Missing Strafford Woman Located

Strafford — Police said a 23-year-old Strafford woman who had not been seen for a week has been located.

Emma-Jayne Farina is safe, according to a Vermont State Police news release issued on Thursday.

“The investigation into this incident is continuing,” police said.

Farina was reported missing after she had not been seen since May 16, according to another release sent out on Wednesday.

Quechee Pocket Park Now Open

Quechee — With needed repairs now completed, the pocket park overlooking the Ottauquechee River from Main Street is now open.

A combination of unseasonably icy weather and improperly installed handrails prevented the park, which was completed last year at a cost of $400,000, from opening earlier in the spring.

Hartford Town Manager Leo Pullar told the Hartford Selectboard during a Tuesday meeting that the park is now open, and the public is taking advantage.

“I go through there at least twice a day and it’s being used,” he said.

The park was built on the site of a building that was destroyed by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011; area residents have long been eager to see the former eyesore turned into a community asset, but uncertainty about what to put on the site, combined with complications arising from the use of FEMA funds, delayed the project for years.

N.H. Panel RejectsNorthern Pass Project

Concord — A New Hampshire panel has dealt another blow to a controversial hydro project, upholding on Thursday an earlier decision to deny a proposal over concerns that it would have hurt tourism and businesses in the state.

The Site Evaluation Committee unanimously voted to deny a request by Eversource to rehear the $1.6 billion, 192-mile Northern Pass transmission line project. It first voted against the project in February, which resulted in Massachusetts abandoning plans to contract with the project to fulfill its clean energy needs.

“They believed that they did not misconceive or overlook any relevant evidence in the record,” committee legal counsel Michael Iacopino said of members after the voice vote.

Committee members argued that Eversource had been too quick to dismiss the negative impacts, done too little to work with municipalities in the northern part of the state to come up with a solution to local concerns and hadn’t provided enough evidence to show how it would alleviate the negative impacts.

After the vote, Eversource said it will continue fighting to build the project. Among its options would be appealing the ruling to the state Supreme Court.

Vt. Congressman WelchTo Seek a Seventh Term

Washington — Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., is seeking a seventh term in the U.S. House.

Welch planned to file to run in the Democratic primary on Thursday afternoon.

“What I think I have to offer is an enormous amount of energy that is unabated,” Welch said.

President Trump, Welch charged, is a “divider.” He said that though the president campaigned on a promise of helping people who live in rural parts of the country, his policies have been “very, very harmful to rural America and middle class.”

Welch said his focus is on programs to bolster the middle class, like access to health care, and addressing climate change.

His campaign war chest totaled $2.1 million at the end of this past quarter, financial disclosures show.

— Staff and wire reports

Correction

Michael Iacopino, the legal counsel for the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee, which recently rejected an Eversource Energy request to rehear the Northern Pass energy project application, said members “believed that they did not misconceive or overlook any relevant evidence in the record.” An Associated Press story in Friday’s Valley News misattributed the quotation.