Study Looks at Prices At Farmers’ Markets

Montpelier — A Vermont Agency of Agriculture study has found that many foods sold at farmers’ markets are competitively priced with those same products sold at retail stores.

Last August the agency collected prices on over 50 local products, including produce and meats, at 13 farmers’ markets around the state and compared them to prices at retail stores in central Vermont.

Among the findings:

92 percent of certified organic produce at farmers’ markets is competitively priced, defined as within a 10% price range, with the same produce in retail stores.

Local meats and proteins sold at farmers’ markets also are competitively priced with retail stores more than 57% of the time.

Local, certified-organic products at farmers’ markets are almost always competitively priced with the same products at retail stores.

Vt. Firefighters: Woman Dies In Barre House Fire

Barre, Vt. — Vermont State Police and fire officials are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found after her Barre house was ravaged by fire.

Authorities said an autopsy will be performed to determine what caused the death of 58-year-old Kathleen Zura.

The Burlington Free Press reported that the fire at the Barclay Road home began at about midnight Friday. Zura’s husband, 61-year-old Wayne Zura, arrived home at about 3:30 a.m. Saturday and told officials he believed his wife was in the house.

Authorities said they did not initially find the body, but a state police cadaver dog did.

The investigation is ongoing.

Fire Destroys Dormitory At Proctor Academy

Andover, n.h. — New Hampshire fire officials said a blaze destroyed an unoccupied dormitory and several outbuildings at Proctor Academy in Andover.

WMUR-TV said that the first report came in at 2 p.m. Saturday and soon went to three alarms.

Andover fire officials said that when they arrived at the scene, the dormitory and barn were fully involved and the fire was moving toward a shed.

Authorities said poor hydrants near the dorm and a metal roof hindered firefighting efforts.

One firefighter was overcome by the heat and sent to the hospital for treatment.

Officials said the students are on summer break and the dorm parents who live at the house were not home at the time of the fire.

USS Constitution Museum To Celebrate 40th Anniversary

Boston — The USS Constitution Museum is planning to celebrate its 40th anniversary, just in time for the Fourth of July holiday. The celebration, called “A 40 Year Journey,” is scheduled for Thursday in the Navy Yard of Boston’s Charlestown neighborhood.

Festivities will include a ribbon-cutting for “Forest to Frigate,” the museum’s new, interactive exhibit exploring President George Washington’s decision to create a navy to protect the growing American merchant fleet. The exhibit traces the journey of the USS Constitution, known as “Old Ironsides,” from the forest where her timber grew to her launch as a fully formed frigate.

Built in 1797, the Constitution is the world’s oldest commissioned warship still afloat.

Sustainability Showdown Scraps Seaweed Fest in Maine

South Portland, Maine — The organizers of a popular festival in the country’s biggest seaweed state say they are canceling the event this year over concerns about lack of sustainability.

The Maine Seaweed Festival is a chance for the state’s seaweed producers to show off products and celebrate all things related to sea vegetables.

But organizer Hillary Krapf said it’s not happening in 2016. She said Maine’s seaweed industry has been besieged by a “Gold Rush mentality” that threatens sustainability as seaweed grows in popularity.

The seaweed festival started in 2014 and doubled in attendance to about 3,000 last year. The rise in attendance coincides with growth in Maine’s seaweed industry, which quadrupled its harvest from 2004 to 2014.

— Wire reports