Flashing lights up ahead? Move over. Page 2

Issue 2

GAS PRICES SKYROCKET PAGE 4Business returns

Page 11

April 2011

to Depot Street

You’re approaching an accidentscene. You come upon a snow plowor a disabled car being loaded upand removed from the highway.

In each of those cases you mustmove over and give the vehicles andworkers as much room as possible.It’s the law!

Take Fred Allard, one of severaltow truck drivers for Fred’s Towing.He has had to remove many carsfrom busy roadways and has experi-enced first hand that many people donot move over.

“You’re on the interstate loadinga car and you watch a car coming atyou,” says Allard. “You got all yourlights on and you’re standing therewith your reflecting jacket on, andyou’re watching this car come at you-- never moving -- and you jump be-tween the bed and the tires and itjust misses you. It’s very, very dan-

gerous out there.”One time he wasn’t as lucky. Al-

lard’s head was pinned under a carand the last thing he remembers ishearing the helicopter in the distancecoming for him.

When he woke up he was atNortheastern Vermont Regional Hos-pital in St. Johnsbury, recoveringfrom a massive brain bruise, an in-jury that not many can say they sur-vived. “It wasn’t my time to go,” hesays.

That’s why, in August 2010, towtruck drivers were added to the list ofroadside workers protected by a lawenacted in 2002. Lyndonville PoliceChief Jack Harris likes the idea ofadding tow trucks to the law.

“Tow truck drivers are even moreat risk than we are,” says Harris. “Ithink it was a good thing that theywere added.”

Signs reminding drivers of thelaw went up this summer, but thedangers still exist.

Jay Wood, director of CALEXAmbulance Services, says ambu-lance workers are very exposed ataccident scenes. “Our doors areopen. We are actually caring forsomeone who might be on the road-way, which is a very common oc-curence. Even if someone is not onthe roadway and is off to the side, westill have to move that person. Al-most everyone can recall a nearmiss.”

Chief Harris says that drivers arenaturally distracted by emergencyvehicle lights and that by the timethey realize they are approaching anactive accident scene, they are al-ready on top of the workers.

“At 50, 60, 70, miles per hour a ve-hicle is a very dangerous instrument,”

Watch out for Fred. It’s the Law.

April 2011Page 2

NewsINK is a publication of the Vermont Center for Community Journalism at Lyndon State College. Find us online at Issuu.com (search for “NewsINK”).Address queries to: NewsINK, Deptartment of Electronic Journalism Arts, Lyndon State College, P.O. Box 919, Lyndonville, Vt. 05851

says Harris.St. Johnsbury Fire Chief Troy Rug-

gles says too many drivers don’t moveover. “They are taking away the life-saving service, no matter what disci-pline is responding. I think it’s a prob-lem.”

But the law is hard to enforce. Re-sponders on scene are focused on theincident rather than ticketing drivers whodon’t move over. Chief Harris says hissquad has never ticketed anyone for it.

While the law protects emergencyresponders, it does not apply to roadmaintenance crews.

Those teams are given indirect pro-tection by heavy speeding fines in workzones.

Clockwise from left: Fred Allard of Fred’s Towing standing in front of one of his towtrucks; Lyndonville police officer Ralph Aussiker stands in front of his patrol vehicle;Aussiker approaches a pickup truck he pulled over for an expired inspection sticker.

Story and photos byNadine Grimley

April 2011 Page 3

NEK drivers not pumpedabout rising gasoline prices

Photo by Phil AlexanderAn expensive routine: Lawrence Olio fills up at the Cumberland Farms in Lyn-donville.

Phil AlexanderNewsINK

Lawrence Olio, a student at LyndonState College, is used to reaching for agas pump.

On the weekends, he drives fromLyndonville to work in his hometown ofBradford. Olio also drives to Burlingtonto train for mixed martial arts.

“I drive about four hours, which is alot of driving in one weekend, and thatcosts me a lot of gas money,” Oliosays.

In fact, Olio has figured out that hepays about $40 dollars roundtrip.

Add that to what he pays for col-lege, and Olio shells out quite a sum.

“It costs so much money to go any-where, especially if we (college stu-dents) have stuff to do,” Olio says.

According to AAA Fuel Gage Re-ports, the per-gallon national averagestood at $3.61 per gallon for regular,$3.74 for medium grade, $3.87 for pre-mium, and $3.96 for diesel as of theend of March. If prices keep climbing,the Northeast Kingdom could see $4gas.

Olio likens the NEK’s struggle withgas prices to the financial problems ofthe state of Vermont.

“Vermont is always one of the laststates to improve,” Olio says. “Jobs inVermont aren’t the best-paying either,so we get hit with a double-whammywith low-paying jobs and prices goingup. We have to cut back in order to justpay for gas.”

April 2011Page 4

Olio is majoring in finance andaccounting. After he gets his de-gree, he plans to get a job at alocal business. He would also liketo continue training in MMA to seeif he is good enough to make theprofessional circuit.

Arne Aho, a customer at Ford-ham’s Mobil in Lyndonville, re-cently paid $3.59 per gallon forregular.

Prices like that make daily lifehard for him.

“I’m retired and living on afixed income, and I hate to seeprices going the way they are,”Aho says.

The rise of prices can be at-tributed to increases in the price ofoil. One barrel of oil now costsmore than $100. The market for oilis starting to become tighter as de-mand increases.

Aho feels that there is more oilavailable, however.

“The price of gas and oil rightnow is basically due to speculativemarkets rather than the reality ofhow much is available and howmuch is not,” Aho says.

Aho is also frustrated over thelack of involvement by the federalgovernment.

“It doesn’t seem like any ofthese increases are hurting their(the gas companies’) profit mar-gins,” Aho says.

In addition, Aho would like tosee the federal government con-duct hearings to determine whycompanies like Exxon Mobil aremaking large profits while gasprices continue to increase.

In the third quarter of 2010,Exxon Mobil reported a profit of$9.25 billion. That was the largestsince the third quarter of 2008,when the company made a $14.83billion profit.

April 2011 Page 5

Armory abandoned;

The armory in St. Johnsbury is now used for storage. The former recreation center is not heated, and has a leaky roof and broken windows.Photos by Caleb Du

April 2011Page 6

Madi CoxNewsINK

After nearly 95 years of watchingover St. Johnsbury, the town armoryis now a sad, lonely buidling.

It sits idly on Main Street withseveral windows broken, the onlysigns of life being two flags blowingin the wind near the front steps.

Built in 1916, the armory morerecently served as the town commu-nity center. It currently houses equip-ment from the fire department as wellas off-season sports equipment andsupplies. The building has a lot ofproblems, including no heat, inade-quate insulation, and a leaky roof,according to Joe Fox, who wears twohats as St. Johnsbury recreation di-rector and manager of the fieldhouse at the St. Johnsbury Academy.The old armory also fails to meet theguidelines of the Americans With Dis-abilities Act and stopped being usedfor recreation around August 2007.

Fox said after conducting an en-

gineering study on the building to seewhere changes could be made, itwas estimated that the cost of reno-vation would be $1.3 million. “Rightnow, it’s basically being used as coldstorage,” Fox said.

Because the townspeople of St.Johnsbury were not in favor of pay-ing for so many renovations, therecreation center had to seek otheraccommodations. Fortunately, the St.Johnsbury Academy stepped in andoffered the use of its facilities -- andhired Fox.

Since the move to the St. Johns-bury Academy in November 2010,Fox has focused on keeping the pro-grams offered by the recreation de-partment active. “We hit the groundrunning, and we’ve been rocking androlling ever since,” Fox said.

“We still had a mission of keep-ing people active and healthy in thecommunity,” he said of the move,adding that the Academy made a bigdifference.

Fox’s major concern was being

able to run the usual programs therecreation center had previously of-fered at the new location. These in-clude aerobics, lacrosse, soccer, andother sports that are open to the pub-lic. “We tried to keep as much conti-nuity in the programs as possible,”he said.

“This is a new relationship withthe Academy. Right now things aregoing well. We’re able to work with areally creative student body.” Thedeal with the St. Johnsbury Academyis a three-year contract.

Fox said he hopes to eventuallyfind the recreation center its ownplace of operation. “I for one think itwould be great to have a stand-alonerecreation facility in the community inthe future,” he said, “but that’s notfree.”

The future of the old recreationcenter is unclear. The selectboardwill need to decide whether the build-ing is worth renovating, but has noplans in the immediate future.

rec center moved

udleyThe gymnasium at the St. Johnsbury Academy where many recreation events are now held after the armory was abandoned.

April 2011 Page 7

Sam MonroeNewsInk

Patrick Hilton grew up smothered inLyndon State sports.

Now it only seems natural that thesophomore is a two-sport athlete andcaptain at the college.

Hilton isn’t alone in this. This spring60 students will don the Lyndon logo asa member of sports teams, and 14 ofthem hail from communities surroundingLSC.

The LSC baseball team features 26players; nine of them are local to theNortheast Kingdom or its fringe.

The softball team will have two localplayers. And the lacrosse team will have

seven local athletes.Hilton plays both soccer and base-

ball for the Hornets.“I grew up around LSC,” he says. “I

was on campus and at athletic gamesfor my entire childhood.” Hilton’s father,Mark, has worked at LSC Patrick’s entirelife, and has served as an assistantbaseball coach for much of it.

“I was the bat-boy growing up fortheir teams,” he says. “I went to Floridaand on bus trips with the team and lovedevery minute of it. For soccer I was theball-boy running the sidelines when Iwas a child and watching the ‘big kids’play.”

He admits one of the reasons hechose Lyndon was because of the price.

Ryan Brown

Max Ercole

Brandon Lloyd

Matt Zita

Skyler Bourque

Shane O'Donnell-Leach

Michael Cartularo

Cody Gage

Lyndon State athletics give local

Photos courtesy ofthe LSC AthleticDepartment

April 2011Page 8Patrick Hilton takes a free kick in the NAC Championship game, last fall.

Photo by Sam Monroe

Since his father works at LSC, he re-ceives free tuition. But athletics helpedpersuade him. While he could have alsogone to UVM for nothing, he chose Lyn-don because he could play sports there.

“I absolutely love playing for myhometown college,” says Hilton. “It is amajor sense of pride for me. Nothingmakes me prouder than when I get an-nounced for soccer.

“My mom can come to every game,all my aunts and uncles, grandparents,friends from LI, older teachers, mentors,everyone can come see my games,” hesays, adding that playing sports at LSChas helped him stay in touch with hishigh school coaches.

Hilton is a starting defender on themen’s soccer team and splits time be-tween the pitcher’s mound and the in-field during the baseball season.

He admits his high school careerwas never star-studded, but was fun.His soccer team struggled, not winninga game until his sophomore year. Hewas on an LI baseball team that went18-0 before losing in the state final.

Growing up around LSC may con-tribute to Hilton’s dislike of CastletonState College. He says his proudestcollege moment was beating the rivalschool last fall in the North AtlanticConference soccer semi-final, onCastleton’s turf.

Ryan Brown is a junior defender onthe LSC lacrosse team and some team-mates refer to him as one of the beston the team.

It seems as though Brown is at-tracted to programs that are just start-ing out.

Brown originally started playinglacrosse during his freshman year atthe St. Johnsbury Academy for a teamthat was developing a new program. Hesays most of the team was comprisedof hockey players who used their equip-ment from the ice to protect them onthe field.

Lacrosse didn’t become a varsitysport at Lyndon until 2008, at whichpoint Brown was at Limestone Collegein South Carolina. He had also played in2006 at Norwich University. Norwich is aDivision III program, like Lyndon, whileLimestone hosts a DII lacrosse program.

Brown’s major lost its accreditationat Limestone, so he transferred onceagain.

“I decided to transfer to save my ac-ademic career,” he says. “I grew up inSt. Johnsbury and knew a lot of peoplein the area including family and friends.”Plus LSC offered physical education.

“I also had been talking to TimTierny, who had been my high schoolcoach for two years and had now movedon to the collegiate level, about possiblyplaying at Lyndon,” says Brown.

Brown fell in love with lacrosse thesecond he purchased his first stick withmoney he had re-ceived from eighthgrade graduation.Originally a soccerand hockey player,he started to devotemore and more ofhis energy to thisnew game.

“I would say thatlacrosse has alwaysbeen a reason formy further educationand if Lyndon did nothave a lacrosseteam, I would nothave applied,” saysBrown.

This winter fivestudent athletes callthe Northeast King-dom and its sur-rounds home, and13 former highschool stars from thearea played for LSCin the fall.

Patrick Hilton Robert Trucott

Meghan Gadapee Katelyn Willey

players place to play and study

Men’s SoccerRichard Hackett: Lake RegionPatrick Hilton: Lyndon InstituteEmmitt Simpson: Lake RegionWomen’s SoccerAbby Fadden: WoodsvilleMichelle Kittredge: DanvilleSamantha Smith: WoodsvilleLindsey Warner: North CountryNaomi White: DanvilleWomen’s TennisMargaret George: Lake RegionVolleyballChritine Bailey: Lyndon Insti-tuteWomen’s Cross CountryTiara Martin: St. JohnsburyAcademyGabrielle Mathewson: LyndonInstituteMen’s BasketballLogan Calkins: DanvilleBen Sackett: Lyndon InstituteWomen’s BasketballShauna Buck: North CountryDanielle LaFont: Lake RegionDonna Lawson: Lake RegionNaomi White: Danville HighSchool

BaseballSkyler Bourque: LittletonMichael Cartularo: Lyndon Insi-tuteCody Gage: North CountryPatrick Hilton: Lyndon InstituteShane O’Donnell-Leach: BlueMountainRobert Trucott: Lyndon InstituteSoftballMeghan Gadapee: LittletonKatelyn Willey: White MountianLacrosseTeddy Beniot: Lake RegionHighRyan Brown: St. JohnsburyAcademyMax Ercole: St. Johnsbury Acad-emyChristian Henault: St. Johns-bury AcademyBrandon Lloyd: WoodsvilleTyler Tinker: Lake RegionMatt Zita: St. Johnsbury Acad-emyMen’s TennisDonald Jenness: North Country

LSCʼs local athletes

April 2011 Page 9

e

Business beginning to brewJeff RusackNewINK

A surge in business on DepotStreet in Lyndonville may be a signthe harsh grip of the recession iswaning.

In recent months more busi-nesses have moved into the down-town area. "Maybe we're seeing realpositive signs in the economy," saysSteve Nichols, the president of theLyndonville Chamber of Commerce.

"We would like people to knowthat we are open for business," saysLyndon Town Manager Dan Hill, afterthe repeal of the business personalproperty tax. At Town Meeting thetown voted to repeal the tax, lookingto keep businesses and attract newones.

However, the tax incentive wastoo little, too late, for a pair of busi-nesses that are no longer in thedowntown area. In December theLyndonville Pharmacy went out ofbusiness after failing to compete withKinney Drugs and Rite Aid. More re-cently, the Patty Cakes and Candybakery moved to the Green MountainMall in St. Johnsbury in search of

more customers. "This kind of candystore needs a lot of walk-in traffic,"says store owner Cindy Poginy.

The lack of walking traffic onDepot Street is a known problem fornew businesses. Depot Street'snewest business is the GrindstoneCafé. Entrepreneur Nathaniel Wrightfeels he won't have the same prob-lems as Patty Cakes Bakery. "Thisplace seems to be the most conven-ient place. But up that way (towardsPatty Cakes) you have to cross trafficso you have to understand businessmight be slowed down a little bit."

The Grindstone Café isn't theonly business opening in downtown.Lucky's Mattress has expanded fromits Littleton, N.H., location to wherePatty Cakes used to sell candy. Thebedding store recently made somelocal hires.

Ben's Boot Camp has facilities inSt. Johnsbury and Derby and re-cently added a third location in Lyn-donville. The gym opened in earlyFebruary, and owner Ben Warstlersays he is excited about more busi-nesses coming into the area. "I thinkthis is a place where a lot of peoplecan prosper. It's a place a lot of busi- nesses are looking at more closely

and I think it can grow."Steve Nichols of the Chamber of

Commerce doesn't think that tax in-centives are the only way to fill emptystorefronts. "We're talking to peoplein the town and the village and tryingto find ways that we can do a facademakeover without spending a lot ofmoney," Nichols says. Ideas includea new coat of paint and a change insignage.

Some "For Rent" signs are stillpresent, but the goal of the Chamberof Commerce is simple:

Fill every storefront.

Above: Nathaniel Wright brews coffee athis new business, Grindstone Cafe.Below: Lucky Mattress and Bedding hasmoved into the space formerly occupiedby Patty Cakes & Candy.

Photos by Jeff Rusack

April 2011 Page 11

Optimism on Lyndonville’s Depot Street

Renovating the building to housethe town offices will not be cheap.The vote on Town Meeting Day au-thorized St. Johnsbury to borrow$1.4 million to make improvements.It passed 891-851.

Nelson said some money shouldbe available through federal, state,and private grants.

Right after the vote passed, Nel-son met with a construction company

and started planning out the win-dows, the roof, and the heating sys-tem. Nelson also talked to theconstruction company about costs,and predicted the price will come inunder the $1.4 million mark. Nelsonalso said he wants public input be-cause the project is financed withtaxpayer money.

For St. J, goingdownhill is animprovement

Progress in St. Johnsbury oftencreates controversy. The plan tomove the municipal offices down thehill to the Welcome Center was noexception. Voters approved it onTown Meeting Day -- by a narrowmargin.

The crowded town offices sharea red brick building with the policeand fire departments on Main Street.To visit the town clerk, you navigate anarrow hallway.

Just down Eastern Avenue is theWelcome Center in the old railroadstation.

“I think it’s a great move busi-ness-wise,” said Ralph Nelson, St.Johnsbury’s town manager. “Thebuilding here (on Main Street) is in-adequate and non-efficient. We havea building down there at the Wel-come Center that is only being usedabout a third of its capability and thisis a great opportunity to solve a lot ofproblems.”

Nelson has been pitching thisidea since he came to Vermont in Au-gust.

“The location of the WelcomeCenter is excellent. It’s in the centerof town. It’s equidistant from all thedifferent districts. It’s a perfect head-quarters location. We would increasetraffic at the Welcome Center be-cause so many people came to theTown Hall. I just think it’s a win-win.”

The three-story railroad stationwas built in 1883. As rail trafficwaned, the building fell into disuse. Adeveloper, Anthony Pomerleau,bought it in the 1970s, and he iscredited with saving it from thewrecking ball.

Pomerleau donated the buildingto the town in 2003.

Story and Photos by Lindsey Profenno

April 2011Page 12

Clockwise from left: The narrow hallway leading to the St. Johnsburytown clerk’s office; the municipal offices share space with the fire de-partment and the police department on Main Street; in an old photothat hangs in the Welcome Center, a train steams past the railroad sta-tion; the station now houses St. J’s Welcome Center and ultimatelywill be home to the town offices.

April 2011 Page 13

“The lottery is enjoyed by manyof our customers,” Johnson says.“They play on a regular basis, andthe benefits to them are the fun ofthe game.”

He is also a former school princi-pal and school board member, andlottery profits since 1998 havefunded education in the state.

“I think the education fund is avery good spot to send the money,”he says.

Vermont Lottery sold its firstticket in 1978. It generated about$97 million in revenue in fiscal year2010, and $21.6 million went to edu-cation, according to Alan Yandow,executive director of the VermontLottery.

“If we had not done that, theywould have had to fill that hole insome other way, either raising prop-erty taxes or some other revenuesource to replace that,” Yandowsays.

“The mission is to provide themaximum amount of revenue, con-sistent with the dignity of the stateand the welfare of its people, and forus that means provide as muchmoney as we can to the educationfund, but do it in a responsible way.”

Some Vermonters questionwhether the lottery is a tax on thepoor. Yandow says there is a widespectrum of players in Vermont.

“The average player is mid 40’s,family income of around $50,000,plays maybe five times a week. It’snot the low-income player.”

He says demographics don’t af-fect lottery sales.

“Sales aren’t based off demo-graphics. The low-income playersdon’t represent the sales for the lot-tery. Actually, our top agent is inManchester, which has a high familyincome average. We also have an-other top agent in Swanton, so itdoesn’t really matter.”

Yandow says Caledonia Countyhas a lot of larger lottery winners,but it’s not due to the demographicsof the county.

“Numbers don’t matter. No onehas a better chance than anotherperson. It’s all random.”

Every Vermont Lottery ticket,sign or advertisement carries thewords “Please Play Responsibly.”

The lottery provides the lion’sshare of funding for the VermontCouncil on Problem Gambling.Yandow sits on the council.

“We had one of the earliest re-sponsible gaming programs in thelottery business in the U.S.,” hesays. “We take it very seriously. Wedeal with around a few dozen caseseach month.”

The council maintains a 24-hourhotline (1-800-522-4700) for peopleseeking help with a gamgling prob-lem. The phones are answered dur-ing the daytime and redirected atnight to the National Council onProblem Gambling.

“We have councilors on hand,

April 2011Page 14

Feel lucky?Thousands of Vermonters buy lottery tickets every day, but

does it really benefit the state? Mark Johnson says “yes” for tworeasons. As the owner of the Bliss Village Store in Bradford, hesells quite a few tickets.

Story by Jared Richardson

April 2011 Page 15

pamphlets, and other materials toprovide for people who think theyhave a gambling problem or addic-tion,” Yandow says.

In addition, Gamblers Anony-mous meetings take place weekly atseveral places across the state.

“We have them in Burlington,Barre, Bennington, and Rutland. Wetried to have centralized locations foreach area of the state,” Yandowsays.

Lottery sales have been gener-ally down in the past five years,mostly due to the economy, but in2010, the lottery made around $1million more in revenue than in 2009.

Yandow attributes that to addingmore electronic games, including thegame Mega Millions, to the increasesales.

“We’re looking at additionalgames. Last year we changed theMegabucks game to MegabucksPlus. We brought in Hot Lotto, whichwas a new game then, and then in

January we brought in Mega Million,which is a large jackpot game, sothat’s been helpful.”

The Vermont Lottery has severalplans in the future to keep sales up,including new instant ticket vendingmachines.

“We are going to put them in su-permarkets, convenient stores, restareas, and other public areas,”Yandow says. “We think we canraise more money by selling moretickets with these machines. Cus-tomers will be able to purchase in-stant and electronic tickets and theycan check their tickets to see ifthey’re winners.”

The new instant ticket vendingmachines will officially be in storesduring the spring.

The lottery hopes to break $100million in revenue this year, Yandowsays.

“I think we’ll be able to accom-plish a lot this year.”