A food distribution program aimed at helping farmers and people in need during the coronavirus pandemic has been extended through February.
The Vermont Foodbank told WCAX-TV it was able to extend the Farmers to Families Food Box program thanks to generous community support.
When the program started, the USDA awarded the contract to the Enosburg Falls-based Abbey Group, but the last two rounds went to out-of-state companies.
The Abbey Group will return to supply the food from area farmers.
RANDOLPH — A new Vermont laboratory has been renamed in honor a former state fish health biologist.
The Dr. Cassidy Hahn Shaw Fish Health Laboratory is one of the labs in the new Vermont Agriculture Environmental Laboratory, located on the campus of Vermont Technical College in Randolph.
Construction of the $21 million lab was completed in early 2019.
Shaw had worked as a biologist for both the state and federal governments. Most recently she was the fish culture operations manager for the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife and she helped complete the new lab that bears her name.
She now lives in Maryland.
LEMPSTER, N.H. — Nearly 900 New Hampshire Electric Cooperative customers in four towns now have access to high-speed internet service.
The broadband projects in Sullivan and Coos counties’ towns of Lempster, Clarksville, Colebrook and Stewartstown were supported by a $6.7 million grant from the state’s Connecting New Hampshire Emergency Broadband Program.
The project’s completion required the cooperation and support of numerous partners, all of whom worked under tight deadlines to have service available to members before Dec. 15, as required by the terms of the grant.
NHEC Broadband Executive Robert Cruickshank said the co-op would be working closely with towns, the state and federal government, contractors, and existing telecommunications providers as it builds out its broadband service.
He also said the co-op will continue to seek out federal and state funding for construction.
The co-op is a member-owned electric distribution cooperative serving 85,000 homes and businesses in 115 New Hampshire communities.
BURLINGTON — A Vermont police chief has asked Burlington officials to increase the cap on sworn officers before cuts to the city’s police department are implemented.
Burlington’s interim police chief Jon Murad asked for the cap on the department’s sworn officers to be increased from 74 to 84, WPTZ-TV reported. The cap begins in January.
Burlington passed the “Racial Justice Through Economic And Criminal Justice” resolution this summer and plans to reduce sworn officers by 30% in June.
Murad gave a presentation Monday before the city council, outlining how the cuts would affect public safety.
Murad also wants to expand the department’s number of non-sworn officers, allowing unarmed officers to respond to calls and to conduct the assessments promised in the resolution.
Murad says that if the cuts are implemented officers will only be able to respond to serious calls between 3 a.m. and 7:30 a.m.
“I’m hopeful that we have these assessments that are coming out of the racial justice resolution and it will give us some sense of alternatives to police service,” Murad said.
City councilors discussed plans for what they would like to see Monday, “what we are in right now is a little frustrating, but it’s not because we’re here, it’s because I’m listening to a lot of us contemplating going back on this resolution that was historic and meaningful,” councilor Jane Stromberg P-Ward 8 said.
City councilors did not take action Monday. A public safety and police commission meeting is scheduled for Tuesday.
BOSTON — The Boston-based restaurant chain Legal Sea Foods has been sold, Legal’s chief executive said Tuesday.
Legal’s 25 locations will now be operated by Boston-based PPX Hospitality Brands, which owns the Smith & Wollensky steakhouse restaurants and Strega Italian restaurants, according to a statement.
“It’s a bit of mixed emotions,” Legal President and CEO Roger Berkowitz told Boston.com. “It was a family business — particularly a family business that deals directly with the public. One of the great things, I suppose, about the restaurant business in general is that you come in contact with so many people from so many walks of life.”
Berkowitz will retain ownership rights of the Legal Sea Foods name for the company’s e-commerce and retail business.
The first Legal Sea Foods restaurant opened in 1968 next to a fish market that Berkowitz’s father, George Berkowitz, opened in 1950. While most of its restaurants are in Massachusetts, the company has expanded into New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington D.C.
The coronavirus pandemic has been stressful, Berkowitz said.
“Would I have ordinarily chosen to sell?” he said. “Probably not.”
Financial terms of the deal where not disclosed.
— Associated Press