Williston Observer

Buckle up, settle down

Police received a report on Dec. 15 of someone “driving like an idiot” down Essex Road with several people in the car, “throwing things out the window” and almost causing accidents, according to police reports. Police located the vehicle, which had six people inside, but only five seatbelts, according to the report. Two of the passengers “got out of the vehicle and walked,” the report notes.

 

Petty larceny at WCS

A male juvenile was cited on a charge of petit larceny after allegedly stealing $290 from an unnamed victim at Williston Central School, according to police reports. No other information was released.

 

Wiper caper

Windshield wipers were stolen off a car parked at the Falcon Manor Senior Living complex in Blair Park during the night of Dec. 14, according to police reports. Anyone with information is asked to call Williston Police at 878-6611.

 

Treats taken, twice

Ice cream, $200 worth, was stolen from a parked van on Krupp Drive on Dec. 15, according to police reports. Ice cream has been stolen once before, the report notes. In the second instance, a padlock was cut off the van to access the ice cream, according to the report. Anyone with information is asked to call Williston Police at 878-6611.

 

Theft from Best Buy

Dylan Wissell, 19, of Williston was cited to appear in court on a charge of retail theft after allegedly stealing almost $155 worth of merchandise from Best Buy on Dec. 17, according to police reports.

 

Domestic assault

Natalie Kirk, 19, of Williston was cited on a charge of domestic assault on Dec. 16, according to police reports. Kirk got into an argument with her mother, which escalated into hair pulling, spitting and throwing of glass and holiday ornaments, according to a police affidavit. Kirk told police in a written statement that she and her mother were “throwing breakable items.”

Police observed and took photos of “broken glass and ornaments throughout the kitchen, dining room, and hallway,” according to the affidavit.

 

Driving under the influence

• After police responded to a report of an intoxicated woman in Wal-Mart on Dec. 16, Antoinette Sharbonneau, 35, of Colchester was cited on a charge of driving under the influence “on drugs” while attempting to drive out of the Wal-Mart parking lot, according to police reports. No other information was released.

• Following a motor vehicle stop on Dec. 18, Susan L. Zivitski, 47, of Williston was cited on a charge of driving under the influence, according to police reports. Her blood alcohol test registered .181, the report notes. The legal limit for driving in Vermont is .08. Zivitski was later “detoxed” at Chittenden County Correctional Center, according to the report.

• While on a “DUI patrol” in Winooski, Williston Police cited Mark E. Howrigan, 40, of Fairfield on a charge of driving under the influence. His blood alcohol test registered .106, according to the report. He was cited to appear in court.

• Following a motor vehicle stop on Dec. 19, Kathryn E. Heney, 29, of Williston was cited on a charge of driving under the influence, according to police reports. No other information was available.

 

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Crowd pleasers

Dec. 23, 2009

By Ginger Isham

We have a few fish lovers in our large Isham family and they are scattered. Any kind of beef is welcomed, and I guess that is because the family comes from generations of farmers. One of the following recipes is for those who like seafood and the other is for those of you who prefer the beef.

 

Seafood Casserole

(From Gooseberry Patch “Holidays at Home” cookbook)

1/2 cup each of chopped green pepper, onion and celery

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup butter (can use less, or use just olive oil or mix the two)

2/3 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon paprika

dash of red pepper

10-ounce can of cream of shrimp soup

2 cups milk

16 ounces crabmeat

2 pounds raw shrimp, peeled

8-ounce can water chestnuts

2 tablespoons soft butter

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Sauté the onion, pepper, celery and mushrooms in butter. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute. Add seasonings and stir in soup and milk. Cook until mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Combine the crabmeat, shrimp and water chestnuts and put in a 2-quart casserole. Pour the sauce over all and sprinkle with mixture of butter, cheese and breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Serves 8.

 

Meatballs with Cranberry Glaze

2 pounds of very lean ground beef

1 cup crushed corn flakes

1/2 cup parsley

2 eggs

2 tablespoons soy sauce

dash of pepper

1 tablespoon minced onion

1/3 cup ketchup

16-ounce can of jellied cranberry sauce

12 ounces of chili sauce

1 or 2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Mix the beef, eggs, corn flakes, parsley, soy sauce, pepper, onion and ketchup. Gently form into 1-inch balls. Place them into a large, glass, greased baking dish. Heat and stir the rest of the ingredients in a saucepan and pour this sauce over the meatballs. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Serve as an appetizer or on top of rice or noodles. You may substitute another meatball recipe that is a family favorite.

 

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy New Year!

 

Ginger Isham lives with her husband on a fifth generation family farm on Oak Hill Rd.

 

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Despite its flaws, pass the bill

Dec. 23, 2009

By Steve Mount

Democrats are in a fine mess now. The public is watching closely to see what kind of health care reform the Democrats can actually pass. Even with sizable majorities in both houses of Congress, the 60-vote majority needed to stop debate in the Senate has been hard to find.

Part of the problem is one of the Democratic Party’s strengths — the fact that it is a large tent, happy to encompass a wide diversity of opinion and position. This does, however, make the party vulnerable to dissenters.

A major problem recently has been Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, who threatened to hold up the health care bill unless he managed to have anti-abortion language added. Despite the opposition of many Democrats, Nelson had his way.

Independent Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman is another problem. He was, of course, a long-time Democrat, but defected from the party to run as an independent when primary voters managed to knock him out of the running for his seat as a Democrat in 2006. He has since been something of a curmudgeon, becoming an unknown quantity. Will he stick with his previous statements or will he allow his position to shift with the political winds?

The job of a senator is to take how he feels about the issue at hand and combine that with how his constituents feel and his party’s platform. These three interests are often competing, and for Sens. Lieberman and Nelson, along with some others who have been on the fence, such as Maine Republicans Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, the pull of one interest can sway their statements, their negotiations, their votes.

The problem, from my perspective, is when things are this close (close, of course, being a relative term, since there are more than enough votes for the full-on health care reform bill, complete with consumer protections and a public option — the closeness is in that insane cloture vote), the vote of one senator can trump what’s right, what’s best for the country.

I understand former Gov. Howard Dean’s frustration, and his call for the health care bill, in its current stripped-down form, to be defeated by those who support true reform. I listened to his arguments with a wide-open mind. His suggestion is to kill the bill and use the reconciliation process, a special process for budget bills, which many have argued the health care bill can reasonably be considered, to pass something closer to what the House passed in November.

The biggest problem Dean has with the current bill is that it does nothing to combat the monopoly that the insurance industry has over the health care industry. In fact, it plays into the insurance industry’s hands by requiring the uninsured to buy insurance or face fines. The uninsured cannot choose a government-run plan, because there isn’t one. The insurance industry loves this bill. The people want real choices, Dean says, and with this bill there are no choices.

He feels the real reforms in the bill, such as the elimination of pre-existing conditions, funding for wellness and prevention programs and support for community health care centers, should be pulled out, placed in a separate bill and passed on their own.

He also must feel, considering his former job as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, that the current bill will be a blow to Democrats in the 2010 elections — given the majorities Democrats have, we should be able to accomplish more. Will the voters give the Democrats another chance to get the work of government done?

Despite my deep respect for Gov. Dean, and the appeal of his suggestion, I don’t think Democrats should take the advice. The current bill is sorely lacking in many areas, but one thing is agreed upon by all left-wing commentators: This bill, as it is now, will save lives. Yes, it will add undeserved profit to the insurance industry; but in the end, people who otherwise would have died will live.

We can blame many, perhaps even most, of the problems with the bill on the necessity to accommodate the single, contrarian senator. But despite that, we do have a bill that does something substantive, something real and good. It gives the Democrats something to hang their hats on in 2010, even if it is not what all of us would have liked to see.

The bill should be supported, it should be passed, it should become law.

 

Steve Mount has been a Williston resident since 1996. He is a software engineer at GE Healthcare and is devoted to his family, his country and his Constitution. You can reach Steve at [email protected] or read his blog at http://saltyrain.com/ls.

 

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2034

Dec. 23, 2009

By Mike Benevento

Published in 1949, George Orwell’s “1984” foretold of a dystopian world that could exist in 1984 if nations kept marching toward ever-increasing centralized government control. In the novel, an oppressive regime — led by Big Brother — asserts complete dominance over its citizens. Protagonist Winston Smith vainly attempts to break free of the totalitarian government’s control but the all-knowing state wins out in the end.

Orwell did not write the tale as a prediction of the future. For him, the world of 1984 could possibly exist if the evil of the 1940s — especially in the repressive Soviet Union — was allowed to grow unchecked.

Along the same line, let’s take a peak at the United States 50 years after 1984 to see what the future may hold for our country — if things keep progressing as they have been. Although a multitude of changes are coming, I’ll concentrate on only a few due to column constraints.

By 2034, increased spiritual awareness, hybrid automobiles, judicial activism, legalized marijuana, sky-high national debt, rising economic and military threats by China, expensive college education, open borders and overcrowded prisons will be commonplace and easily acceptable to the public.

It took until around 2020, but the tech-savvy American public finally awoke to the true dangers of radiation. Oh, Americans already knew about the harmful effects of nuclear and solar radiation. But it took longer to comprehend the impact of radiation from cell phones, wireless Internet communications and cordless phones. When the medical community finally proved beyond any doubt their connection to the massive increase in brain tumors, the public demanded new technologies that minimized their damage.

In 2034, the United States no longer treats terrorists as ordinary criminals. The kid gloves came off after nuclear weapons from Pakistan and Iran fell into the wrong hands. When major cities in the United States suffered nuclear and dirty bomb attacks, the federal government reversed the Obama administration’s strategy of assigning enemy combatants the same rights as ordinary American citizens.

Health care nationalization started in December 2009, when Democrats passed comprehensive health care reform. The nation’s health care system no longer is the envy of the world. Despite the bureaucrats’ best effort, socialized medicine continues to deteriorate under centralized command. As predicted, higher prices, waiting lists, long lines and rationing exist for many health services.

If that was not insulting enough, allegedly in an effort to stem health care costs, the federal government — just like Big Brother — mandates peoples’ actions. Consumption of meat, soda, fast food and junk food are highly discouraged by government’s sin taxes on these unhealthy food choices.

Note: Given America’s culture of death, not surprisingly the only “health care” services not in short supply are abortion and euthanasia. No waiting lists, no rationing, no restrictions whatsoever. (The government naturally gravitated toward those two tools as an excellent way to optimize the size of the population.)

By 2034, Medicare and Social Security expenditures have seriously drained the federal government’s coffers. Without any significant changes, the two will continue to grow dramatically until they bankrupt the country. As more people retire, the equation becomes even more out of balance. Privatization — even if only partially — is finally considered by Washington as one of the solutions.

By 2034, the United States and most all other nations are slouching toward a New World Order. Under this organization, government dominance of the economy is geared for economic equality for all — essentially a redistribution of wealth. Over the years, the United States has willingly sacrificed its sovereignty until it now retains little authority over even its own destiny. The One World Government oversees that.

Climate justice actions cause some of the largest drags on the United States economy during 2034. Americans spend almost 2 percent of their income to help reduce carbon emissions throughout the world. Surprisingly, Americans find themselves trapped by treaties signed 20 years earlier, when activists declared global warming was a manmade phenomenon.

Born out of that consensus, reparations and mitigation strategies have an enormous negative impact on the economy. The developing nations demanded reparations from the United States and other “rich” nations because they were “affected” by “manmade” warming.

Earth’s inhabitants eventually realized that the planet naturally warms and cools over time and the sun’s radiation has the greatest impact on temperature changes. Only then did Americans discover that one of the key goals of the global warming crowd is transferring wealth from rich nations to poor ones under the guise of fighting climate change.

Big Brother will be quite proud.

 

Michael Benevento is a former Air Force fighter jet weapon systems officer. He has a bachelor’s degree in Military History and a master’s in International Relations. Mike resides in Williston with his wife Kristine and their two sons, Matthew and Calvin.

 

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Dec. 23, 2009

 

Act wisely with lead

Just before my first birthday, my parents bought their first home: an 850-square-foot, two-bedroom, eight-window house. And it was a stretch for them.

Several years later, my sister came along and my bedroom became ours. I slept next to the window and she slept opposite me. At some point in elementary school we had our usual physicals, complete with blood tests, and my parents learned that both of us had dangerous levels of lead in our blood. My levels, sleeping next to the window with the chipping paint, were significantly higher than my sister’s.

My parents promptly had all the windows removed and replaced with new, lead free ones. Only eight windows, but I’m sure it was still a stretch.

The neighbors of Old Creamery Road got their test results back recently. And there’s lead in the local stream at levels dangerous for both livestock and you and me to drink. The samples taken closest to the North Country Sportsman’s Club are highest.

Did my parents have absolute proof that the windows were the problem? No. But they acted because the health and safety of their girls were in danger. They set a good example for the Sportsman’s Club. Where there’s a risk to public health and you have an opportunity to take steps to minimize that risk, you do so with haste.

It is both the child in me who remembers my parents’ frantic worry and the environmentalist in me who has committed to a toxin-free world who urge the Sportsman’s Club to take action, clean up and stop using lead shot.

Jessica Edgerly, Community Organizer, Toxics Action Center

 

Thanks for your prayer cloths

Your generous coverage of project Pocket Prayer Cloths for Our Troops (“Knitting project ties citizens to soldiers,” Oct. 1) was like a pebble tossed into a placid pond … the ripple reached far and wide.

Seventy-seven identified knitters from Chittenden County, south to Brattleboro and north to Orleans in Vermont, some in Florida, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Missouri and two visitors to Vermont (one from Scotland, one from England) either knit or crocheted prayer cloths. Their work and the work of 50 anonymous donations of finished cloths enabled us to deliver over 2,300 prayer cloths to Daneen Roy, Family Readiness Center coordinator at the Vermont National Guard.

Thanks for your help.

Patricia G. Coleman, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Faith in Action Group, Charlotte

 

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