LEBANON — The Mascoma Street Bridge, between High Street and Route 120, will be closed from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday as construction continues on the water line on the bridge.
For questions or more informatio, contact the Lebanon Department of Public Works at 603-448-3112.
WINDSOR — Southeastern Vermont Community Action will be opening a permanent Head Start site in Windsor in the recently purchased former Masonic Hall, at 4 Dunham Ave. The organization is now accepting applications for that Head Start location and others in Windsor County.
The Head Start program provides comprehensive early childhood education and family support at no cost to low-income children and their families in Windsor County. Each year it serves about 80 children ages 3-5 at locations in Windsor, White River Junction, Springfield and Chester, according to a news release. Children must be at least 3 years old by Sept. 1 to enroll.
The Windsor program offers classroom instruction and child development activities Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. till 2 p.m. Families interested in applying for the program should contact Lori Canfield at lcanfield@sevca.org or 802-885-6669 ext. 8102 for more information.
Southeastern Vermont Community Action has been looking to purchase a building to house Head Start in Windsor since 2015, when the lease for its location at the Old Windsor Firehouse was not renewed due to the sale of the building. Finding a building that fit the safety and regulatory requirements for the program was challenging, according to the nonprofit organization.
Community Action received a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, the federal agency that administers Head Start, to cover most of the renovation costs, with a matching contribution from the Vermont Building Communities Grant program.
“We would like to thank numerous people and agencies within the community that have continued to support our Head Start program, including Mt. Ascutney Hospital, the Windsor Resource Center, WIC, and the Windsor Zoning office,” Lori Canfield, SEVCA’s Head Start Program Director, said in a news release.
In addition to the Windsor site, a full-day Head Start program is available in Springfield, running weekdays from 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Head Start centers in Chester and White River Junction offer a five-day, 30 -hours a week program. Applications are being accepted for all locations at this time.
WOODSTOCK — Women for a Change, an advocacy organization based in Woodstock, will host an event celebrating the 100th anniversary of women’s voting rights and the 19th amendment, which was ratified by Congress on June 4. It officially became a Constitutional amendment on Aug. 18 after being ratified by the states.
The free event will take place from 3-5 p.m. Tuesday on the lawn of Norman Williams Public Library in Woodstock. It features a mock presidential primary, where members of the public will be able to cast a vote for any candidate in any party. Another balloting activity will ask attendees what they think are the three most important issues in the upcoming 2020 election. The results will be announced the following day.
The celebration also includes cake.
LEBANON — The chief law enforcement and judiciary officials from New Hampshire and Vermont will discuss the need for innovative approaches to issues of crime and mental illness, and the unique mental health challenges facing first responders, during a special presentation from 5-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, Auditorium H.
“Turning Lives Around: How Law Enforcement and the Courts Can Change the Conversation about Crime and Mental Illness,” aims to educate first responders about mental health in the broader community, and also what needs to be done within their agencies to assure that their own mental health needs are addressed.
The focus of the event will be on how law enforcement and the courts can help change the conversation about mental health when mental health issues result in criminal behavior.
Featured speakers include Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan, New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald, Vermont Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Reiber and New Hampshire Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Lynn.
The event will open with a viewing of the “99 Faces Project: Portraits Without Labels.”
The exhibit, designed by Boston-based visual artist Lynda Michaud Cutrell, aims to break down the stigma associated with mental illness by using unlabeled photographs, videos, paintings and sculptures of people who experience mental health challenges and their loved ones.
Additional panelists include Ingrid Jonas, division commander in charge of the Support Services Division of the Vermont State Police, and Matthew Shapiro, executive major for the New Hampshire State Police. Thomas D. Anderson, Vermont commissioner of public safety, will make closing remarks.
“Mental illness is a disease and should be treated as such,” Donovan said. “We need to continue to raise awareness about mental illness in order to wash away the stigma that is too often attached to this disease.”
Light refreshments will be served. There is no cost to attend, but registration is requested by visiting go.d-h.org/99faces.
MONTPELIER — Vermont’s capital city is going to be using goats again as a way to control poison ivy and other unwanted plants without herbicides.
The city doesn’t want to use herbicides near the Winooski River and Montpelier High School, officials said, and the goats are able to digest the poison ivy and other plants.
Assistant City Manager Sue Allen told the Times Argus the goats are part of a several-year effort to control poison ivy without chemicals near the Montpelier recreation path.
She said the goats eat the poison ivy while other acceptable species can gradually take over the area.
Allen said there will be better fencing and signage this year to keep people and dogs away from the goats, which will be provided by a Moretown goat herder.
RUTLAND — The wet spring is taking its toll on Vermont loggers and others who are behind on their work in the woods.
Kenneth Gagnon, co-owner of Gagnon Lumber, the Pittsford sawmill, said he likes to have a several-week supply of wood on hand to keep the saws running through periods of low supply, but with loggers unable to harvest, the backlog is dwindling.
Gagnon told the Rutland Herald his harvesting is about a month behind schedule.
The National Weather Service reports that since the beginning of the year Burlington area rainfall is about 4 inches above average.
Officials said using logging equipment in the woods when it is too wet can damage the land by leaving deep ruts that cause problems with water runoff into river and streams.
CONCORD — It’s time to talk turkey again in New Hampshire.
The Fish and Game Department is asking for the public’s help in tracking groups of wild turkey families in the state.
A survey started Saturday and runs through Aug. 31. If you see groups of turkeys with poults, or young birds, report your sightings to the department’s web-based turkey brood survey.
The department said the survey adds to information biologists gather to monitor changes in turkey productivity, distribution, abundance, turkey brood survival, and the timing of nesting and hatching.
In 2018, summer brood survey participants reported seeing 577 broods with an average of 4.15 poults per hen, up from 3.32 poults per hen in August 2017.
The average 2018 hatch date was June 20.
— Staff and wire reports