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LATEST NEWS

Lights, camera, no smoking

Legislature 2009 comes to early end

Confession & closure in Brown disappearance

Iris Brown Case Solved- audio slide show

St. Albans Maple Festival Talent Show- audio slide shows

Remembering Micha on her birthday- audio slide show

Wal-Mart permit challenged

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE- Local teen killed in New York crash

Lawmakers hear differences on local road tax charter, see larger issues

Vermont House Government Operations Committee takes testimony about Enosburg Town Charter

Wal-Mart Act 250 approval granted

Richford school vote next Tuesday

Road charter approved in revote

School officials seek input on sports complex project

Farm Fresh Forums feature local farmers

NRPC gets $200,000 for brownfields work

St. John the Baptist Church in Enosburg Re-dedication Ceremony Slideshow

Patriots Youth Football seek players and Cheerleaders

Police investigate catalytic converter theft in Swanton

Prison proposal gets delegation's attention

Legislature 2009 comes to early end
Slate of issues with local impact saw action this year
Written By: Jedd Kettler

Friday, May 09, 2008

MONTPELIER: From prison restructuring, drunk driving and Native recognition to compost, groundwater and raw milk, there was plenty for northwest Vermonters to watch in Montpelier this session, and no matter where you stood there were likely both victories and frustrations.
The 2007-08 legislative session came to a close earlier than originally anticipated on Saturday, May 3, with a flurry of activity.

Prison restructuring passes
A proposal to close the Dale Correctional Facility in Waterbury and convert the Northwest State Corrections Facility into a women's facility originally met with a strong outcry from local law enforcement, residents and lawmakers, but in the end the plan made it through the Legislature on
 ...CONTINUED HERE.

Model Fireman

Friday, May 09, 2008

Above: Enosburg Fire Department
members Mark Deuso (left) and
Norman Ovitt model firefighting
gear for children at the Enosburgh
Town Library on Friday May 2. Left:
Deuso helps Michael Hoadley II,
4, of Berkshire, try on a fireman’s
jacket during the special visit.
Photographs by
Gregory J. Lamoueux

Judge rules past Town road taxation illegal

Written By: Jedd Kettler

Saturday, May 10, 2008

ENOSBURGH TOWN: Another chapter in the contentious story of a road taxation practice in Enosburg Town was closed when a Franklin County Superior Court judge ruled against the Town on April 28.
The summary judgement in favor of plaintiffs Hal and Charlotte Bill found that past road taxes in the Town, specifically in 2007, have been assessed improperly.
"The taxpayers of the Village did not pay their proportionate share of the highway taxes for the Town and Village during the 2007 tax year ... The court hereby declares that the manner in which highway taxes were collected within the Village and Town of Enosburg for the tax year 2007 was contrary to law because the taxes were not imposed uniformly as required by (law)," the decision, written by Judge Ben Joseph, rea
 ...CONTINUED HERE.

Test scores rise even as NCLB flags more schools
Don't judge schools on federal determinations alone, officials say
Written By: Jedd Kettler

Saturday, May 10, 2008

FRANKLIN COUNTY/ALBURGH: With the results of annual school accountability determinations released last week, it appears area schools are having a hard time keeping up with increasing federal targets.
They are not alone.
Statewide, the number of schools flagged for not meeting federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law rose dramatically.
Some 38 percent, or 116, of all Vermont schools did not meet AYP markers as required by the federal No Child Left Behind law, according to the Vermont Department of Education. For 79 schools this was their first year on the list. Meanwhile, only six schools statewide left their School Improvement designation behind.
Around the northwest region there were 17 schools that did not make required AYP, the first year for nine of those. Six are either in their first or second year of School Improvement designation. Two others are in year two or three of corrective action. (See the chart on pg. 7 for details.)
Should these numbers be cause for alarm locally or even statewide?
State education officials caution against jumping to judgement, particularly in light of the fact that many of these same schools saw New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) test scores actually increase even as they were being told they aren't meeting NCLB markers. This same trend is evident in northwestern Vermont.
Many local schools - including Alburgh, BFA-Fairfax E
 ...CONTINUED HERE.

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