MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – An overdue lunch tab has landed Vermont’s former Capitol police chief in hot water.

Former Vermont Capitol Police Chief Matthew Romei left behind an unpaid lunch tab of $1,600 at the Capitol Food Court when he stepped down in 2023, according to multiple sources at the Statehouse.

The debt is owed to the Abbey Group, a private company that contracts with the Legislature to provide meals under the Golden Dome.

Attempts to reach their new owners, New York-based Whitson’s Culinary Group, were unsuccessful.

Romei declined an interview but said over the phone he has the lunch money and is willing to pay. He was unclear whether the payment should go to the Legislature or the Abbey Group.

He said this private debt issue shouldn’t be public.

Lawmakers working on legislative bills receive meal stipends, but others who eat at the Capitol food court must pay their own food bills.

The Statehouse cafeteria has since ended the practice of allowing individuals to run lunch tabs. People who don’t get state stipends must pay each time they dine.

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The Intervale Center has added seven members to its board of directors, according to community announcement from the organization.

The new members bring expertise in social entrepreneurship, sustainable agriculture, community development, public service, legal strategy, environmental stewardship and hospitality, says the announcement.

Chuck Ross, Intervale Center board chair, said, “The Intervale Center’s programming is essential to supporting the incredible potential in Vermont’s farm and food economy and to ensuring we do all that we can to help farmers and sustain our working landscape. Our Board of Directors and talented staff bring the right mix of experience and passion to this important food systems work.”

The new board members are:

• David Keck, owner of Stella 14 Wines and director of hospitality at Golden Dog Farm. He is a master sommelier.
• Hannah Lebel, contracts counsel at BETA Technologies.
• Lucie Lehmann, a naturalist, environmentalist, writer and former public servant.
• Lauren Masseria, regional manager for Vermont State Parks.
• Johanna Schneider, small business support specialist with the city of Burlington’s Community and Economic Development Office.
• Eric Sorkin, co-founder and CEO of Runamok Maple.
• David Torres, professor of the practice of social entrepreneurship and global health at Middlebury College.

Two Canadian hikers were rescued Saturday after facing “life-threatening” conditions while climbing a Vermont mountain, Vermont State Police said.

A 21-year-old man called 911 on Feb. 7 after he and a 19-year-old woman needed rescue after becoming extremely cold. The pair were close to the summit of Camel’s Hump mountain in Duxbury, State Police said.

Rescue teams began to climb the 4,083-foot mountain at about 6 p.m., searching for the freezing hikers, police said. 

Temperatures were below zero, with wind chills nearing minus 20 degrees. There was also deep snow on the mountain, police said.

Emergency crews audibly directed the hikers to the Alpine Trail, where the two began to make their way below the tree line, police said.

Search and rescue teams began heading to the Monroe Trail, with a team of rescuers climbing the peak with a stretcher. The Monroe Trail intersects with the Alpine Trail, Vermont State Police said.

At 11:20 p.m. rescue teams reached the hikers, who were suffering from hypothermia, according to State Police.

The man was able to walk down the trail after being warmed. The woman was loaded onto the stretcher, police said.

Crews reached the bottom of the trail close to 4 a.m., where an ambulance transported the woman to a local hospital for treatment. The hikers, both from Ontario, are expected to make a full recovery, police said. 

Lt. Thomas Howard, commander of the Vermont State Police’s search and rescue team, said the combined efforts and multiple rescue crews in “incredibly challenging conditions” saved the hikers’ lives. 

The state of Vermont does not hold those who call for backcountry help financially liable for their rescue, State Police said.