Vermont

Logging business fined in Vermont

Published

2 months ago

May 13, 2024

Press Room

PLAINFIELD, Vt. (WCAX) –

A logger most of his life, Matt McAllister has seen nearly everything that can go wrong on a logging site.

“I’ve had plenty of issues I’ve had to fix,” McAllister said. “It’s just the nature of the beast.”

But McAllister, a native Vermonter, never lets those issues fester. He says he’s diligent about Acceptable Management Practices, or AMPs, regulations loggers must follow to maintain water quality on logging sites. “We’re not in it for two years. I mean, we’re in it for life. You wanna do a good job, you wanna keep the water clean, you wanna follow the AMPs. Most of it’s just common sense anyway,” McAllister explained.

Still, other loggers cut corners or fail to meet AMPs. Another logging company, Thomson Timber Harvesting and Trucking LLC, was just fined over $32,000 for violating AMPs. Between 2017 and 2020, the agency says Thomson Timber caused water quality and wetland issues on sites in Bridgewater and Thetford. Thomson Timber didn’t respond to our request for comment.

Watershed Forester David Wilcox with the Agency of Natural Resources says the state works hard to educate loggers about AMPs. “It’s a little frustrating. We try to make the rules as easy to follow as possible,” Wilcox explained. He says AMPs are there to preserve the environment: soil runoff can strip wetlands of nutrients, erode water banks and harm wildlife habitats. “We have a responsibility to follow the rules and implement good water quality practices so that we can show that we can harvest in Vermont and protect the environment.”

But even the most responsible loggers can struggle to meet AMPs. McAllister says they’re not only pricey but hard to maintain through increasingly unpredictable weather conditions like this winter. He recently met with Governor Scott to ask for support. “We really do need some help, especially when Mother Nature is at her worst.”

Wilcox says the state is working to offer loggers financial support so they’re better able to meet regulations.

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Vermont

Free summer meal sites are expanding across Vermont

Published

6 hours ago

July 18, 2024

Press Room

Free summer meal sites are expanding across Vermont

More free summer meal sites are open across Vermont this year than ever before, according to anti-poverty advocacy group Hunger Free Vermont.

That’s in large part thanks to a new Vermont law that requires all public schools to offer free lunch during the school year, according to Anore Horton, the executive director for the advocacy group.

Implementing that law has provided schools with a more accurate count of the number of students who are low-income, and allowed more communities to drawn down the federal funding that pays for summer meal programs.

“By passing the universal school meals act in Vermont, our legislature has more than doubled the number of communities in our state that are eligible to provide these free summer meals,” Horton said. “And thank goodness they did.”

Kathy Alexander, the school nutrition director for the Addison Northwest and Mount Abraham school districts in Addison County, said those changes allowed two new summer sites to open in Vergennes and New Haven this year. Every day, both sites each distribute about 250 meal kits to area families.

“It really expanded our reach and is meeting a community need that’s somewhat astounding, actually,” Alexander said.

Meal sites are open at schools, libraries, community centers and churches in all 14 counties. Depending on the program, families can either eat on-site or pick up meal kits to take home.

Information about where to find summer meal sites is available by calling 211 or visiting Hunger Free Vermont’s website.

Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message.

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Vermont

Man threatened family with a gun during road rage incident in Mass., police say

Published

14 hours ago

July 18, 2024

Press Room

Man threatened family with a gun during road rage incident in Mass., police say

A Vermont man is facing charges after he threatened a family with a gun during a road rage incident on Cape Cod Tuesday afternoon, according to police.

St. Johnsbury resident Tracy Douse, 42, has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct and three firearms charges in connection with the incident, Chatham police said in a press release.

Around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Chatham police received a call from a driver who reported that he and his family had been involved in a road rage incident, police said. He told police that, while traveling on Route 28, he and his family were threatened by another driver who was armed with a gun.

The caller gave police a description of the driver and his vehicle, and officers soon located the driver, police said. They pulled the vehicle over and arrested the driver — who was later identified as Douse — and found a loaded handgun inside his vehicle.

Douse was arraigned in Orleans District Court on Wednesday and held on $50,000 bail, according to court records. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

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Vermont

How to watch Vermont state champion Champlain at the Little League softball regionals

Published

21 hours ago

July 18, 2024

Press Room

How to watch Vermont state champion Champlain at the Little League softball regionals

The 10-to-12-year-old all-stars from Champlain are headed back to regionals.

The Vermont state champions, who secured back-to-back state titles last weekend, are in Bristol, Connecticut, for the Little League Softball New England Region Tournament.

Champlain, which consists of players from St. Albans and Georgia, blanked Connecticut Valley 10-0 in the winner-take-all Vermont championship game. To open regionals, Champlain will take on the Massachusetts state champion on Sunday, July 21 on ESPN+.

More: Champlain all-stars roll to back-to-back Vermont Little league softball state titles

The full bracket/schedule for the tournament: