Lebanon School Board To Host Master Plan Forum

Lebanon — The School Board will host a community forum on Thursday to discuss a draft facilities master plan that calls for millions in spending to upgrade district schools.

Consultants with the North-Carolina-based Prismatic Services Inc. told the board last month that $6 million is needed to maintain school buildings, and another $4 million is recommended to provide students with better learning spaces. Some of the most costly parts of that assessment include $2.1 million for repaving and another $2.3 million for HVAC upgrades.

The plan also calls for fixing spaces that the consultants deemed to be inefficient. Spaces like the “gymnacafatorium” at the Mount Lebanon School, the playground at Lebanon Middle School and the library at the Hanover Street School would all be improved under the plan.

The forum will begin at 6 p.m. today at Lebanon Middle School.

Man Who Hallucinated Bear Attack, Caused Havoc Is Sentenced

St. Johnsbury, Vt. — A Vermont man who caused havoc after a drug-induced hallucination led him to fear an imaginary bear attack will serve a minimum of two more years in prison.

Thirty-year-old Lucas Gingras pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree arson and reckless endangerment in Vermont Superior Court after cutting a deal with prosecutors.

Charges of aggravated assault, attempted murder and aggravated assault with drugs were dropped. The Milton man was sentenced to serve between four and 10 years in prison with credit for time already served.

Prosecutors say Gingras lit a Georgia Mountain cabin on fire in June 2014 after drugs caused him to hallucinate a bear attack. He then convinced his then-girlfriend, 45-year-old Ladonna Merriman, to jump off a cliff after they fled the cabin, causing her to break her back.

— Staff and wire reports