Vermont

Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Vermont preview

Published

2 years ago

February 2, 2024

Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Vermont preview

All of the talking, wondering and anticipation has been leading to this.

We’re just one day away from the start of the 2024 lacrosse season as the Syracuse Orange men’s lacrosse team is set to host the Vermont Catamounts on Saturday at 4 PM on the ACC Network.

It’s the second straight year the Orange have opened the season at home against Vermont, and they’ll be looking for a more convincing way to start this campaign than last year’s 7-5 slop-fest win in which the Catamounts briefly held a one-goal lead late in the third quarter.

Series history: Syracuse leads, 2-0
Last meeting: Syracuse win, 7-5, on February 4, 2023
Vermont last season: 9-5 overall, 7-0 America East; lost in AE semifinals to Albany, 10-4

Vermont had a great year in 2023, going undefeated in conference regular season play, before falling apart in a crushing loss as the No. 1 seed in the America East semifinals.

They’re back with another good team this year, as they were recently picked to finish second behind Bryant in the America East preseason poll by the league’s head coaches.

The Catamounts return three of their top four scorers from last year’s team, highlighted by leading scorer Brock Haley (31G, 21A, 52P). Not among their top four scorers last year is Jonas Hunter, who played in three games before missing the rest of the season. But, Hunter is a dangerous weapon, as BU found out last year when he scored seven points to lead his team to victory over them. Haley and Hunter are the leaders, and Tristan Whitaker (16G, 11A, 27P) and Carson Boyle (18G, 3A, 21P) are also back as the third and fourth leading scorers from 2023.

Defensively, they’re led by SSDM Patrick Murphy, who was First Team All-America East for the second straight year last season, and close defender Tim Manning, the lone returning team captain and a player who has started every game the last four years.

Probably the biggest blow to UVM coming off last year is the loss of their FOGO Tommy Burke, one of the best in the country who chose to spend his graduate year at Ohio State. Burke was outstanding, winning 64.8 percent of his takes last year, although he only went 9-of-16 in the opening game against ‘Cuse.

Here’s what head coach Gary Gait had to say on his team’s opening matchup:

“I think we’re going to see a totally different team (this year). We’re definitely a different team, but not dramatically. I think they have more change than we do; they lost some of their top players who transferred to other schools. But, they’re a well-coached team that’s going to be ready to play. They gave us a battle last year, and I’m hoping that we step on that field and we’re excited and we get 100% effort, but more than that I hope we can execute in all the areas that we’ve been practicing”.

The time of waiting to see that execution in action, for Gait and all of us, is just about over.

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Vermont

74-year-old woman fulfills childhood dream as EMT at fair in Vermont

Published

11 hours ago

April 20, 2026

Press Room

74-year-old woman fulfills childhood dream as EMT at fair in Vermont

ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. (Aging Untold) — For 10 days, the Champlain Valley Fair, a county fair in Vermont, becomes its own little town with thousands of people, hot afternoons and the occasional emergency.

Charlene Phelps, 74, runs the fair’s emergency response team.

“We have a lot of seniors that come and people don’t drink enough water,” Phelps said.

The team handles sprains, bee stings, heat exhaustion and whatever comes through.

“I like taking care of people, I like helping people,” Phelps said.

Living out a childhood dream

It’s also a childhood dream.

Phelps wanted to be a nurse, but college wasn’t possible, so she found another route into care and has been showing up year after year at the fair.

Aging Untold expert Amy O’Rourke said living out your purpose can improve mental and spiritual well-being.

“When you tap into that, you’re tapping in on a place that’s a risk, that’s a challenge that inevitably creates growth inside you, gives you confidence so that if you’re in another situation you can build on that,” O’Rourke said. “Or, if you’re in an everyday situation where you’re a little anxious, it’ll help create stabilization in that place as well.”

Saving lives at the fair

Sometimes it’s bigger than a bandage.

“Over on there near the swings way over there is Gustovo, and we saved his life,” Phelps said.

Gustovo had gone into cardiac arrest at the fair a few years ago.

“I mean he was gone,” Phelps said.

Now he’s back and working the rides.

“Came for my hug, Gustovo,” Phelps said.

O’Rourke said stories like this are also why some people keep working past retirement age. Purpose isn’t a number, it’s a role.

“I’ve seen a 92-year-old still working as a nurse’s aid. I’ve seen people in my neighborhood chilling out and loving it,” O’Rourke said. “So, I think it’s being really self-aware of what you need and making sure that you’re getting those needs met.”

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Vermont

Vermont lawmakers reject digital lottery initiative – Valley News

Published

23 hours ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Vermont lawmakers reject digital lottery initiative – Valley News

A plan by Gov. Phil Scott’s administration to make all of the state’s lottery games, including scratch-off tickets, available on a person’s phone never got off the ground at the Statehouse this year.

Lottery Commissioner Wendy Knight told lawmakers in January that the plan was a way to modernize the lottery “because you need to keep pace with technology — you need to meet your players where they are.”

Fifteen states have created a “digital” lottery system, and many have discovered there’s a distinct market of people who don’t buy lottery tickets at retail outlets but will do so on their phones, according to Knight. “We’re trying to ensure the future of the Vermont Lottery, ” the commissioner said.

But state lawmakers have not been persuaded.

Vergennes Rep. Matt Birong, the Democratic chair of the House government operations committee, said members of the panel felt this year was not the time to move forward with this plan, especially given the recent legalization of sports betting.

“It is digitizing a current system and after moving forward with the sports wagering — people just wanted to take their time with it — so my committee decided to tap the brakes on further testimony.”

The administration estimated that the plan would have raised roughly $5 million a year for the state’s education fund after two years of implementation.

The prospect of that additional revenue is appealing to lawmakers, and Birong said they may reconsider the plan next year.

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