This Week’s News
Proctor settles on concept for town office
By RUSSELL JONES The Proctor Selectboard has settled on a design concept, the eleventh draft so far, for renovating the town offices to make them handicap accessible. They met for a special meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 6, to discuss what the selectboard and the designing firm said was a nearly finished design. “A lot of […]
Test scores show students close to poverty falling behind their peers
Free and reduced lunch program comes under fire By RUSSELL JONES A snapshot from the state of how local schools performed on state tests show a sharp disparity in performances between those on free and reduced lunches and those who are not on the program. Now, a new change in federal law could compound that […]
The Brandon Buzz
A tribute to Art Doty By BEN LAWTON Art Doty was indeed the father of mosquito control in the Otter Creek valley. During the early 70s, the Lake Dunmore /Fern lake Association had been doing some mosquito control, albeit primitive by modern standards. The group involved in the spraying asked Art if he would be […]
Youth Conservation Corps makes trails, bridges through marsh
By RUSSELL JONES WEST RUTLAND — A small group of dedicated youth have spent the past two weeks toiling in the hot sun, braving mud and mosquitos, to improve the quality of the trails in the West Rutland marsh. The Vermont Youth Conservation Corps has been working on a project in the area to clean […]
Otter Creek wetlands class change altered after opposition
By RUSSELL JONES BRANDON — The steering committee that has been working to reclassify the Otter Creek wetlands from a Class II wetlands to a Class I wetlands announced this past week that they would be seeking to change the classification only for parcels of land that have willing landowners. The move comes after the […]
Photos of the Week
Sports
Proctor softball ready for another run at finals
By RUSSELL JONES After a disappointing loss in the championship game last season, Proctor’s softball team is ready for action. Head coach Abby Bennett said she will have a young team that is motivated to get back to the finals. “They’re ready to work harder,” she said. “They know what they have to do and […]
Proctor baseball faces early hurdles to get back in race
By RUSSELL JONES Proctor baseball coach Jeff Patch knows his team will have their work cut out for them this spring, but if they can get over a couple of hurdles, they could make a run in the playoffs. “We’ll have to overcome losing four starters from last season,” Patch said. “We’re not going to […]
Otter girls tennis looks to be competitive, says first year coach Hailey Watters
By RUSSELL JONES The Otter Valley girls tennis program will return all but one player from last year. The squad will be made up of four seniors and three sophomores. “The expectations for the team this year are to be competitive with our opponents but to have fun as well,” coach Hailey Watters said. “This […]
Ov fields JV girls lacrosse team
By RUSSELL JONES Otter Valley will not field a varsity girls lacrosse team this season. However, they hope to have a varsity squad in the future, and this year’s junior varsity squad is helping to pave the way for that. “One of the things the girls are really good at is working together,” coach […]
OV boys lacrosse looking strong; fields large team with four All-staters
By RUSSELL JONES Otter Valley boys’ lacrosse coach Jesse Milliman has a large squad of varsity lacrosse players to work with this season, in fact it’s his largest ever in his five years as the OV coach. Milliman attributes this large influx mostly to the town recreation department’s success with the seventh- and eighth-grade programs. […]