Williston Observer

Oct. 28, 2010

By Stephanie Choate

Observer staff

The first week of classes at Florida International University in Miami was a breeze for Lyndon native Sarah Stenson.

Stenson had already taken three college courses while she was in high school, which helped her know what to expect and how to handle it.

“The beginning of classes would not have gone by easy if I hadn’t done it,” 18-year-old Stenson said. “I knew what to expect coming in, so I wasn’t so nervous. I wasn’t freaking out as much as I would have been.”

Every Vermont high school student is entitled to one free college course at most schools in the state, including the University of Vermont, Champlain College and Community College of Vermont.

Students can earn college and high school credit, saving tuition money and getting ahead.

“I think it’s a tremendous help,” said Katie Mobley, associate director of the secondary education initiative at CCV. “It gives students a taste of the future.”

A college course can help students figure out if a certain major — or college in general — is right for them. It can motivate students to do better in high school, too.

“When you play a sport with someone more skilled than you, often your game raises a little,” Mobley said. “When high school students have a chance to be in a college environment and have rich discussions and see the dynamics that go on, it’s benefiting them in that experience and in what they take back to high school.”

Nichole Hathaway, who administers the program at UVM, said she usually suggests that students take a lower-level course, but she makes exceptions for academically advanced students. UVM offers summer, evening and online courses, which can fit in with a high school student’s schedule.

At CCV, students must first take the free 13-week course Introduction to College Studies. The course teaches skills that help students succeed in college, including time management, test-taking, stress management and applying for financial aid.

Stenson opted to take a medical terminology class, which helped her decide to become a nursing major. She liked the class so much that she and her mother decided to continue with college courses, taking an additional two classes.

“I really liked the idea of getting a jump-start on college,” Stenson said.

Oct. 28, 2010

CHIEF REMINDS TRICK-OR-TREATERS TO BE SAFE

Williston Police Chief Roy Nelson is reminding trick-or-treaters to make sure they wear light-colored clothing short enough to prevent tripping and to add reflectors. The suggestion is part of a series of recommendations the chief released to ensure that parents and children have a happy and safe Halloween season.

Among the recommendations are that parents make sure children can see well through their face masks, that children stay within their neighborhoods and visit homes they know and that trick-or-treaters watch out for traffic.

The chief also reminds parents to examine candy before allowing children to eat the treats, recommends that parents accompany their children while trick-or-treating and advises trick-or-treaters to go out early and carry flashlights. Trick-or-treaters and parents should only give and accept wrapped or packaged candy.

In addition to the safety tips, trick-or-treaters can look for Williston police officers in area neighborhoods early in the evening on Halloween. The officers will be giving children fluorescent glow bracelets to wear while trick-or-treating.

If parents suspect candy tampering, they should contact the Williston Police Department at 878-6611.

Domestic assault

Tracie N. Myers, 21, and Shawn M. Dudley, 22, both of Williston, were charged with domestic assault on Sept. 2, following an altercation at Dudley’s residence, according to police reports. A witness told police both Myers and Dudley were “physically aggressive to one another,” the report notes.

Fraud investigation

The Williston Police Department is investigating several fraudulent transactions that occurred at local Williston businesses. It appears the male offender is using credit cards stolen from various fitness centers throughout Vermont, and has charged more than $11,000 in merchandise, according to police reports.

Police are asking for assistance from the public in identifying the man involved. If anyone has information regarding his identity, contact the Williston Police Department at 878-6611.

Custodial interference

Patricia Pickett, 33, of Williston was charged with custodial interference after allegedly violating a family court agreement on Oct. 5, according to police reports. No other information was released.

Littering

On Oct. 19, police received a report from SD Ireland that several tires were left at the front entrance of the company’s quarry, according to police reports. Police who responded found 13 tires “dumped at this location on Brownell Road,” the report notes. Anyone with information is asked to call Williston Police at 878-6611.

Possession of marijuana

Following a motor vehicle stop on Oct. 20, Chelsea Mitchell, 21, of Shelburne was charged with possession of 2 grams of marijuana, according to police reports. No other information was released.

False pretenses

Nicholas Grant, 20, of Essex and a 17-year-old, also of Essex, were charged with false pretenses on Oct. 20 after attempting to cash a stolen check from a local business, according to police reports. They were cited to appear in court.

Driving under the influence

• Following a motor vehicle accident on Sept. 18, Beau G. Logan, 24, of South Burlington was charged with driving under the influence, according to police reports. His blood alcohol concentration was .160, the report notes. No other information was released.

• On Oct. 7, Joseph M. Flora, 59, of Milton was charged with driving under the influence, according to police reports. No other information was released. He was cited to appear in court.

• Following a motor vehicle stop on Oct. 23, Laurance A. Reagan, 55, of St. John, Virgin Islands was charged with driving under the influence, according to police reports. His blood alcohol concentration was .125, the report notes. The legal limit for driving in Vermont is .08. He was cited to appear in court on Nov. 4.

Child cruelty

After receiving a report on Oct. 20 regarding an intoxicated woman with a child at a local store, Stacy Phelps, 38, of Colchester was charged with driving under the influence and cruelty to a child, according to police reports. Phelps was allegedly driving with a 3-year-old in the vehicle, and had a blood alcohol concentration of .132, according to the report. She was cited to appear in court.

Goose killed

A Williston resident reported to police on Oct. 20 that she heard gunshots across from her home and then a “goose fell out of the sky,” and was still alive, according to police reports. Police had to “put down” the goose and were unable to find any hunters in the area, the report notes.

Road rage

A Williston resident reported to police on Oct. 21 that a burgundy Ford F-150 truck hit the back of his vehicle in traffic and the male driver, who had “road rage” left the scene, according to police reports. He was described as skinny and in his 50s, the report notes. Anyone with information is asked to call Williston Police at 878-6611.

Underage drinking

Police responded to a report of a loud party on Coyote Lane on Oct. 22 and issued a violation for underage drinking, according to police reports. No other information was released.

Theft

• An Apple iBook computer was reported stolen from an unlocked vehicle parked at Hannaford on Oct. 22, according to police reports. Anyone with information is asked to call Williston Police at 878-6611.

• A purse was stolen from a shopping cart at Shaw’s on Oct. 22, according to police reports.

Police remind residents to never leave personal belongings unattended while shopping.

Driving with suspended license

• Following a motor vehicle stop on Oct. 23, Rodney W. Thompson, 29, of Bristol was charged with driving with a suspended license, according to police reports. He was cited to appear in court.

• Following a motor vehicle stop on Sept. 5, Robert J. Mossey, 35, of Colchester was charged with driving with a suspended license-criminal, fourth offense, according to police reports. He was also issued a warning for texting while driving, the report notes. He was cited to appear in court.

Fraud

A Ferrisburgh resident called police on Oct. 24 to report that two of his stolen credit cards were used to purchase almost $5,000 in merchandise at Best Buy on Oct. 23, according to police reports. The investigation is ongoing.

Vandalism

Yellow Freight Systems on Krupp Drive reported to police on Oct. 25 that a window was smashed in what police reports described as a “possible attempted B&E (breaking and entering).”  No other information was available as of press time.

Bombs away

A Williston family was visited by police after a report on Aug. 20 that some visiting friends had said the children were making “little bombs and setting them off,” according to police reports. Police explained the danger to the children, and also informed the parents, the report notes.

Wanted person

Following a motor vehicle stop on Sept. 9, driver Jenna Schwarz, 23, of Marshfield was charged with driving with a suspended license-criminal, according to police reports. Schwarz was later released and cited to appear in court, the report notes.

Her passenger, Sundance Seals, 19, of Burlington was wanted on an outstanding warrant and was taken to Chittenden County Correctional Center, according to the report.

My Halloween Wacky Cake

Oct. 28, 2010

By Ginger Isham

This recipe has been around for many years. It would make a festive dessert Oct. 31. I used a decorating idea from my favorite cookbook, which is more than 25 years old — Betty Crocker.

Wacky Cake

2 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar (I use 1 1/4)

4 1/2 tablespoons cocoa (unsweetened powder)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

pinch of salt

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup oil

1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar

Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl. Make 3 holes in the mixture. In one hole put the vanilla, in another hole put the vinegar and in last hole pour the oil. Pour 1 1/2 cups water over all and mix until smooth. I use a whip. Pour batter into a 17-by-11-inch greased jellyroll pan (you could substitute a 9-by-13-inch and an 8-by-8-inch baking pan). Bake at 325 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes. This makes a thin sheet cake. When cool, frost with the following:

Orange Butter Cream Icing

3 cups confectioners sugar

1/3 cup soft butter

4 to 5 tablespoons orange juice (I like the kind with pulp or use fresh squeezed)

Whip all together until smooth. Stir in 1 drop of red food coloring and 2 drops of yellow food coloring to make an orange colored icing. Frost the sheet cake. Place in fridge for a few minutes until icing is set. Cut into squares and decorate as follows:

Place 4 to 5 drops of green food coloring on an almost flat plate — very shallow with ridges around edge. Add 1/8 teaspoon water. Dip small cookie cutters, one at a time, into the food coloring and press lightly on each cake square to make the outline of the cookie cutter.

You could also sprinkle orange Jell-o granules in center of designs, add colored sprinkles, press candy corn in the shape of a circle with points toward the center, or use black licorice.

Store covered in a cool place.

Roasted pumpkin seeds

When cutting your jack-o-lanterns save those pumpkin seeds and roast them.

Wash and dry pumpkin seeds.

For approximately 2 cups of seeds, mix 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon curry powder, 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt (I use Mrs. Dash, which is salt- and MSG-free) and 1/4 teaspoon salt (I use a pinch of salt). Mix with seeds on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Cool and store in tight container.

Pumpkins seeds contain good fats, magnesium and iron.

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

Enter the third party

Oct. 28, 2010

By Kayla Purvis

Democrats. Republicans. Teas? America’s flawed, two-party system is being pushed away by the emerging powerhouse called the Tea Party. Inspired by the 1773 protest against the British government in America, the Tea Party’s main request is this: smaller government, please!

We have our Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives. We have extremes on both sides, and we have happy mediums in the middle. But what it really comes down to are two parties: Democratic and Republican. In America, these are our parties, and they are the immodest majority.

Parties are inevitable. James Madison wrote in “The Federalist No. 10,” “As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed.” And naturally, people with like opinions congregate. Madison was afraid of factions, or interest groups, but was under no impression that they could be properly prevented in the United States of America: “There are two methods of curing the mischiefs of faction: the one, by removing its causes; the other, by controlling its effects,” Madison wrote. In America, good luck conforming the populace to the same opinion and taking away its liberty!

Taking Madison’s reasoning that parties are unavoidable, I do not protest their existence. I do, however, disagree with how divided our country has become because we only have two main parties. Most of us, and I am sometimes guilty of this myself, will dismiss a politician based on his or her proclaimed party affiliation. There is such a rivalry between our parties that we are extremely divided on issues. This also makes it quite easy for one party to gain control of the Senate and the House, as well as the presidency.

The Tea Party has disrupted this long-standing system. There is now a third party, though it is not officially recognized as a party. And the Tea Party makes waves. Tea Partiers know what they want, and they will not hesitate to let you know exactly what that is: smaller government, fewer taxes, more power given back to states and the people. It is, after all, rightfully ours.

I attended a Tea Party rally in Montpelier my sophomore year of high school, when the Tea Party was just starting to get some attention. There was a giant (and I mean giant) list of taxes the party had on display. I was shocked to learn that there is a death tax. Yep, you are taxed for dying. I was also enlightened to the idea that the government had overstepped its place. I had never studied nor questioned the government prior to listening to the voices at that rally.

Today, I agree that the government is growing too big and that it intervenes in too many places that are, constitutionally and historically, not its place. I also agree that the government has a bad habit of raising taxes unnecessarily.

So I embrace the Tea Party, not just because I agree with some of its views, but because it is making waves in American politics and I appreciate the change.

One of the Tea Party’s recent public happenings was Christine O’Donnell’s misunderstanding of the Constitution in her recent Delaware Senate debate against Chris Coons. Arguing that it should be the decision of local schools whether or not they choose creationism as an equal theory to evolution, O’Donnell asked where in the Constitution it establishes separation of church and state. Even though the First Amendment doesn’t use those exact words, it is clearly implied that the separation is what was intended.

Being the very first sentence in the very first Amendment, O’Donnell’s question got a lot of publicity. Being a Tea Party candidate, O’Donnell’s gaffe was both good and bad for the party — got their name out there, but in an embarrassing instance.

I think the rise of the Tea Party will make positive, and maybe drastic, changes to America’s political disposition. It is good for our divisive two-party system.

I would like to use the end of the column to remind everyone to go out and vote on Election Day, Nov. 2!

Williston resident Kayla Purvis is a senior at Champlain Valley Union High School.

On amending the Constitution

Oct. 28, 2010

By Steve Mount

You’ll notice an unusual item on your ballot on Nov. 2 — a vote on an amendment to the Vermont Constitution. Its appearance gives me a chance to discuss the long road that an amendment to the Vermont Constitution has to travel, and how widely the procedure varies from amending the U.S. Constitution.

The process for amending any constitution should not be an easy one — a constitution is the basic law of a political unit, and provides a stable foundation that can be relied on for years, decades, even centuries.

The process of amending the U.S. Constitution has a few different paths, not all of which have been taken.

The most common path is for the Congress to vote, by two-thirds concurrence in both houses, to recommend an amendment. It has never been an easy thing to get a two-thirds vote in Congress, and this high bar reflects the framers’ thoughts that changes should only come with broad consensus.

After those votes, however, there is a final stage that can be just as hard to overcome. The amendment is then sent to the states, where three-quarters of them must ratify the amendment.

The states can ratify in one of two ways — by majority votes of each state’s legislature (which is most often another two-part hurdle) or, if directed by the amendment itself, by a special ratifying convention called in each state.

This second option may seem like a bit of an end-run around the legislatures, and to some degree it is. Depending on state law, however, it is the executive or legislature that must convene the convention, and a determined governor or legislature could refuse to do so or at least drag its heels.

In the case of Vermont, heel-dragging is not an option. The responsibility to convene a convention is given to the governor, who has only 60 days following an amendment proposal to call the convention. The process then involves the voters, who choose 14 people from a list of 28 compiled by the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the house.

The election must take place between three and 12 months after the governor’s call, and the convention itself must take place 20 to 30 days after the election. The convention is free to conduct itself in any way it decides, and a majority vote on the proposed amendment, either way, decides the issue.

The convention route for a constitutional amendment has only been used once — to ratify the 21st Amendment, which repealed the 18th Amendment and made liquor again legal in the United States.

The second, unused method for proposing amendments is by a convention of all the states. Many fear what amendments could come out of such a convention, and that fear has, in my opinion, been the main reason that many resist any call for an amendment convention.

Amending the Vermont Constitution is a longer process, by design.

First, amendments may only be proposed every four years, beginning in 1975. The Senate must initiate the process and must approve the amendment by two-thirds vote. The House must then approve the amendment by a majority vote. The last year an amendment could be proposed was 2007 and the next is 2011.

Once this first hurdle is crossed, the amendment must lay dormant until the next two-year legislative session. The amendment is then taken up again and must be approved by a majority of both houses of the Legislature. If those votes are successful, the amendment has one final hurdle — the people.

That is the stage the voting age amendment has reached this year. If a majority of Vermonters approve the amendment, it will become a part of our Constitution; if not, it will have to wait until 2011 for another go.

Both methods have pros and cons. The method used by Vermont would probably be unworkable for an electorate on the scale of the United States, so even though there is value in getting the direct voice of the people, the methods already in place work well enough. The nation needs a way to rapidly change its Constitution in a time of crisis, so the built-in speed bumps in the Vermont amendment process could actually be dangerous for the federal Constitution.

When you go to the polls next week, be sure not to miss the question on the constitutional amendment presented to you. It is a rare opportunity for you to voice how our Constitution should be constructed.

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.