonia
North Supervisory Union Superintendent Victoria Scheufler placed
Stradling on administrative leave
the day the assault was reporter to
her, then returned Stradling to her
position the day after. After
Scheufler and the Board met with a
large group of parents, Scheufler rescinded her earlier decision and
placed Stradling back on leave.
In several meetings with parents,
The Board and the Superintendent
heard from numerous parents who
were unhappy with Stradling’s job
as principal, which went beyond the
alleged assault.
In releasing the details of
Stradling’s agreement, “We would
not have made this decision given
its financial implications unless we
thought it was very important for
educating our children to make this
agreement. It was clear to the Board
that that the recent controversy
would not permit us to move for- continued from Page A1
ward without distraction unless
derstand the gravity of the situathere was a change of leadership.”
tion.”
Last August, the village trustees
unexpectedly eliminated the position of village supervisor, removing
eight-year supervisor Brian Hanson
from his position and revealed that
sponded to that closing line by the village had severe financial difficulties.
chanting “yes yes yes.”
While the ongoing audit has
He was thrilled by the experishown no criminal activity or fraud,
ence, protesters and all.
“It was a precious moment,” Smith told the six residents present
Potter said. “If I had handled it any Monday that “some of the trustees’
other way the whole spirit of the concerns were validated.”
The village trustees last fall had
day would have been lost. It’s unfortunate though because it’s dis- to borrow $300,000 in a short-term
tracting. Gov. Shumlin said he was loan to cover expenses and launched
disappointed and saddened. I think an investigation into the village’s
practices.
Only
that’s part of the feeling people accounting
$150,000 of that loan has been
had.”
Potter said a handful of protest- needed so far, trustees said.
Accountants are trying to find
ers later called to apologize for interrupting the benediction. He where $230,000 of the bond proceeds went, and haven’t found the
appreciates that.
records
to show how it was used.
Ironically, Potter said, the proSmith
said he did not know if the
testers, Shumlin and essentially the
whole of Vermont harbor the same letter would trigger an investigation
by the PSB. But Barton Village has
goal.
to
show willingness and ability to
“We all want a healthy Vermont
fix
the problem, he said. “You have
but clearly we can’t pay for it,”
Potter said. “The governor simply so much explaining to do.”
“Our concern is that there are so
said that we have a huge deficit
many
compliance issues you failed
and we can’t afford it right now.
to
follow.
Basically it’s a lack of
I’ve said that to my kids all my
paying attention,” Smith said.
life.”
The village is going to the PSB
with the story about the situation,
asking for forgiveness, Smith said.
Trustee Nate Sicard said the three
trustees, all new to the board, will be
working closely with consultants for
Luneau asked where he could the next couple of months.
find the deer’s heart and liver, and
They were disappointed that only
Wayne Dion told him, “My wife six residents attended the meeting
put them in the refrigerator.”
Monday, advertised in the local
The shooting port was located newspaper.
above a table holding containers of
The consultants urged the trustees
spent and live ammunition in the to keep talking to residents about the
bedroom. Wardens found three situation.
light switches to control the flood
Bond Obligations
lights and a tripod used for shootBond bank consultant Paul Giuing.
liani assured concerned residents
Jennie Dion claimed to have that the village’s credit should be
been sleeping and said she didn’t OK, as long as the bond is paid back
hear her husband shoot the deer. properly and the village tackles the
“Given the proximity of the bed current problem successfully. The
and pillows to that shooting port, it bond bank will watch what happens
is impossible to conceive that Mrs. before the PSB, he said.
The village has not defaulted on
Dion would not have heard the report of a high powered rifle shot in the bond, Giuliani said.
“It’s not catastrophic conseher own bedroom,” Reed wrote.
Reed examined the deer carcass quences for the village.”
The village is expected to hire fiand found a large amount of hemorrhaging from the front shoulder nancial help while preparing to ask
to the thigh. “Given the lack of the for an expected rate increase for the
vital organs being struck, combined village’s 2,300 electric customers.
with the extent of the damage to the The impact on the village budget
deer, it was evident that the deer and tax rate is not known.
“It seems pretty obvious – some
did not die immediately,” Reed
sort of increase is necessary,” Emersaid.
Luneau said the bed where the son said.
In the end, the village trustees
deer died indicated that the deer
laid there for many hours, melting will decide how to manage the electric department or whether to sell its
all snow beneath it.
The couple also had coyotes assets.
One thing that must be done is
hanging near the house that Wayne
Dion said had been shot the week build up the trust that will be lost
with the disclosure of the problems,
prior.
Emerson said.
As a utility, the village has an ob-
smart, resilient, strong and spirited,
and in our heart of hearts we are
able to rely on a strength greater
than our own when we are at our
best. It’s just that simple. We may
not see eye to eye but that does not
mean that we cannot walk arm and
arm and hand in hand to do the
work of the people who sent us
here.”
Potter in the benediction also recalled a meeting with Dr. King.
The men were acquainted through
Yale Divinity School in New
Haven, Connecticut, where Potter
studied.
The particular meeting occurred
in 1964 at Springfield College in
Massachusetts when King delivered a commencement address and
Potter gave the benediction.
“In the recessional, Martin put
his arm around me and said, ‘Great
benediction, but Bob, it’s easier to
pray it than to do it,’” Potter said.
“For the sake of the king, Martin,
that is, let’s not just pray it, let’s do
it.”
Potter said lawmakers re-
points of wardens. No shots were
heard from the start of the season
until Wayne Dion approached
Batchelder and Reed, who were
parked at the end of Young Lane, at
8:25 a.m.
Wayne Dion told the wardens,
who were in plainclothes, that he’d
shot a 9-pointer that morning that
probably weighed 200 pounds.
Wardens observed deer blood
and hair in a path where the deer
had been dragged behind an ATV
from the a bed in the woods. In the
yard, wardens saw a swept path
surrounding an apple tree about 15
yards from the shooting port in the
couple’s bedroom, where corn and
a neat row of apples had been left.
The dead blue jay was found in
the same area, according to affidavits.
In the basement, wardens found
the ATV with deer hair attached to
a rope, an eviscerated whitetail
hanging from the rafters, and deer
entrails in a bucket, with the stomach contents including apple bits.
The temperature of the deer indicated it had been taken well before the 6:16 a.m. start of the
season, affidavits state.
The basement also held seven
large chest freezers, six of which
were full of apples, seven containers of corn, and two five-gallon
pails of apples that appeared to be
thawing out.
WedNeSdAy, JANuARy 14, 2015
LRH CELEBRATES GROWTH, PREPARES FOR CHALLENGES
By roBert BleCHl
Staff Writer
LITTLETON, N.H. — A dedicated hospital staff was celebrated
and health care challenges highlighted during Littleton Regional
Healthcare’s 108th annual community meeting Tuesday.
“We continue to grow,” said,”
said Bill Bedor, vice-chairman and
treasurer of LRH’s board of trustees.
“The success of the hospital is the
ability to take care of the community, which is the most important
thing.”
Growth in recent years equates to
14 percent annually and the hospital
continues to hire, said Bedor, who
took a few minutes to break down
the numbers.
Today, LRH, the largest employer in the immediate region, has
a current total of 518 staff members,
including 285 full-time employees
and 135 part-time.
Practicing physicians at LRH
total 127, with 38 working directly
for the hospital, he said.
LRH projects revenues at $145
million, with a $85 million net, and
total community benefits at $3.66
million.
Annual payroll, too, which helps
drive the local economy, has increased from $21 million in 2007 to
$35 million today.
“Our vision calls us to be the employer of choice in the region,” said
LRH CEO Warren West.
Health care is not without its
challenges, however, and the changing health care environment across
Barton
Black Cyan Magenta Yellow
the nation is being felt locally.
With LRH’s operating margins
experiencing a downward trend,
health care is getting tougher going
forward, said Bedor.
“There will be continuing pressure on cost control,” said Stevan
Trooboff, chairman of LRH’s board
of trustees. “No one is going to pay
us more, but we’re going to have to
do more with the same amounts.”
The shortage of primary care
physicians that will not go away will
also change future care, said
Trooboff.
Still, with LRH’s growth, it is financially stable and that allows the
hospital to reinvest in the community and take care of residents who,
with LRH’s services, don’t have to
travel outside the North Country for
health care, said Bedor.
And with modern equipment and
talented staff, the hospital is positioned well for the future, and its ongoing profitability enables it to
make good investments, said
Trooboff.
“We’ll be here for many, many
years continuing to take great care
of the community,” said Bedor.
As a new year begins, LRH’s 240
volunteers continue to grow in number as do its current total of 116 auxiliary members, said West.
Last year, total patient visits,
which includes some repeat patients, reached 124,132.
“Patients are getting a great experience here because of the LRH
family,” said West.
In recent years, LRH has seen a
reduced door-to-doctor time for patients of 40 to 18 minutes, he said.
For LRH’s Charitable Foundation, a total of $161,244 was donated last year from 334 businesses
and individuals, including 100 new
donors, said LRH Charitable Foundation board Chairman Dr. John
Sauter.
Donors to the charitable foundation helped improvements to the
hospice room and helped launch
programs such as the Care-A-Van,
which transports patients who can
no longer drive, as well as created
the Paramedic Intercept Program
and finalized the acquisition of a
mobile PET scan, which can detect
spreading cancer.
After Upper Connecticut Valley
Hospital, Weeks Medical Center
and Cottage Hospital closed their
birthing centers, LRH is seeing a demand for its labor suite, with 336
deliveries last year.
A new campaign for 2015 involves renovating two labor suite
rooms as well as equipment, at a
cost of $500,000, said Sauter.
The charitable foundation can
raise $200,000, and has already
raised $100,000, he said and a “very
special donor,” New England Wire
Technologies, will donate $50,000.
During Tuesday’s meeting, LRH
thanked outgoing trustees Milton
Bratz and Wayne Rioux, both of
whom served in full their 10-year
board terms, and trustee Mell
Brooks, who served eight years and
is taking a consulting job outside the
North Country.
“It was an absolute pleasure,”
said Brooks. “This is a great organization.”
TRUSTEES LAY OUT NEXT STEPS
By roBin smitH
Staff Writer
BARTON – The Barton Village trustees told the Vermont Public Service Board that they are committed to resolving the financial problems plaguing its electric department.
In a letter to the board Monday, the village trustees promised to provide more information about
how a $1.85 million bond that the board OK’d was spent.
They also will send that information to the Vermont Department of Public Service, acting as consumer advocate for the 2,300 ratepayers in the Barton Village electric service area.
The service area includes customers in the Barton area, including Charleston, Sutton and Westmore.
The plan for getting out of the problem of mismanagement of the bond for a 46 kV new distribution line is detailed in a letter to the PSB, sent Monday by the trustees’ attorney, Elijah Emerson
of Primmer, Piper Eggleston & Cramer.
By the end of January, the trustees intend to hire an interim finance and accounting consultant
and an interim business manage, with both positions expected to be part-time. The trustees last fall
eliminated the position of village supervisor, and not renewing the contract of supervisor Brian
Hanson after eight years.
“It is critically important to install non-elected officials that bring the necessary set of skills to
guide the village through the upcoming transition,” the letter to the PSB states.
The trustees want to make sure that the bond payments continue as required to maintain the
village’s credit.
Also by the end of January, the trustees plan to have the 2013 audit complete. The audit, commissioned in the fall, will allow Barton to analyze if and how much of a rate increase might be
needed to pay for ongoing electric department operations.
It’s possible, the trustees’ attorney says, that the co-mingling of money from the bond with operating income in the electric department “disguises a need for an increase in revenues.”
Then Barton will start the process of adopting proper internal controls and procedures to avoid
similar problems in the future.
By the end of March, the trustees hope to know if they will need to ask for a rate increase and
what size.
And then, Barton has to convert a short-term $300,000 loan taken out last fall to cover expenses
into a long-term borrowing, which will require taxpayer and board approval.
Final decisions will include whether the trustees should hire a full-time electric department manager, create a board of electric commissioners or contract out the management of the department.
The trustees may also consider selling the department’s assets, which would require Barton
Village voter approval and approval of the PSB.
ligation to continue serving its
ratepayers, Emerson said, regardless
of the situation.
Lack Of Records
Smith said the worst case scenario is that $600,000 of the bond
was used to cover other expenses in
the village’s other departments.
They suspect the real amount is
closer to $230,000.
The irony is that the 46 kV project, done with Orleans Electric,
came in under budget.
One of the problems is that there
are no records to record when the
village’s manpower did work,
which could be billed to the bond
proceeds, the consultants said.
Another concern is that part of
the 46 kV project, what’s called the
“underbuild” of Barton distribution
lines from the 46 kV line costing
$274,978, was not put out to bid as
it should have been, Smith said.
The Barton trustees are telling the
PSB that more than $600,000 might
have been used for purposes beyond
what the bond bank and the PSB approved.
The accountants found that
$731,082 of the $1.85 million bond
are not tied to invoices for the 46 kV
project.
There is only $111,598 left – now
in a segregated account to help pay
off the bond.
What’s left to track is $619,483
in bond proceeds that cannot be tied
to 46 kV expenses.
They found that $372,565 was
spent toward payments on the bond,
paid out of the general fund in the
electric department and could have
come from the bond. That is allowed under bond bank rules, the
consultants said.
But there is $230,000 that has not
been tracked down.
Some may have gone to other departments in the village.
For example, the electric department loaned $100,000 to the water
department on Aug. 27, 2012, with
interest charged. The balance was
paid off over two years.
If that was from the bond, that
was not allowed under the bond
bank’s rules or under the PSB order
allowing the village to raise a bond
for the 46 kV project.
There is a possible deficit in the
department which will have to be
made up.
Pleading The Case
“Barton fully understands the seriousness of the problems that it is
disclosing in this filing” to the PSB,
Emerson stated in the letter.
“The trustees are committed to
providing the board and the Department of Public Service with additional information that will aid in the
board and department’s review,” the
letter states.
“By making these disclosures,
Barton understands that this is likely
the beginning of a lengthy process
to get Barton on the right track. It is
Barton’s objective to work collaboratively with the board, the department, its ratepayers, its taxpayers
and other stakeholders to make sure
that process is as successful as possible,” Emerson concluded in the
letter.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Effort To Draft Warren Into 2016
Race Heads To New Hampshire
By Holly ramer
Associated Press
CONCORD, N.H. — Progressive activists hoping to draft Sen.
Elizabeth Warren into the 2016
presidential race will hold their
first meeting in the key early-voting state of New Hampshire on
Saturday.
Members of MoveOn.org and
Democracy for America are starting their “Run, Warren, Run”
New Hampshire effort with a
meeting in Manchester. The
groups hope to persuade the populist Massachusetts senator to
seek the Democratic nomination
in 2016, even though she has repeatedly said she is not running.
In an interview published
Tuesday in Fortune, Warren answered a simple “no” when
asked, “So, are you going to run
for president?” Asked for comment, Warren spokeswoman
Lacey Rose said Tuesday: “As
Sen. Warren has said many times,
she is not running for president.”
The architect of President
Barack Obama’s consumer finan-
cial protection agency, Warren
would be able to quickly raise
millions from an enthusiastic following, many of whom are wary
of the leading potential Democratic candidate, Hillary Rodham
Clinton.
Saturday’s meeting comes a
month after a similar gathering attracted about 75 people in Iowa,
which traditionally holds the earliest presidential caucuses just beNew
Hampshire’s
fore
first-in-the-nation primaries.
MoveOn plans to spend $1
million on its Warren effort, and
Democracy for America has
pledged $250,000. The groups are
seeking staffers in both states and
are trying to build volunteer and
donor support.
Such work also has been underway on behalf of Clinton in
both states for at least a year, and
Clinton herself has a strong network of New Hampshire support
that she and her husband, former
President Bill Clinton, have nurtured for more than two decades.
Both Warren and Clinton campaigned for Sen. Jeanne Shaheen
in New Hampshire last fall.
MASSACHUSETTS
Paris Attacks Could Prompt
New Bid To Delay Tsarnaev Trial
By denise lavoie
AP Legal Affairs Writer
BOSTON — The terror attacks in Paris could provide
new grounds for Boston
Marathon bombing suspect
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers to
argue that his trial should be delayed and moved outside
Boston because it may be even
more difficult to pick an impartial jury with a new terror attack
fresh in the minds of prospective jurors, legal analysts said
Tuesday.
Tsarnaev’s lawyers have
asked repeatedly to delay the
trial and to move it outside
Massachusetts, where almost
everyone seems to know someone connected to the marathon
or personally affected by the
2013 bombings. Federal Judge
George O’Toole Jr. has rejected
the defense requests, and
Miriam Conrad, one of Tsarnaev’s lawyers, declined to
comment Tuesday on whether
the defense would renew the request in light of the Paris attacks.
But Jeffrey Abramson, a professor of law and government at
the University of Texas at
Austin, said that if he were one
of Tsarnev’s lawyers, he would
ask for a delay of three to six
months “until the Paris comparison fades a bit.”
“Whatever scabbing or healing had begun to take place, the
Boston wound is freshly ripped
open by the events in Paris,”
said Ambramson, who has written extensively about the jury
system in the United States.
In the marathon case, authorities say Tsarnaev and his older
brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev,
planned and carried out the attack as retaliation for U.S. wars
in Muslim countries. Three people were killed and more than
260 were wounded when twin
bombs exploded at the finish
line April 15, 2013.
Tamerlan was killed in a
shootout with police days after
the bombings. Dzhokhar, 21,
could face the death penalty if
convicted.
In the Paris attacks, two gunmen, brothers Cherif and Said
Kouachi, burst into the Paris offices of the French satirical
magazine Charlie Hebdo,
killing 12 people. A total of 17
people were shot dead in a
three-day terrorist killing spree,
including four hostages. The
Kouachi brothers and a third
gunman were killed by police.
While “Boston Strong” became the slogan used to show
unity following the marathon
attacks, “Je suis Charlie” (“I am
Charlie”) has become a popular
slogan since the Paris attacks.
Abramson said it would be
difficult for any jury pool not to
see similarities between the two
cases and be potentially influenced by them.
“It just cries out for comparison,” he said.
Veteran Boston defense attorney Jeffrey Denner said Tsarnaev’s defense could argue that
the pall cast by the Paris attacks
will make it difficult to find jurors who can be impartial in
Tsarnaev’s case.
“Emotions are really running
high now. The terrorist problem, while it’s always this 800pound elephant sitting in the
room, right now it’s the 800pound elephant sitting right on
the defendant,” Denner said.
“It’s hard to ever view terrorist
threats in an impartial way, but
it’s almost impossible where the
events are so fresh and poignant
as last week.”
Jury selection began last
week in Boston, with more than
1,350 prospective jurors called
in to federal court to fill out
lengthy juror questionnaires.
The judge will begin questioning individual jurors Thursday.
Jury
consultant
Beth
Bochnak said if she were a
member of Tsarnaev’s defense
team, she would renew the requests to delay and move the
trial, citing the potential impact
of the Paris attacks.
“These high-profile cases —
especially involving terrorism
— frequently make anti-death
penalty people into pro-death
penalty people, and I’m sure
what’s happened in Paris is just
making it harder,” said
Bochnak, who was a jury consultant for the defense in the
trial of New York mobster Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano and the trial of Kristen
Gilbert, a Massachusetts nurse
convicted of killing four patients at a Veterans Administration hospital. Both Basciano
and Gilbert were spared the
death penalty.
Denner said suspending a
trial after jury selection has
begun would be highly unusual.
“The fact that they’ve already called a big group of people in and the process has begun
makes it more difficult to be undone, as a practical matter,” he
said.
“On the other hand, the central issue still remains: Can any
defendant get a fair trial given
the circumstances and context
of the case? The context has
changed when the whole terror
situation has been exacerbated
dramatically over the past
week,” he added.
Denner said he also thinks
it’s unlikely the judge would reconsider moving the trial because of the Paris attacks.
“Right now, I think it would
be hard to get a fair trial anywhere,” he said.
REGION
Commemorative guns mark
Fish and Game anniversary
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Two firearms manufacturers are creating limited edition guns to mark the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s
150th anniversary.
Ruger is issuing a limited run of 150 collectible M77 Hawkeye rifles featuring the Fish and Game Department’s anniversary seal in 14 karat gold,
and LHR Sporting Arms is making a commemorative muzzleloader rifle. A
portion of all sales will benefit the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of New
Hampshire.
In addition, the guns bearing serial number 001 will be auctioned, with
the proceeds going to the heritage foundation fund.
BRIEFS
House Republican Leader Ken Fredette said his caucus is ready to work
with Democrats on important issues, like lowering energy costs, lowering
the tax burden and continuing to move people off of welfare.
“Now that the campaigns are over, Republicans look to Democrats to show
their sincerity to working in a bipartisan fashion with their votes, not just
their rhetoric,” Fredette said.
The Legislature’s session is underway, but much of the real work hasn’t
started yet.
Lawmakers got their first look at Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s $6.3 billion budget on Friday. Meanwhile, the House and Senate have been busy referencing dozens of bills to committees, where the proposals will be vetted
before they are sent back to the chamber floors.
Two New Hampshire students selected
for Senate Youth Program
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Two New Hampshire students will be part of
104 student delegates attending the annual United States Senate Youth Program.
The program brings outstanding high school students to Washington, D.C.,
for an intensive, weeklong study of the federal government and the people
who lead it.
The program, funded by The Heart Foundations, provides each student
with a $5,000 undergraduate college scholarship with encouragement to continue coursework in government, history and public affairs. It’s held March
7-14.
Devin McMahon of East Hampstead is a senior at Pinkerton Academy
who serves as the Student Council president and Future Business Leaders of
America community service coordinator.
Jessie Osgood of Henniker attends John Stark Regional High School and
is a student representative to the School Board. She’s a Model United Nations
Leadership Team member.
Navy SEAL to be buried in Arlington
National Cemetery
SERVICE CENTER
I-91 EXIT 22 ROUTE 5 • ST. JOHNSBURY, VT
Nick Pilotte, Service Advisor
Pat Wheelock, Service Manager • Josh Bagley, Service
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A 31-year-old Navy SEAL from New Hampshire who died during a military parachute training exercise in Florida will
be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
A celebration of William “Blake” Marston’s life has been scheduled for
10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Bedford Presbyterian Church. Visiting hours will
be held Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Bennett Funeral Home in Concord.
Marston died Saturday after landing on the grounds of an airport in DeLand, Florida.
Police said after he was found on the ground unconscious and with a broken leg, he was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. A
witness told police that something flew off his parachute as he was in free
fall between 40 to 60 feet above ground.
Fire causes plant evacuation;
plant fully operational
RS
LACONIA, N.H. (AP) — Firefighters say the New Hampshire Ball Bearing plant in Laconia is fully operational hours after the plant was evacuated
due to a fire.
WMUR-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1KFmw8G) firefighters said the fire
broke out shortly before 10:30 p.m. Monday in the duct work above a heat
treating machine. Firefighters believe combustible material in the flue caught
fire. They said no one was hurt.
Report highlights need for better
science, math education
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A new report says New Hampshire is falling
behind in science, technology, engineering and math education and must take
concrete steps to better prepare students for careers in those fields.
A task force created by Gov. Maggie Hassan released its report on this
topic Tuesday. The report says New Hampshire ranks 21st and 32nd, respectively, in the percentage of students receiving associates and bachelor’s degrees in the so-called STEM fields. It also says less there were only enough
qualified teachers to fill half of the open science and math positions in the
2012-2013 school year.
The report recommends giving students more career-prep opportunities
in high schools, creating an advisory committee to promote STEM education
for girls and better preparing teachers to teach STEM classes, among other
things.
Maine Democrats say focus this
session will be on jobs
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Top Maine Democratic lawmakers said Tuesday their policy focus this session will be on workforce development, job
training, college affordability and attracting young people to the state.
Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves and Senate Minority Leader Justin
Alfond said lawmakers must work together in the divided Legislature to continue restoring the jobs that were lost during the Great Recession.
“It seems that the American dream is getting farther and farther away from
what it was for our parents’ and our grandparents’ generation,” Alfond said.
Democrats plan to meet with businesses in communities across Maine to
discuss growing jobs and developing public-private partnerships, Eves said.
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WedNeSdAy, JANuARy 14, 2015
MAINE
TIME FOR THE ICE HARVEST
LePage Gets OK To Drug Test Welfare Applicants
By alanna durKin
Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul
LePage’s administration said Tuesday that it will move forward with its
plan to drug test welfare applicants
after being given the green light by
Maine’s attorney general.
The new rule, which was given
final approval by Attorney General
Janet Mills’ office and sent to the secretary of state’s office, will require
some applicants in the Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families program who have been convicted of
drug-related felonies in the last 20
years to be tested for drugs.
Department of Health and Human
Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew told The Associated Press on
Tuesday that it will begin implementing the drug testing program but
could not immediately say when the
first tests will be administered.
The Republican governor’s ad-
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guided,” he said.
A spokesman for Mayhew said the
tests will cost $62 each.
Federal law prohibits people from
receiving welfare benefits if they
have a prior drug felony conviction,
but states can opt out of the ban, according to National Conference of
State Legislatures. Maine is one of at
least five states that allow those with
prior convictions to receive benefits
if they are drug tested, the group says.
Some states that have passed
broader drug testing laws have faced
lawsuits. But LePage’s administration has said that it believes its narrow
law will be able to withstand a challenge. Florida sought to require all
applicants for welfare benefits to undergo mandatory drug testing, but a
judge ruled in 2013 that it was unconstitutional.
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ministration has said that the state
must ensure that its limited welfare
resources are going to those who
most need them, like children and the
elderly.
The American Civil Liberties
Union of Maine has called it unconstitutional.
The attorney general’s office recommended several changes to the
proposed rule to strengthen it against
a potential lawsuit. Among those was
that the department use a questionnaire to screen applicants in an effort
to identify people who are more
likely to be using drugs.
Zach Heiden, legal director for the
ACLU of Maine, said the attorney
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St. Johnsbury, VT 05819
603-838-2860
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Wells River, VT
802-429-2500
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802-748-4889
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Waterford, VT
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103 Passumpsic St.
Lyndonville, VT 05851
1-802-626-8800
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Cell: 802-535-5973
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THE REcORD • WEDnESDAY, JAnuARY 14, 2015
A9
NATION & WORLD
Charlie Hebdo Fronts Muhammad,
Drawing Both Praise And Threats
By martin BenedyK and
lori Hinnant
Associated Press
PARIS — In an emotional act
of defiance, Charlie Hebdo resurrected its irreverent and often
provocative newspaper Tuesday,
featuring a caricature of the
Prophet Muhammad on the cover
that drew immediate criticism and
threats of more violence.
The newspaper unapologetically
skewered other religions as well,
and bragged that Sunday’s turnout
of a million people at a march in
Paris to condemn terrorism was
larger “than for Mass.”
“For the past week, Charlie, an
atheist newspaper, has achieved
more miracles than all the saints
and prophets combined,” it said in
the edition’s lead editorial. “The
one we are most proud of is that
you have in your hands the newspaper that we always made.”
Working out of borrowed offices, surviving staff published an
unprecedented print run of 3 million copies — more than 50 times
the usual circulation.
It was to appear on newsstands
Wednesday, one week to the day
after the assault by two masked
gunmen that killed 12 people, including much of the weekly’s editorial staff and two police officers.
It was the beginning of three days
of terror that saw 17 people killed
before the three Islamic extremist
attackers were gunned down by security forces.
Before the new edition was even
released, one of Egypt’s top Islamic authorities had warned Charlie Hebdo against publishing more
cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Dar al-Ifta, which is in
charge of issuing religious edicts,
called the planned cover an “unjustified provocation” for millions of
Muslims who respect and love
their prophet and warned the cartoon would likely spark a new
wave of hatred.
Indeed, criticism and threats immediately appeared on militant
websites, with calls for more
strikes against the newspaper and
anonymous threats from radicals,
according to the SITE Intelligence
Group, a U.S.-based terrorism
monitor.
The latest cover shows a weeping Muhammad, holding a sign
reading “I am Charlie” with the
words “All is forgiven” above him.
Zineb El Rhazoui, a journalist with
the weekly, said the cover meant
the journalists are forgiving the extremists for the attack.
Renald Luzier, the cartoonist
who drew the cover image under
the pen name “Luz,” said it represents “just a little guy who’s crying.”
Then he added, unapologetically: “Yes, it is Muhammad.”
Speaking at a news conference
in which he repeatedly broke down
crying, Luzier described weeping
after he drew the picture.
“I wrote ‘everything is pardoned’, and I cried,” he said,
adding that at that moment the
staff understood the drawing
would be the cover.
“It is not the cover that the
world wanted us to do,” he said,
tearfully putting his head down on
the table at one point as colleagues
embraced him in a group hug.
Charlie Hebdo had faced repeated threats and a firebombing
for depictions of the prophet, and
its editor and his police bodyguard
See Hebdo, Page A10
CONNECTICUT
$5M Settlement Reached
In 2011 Christmas Fire
By dave Collins
Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. — A contractor who accidentally caused a
fire at a Connecticut home that
killed three girls and two of their
grandparents on Christmas 2011
has agreed to settle part of a wrongful-death lawsuit by paying the
children’s father $5 million.
Court records obtained by The
Associated Press show that the contractor, Michael Borcina, and his
company settled Matthew Badger’s
lawsuit in Hartford Superior Court
on Dec. 10. Badger’s lawyer confirmed the settlement amount Tuesday.
The fire in Stamford killed 7year-old twins Grace and Sarah
Badger, 9-year-old Lily Badger and
their maternal grandparents, Lomer
and Pauline Johnson. The girls’
mother, Madonna Badger, and
Borcina were dating at the time and
escaped the fire.
Authorities said the fire began
after Borcina left a bag of fireplace
ashes in a bin in a mudroom in the
house. Borcina, who was renovating the $1.7 million Victorian
home, was accused in the lawsuit of
contributing with other defendants
to make the house a “firetrap,” including failing to install a smoke
detection system during the construction.
A lawyer for Borcina didn’t return a message Tuesday seeking
comment. A phone listing for
Borcina could not be found.
Matthew Badger and Madonna
Badger did not return messages
seeking comment.
Richard Emery, a New York
lawyer representing Matthew
Badger, said the $5 million settlement is the first in the lawsuit,
which remains pending against several other defendants.
“It is nowhere near reflective of
the ultimate value of this case: three
little girls’ lives,” Emery said. “No
money could compensate for that.”
Matthew Badger filed the lawsuit
in July 2012 against Borcina, his
company Tiberias Construction of
New York City, the city of Stamford
and others. Claims against the city
and other defendants remain unresolved.
“The girls died before they could
escape the home, which had become a firetrap as a result of months
of substandard construction leading
up to the fire,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also says city officials knew or should have known
that Borcina served as the home’s
general contractor but didn’t have a
state home improvement contractor’s license. Stamford officials previously denied any wrongdoing in
connection with the fire. The city’s
corporation counsel, Kathryn Emmett, declined to comment Tuesday.
The home’s architect, electrician
and general contractor listed on the
building permit also were included
as defendants.
A state prosecutor concluded in
2012 that no criminal charges
should be filed.
Madonna Badger has said
Borcina ran his hands over the
ashes to make sure they were out
before putting the bag in the bin in
the mudroom, just before they went
to sleep after wrapping presents
early on Christmas morning.
Madonna Badger, an advertising
executive in New York, also is
suing Stamford, alleging city officials intentionally destroyed evidence when they demolished the
home without notice shortly after
the fire. City officials denied that.
PUBLIC NOTICE
LUNENBURG FIRE DISTRICT #1
2015 ANNUAL MEETING
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 14, 2015
7:00 PM
at the Lunenburg Town Hall
WORLD BRIEFS
France to boost anti-terror measures
as official says arms for deadly
attacks from abroad
PARIS (AP) — France’s prime minister demanded tougher anti-terrorism measures Tuesday after deadly attacks that some call this country’s Sept. 11 — and that may already be leading to a crackdown on
liberties in exchange for greater security.
Police told The Associated Press that the weapons used came from
abroad, as authorities in several countries searched for possible accomplices and the sources of financing for last week’s attacks on the satirical
newspaper Charlie Hebdo, a kosher market and police. A new suspect
was identified in Bulgaria.
“We must not lower our guard, at any time,” Prime Minister Manuel
Valls told Parliament, adding that “serious and very high risks remain.”
Lawmakers in the often argumentative chamber lined up overwhelmingly behind the government, giving repeated standing ovations to Valls’
rousing, indignant address — and then voted 488-1 to extend French
airstrikes against Islamic State extremists in Iraq.
“France is at war against terrorism, jihadism, and radical Islamism,”
Valls declared. “France is not at war against Islam.”
Beyoncé’s husband, rapper Jay-Z, of “exploiting his wife” like a “pimp.”
The first lady’s office declined to comment on Huckabee’s comments.
Romney sparks new competition among
GOP establishment 2016 contenders
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A shake-out among fiery conservatives
with White House ambitions was always a sure thing. Now it appears
the competition among the more establishment-minded GOP candidates
for president will end up just as fierce.
With Mitt Romney’s move in the past week toward launching a third
run for president, there are three high-profile Republicans from the
party’s mainstream suddenly competing for the same group of elite
donors and staffing talent, just as the crowded 2016 presidential primary
season begins.
And that list — Romney, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — doesn’t even include a group of Midwestern
governors, led by Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, who also fit the mold of accomplished, economic-minded executives driven as much by a pragmatic approach to governing as their conservative ideology.
“We’ve never seen anything remotely like it,” said Rick Wilson, a
Florida-based Republican consultant who has advised presidential campaigns. “There’s no analogous situation with three bigfoot characters in
GOP ignores veto threats, presses attacks on the mix.”
The abundance of Republican presidential prospects who put ecoObama on immigration, pipeline, Wall Street nomic
policy ahead of social issues comes after GOP congressional leadWASHINGTON (AP) — Defiant congressional Republicans attacked ers succeeded last year in beating back primary challenges from
President Barack Obama’s agenda from all sides Tuesday, ignoring veto farther-right, tea party-affiliated candidates on their way to reclaiming
threats and pushing bills to uproot his policies on immigration and Wall control of the Senate.
Street, force approval of energy pipeline legislation he opposes and
make him justify any new federal rules before he makes them.
See Briefs, Page A10
Obama invited his antagonists to the White House for their first faceto-face meeting since the new Republican-controlled Congress convened. But their show of cordiality for the cameras did little to mask the
partisan hostilities between Capitol Hill and the White House.
“The key now is for us to work as a team,” said Obama, who has issued five veto threats with the new Congress not yet two weeks old. He
cited taxes, trade and cybersecurity as areas for potential cooperation,
and also told lawmakers he would work with them to come up with a
proposal to authorize military force against the Islamic State group.
Back at the Capitol, the Senate debated legislation to force the administration to allow construction of the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL
oil pipeline. And the House passed a regulatory reform bill that the White
House says would impose “unprecedented and unnecessary” requirements on agencies trying to write rules. It would require more justifications and notice.
That was to be followed by votes Wednesday on two other bills: One
A Comprehensive Rehabilitation Facility
would alter a key section of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul in
a way that would help banks, and the other would block Obama’s executive actions on immigration, including removal of protections for immigrants who arrived in the country illegally as children. The Keystone
bill passed the House last week and is expected to clear the Senate next
WITH
week and head to Obama’s desk.
W
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N
A
T
E
G
!
K
LOO
US
Obama’s push for new cybersecurity
legislation, amid new threats, contains
programs long used
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Tuesday that
recent cyberthreats to Sony and the military’s U.S. Central Command
are reminders of the serious threats facing the nation. But an Associated
Press review shows that some of his plans are retreads from years past.
Obama laid out his plans this week as part of a push for new cybersecurity legislation — a week before his State of the Union address —
that increases government information-sharing and protects businesses
from lawsuits for revealing cyberthreats.
Yet the president’s proposals are similar to congressional legislation
that has been languishing on Capitol Hill, in part over privacy concerns.
The White House is hoping a recent spate of cyberattacks and data
breaches — including November’s hacking at Sony Pictures Entertainment, which the administration blamed on North Korea — will spur lawmakers to take up the issue.
Privacy advocates also criticized other elements of this plan this week,
especially involving data-sharing between companies and the government, in light of an ongoing debate about the scope of U.S. government
surveillance and bulk-data collection.
The president unveiled his plans Tuesday at the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center just outside Washington,
saying cyberthreats pose “an enormous challenge” in which the U.S.
must be “upping our game.” He said cybercriminals are doing as much
damage, or more, than traditional criminals.
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GOP’s Huckabee accuses Obamas
of parenting double standard by
letting girls hear Beyoncé
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee
has accused President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, of double
standards in parenting, saying in an interview published Tuesday that
the first family shelters its daughters from some things but allows them
to listen to the music of Beyoncé.
The sharp rhetoric signals that, should he run for the Republican presidential nomination, Huckabee would make cultural and social issues
the cornerstones of his campaign.
While promoting his new book, the former Baptist pastor told People
magazine, “I don’t understand how on one hand they can be such doting
parents and so careful about the intake of everything — how much broccoli they eat and where they go to school … and yet they don’t see anything that might not be suitable” in Beyoncé’s lyrics. He also said
Beyoncé’s choreography is “best left for the privacy of her bedroom.”
In his book, Huckabee describes the Grammy Award-winning Beyoncé’s lyrics as “obnoxious and toxic mental poison.” He also accuses
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PUBLIC NOTICE
DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD
TOWN OF ST. JOHNSBURY, VERMONT
The St. Johnsbury Development Review Board hereby gives notice that it will hold
a public hearing on Thursday, January 29, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. in the Conference
Room of the St. Johnsbury Public Safety Building, 1187 Main Street, St. Johnsbury,
Vermont to consider the following items of business:
1. Application of H & R Properties Inc, PO Box 190, South Royalton, Vermont 05068,
pursuant to Section 314 of the St. Johnsbury Zoning By-Laws, for approval of a
Conditional Use Permit to conduct a Controlled Substance Dispensary on property located at 1097 Hospital Drive. Said land and premises are located in districts
designated Hospital Services on the St. Johnsbury Zoning Map. (reference
150112-001)
2. To conduct any other business which may properly come before the Board, (dated
at St. Johnsbury, County of Caledonia and State of Vermont on this 12th day of
January 2015).
Respectfully submitted,
Richard F. Lyon, Chairman
St. Johnsbury Development Review Board
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235 Lakemont Road, Newport, VT 05855
802-334-8558 • FAX: 802-334-8559
MON.-FRI. 5AM-9PM • SAT 8AM-12 NOON
Stop by! We’re conveniently located by the hospital.
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A10
Briefs
NATION & WORLD
he’s convicted. His trial comes amid heightened
scrutiny of the use of deadly force by U.S. police departments, and there was a strong show of support by
continued from Page A9
Taylor’s fellow officers Tuesday at the courthouse in
Markham.
Voters judge a jailed Virginia
Unlike many criminal trials where there is a dislawmaker seeking to regain seat agreement
over exactly what happened, the prosecuhe’s vacating after sex scandal tion and defense in Taylor’s trial agreed on the basic
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The writers of TV’s facts of the case in their opening statements.
“Scandal” would be hard-pressed to invent a crisis
Black lab in Seattle hops
more difficult to manage than the case of “Fighting
on bus, takes solo ride
Joe,” a jailed Virginia lawmaker running in Tuesday’s
special election to fill the same seat he’s supposed to
to her dog park stop
be resigning from.
SEATTLE (AP) — A black Labrador named Eclipse
Through four elections, most voters have over- just wants to get to the dog park. So if her owner takes
looked or even embraced Joseph D. Morrissey’s flam- too long finishing his cigarette, and their bus arrives,
boyant history of fistfights, contempt of court citations she climbs aboard solo and rides to her stop — to the
and disbarment. The 57-year-old bachelor, who fa- delight of fellow Seattle bus passengers.
thered three children out of wedlock with three differKOMO-TV reports (http://is.gd/R9Fa86 ) that local
ent women, repeatedly won at least 70 percent of the radio host Miles Montgomery was amazed to see the
vote as a Democrat.
pooch get off the bus, without an owner, at a dog park
But would voters be OK with his conviction in a sex last week.
scandal involving his 17-year-old secretary, whose
The dog and her owner, Jeff Young, live right near a
nude photo was found on his cellphone and allegedly bus stop. In Young’s words, “She’s a bus-riding, sideshared with a friend? Would they mind that the young walk-walking dog.” Young says his dog sometimes
woman — who denies they had sex — is now preg- gets on the bus without him, and he catches up with
nant?
her at the dog park three or four stops away.
Virginians were watching in suspense until polls
Bus riders report she hops onto seats next to
closed Tuesday at 7 p.m., as voters cast ballots in a strangers, and watches out the window for her stop.
three-way race for the seat Morrissey was supposed to
3-year-old boy driven away in
be vacating.
Morrissey, who claimed his phone was hacked and
stolen car is found
denies any wrongdoing, has made a career of never
after answering phone
backing down. He hung boxing gloves in his office and
promised “Joe will fight for you” in campaign ads on
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Authorities say they
city buses. At one point, he waved an assault rifle inside found a 3-year-old boy who was sitting in a car stolen
the House chamber while arguing for gun control.
outside a Utah day care Tuesday after he answered his
mother's
Chicago-area police officer stands attention.cellphone and honked the horn to draw their
trial for fatally shooting 95-yearThe boy's mother, Elizabeth Barrios, left the car unlocked
and running on a snowy morning as she
old with beanbag gun
dropped off another child, a baby, at the day care
MARKHAM, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago po- around 7 a.m. in Ogden, a town about 40 miles north
lice officer had better and safer options than to fire of Salt Lake City, police said. When she walked out,
beanbags to subdue a confused, knife-wielding 95- she saw someone driving her car away with her 3-yearyear-old World War II veteran, a prosecutor told the old son Aiden inside.
court Tuesday at the outset of the officer’s trial on a
Police arrived and called her cellphone, which was
felony reckless conduct charge in the man’s death.
in the car, hoping to reach the thief and negotiate the
With all of their police equipment, training and boy's release, Lt. Tim Scott said. Instead, the boy an“common sense,” Craig Taylor and the other Park For- swered the phone. He told his mother that a stranger
est officers didn’t have to storm into John Wrana’s had driven away with her car and was going through
room at an assisted living center on July 26, 2013, her purse. She told him to stay calm as the man took
Cook County State’s Attorney Lynn McCarthy said things from her purse and ran away.
during her opening statements. They did so, though,
When the man was gone, officers told him to honk
and Taylor ended up firing five beanbags at Wrana, in- the horn and followed the sound to the car, which was
cluding the fatal one that struck his abdomen and abandoned about three blocks away.
caused internal bleeding, she said.
"He was scared, but it was a good thing at his age
Taylor’s attorney, Terry Ekl, countered that Taylor that he was able to get himself out of his child seat and
did what he was trained to do to subdue a dangerous honk the horn," Scott said.
suspect who was coming at him with a knife. Wrana
Police reunited the boy with his mother about 20
was determined enough that he kept coming at Taylor minutes after the car was stolen. Officers are searching
with a knife “over his head” until the final shot knocked for a suspect.
it from his hand, Ekl told Judge Luciano Panici, who
"He left my son, that's all that matters to me," Elizwill decide the case.
abeth Barrios told reporters on Tuesday.
Taylor, 43, could face up to three years in prison if
WedNeSdAy, JANuARy 14, 2015
House GOP Majority Aiming To Soften Financial Overhaul Law
By marCy gordon
AP Business Writer
WASHINGTON — The House
moved Tuesday toward approving
a measure aimed at softening legislation responding to the 2008 financial crisis that put banks and
Wall Street under the most sweeping rules since the Great Depression.
Amid a veto threat from the
White House, the legislation
pushed by the newly bulked-up
Republican majority came under
discussion in the House for the
second time in less than a week.
This time it's likely to pass, with a
vote expected Wednesday that will
advance a key Republican priority.
The bill would alter sections of
the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial
overhaul. Most notably, the measure would give U.S. banks another
two years — until 2019 — to ensure that their holdings of certain
complex and risky securities don't
put them afoul of a new banking
rule.
On the House floor, Democratic
lawmakers objected to the measure
being whisked through the House
in the first days of the new Congress without the chance for discussion or changes at the level of
congressional committees. The
Democrats also were blocked late
Hebdo
continued from Page A9
were the first to die. Many Muslims believe all images of the
prophet are blasphemous.
The latest issue of Charlie
Hebdo maintained the intentionally offensive tone that made the
newspaper famous in France. The
first two pages included drawings
by the slain cartoonists: One
showed a well-known late French
nun talking about oral sex; another
showed Muslim, Christian and
Jewish leaders dividing up the
world.
The lead editorial laid out a vig-
Black Cyan Magenta Yellow
Monday from bringing about a
dozen proposed amendments to a
vote on the floor.
Republicans insisted that since
most of the provisions of the bill
already had been voted by the
House in the last Congress as separate measures, there has been
ample opportunity to consider
them.
The bill would revise the socalled Volcker rule, a key part of
the financial overhaul law, which
would limit banks' riskiest trading
bets. That kind of risk-taking on
Wall Street helped trigger the 2008
crisis.
"Just one week after being
sworn into office, the House of
Representatives is already showing
the American people that its priorities are all wrong," Dennis Kelleher, president of Better Markets, a
group that advocates strict financial regulation, said in a statement.
The bill won a 276-146 majority
in the House last Wednesday —
only the second day of the new
Congress — but failed under fasttrack rules that required a twothirds vote. This time it's likely to
pass under rules that require a simple majority.
Republicans in the House have
been trying for years to chip away
at the Dodd-Frank law, which
Congress enacted with mostly
Democratic support to tighten reg-
ulation with an eye to preventing
another crisis. Republicans have
denounced the law as an excessive
expansion of regulatory authority
that's stifling the competitiveness
of the U.S. financial industry.
As passage appeared closer, the
Obama White House issued a formal veto threat Monday, saying the
bill "would weaken and undermine" the Dodd-Frank law. Referring to the proposed two-year
delay for certain securities under
the Volcker rule, the White House
said in a statement, "taxpayers
should not have to wait that long
to have limits in place that protect
them from risky practices."
The Federal Reserve in April
gave banks until July 2017 to sell
off their holdings of so-called collateralized loan obligations, which
are mainly backed by commercial
loans to higher-risk companies.
That came atop a previous oneyear extension by the Federal Reserve, to July 2015.
The rule is named for Paul Volcker, a former Fed chairman who
was an adviser to President Barack
Obama during the financial crisis.
Volcker urged a ban on high-risk
trading by big banks to diminish
the likelihood that taxpayers might
have to rescue them, as they did
after the crisis, with hundreds of
billions of dollars in government
aid.
orous defense of secularism, and
of the newspaper’s right to lampoon religions and hold their leaders accountable — and ended with
a critique of the pope.
But most of the controversy
centered on the cover and its depiction of the Prophet Muhammad.
Around the world, news organizations took different approaches
to illustrating stories about the
Charlie Hebdo cover. In the United
States, CBS programs and The
New York Post ran images of the
cover, while the ABC network didn’t. The New York Times also didn’t publish it, but included a link to
it. CNN didn’t show the cover online or on the air. The Associated
Press had not run previous Charlie
Hebdo cartoons showing Muhammad, and declined to run the latest
one as well, based on its policy to
avoid images designed to provoke
on the basis of religion.
In Europe, Spain’s leading daily
newspapers published the image
online and the state broadcaster
showed it on news bulletins. In
Britain, The Times of London, the
Guardian and the Independent
went with the image, while The
Daily Telegraph didn’t. The BBC
showed the new cover on news
programs. Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Der Spiegel and
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung all
used it on their websites.