Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Mount Holly Select Board Minutes {Draft Minutes} 12/10/13

MOUNT HOLLY, VT.
SELECT BOARD
December 10, 2013
(DRAFT MINUTES)

Jim Heald called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm. Raymond Tarbell and Tim Martin were present.
Jim welcomed everyone and requested that speakers identify themselves and keep remarks civil and short.
1. The minutes of the regular meeting of November 12, 2013 and the special meetings of November 21 and November 30, 2013 and the garage informational meeting of November 30, 2013 were reviewed. A correction was made to the November 12 minutes. Under the treasurer’s report, the third sentence should read: “Solid Waste revenues are on target and disposal expenses are a little high, but overall in line.” Upon motions made and seconded, it was
VOTED: To approve the minutes of November 12, November 21 and November 30, and the informational meeting minutes of November 30.
2. Highways
 Road and Bridge Standards. – The Board reviewed the State Standards of January 23, 2013. (Adoption means the town receives additional state funding on certain grants.) Upon motion made and seconded, with no further discussion, it was
VOTED: To adopt the January 23, 2013 State Road and Bridge Standards.
 Grader warranty. Jeff presented information on an extended grader warranty, with the possibility of payment delayed until after June 30. Upon motion made and seconded, it was
VOTED: To purchase a warranty extension from 60 to 84 months, at a cost of $5,250, to be paid after June 30.
 New Garage: David contacted the bond attorney to review timelines for bonding requirements. The Resolution and Declaration of Intent (allows project expenses up to 60 days prior to the declaration to be covered in the bond amount) can be voted at the regular January meeting and will meet the bond timeline requirements. The attorney will draw up the necessary paperwork, which needs the date of the required informational meeting. The Board agreed it will be on March 03, the night before the vote. What is the bond amount? The wording of the bond vote must read “not to exceed $(bond amount)”. The amount currently anticipated is $600,000, which includes the School Board’s Letter of Intent amount of $50,000. Is this one payment, or could it be spread out? If one payment, could be in the bond amount, otherwise it would come from the general fund.
3. Treasurer’s Report
 David Johnson presented an income and expense statement dated November 30, 2013 showing cash balances of $2,956,789. Property taxes outstanding are $209,488, which includes two prior year tax sales and a returned check. Current Use payment from the state is $10,000 more than budgeted. Casella’s bill has not arrived, so SW disposal expenses are for 4 months, not 5. Several questions were asked during the report. How much is owed on town equipment (where’s the liability listed). The grader is a lease, so there is only the annual payment; total lease payments remaining are about $200,000. What about the fire engines? The fire department is separate, and funded on a separate line item on the ballot. Current use payment differences? Depends on a state formula, which includes the number of people in current use, the town tax rate and the Common Level of Appraisal (CLA), based on the prior year data.
 Budget Work Session: The Board set the date of January 09, 6:30 pm for the work session. This allows review/changes at the January regular meeting, as well as the final warning meeting on January 23rd.
4. Planning Commission – part 1
 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan – Barbara Pulling, RRPC
Ms. Pulling explained that the local plan must be updated and approved every 5 years. Mount Holly’s was done in 2009 and is now expired. Previously the local plans were an annex to the Regional Plan. Now FEMA wants each municipality to have its own plan. She is here asking the Select Board to approve a motion of support for the process, as well as recommending volunteers to help with the plan. Funding for this effort is provided by a grant that has already been approved. Typical participants include the Road Foreman, Fire Chief, Town Clerk, and planning/zoning; she has already contacted the Emergency Management Coordinator. Other citizen and business owner participation is encouraged. The timeline is for a couple of meetings to update data and maps (probably in January). The plan then goes to the State for approval, public review process and FEMA approval. It then comes back to the Select Board for final approval. Asked if the town was required to have a plan, Ms. Pulling said it is required for FEMA funding and provides better ERAF (State funding) rates, therefore advantageous to have a plan. The Board tabled naming the list of participants until January meeting. Upon motion made and seconded, it was
VOTED: To approve the following statement: - The Select Board supports the process of reviewing and updating its Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, which will be accomplished with the support of Rutland Regional Planning Commission (RRPC) staff and with the engagement of the public.
5. Health Insurance
The billing portion of Vermont Health Connect (VHC) will not be operational for small business plans until sometime next year. The State has mandated that all current insurance plans be continued for three months, with enrollment on VHC by April 1, 2014. BCBS will allow direct enrollment in a VHC plan thru them, starting February 1, and possibly by January 1 because of the HRA funding. (The VHC plans will save the town money.) The Board agreed to pursue the direct enrollment option.
6. Transfer Station:
 Electronics Recycling: RCSWD plans to continue with Good Point Recycling and will take care of any filings required with the State online system. RCSWD will continue to pick up the electronics and consolidate them at the Rutland MRF. The town does not need to do anything and will continue to accept electronics.
 RCSWD Budget: A public meeting on the 2014 Budget will be held December 18, 2013. Details at the Town Office for anyone wishing to attend.
7. Planning Commission – part 2
 The Board took up the tabled vacancy on the Planning Commission. Both candidates (Anna McGee and William McGrath) were present and introduced themselves. Upon motion made and seconded it was
VOTED: To appoint William McGrath to the Planning Commission.
Jim Heald noted this was a difficult decision for the Board and encouraged Anna to be open to further participation with the town.
 The Town was notified that it did not receive a Municipal Planning Grant to support the update of the Town Plan.
 Administrative Officer: Tim Martin stated that the Planning Commission had met with and voted to recommend Nichol Griffin for the position of Administrative Officer. Upon motion made and seconded it was
VOTED: To appoint Nichol Griffin as Administrative Officer for the Town.
8. Star Lake Dam Reconstruction Plan
Ron Unterman, representing Mount Holly Conservation Trust (MHCT) and Friends of Star Lake (FOSL), presented a summary of the Dubois and King report and presentation, which was held November 21. Both the full report and the presentation slides are on the Mount Holly website. (Note: A copy of the presentation slide handout is available at the Town Office. The LPCTV
video of the Nov. 21 meeting is on their website.) There are two design options: first, an overflow spillway with a bridge (similar to current) and second, a drop inlet, which allows an embankment instead of a bridge. MHCT and FOSL would like to do a lot of dredging in the beach area and bring the lake up to historic levels. Adding the cost of dredging ($140,000) brings the cost of the two options to $790,000 and $490,000 respectively. MHCT has chosen the drop inlet design; FOSL has the funds to accomplish that option. The Town, as the owner of the dam, will need to sign any project paperwork. The Fire Chief expressed concern about the two hydrants, which must meet certain optimum gallons to meet State requirements, and will need to be addressed in the final design. There were several questions related to the culvert at the end of the outlet, which goes under Belmont Road. State Engineering and ANR believe the culvert is sufficient, up to 5 ½ or 6” of rain. Ray Tarbell noted that members of the community are concerned about the structure. While it may be sufficient, it is deteriorating and will need to be replaced sooner rather than later, and will be very expensive to replace.
9. Select Board Expansion
At various times and meetings in the past, it has been proposed to expand the Select Board from the current 3 to 5 members. At this meeting, upon motion made and seconded, it was
VOTED: To put a proposal on the March 2014 ballot to expand the Select Board from the current three (3) members to five (5) members.
10. Other Business
 Diana Garrow presented the appropriation request for the ChitChat. This year, the request has been increased $500, to a total of $2,500. She requested that the request be a separate line item on the ballot, rather than in the large appropriation request.
 Tarbelville Cemetery: A large branch of one of the two big pine trees has fallen and caused some damage to several tombstones (Dennis Devereux will repair the damage) and the town has received a bid of $2,800 to remove the trees. There was a possibility of getting the required crane by Friday, but the Board felt that the custodian of the Goodell lot should be contacted (the trees are in that lot) for participation in the cost of removal before approving the hiring of the crane. The Board agreed that the trees need to come down.
 The After School Program appropriation request was received, with an increase of $500 to $6,500. It was noted that about half of the other appropriation requests have been received.
 The Town received information that Aquatic Nuisance Control grants are available, with applications due 02/05/14 via the online system. Ninevah Foundation and FOSL have been notified.
 Rutland County 2014-2015 Budget public meetings will be on 12/19 and 01/23. Information available at the Town Office.
 Mount Holly Newsflash has requested a copy of the Select Board minutes be sent to them when available. The minutes would need to be in pdf format, as Randy cannot access Word documents, which would be a non-standard format. It must be ascertained if both formats would need to be archived.
 Ray Tarbell noted that the small portion of Class 4 road added off Healdville Road (to Ron Unterman’s property) needs a name.
11. The Board reviewed and signed the November orders for payment.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:53 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Rhonda Rivers
Minutes are DRAFT until approved at a Select Board meeting. Approved on: __________________

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Catholic Law School Professor Files Personhood Lawsuit…on Behalf of Chimpanzees

Catholic Law School Professor Files Personhood Lawsuit…on Behalf of Chimpanzees

An adjunct professor at the St. Thomas University (STU) School of Law who once was quoted saying he sees no difference between a chimpanzee and his toddler son, has now filed a lawsuit seeking personhood for chimpanzees earlier this month.
Steven Wise, the president of the Nonhuman Rights Project, requested that a New York state court declare a 26-year-old chimp named Tommy “a cognitively complex autonomous legal person with the fundamental legal right not to be imprisoned.”
The lawsuit demands the chimp’s immediate release to a primate sanctuary.
In a pressrelease, Wise compared chimpanzees to human slaves. “Not long ago, people generally agreed that human slaves could not be legal persons, but were simply the property of their owners,” Wise continued. “Abraham Lincoln put it best when he said that ‘in giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free.’”
At a 2002 book signing event, Wise went so far as to compare his own son to a primate. "I don't see a difference between a  chimpanzee and my 4 1/2- year-old son,” he was quoted as saying.
Technically, the Nonhuman Rights Project takes no official position on abortion. But Wise appears to walk a very fine line when discussing the topic in writing.  In one article, Wise said, “There are many reasons to support the argument that a woman should have the legal right to an abortion.” He took issue only with the decision being deemed a “policy” issue rather than one of rights.
He added, “It is hard to dispute that religion has rationalized many forms of subordination, including human rights in general, human slavery, women’s rights, abortion, and the environment.”
According to the Law and Politics Book Review, “Wise argues that Christianity is centrally responsible for the cruelties perpetrated by Europeans against Native Americans, African slaves, and animals. The argument would require far deeper analysis to be persuasive to the critically minded, but those predisposed to view religion as a negative force in human (and animal) history will find some plausibility to the claims made here. Although Wise [*396] clearly expresses some disdain for Christianity and the world-view it is capable of engendering, the book concludes with an optimistic assessment of the ways in which a particular branch of American evangelicalism may contribute to the expansion of animal rights in the future.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church addresses the proper order of life when it states,“The seventh commandment enjoins respect for the integrity of creation. Animals, like plants and inanimate beings, are by nature destined for the common good of past, present, and future humanity.”
Just this past week, Wise appeared at a conference called Personhood Beyond the Human with Princeton University bioethicist Peter Singer who has advocated infanticide.The website specifically mentions Wise’s affiliation with St. Thomas.
Far from not knowing Wise’s radical animal rights resume, STU’s law school promotes Wise’s history on their website profile, saying:
Steven M. Wise has practiced animal protection law for 30 years. A former President of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, he founded the Nonhuman Rights Project, which intends to file litigation demanding that a state high court recognize that a non human animal has the capacity for legal rights. He has written four books, RATTLING THE CAGE, DRAWING THE LINE, THOUGH THE HEAVENS MAY FALL, and AN AMERICAN TRILOGY, and has taught "Animal Rights Law" or "Animal Rights Jurisprudence" since 1990 at Harvard, Vermont, Lewis and Clark, University of Miami, and/or St. Thomas Law Schools. He lectures around the world on Animal Rights Jurisprudence.
“[St. Thomas University School of Law] embraces the duties and obligations of the Judeo-Christian ethic and endeavors to instill the values and ethics of that tradition and of the Catholic Church in its students,” states the university law school’s website. “As a Catholic law school, St. Thomas University School of Law has a fundamental duty to impart these values and ethics through the teaching of law.”
St. Thomas University did not respond to requests for comment on this article.
Catholic Education Daily is an online publication of The Cardinal Newman Society. Click here for email updates and free online membership with The Cardinal Newman Society.
- See more at: http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/2773/Catholic-Law-School-Professor-Files-Personhood-Lawsuit%E2%80%A6on-Behalf-of-Chimpanzees.aspx#sthash.TmVHYzo7.dpuf

Do you have a Digital Camera you are no longer using?

Do you have a Digital Camera
you are no longer using?
The Mount Holly Elementary School
is seeking donations of
DIGITAL CAMERAS
in good working condition
for a new after school program in photography

Students will learn about the techniques of photography
and through photography will also learn
how to capture and appreciate the world around them

This new program is in conjunction with the
Parent Teacher Student Association and The Mount Holly Community Association
Students will also be encouraged to enter their photos in the
Mount Holly Photo Contest

Donations of memory cards will also be appreciated
Please also include your camera's battery charger
Donations of a zoom lens or a wide-angle lens
would be a fabulous bonus!!

For more information or to make a donation please contact
Karen Leonard at karen@karenleonardphotography.com (259-6045)
or Janet Warren at janetwarren72@hotmail.com (259-2007)

Many thanks in advance for your help with this special new program!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Court Rules Against Chimpanzee Personhood

Three New York courts have rejected one group's legal effort to grant captive chimpanzees in that state the same rights as a "legal person." This is a can of worms that no court wants to touch and I can understand why. Its decision would open the doors for all kind of animal rights organizations seeking human rights for every creature all the way down the sentience quotient scale. Although the Chimpanzee personhood effort failed its first legal tests, the group says it will appeal the courts' decisions as this outcomes allows the Nonhuman Rights Project to proceed to the appellate courts.


The Nonhuman Rights Project is seeking human rights on behalf of four chimpanzees in New York state last week in a bid to get them "right to bodily liberty." The suits asked that the four chimpanzees be moved to a sanctuary "where they can live out their days with others of their kind in an environment as close to the wild as is possible in North America.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Community Christmas Celebration Set

Community Christmas Celebration Set
For Ludlow Town Hall On December 13
The annual "Community Christmas Celebration", sponsored by FOLA (Friends of Ludlow Auditorium), will be featured on Friday, December 13 at 7 PM at the Ludlow Town Hall Auditorium.  This will be the fourth such program to celebrate Christmas conducted by FOLA for the residents and visitors to Ludlow and the greater Black River area.
Highlighting this season's program will be the music of area students, the bell-ringers, seasonal music provided by area singers, a holiday reading, and a special video playlet.
Students from both Ludlow Elementary School and Black River Middle/High School will provide seasonal music.  The program will end with the traditional sing-along led by the LES 3rd and 4th graders.
Additional acts in the program will include music by Joey Blane and Andy Ohotnicky, a comedy skit by Broadway writers Jane and Stan Hart, and a seasonal reading by Bruce Farr.  George Thomson will act as emcee.
In a new program addition, the Community Handbells, conducted by Constance Wilcox, will provide a greeting to the arriving guests as they enter Town Hall for the annual program.
For more information, go to www.fola.us or call 228-7239.

Mount Holly Board Minutes LPCTV

For those who are interested in recent town meetings, the links to watch them on LPCTV are attached below.

Town Garage informational meeting
http://lpctv.org/programs/mount-holly-selectboard-special-meeting-113013

Star Lake dam alternative meeting Mount Holly Conservation Trust / Friends of Star Lake

November Regular Select Board meeting

If you have any questions, contact Michelle at LPCTV at 228-8808.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Group asks N.Y. court to recognize chimp as legal person


By JAMES GORMAN

The New York Times
Activists have relished their successes, while some scientists have deplored restrictions on the use of the animals, which have played a crucial role in some biomedical research, such as work on hepatitis C vaccines.
All the activity so far has focused on the welfare of the chimps. Now, an animal-rights group has heightened the crusade by taking action to try to establish legal rights for chimpanzees, something far more controversial.
The Nonhuman Rights Project, led by Steven Wise, filed papers Monday in a state court in Fulton County, N.Y., demanding that courts in New York recognize a chimpanzee known as Tommy as a legal person, with a limited right to liberty. The petition asks the court to remove him from his owners and place him in a sanctuary.
Tommy is a privately owned chimp in Gloversville, N.Y., that the group says “is being held captive in a cage in a shed at a used-trailer lot.” The group said it intended to file suit later this week on behalf of three more chimps in New York, also demanding their freedom.
Two of the chimpanzees are believed to be owned by the New Iberia Research Center, at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, but are housed at Stony Brook University for a study of locomotion. The fourth is owned by Carmen Presti, of Niagara Falls, N.Y., according to the rights project, who runs the Primate Sanctuary, a nonprofit organization that displays apes.
Patrick C. Lavery, the owner of Circle L Trailer Sales in Gloversville, where Tommy lives, said he had heard about the petition from reporters. He said from his home in Florida that he had complied with all state and federal regulations, that Tommy had a spacious cage “with tons of toys,” and that he had been trying to place him in sanctuaries but that they had no room. He said he had rescued the chimp from a bad situation. He said of the group filing the petition, “If they were to see where this chimp lived for the first 30 years of his life, they would jump up and down for joy about where he is now.”
Lavery said he had not seen or been officially notified of the petition.
The use of habeas corpus actions is a time-honored legal strategy for addressing unlawful imprisonment of human beings.
Wise, who has written about the use of habeas corpus in the anti-slavery movement, makes an argument in a 70-plus-page memo rich with legal, scientific and philosophical references that being human is not essential to having rights. He argues that captive chimps are, in fact, enslaved, and that the same principles apply to their cases as to those of humans who were enslaved.
“This petition asks this court to issue a writ recognizing that Tommy is not a legal thing to be possessed by respondents, but rather is a cognitively complex autonomous legal person with the fundamental legal right not to be imprisoned,” the court filing says.
David Favre, a professor at Michigan State University College of Law, who teaches animal law but is not associated with the rights project or the legal action, said he was familiar with Wise’s arguments, which he called “a serious legal strategy.”
He said such a strategy had not been tried before in the United States. “It is unique,” Favre said.
Chimps were granted certain legal rights by the Spanish Parliament in 2008, and efforts have been made in other countries to give them rights.
Wise is not asking the courts to declare the chimps equivalent to human beings. But in New York, animals are considered legal persons to allow them to be beneficiaries of trusts, Wise said. (In a similar way, a corporation is also considered a legal person.)
Because the rights group has set up a trust for all four chimps, they are already legal persons, he argues.
He also marshals evidence from various scientists that a chimpanzee has qualities, including awareness of self, past and future, that should provide it with a right to bodily liberty.
The request is not for the chimps to be set completely free, either in Africa or New York, but to be moved to one of the eight sanctuaries in the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance.

Chimpanzee Lawsuit Seeks Freedom, Personhood For Apes

Dec 2, 2013

Chimpanzee Lawsuit Seeks Freedom, Personhood For Apes

(Image source: The New York Times / Tim Mueller)

BY Nathan Byrne

Four captive chimpanzees in New York could soon have their day in court — to determine whether they'll be legally recognized as people.

The lawsuit filed by the Nonhuman Rights Project alleges a 26-year-old chimpanzee named Tommy "is being held captive in a cage in a shed at a used trailer lot."

Tommy's owner, Patrick Lavery, tells USA Today the chimp is one of 11 he's rescued from bad situations and housed temporarily while waiting to find a sanctuary. He also said Tommy's cage "exceeds federal and state standards and is inspected every year."

Tommy is the first of four chimpanzees who'll have a lawsuit filed on his behalf by the Nonhuman Rights Project this week. But why?

The online news editor for the journal Science explains the suit aims to first free the chimpanzees from captivity — then place them in a Florida sanctuary. 

The article says the Nonhuman Rights Project researched its legal strategy for five years. The plan? Petition judges with writs of habeas corpus, which allow those in captivity to have a say in court. (Via PBS)

The choice of jurisdiction was also a strategic one — because New York allows automatic appeals of adverse habeas corpus decisions. (Via YouTube / YaleUniversity)

The effort is headed up by animal rights activist Steven Wise, who tells The Huffington Post it would require future litigation to spell out chimpanzees' rights post-captivity. (Via Flickr / foshie)

"They're not really human rights at that point. They're chimpanzee rights. What chimpanzee rights are appropriate for chimpanzees? If you're suing, if you're using case law, then it's one case at a time."

A writer for io9 suggests this is just the start, "Poised to be the first of many — including cases to defend the rights of gorillas, orangutans, elephants, whales, and dolphins."

The New York Times notes the personhood lawsuit would be the third major development involving chimpanzees in 2013. 

Earlier this year, the National Institutes of Health moved to retire most research chimps. And the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed declaring chimpanzees an endangered species.
- See more at: http://www.newsy.com/videos/chimpanzee-lawsuit-seeks-freedom-personhood-for-apes/#sthash.1kKW655o.dpuf

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Humans emerged from male pig and female chimp, world's top geneticist says

Humans emerged from male pig and female chimp, world's top geneticist says


(University of Georgia's…)
LONDON: Humans are actually hybrids, who emerged as an offspring of a male pig and a female chimpanzee, according to one of the world's leading geneticist.
Turning the theory of human ancestry on its head, Dr Eugene McCarthy — one of the world's leading authorities on hybridization in animals from the University of Georgia has suggested that humans didn't evolve from just apes but was a backcross hybrid of a chimpanzee and pigs.
His hypothesis is based on the fact that though humans have many features in common with chimps, there are a lot more that don't correspond to any other primates. He then suggests that there is only one animal in the animal kingdom that has all of the traits which distinguish humans from our primate cousins.
"What is this other animal that has all these traits? The answer is Sus scrofa - the ordinary pig" he says.
He explains: "Genetically, we're close to chimpanzees, and yet we have many physical traits that distinguish us from chimpanzees. One fact, however, suggests the need for an open mind: as it turns out, many features that distinguish humans from chimpanzees also distinguish them from all other primates. Features found in human beings, but not in other primates, cannot be accounted for by hybridization of a primate with some other primate. If hybridization is to explain such features, the cross will have to be between a chimpanzee and a non-primate - an unusual, distant cross to create an unusual creature."
Dr McCarthy suggests that Charles Darwin told only half the story of human evolution.
"We believe that humans are related to chimpanzees because humans share so many traits with chimpanzees. Is it not rational then also, if pigs have all the traits that distinguish humans from other primates, to suppose that humans are also related to pigs? Let us take it as our hypothesis, then, that humans are the product of ancient hybridization between pig and chimpanzee," he said.
According to Dr McCarthy, if we compare humans with non-mammals or invertebrates like the crocodile, bullfrog, octopus, dragonfly and starfish, pigs and chimpanzees suddenly seem quite similar to humans.
Pigs and chimpanzees differ in chromosome counts. The opinion is often expressed that when two animals differ in this way, they cannot produce fertile hybrids.. This rule is, however, only a generalization. While such differences do tend to have an adverse effect on the fertility of hybrid offspring, it is also true that many different types of crosses in which the parents differ in chromosome counts produce hybrids that capable themselves of producing offspring.
There is substantial evidence supporting the idea that very distantly related mammals can mate and produce a hybrid.
Another suggestive fact, Dr McCarthy says is the frequent use of pigs in the surgical treatment of human beings. Pig heart valves are used to replace those of human coronary patients. Pig skin is used in the treatment of human burn victims. "Serious efforts are now underway to transplant kidneys and other organs from pigs into human beings. Why are pigs suited for such purposes? Why not goats, dogs, or bears - animals that, in terms of taxonomic classification, are no more distantly related to human beings than pigs?," he said.
"It might seem unlikely that a pig and a chimpanzee would choose to mate, but their behaviour patterns and reproductive anatomy does, in fact, make them compatible. It is, of course, a well-established fact that animals sometimes attempt to mate with individuals that are unlike themselves, even in a natural setting, and that many of these crosses successfully produce hybrid offspring," he adds.
Dr Eugene McCarthy says that the fact that even modern-day humans are relatively infertile may be significant in this connection.
"If a hybrid population does not die out altogether, it will tend to improve in fertility with each passing generation under the pressure of natural selection. Fossils indicate that we have had at least 200,000 years to recover our fertility since the time that the first modern humans (Homo sapiens) appeared. The earliest creatures generally recognized as human ancestors (Ardipithecus, Orrorin) date to about six million years ago. So our fertility has had a very long time to improve. If we have been recovering for thousands of generations and still show obvious symptoms of sterility, then our earliest human ancestors, if they were hybrids, must have suffered from an infertility that was quite severe. This line of reasoning, too, suggests that the chimpanzee might have produced Homo sapiens by crossing with a genetically incompatible mate, possibly even one outside the primate order," he said.

Friday, November 29, 2013

Don't forget to buy your 2014 Mount Holly Calendar!!

There is still time to buy your

2014 Mount Holly Calendar

on SALE 
in the 


BELMONT GENERAL STORE
and

COMMUNITY CENTER/LIBRARY
E
njoy the beauty of Mount Holly 
throughout the year

It's also a great holiday gift for
your family and friends

Your purchase of the Mount Holly Calendar helps support community activities like the annual Christmas Party and New Year's Eve on Star Lake

COMET ISON LIVES

COMET ISON LIVES:  Cancel the funeral. Comet ISON is back from the dead. Yesterday, Nov. 28th, Comet ISON flew through the sun's atmosphere and appeared to disintegrate before the cameras of several NASA and ESA spacecraft. This prompted reports of the comet's demise. Today, the comet has revived and is rapidly brightening.  Visithttp://spaceweather.com for images and updates.

You are subscribed to the Space Weather mailing list, a free service of Spaceweather.com: http://spaceweather.com/services/ .

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Comet ISON Disintegrates

Posted by Joe McDonald

Space Weather News for  Nov. 28, 2013
http://spaceweather.com

RIP, Comet ISON? Evidence is mounting that Comet ISON did not survive its brush with the sun on Nov. 28th.  SOHO coronagraph images show the comet apparently disintegrating, while first-look images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory did not detect the comet moving along its expected path through the sun's atmosphere. Checkhttp://spaceweather.com for movies and updates.

UNIQUE CHRISTMAS GIFT:  Would you like to give someone a solar flare for Christmas?  Click here to find out how:https://spaceweatherphone.com/SMSSignup/phone_sign_up.php?Signup_Type=BuySpaceWeatherGift

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

"Tink Tailor Soldier Spy" December Movie Offering in Ludlow, Dec. 14

"Tink Tailor Soldier Spy"  December Movie Offering in Ludlow, Dec. 14
 
FOLA's (Friends of Ludlow Auditorium) final 2013 movie will be a classic spy thriller that will keep everyone guessing until the final conclusion.  The movie, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", will be displayed at the Ludlow Town Hall Auditorium on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 7 PM.

"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" is an adaptation of John Le Carré's novel about an ex-British agent who emerges from retirement to expose a mole in MI6.

Set in England in 1973, British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) head Control (John Hurt) and his top-ranking lieutenant George Smiley (Gary Oldman) are both forced into retirement after a mission involving respected secret agent Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong) turns unexpectedly deadly. As the Cold War continues to escalate, suspicions of a Soviet double agent begin to grow within SIS.

Smiley is secretly reemployed by the SIS in order to root out the double agent suspected of sharing top-secret British intelligence with the Soviets. Meanwhile, as Smiley and his new partner Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch) begin systematically examining all of the official missions and records involving MI6, the veteran spy can't help but recall an encounter he once had with Karla, a dangerous Russian operative, years prior.

At first, uncovering the identity of the infiltrator seems nearly impossible. Smiley and Guillam get a big break, however, when undercover agent Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) reveals that he has fallen for a mysterious woman in Turkey named Irina (Svetlana Khodchenkova), who may have a crucial lead. Later, upon learning that Control had comprised a list of five possible suspects, code-named Tinker (Toby Jones), Tailor (Colin Firth), Soldier (Ciarán Hinds), Poor Man (David Dencik), and Beggar Man -- none other than Smiley himself -- the investigation begins to heat up again.

The movie is free and open to everyone; donations are appreciated. The popcorn will be supplied by Berkshire Bank. For information, go to the FOLA web site at www.fola.us or call 802-228-7239.

Friday, November 22, 2013

New England Culinary Institute’s sixth annual Culinary Classic Competition


 

NECI HOLDS SIXTH ANNUAL CULINARY CLASSIC COMPETITIOn


Philip Stevens
Digital Content Coordinator
56 College Street
Montpelier, Vermont 05602
(802) 225-3356
philip.stevens@neci.edu
Local Talent
11-15-2013. Montpelier. At New England Culinary Institute’s Sixth annual Culinary Classic Competition culinary students from Ten Vermont Technical Schools raced to create three dishes in an hour and a half—a white bean, tomato and greens soup appetizer, a chicken breast with thyme buerre blanc and risotto entrée and a sweet crêpe dessert. The clock was ticking as each team opened their box of mystery ingredients and started chopping and began their mise en place (French for setting up your ingredients). Tension was high and the low murmur of the crowd grew to applause as the teams, in their black caps, striped caps and black toques and white toques stepped back from their stations ninety minutes later.
The judges, NECI’s own Chef Lyndon Virkler, Chef Kathleen Kessler, and Chef Jean-Louis Gerin watched from their dais at the head of the room, nodding and speaking in hushed tones. Each judge tasted each dish.
And the winner?
St. Johnsbury Academy—Chef David Hale, instructor, team members Samantha Jeffrey (St. Johnsbury, VT), Max Deaton (St. Johnsbury, VT), Katelyn Hartwell (Lyndonville, VT). Second place went to the Hartford Career and Technology Center team, led by Chef Aron Tomlinson; Charlie Moye (Canaan, NH), Heather Bailey (Enfield, NH), and Kyle Perkins (Quechee, VT). Third place went to the River Valley Technical Center team, led by Chef David Groenewold; Brenna Gallagher (Landgdon, NH), Lelsey Hildreth (Springfield, VT), and Elizabeth Manuel (Mt. Holly, VT)
I am really proud of our team. Preparation for the classic was a little chaotic, but Katelyn, Sam and Max crammed a whole bunch of practices into a short amount of time. They worked very hard and it was really great to see them working with professional efficiency at the competition. Each one of them is very excited about attending NECI and winning has given them a huge boost. – Chef David Hale, St. Johnsbury Academy
The team really came together and utilized each other’s abilities. They communicated well, and listened to one another while they prepared. The strength of the team really came down to blending each members respected talents. The rest of the class was also super supportive in pushing the group to do their best. I couldn’t be more proud.
—Chef Aron Tomlinson, Hartford Career and Technology Center
The top three teams will receive scholarships to New England Culinary Institute of up to $4000 for each team member.
Full list of 2013 New England Culinary Institute Culinary Classic participating teams:
Center for Technology, Essex Junction
Green Mountain Technology and Career Center, Hyde Park
Hartford Area Career and Technical Center, White River Junction
Randolph Technical Career Center, Randolph
River Bend Career and Technical Center, Bradford
River Valley Technical Center, Springfield
Southwest Vermont Career Development Center, Bennington
St. Johnsbury Academy, St. Johnsbury
Stafford Technical Center, Rutland
Windham Regional Career Center, Brattleboro
Check out photos of the event on NECI’s Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/necidotedu.
At New England Culinary Institute our restaurants are our classrooms. Small classes, hands-on learning, the best instructors in the business, on-line classes, fabulous internships and endless career opportunities are just a few of the NECI advantages.
To learn more about NECI’s programs and restaurants, go to www.neci.edu.

What's Happening at LPCTV



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BRTV Returns to the Studio

Now that construction of our new TV and performance studio is complete, community producers, including the students in Black River High School's Media Studies class are putting it to use. In the photo above, Media Studies students are at work producing their first episode of this year's BRTV, an ongoing news and entertainment show that has gone through several incarnations over the years.  During previous years, BRTV was produced around school and on LPCTV's cramped set in its old space in Ludlow Elementary School.  "We are thrilled to finally open the doors to the students, and for the first time, really be able to teach them about TV studio production, and have them create their own programming in a professional studio", said LPCTV Executive Director Patrick Cody. "It's a traditional 3-camera studio with nice lighting, a green screen wall, good sound, and plenty of space."
Volunteer Appreciation: Getting the Job Done
We've been operating in the new space in the Ludlow Community Center complex for over 6 months now, and, while we are fully operational, there is much still to be done. It is a continual work-in-progress, yet each week there is a noticeable difference. And we have just completed a major piece recently, in the completion of the build-out of the TV and performance studio. This could not have been accomplished without the support of our donors, which include dozens of local individuals, businesses, and foundations, including the Okemo Community Challenge, Vermont Arts Council, and Ludlow Enterprise Fund. In addition, we would not be where we are in the project without the dedicated support of our volunteers. Numerous folks have invested "sweat equity" into LPCTV's new facility, including Board members Sharon Bixby and Darren Williams, shown above, putting the final touches on a new paint job on our camera pedestals.

Consider Making End-of-Year Contribution to Our Phase 2 Building Fund

Now that we are in the building and Phase 1 has been completed - with the TV / performance studio as the centerpiece - we are preparing to move forward with Phase 2. We are still doing some "behind the scenes" preparation work, but with the end-of-the-year approaching, we are asking past donors and potential new donors to consider making a contribution towards this Phase 2 fund. Read more about it and our building project in general by clicking here. You can also make a tax-deductible contribution on that web page, by clicking on the "Donate" button, which will take you to PayPal, where donations may be made via PayPal account or credit card.

Membership Drive
We are currently holding our membership drive. Members are the driving force behind LPCTV; without them, we would not be able to bring hundreds of hours of community programming to our local TV channels each year. Many of you have already signed up or renewed - and if so, thank you (you should have received a thank you / donation receipt, and if. If you have not already done so, please consider becoming a member right now by visiting the membership page. We also invite you to come see our new facility, in the Ludlow Community Center complex (next door to Black River Good Neighbors), 37C Main St. in Ludlow.

Thanks to Community Producers
A big shout out has to go to those who help make local TV happen by bringing community programming to LPCTV. For starters, we had Chris Miele, shooting Black River HS Boys & Girls soccer, picking up where volunteer-extraordinaire Bruce Perry left off, with some help with commentary from Bob Gilmore and Ted Stryhas. Then there's Sharon Bixby, who has done quite a bit of production with the Black River Academy Museum, shooting the recent presentation on China from Brigid Sullivan & David Hoeh, as well as the "Antiques Road Show" series (a 4-part series, all of which have been airing on LPCTV and are on LPCTV.org). Also, Brigid Sullivan has been busy borrowing LPCTV's cameras, shooting various meetings in Mount Holly as well as the recent community forum on prescription drugs, which followed the screening of the new Bess O'Brien film, "Hungry Heart", at Ludlow Town Hall (this program has not yet been televised; just giving you a "sneak preview"..stay tuned next week when it will be airing on Ch. 8, starting Thanksgiving Day).

Local Programming Highlights
We are happy to be bringing high volumes of community programming to LPCTV's channels. As mentioned above, we have the BRAM Antique Road Show series (all 4 parts to play again beginning Tues. 11/26). We also have the recent Chamber of Commerce Legislative Forum, recorded at the Fletcher Memorial Library in Ludlow. As mentioned above, beginning on Thanksgiving Day, we will begin televising the community forum on prescription drugs (that accompanied the Hungry Heart screening in Ludlow). Also on Thanksgiving Day on Ch. 8, we will begin televising the recent presentation from "Astro Al" Boudreau on Comet ISON, which is now visible to the naked eye as it travels through Earth's orbit. For complete program listings check the schedules for Channel 8 (Ch. 20 in Mt. Holly) and Channel 10 (Ch. 21 in Mt. Holly).  All of these local programs can also be seen on our website, which we continue to update daily.




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