Around the NEK

Keeping Agriculture Alive in Vermont

Details: Created on Thursday, 27 March 2014 17:06; Written by Katrina Floranza

NORTHEAST KINGDOM- Agriculture plays a large role in the Northeast Kingdom. With many farms around the area, one of University of Vermont's Extension Programs is working on furthering their outreach to farmers.

NVRH Radiothon

Details: Created on Tuesday, 25 March 2014 18:07; Written by Jessie Slater

ST.JOHNSBURY- Northeast Kingdom Vermont Regional Hospital is holding its fifth annual Radiothon today. Each year the NVRH reaches out to the community and asks them to help purchase a new piece of equipment. This year's machine is a hospital wide patient monitoring system.

Hunting Accessibility

Details: Created on Friday, 21 March 2014 19:55; Written by Alex Farnworth

VERMONT- Landowners may be given yet another option regarding the access to their land to fishers, trappers and even hunters. The new ruling would allow property owners to post signs that require hunters, fishers and trappers to seek permission prior to their intended action. The current option for landowners is to post signs whether or not they want people to go about these desired hobbies.

Winter Puts a Damper on Spring Fever

Details: Created on Thursday, 20 March 2014 20:20; Written by Ron Kauffman

Northeast Kingdom - At 12:57 p.m. today the seasons officially changed, at least on the calendar. Today marked the first day of spring, but when you look around you see that spring has yet to sprung.

Abused Horses Find Foster Home

Details: Created on Thursday, 20 March 2014 18:48; Written by Katrina Floranza

VICTORY- 21 horses were rescued after facing horrible living conditions at the Bona Ranch Farm in Lyndonville. Two out of the 21 horses are on their way to recovery at their new foster home in Victory.

Vear Qualifies for USASA Nationals

Details: Created on Thursday, 20 March 2014 17:17; Written by Julianne Walshaw

St. Johnsbury- St. Johnsbury Academy junior, William Vear, 17, will be headed to Colorado one week from today, to participate in the 2014 U.S.A. Snowboard Association National Championships.

Pothole Problem

Details: Created on Wednesday, 19 March 2014 17:46; Written by Matthew Drew

NORTHEAST KINGDOM - Pothole season has arrived and just like in past years many drivers wonder when these potholes will be filled. It's already been causing drivers problems and more importantly, money.

Homeless Vigil

Details: Created on Friday, 07 March 2014 16:22; Written by Alex Farnworth

LYNDONVILLE- Community members from all around the Northeast Kingdom will be able to get a glimpse of what being homless really feels like.

Seizures in Children

Details: Created on Friday, 07 March 2014 16:19; Written by Matthew Drew

VERMONT - Seizures are a very common problem in the United States. Being prepared for that unexpected event is one of the most important things any one person can do.There are many things people can do to help reduce the risk of seizures, and may even completely prevent them.

Finding The Formula

Details: Created on Monday, 03 March 2014 19:15; Written by Julianne Walshaw

money Tuesday many towns across the state will gather to hammer out their budgets on Town Meeting Day. Aside from basic operating budgets, voters will have the opportunity to approve additional spending appropriations to non-profit organizations that service towns throughout Caledonia County.

News Businesses, New Jobs

Details: Created on Friday, 21 February 2014 16:48; Written by Alex Farnworth

ST. JOHNSBURY - Vermont's unemployment rates are considerably lower (4.6%) than the nation's average (7.3%.)

Focusing more towards the Northeast Kingdom, Caledonia County is still near the top of the list in terms of Vermont's unemployment.

Lawsuits in St. J

Details: Created on Tuesday, 18 February 2014 19:43; Written by Samantha Knight

ST.JOHNSBURY- St.Johnsbury has gone through a series of town managers over the last couple of years. Two former members have recently filed lawsuits against the town after early dismissal of their terms.

World Series Trophies

Details: Created on Tuesday, 18 February 2014 16:09; Written by Jessie Slater

LYNDONVILLE- Sunday night, Lyndon Institute hosted a tour that brought three of the Red Sox World Series trophies to the North East Kingdom. The tour has been making stops throughout New England to show appreciation to fans who aren't close to their team's home field.

Barnet School Board

Details: Created on Wednesday, 12 February 2014 21:08; Written by Matthew Drew

BARNET - The Barnet School board met last night to discuss the educational and financial articles within the town. The tax budget is set to increase and the school is looking to condense it's staff. Barnet will be cutting almost half of it's full time teaching positions for the middle grades.

One Billion Flash Mob Returns

Details: Created on Wednesday, 12 February 2014 18:29; Written by Elyssa Ellis

ST. JOHNSBURY- Residents of the Northeast Kingdom will gather in the streets this Friday to dance in the "One Billion Rising For Justice" Campaign. The campaign was started a year ago in an effort to end to violence against women and girls.

Major Disaster Declaration

Details: Created on Tuesday, 11 February 2014 18:34; Written by Jessie Slater

LYNDONVILLE- Vermont state Governor Peter Shumlin, announced that President Barack Obama has signed a major disaster declaration. The numerous counties that suffered from public infrastructure damages during December's ice storm are now eligible for relief.

Electric Car Charging Station

Details: Created on Tuesday, 11 February 2014 17:09; Written by Jessie Slater

LYNDONVILLE- A local volunteer gave a presentation for the town of St.Johnsbury, to ask for a grant to have an electric vehicle charging station installed in the town. He believes that adding this attraction will add more business.

Blood Drive Nets in Record

Details: Created on Friday, 07 February 2014 23:07; Written by Michael Fisher

RUTLAND - red cross logo Joe Costello had help in organizing the blood drive that broke the national record. 2,337 pints of blood were collected at the five different locations that had 300 Red Cross workers and about 300 volunteers at the event on December 17 of 2013.

Burke Bridge Still Broken

Details: Created on Friday, 07 February 2014 18:38; Written by Matthew Drew

EAST BURKE - The Hayden crossing bridge in East Burke may never re-open. The state of Vermont determined the bridge was unsafe almost two years ago and now the town of East Burke doesn't think they can afford to perform the necessary repairs.

After School for Educational Fuel

Details: Created on Wednesday, 11 December 2013 18:42; Written by Kevin Kelleher

BARNET - With funding provided by a grant that came from the Caledonia Central Supervisory union, students of the Barnet School have been able to take advantage of additional opportunities to further their education in a new after-school program.

Deer Season Coming to a Close

Details: Created on Tuesday, 10 December 2013 18:00; Written by Adam Donnelly

AROUND THE NEK - Next weekend spells the end of this year's deer hunting season, and this year has turned in a good haul.

Free Range Turkeys

Details: Created on Thursday, 21 November 2013 20:17; Written by Cody Gage

NEW HAMPSHIRE - Over two hundred and eighty million turkeys are slaughtered every year for human consumption in the United States. Many of those turkeys never know the feeling of freedom, and room to range.

Student Learns from Volunteering

Details: Created on Tuesday, 19 November 2013 20:19; Written by Diana Cogger

LYNDON- Jacob Gallison is your average 18 year old. He just started at Lyndon State College, has lots of friends, and he really doesn’t like having class at 8 am. What might surprise you about this double major is that even around a tightly packed college schedule, he still volunteers 32 hours a week to work with residents in an elderly care facility.

Smart Snacks

Details: Created on Wednesday, 13 November 2013 17:23; Written by Kevin Kelleher

apple BARNET- In America, childhood obesity has more than doubled in the past 30 years. Obesity can have both immediate, and long-term effects on a child's health and well being. Eating healthy is one of the ways that obesity can be prevented. The Barnet School is taking steps to encourage their students to eat healthier.

A Conversation with Rep. Marty Feltus

Details: Created on Wednesday, 06 November 2013 19:58; Written by Daniel Weiner

AROUND THE NEK: Marty Feltus is a first term Representative from Caledonia County's fourth district, covering Burke, Sutton, and Lyndon. Feltus, a Republican, has just completed her first year in office, and has already dealt with some interesting issues.

She's dealt with issues such as the decriminalization of marijuana, which she voted in favor of, and also she sits on the Natural Resources & Energy committee. We had some questions for her about what's she's learned in the state house her first session, what she plans to do in the next year, and whether or not she will be seeking re-election next fall.

Q: How was your first year in office?

A: It went well. I was pleased with the way things turned out. As a freshman being the first year there, obviously it was kind of overwhelming in the beginning. After awhile when my committee began actually working on things I thought 'Oh, we're actually productive, we're actually doing something.' Then towards the end, there was just all kinds of things happening very quickly and that was a little difficult to get used to and to understand what was going on. But overall, it was a pleasant experience and I enjoyed it.

Q: What are you going to be doing in your second year?

A: The committee I'm on is Natural Resources & Energy and I know we're going to be looking at some of the issues we've studied over the summer like sighting of electric generation plants.

I'd like to look at the energy goals we have, to determine whether they are appropriate or if they need to be modifed a bit looking at current consumption.

I expect we'll be looking at thermal efficiency again, we did very heavily last year and we came up with some proposals for it but we couldn't come up with a lot of money to support it, and whether we'll be able to come up with the money this year I don't know, but nevertheless I think what we want to do is improve the cultural acceptance of trying to make each home thermally efficient and get individuals to get involved and to take care of that responsibility.

Q: What did you learn in the first legislative session?

A: I wasn't quite sure how the committee system worked, and so I learned that. Understanding that if you're not on a particular committee, you don't have a lot of clout. Certainly you can talk to your colleagues who are, for instance, on the education committee. If I had concerns about the education process, or I had constituents that were concerned about the process then I personally don't have any influence on that but I could talk to other people I know on that committee. Understanding that division of labor was interesting, and the structure of how the committees work.

Q: What about Vermont's political system as a whole?

A: I think I've learned it's far more complex than I thought it was. It's not quite so simplistic to sit at home and listen to the news and say "Oh! That's a dumb idea, why'd those people do that?!"

At first blush it might be a dumb idea, or someone may say that, but then you look into things and you discover "Oh well, if you do this, then that happens, if you do that, this happens." It becomes far more complex.

I think that's an issue that many lament don't understand, that there's so many factors that go into each issue that you really need to understand as many of them as you can so you try and balance them and come up with a reasonable solution.

Q: What's it like being a republican in Vermont?

A: It's a little frustrating. One will vote a particular way, you think that's the right way to go, and you know you will not win the vote, because the numbers are far too great on the other side, that you know will oppose that particular position.

It's more a matter of 'Well, this is what I believe and that's what I'll stand for and I'm going to say so anyway' even though I know it will not carry the day.

Q: How are republicans in Vermont different?

A: Vermonter's tend to be far more practical. To respect other peoples moral beliefs and religious beliefs. Among the Vermont Republicans there's not a division over abortion issues, gay marriage or things like that. Certainly some persons feel very strongly one way or another on that and they vote with their conscience, but it's not issues that they bring to the forefront, that they say "I'm going to vote this way because I'm a republican." or "I'm going to vote this way because that's the way I personally feel on a particular topic"

I think Vermont Republicans tend to not side with those particular side issues quite so much, and they're looking at broader, more practical issues like as few taxes as possible, growth of the economy, those kinds of issues that override certain personal and moral issues.

Q: Are you running for re-election?

A: I haven't decided yet, but I've had a good experience so far and I certainly would tend toward running again.

Q: What are your free-time activities?

A: I like to walk a lot, I like to read, I like to get together with my grandchildren who don't live here so I visit them in Massachusetts or Colorado.

Q: What's your favorite pizza topping?

A: Pepperoni. I don't eat it often and it solves that salt craving.

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