Newport

NEWPORT — The Vermont Downtown Development Board recently allocated over $600,000 in grants to improve eight downtown areas, and some of this money is going to support sidewalk improvements in Newport.

Newport is set to receive $85,000 for safety improvements to one of downtown Newport’s busiest intersections, a priority identified in the recently completed Downtown and Waterfront Master Plan.

Money from the grant will be used to address the Fyfe, Main, and Second Street intersections.

The project includes extending the curbing and installing “rapid flashing beacons” at the intersection.

Fyfe will be slightly widened to accommodate delivery trucks, and the municipal lot will see some changes as well.

The one-way parking on Second Street will be flipped to allow better intersection alignment.

City officials say they expect work to start late in the summer-autumn months.

NEWPORT — The Vermont Agency of Transportation will be closing Route 105 in Newport Center for 4 days starting May 20 through May 23.

In order to replace a failing culvert, the AOT will be closing the road approximately 3.6 miles west of the VT100 intersection, between Bear Mountain Road and the Perrault Farm.

The road will be closed to all traffic, including motor vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians.

Travelers should look for detour signage and take alternate routes around the closure.

NEWPORT — Police arrested two people yesterday after they allegedly led police on a high-speed chase in a stolen SUV.

According to the report, Justin Morgan, 27, of Newport, was charged with aggravated operation without owners consent, attempting to elude, grossly negligent operation, excessive speed, attempted aggravated assault on a police officer, recklessly endangering another person, and possessing stolen property.

Carrie Tetreault, 32, of Sheffield, was charged with aggravated operation without the owner’s consent.

Police say they were tipped off on Monday that a white 2016 Toyota Rav4 had been stolen and was likely being operated by Tetreault.

Officers were working a detail on Glen Road when they saw the vehicle at approximately 12:26 p.m, which they identified by its license plate.

Newport Police say that they knew Morgan and recognized him as the driver of the vehicle.

When police attempted to perform a motor vehicle stop, the vehicle allegedly took off at a high rate of speed after initially pulling over.

According to a statement issued by police:

“The vehicle sped through a construction zone in the road, endangering the lives of workers, one of whom was placing cones and signs in the roadway. The vehicle almost struck Sheriff Kirk Martin, who was deploying spike strips at the intersection of Fern Street and Glen Road, but the vehicle swerved onto a lawn. The SUV reached speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour and nearly struck a pedestrian walking his dog on West Echo Lake Road.”

Police say after the vehicle got stuck in the mud on Sanderson Hill Road, Morgan and Tetreault led on foot.

They were tracked by police with the assistance of K-9 Ozzy and placed under arrest after they were found running behind a residence on Route 5A.

“This was a dangerous incident involving two people fleeing from police in a stolen car who were willing to endanger the lives of pedestrians, road workers and police officers,” Chief DiSanto said.

Morgan was held on $2,500 bail at Northern State Correctional Facility.

Tetreault was released on the condition that she appear in court for arraignment.

The suspects were scheduled to be arraigned in Orleans District Court today.

NEWPORT — Police have arrested and charged a Newport man following a crash early Sunday morning.

At around 1:15 a.m. police say they came upon fallen telephone pole wires which led them to the scene of a crash involving a motor vehicle into a telephone pole near Union Street and Prouty Drive.

The driver of the vehicle, identified as Ryan Brewster, 32, of Newport, was charged with a second offense of driving under the influence, gross negligent operation, criminal refusal and false information to law enforcement.

Police say he sustained injuries and was medically cleared by EMTs following the crash.

According to the report, a female passenger refused medical attention and did not appear to have any injuries from the crash.

Both Union Street and Prouty Drive lost power temporarily after the crash, and Prouty Drive was closed until approximately 9:30 a.m. on Sunday.

“Reckless driving endangers the life of the driver, passengers and everyone else on the road,” Chief DiSanto said. “Let this serve as a reminder to our community that it’s crucial to drive responsibly, pay attention and follow the rules of the road.”

Brewster will appear in Orleans Criminal Court on May 14.

DERBY — Community National Bank President Kathryn M. Austin announced the promotion of Jennifer Daigle to Vice President and Senior Credit Officer.

Daigle joined the bank in February 2005 as a Commercial Credit Analyst and in 2006 became the Supervisor of the Commercial Credit Department.

In 2009, she was promoted to Credit Administration Officer and in 2012 to Assistant Vice President.

In 2016, Daigle became Vice President of Credit Administration.

In her new role as Senior Credit Officer, she will be responsible for analyzing the bank’s commercial loan activity and overseeing the Credit Administration Department.

Continuing her education, she has taken the Principles of Banking class through the Center for Financial Training and Education Alliance and attended the Northern New England School of Banking.

She has taken several courses through the Vermont Bankers Association and Risk Management Association (RMA) covering financial statement analysis, risk management, tax accounting, and management and financial accounting.

Daigle formerly served as chairperson of the RMA Vermont Chapter and continues to be an active board member.

She assists several non-profit organizations with their financials and actively takes part in fundraising initiatives to benefit the Department of Children and Families in Newport.

Daigle resides in Troy with her husband Rene, daughter Ashley, son Travis Letourneau, and two foster children.

NEWPORT — After months of waiting, spring finally made its appearance with a splash in Newport on Saturday.

The Lake Memphremagog “ICE OUT” contest, now in its 5th year, garnered a record 1,444 guesses this winter.

“The number of guesses more than doubled this year, largely thanks to our Recreation Committee who put a lot of volunteer time and energy into selling tickets,” Jessica Booth, Director of Parks & Recreation, said.

Predictions came in from across the country online as well.

Many of the online submissions came from around New England, but some came from as far as Colorado, South Carolina, Wisconsin, and Georgia.

“Entering them was a little tedious, but it was interesting to see where the guesses were coming from and which dates and times were most popular,” Laura Smith, who had the pleasure of entering all 1,444 guesses into an electronic spreadsheet, said. “Five different people chose April 1 at 11:00 a.m. for example. April 20th at 4:20 was a popular guess too.”

Parks Foreman Mac McKenny happened to be at Gardner Park on Saturday fishing with his sons and nephew when “Vanilla Ice” broke through near the Causeway Bridge at 11:07 a.m.

“It was cool to actually see it go down,” McKenny said. “It started to tip and after a few minutes, the whole thing dropped. We got to see the clock stop, which was a first for sure.”

While everyone is excited that spring has finally arrived, the announcement is most exciting to first-time ICE OUT contestant Steve Lawson who submitted two predictions on Town Meeting Day in March.

His winning guess of 10:05 a.m. on 4/13/19 was just one hour and two minutes ahead of the actual time.

“My first prediction one was way too early,” he admitted and couldn’t attribute his strategy for the winning prediction to anything more than a lucky guess.

The Lake Memphremagog ICE OUT contest is an annual fundraiser for Newport Parks & Recreation.

This year the event brought in $3,166 toward the Gardner Park Playground and Splash Pad project.

Lawson took home $1,583 as his half of the 50/50 cash prize.

NEWPORT CENTER­ — Police responded to a burglary at a home on City Farm Road last Sunday.

Police say that the victim, identified as Christina Baker, was away from home when the burglary took place.

While physical evidence was collected from the crime scene, police say the suspect has yet to be identified.

Anyone who may have witnessed this incident or who has any information is being asked to call the police at 334-8881.

NEWPORT — North Country Union High School is closed today, and police say a 17-year-old male suspect has been taken into custody as they investigate.

The Orleans County Sheriff’s Department says around 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday they were informed of a potential safety threat made against North Country Union High School.

As a precaution, the decision was made with school officials to cancel school Thursday while the threat is investigated.

The Orleans County Sheriff’s Department is currently working with Newport Police officers and Vermont State Police BCI detectives to resolve the incident.

According to a statement released by Deputy Kyle Ingalls, a 17-year-old male was taken into custody on unrelated charges.

In a recorded message sent to parents by Superintendent John A. Castle, all other schools in the supervisory union will remain open.

“The threat was specific to NCUHS, the high school and career center will remain closed until further notice,” Castle said in the message.

NEWPORT — An investigation by police in Newport has resulted in the arrest of a suspected drug dealer and the seizure of about 3 ounces of cocaine.

Glenn Porter, 54, of Lunenburg was arrested following the investigation.

Police say back in February they began receiving anonymous tips that a man was selling cocaine and unknown “pills” at the American Legion on Veterans Avenue, which borders the property of North Country Union High School.

On March 1, Police Sgt. Charles Moulton was observing the area of the American Legion when another anonymous tip was provided that the person of interest was operating a GMC pickup truck.

Moulton made note of a dark grey GMC Canyon in the parking lot.

Police say they received numerous additional tips in March about a man driving a GMC Canyon, selling cocaine during the evenings.

The investigation culminated on Friday, March 29, when intelligence gathered by investigators indicated that the suspect would be in the area that night, selling cocaine.

Officers made a traffic stop of the suspect’s vehicle.

After an on-scene investigation, which included the use of Officer Joshua Lillis and K-9 Ozzy, it was determined that drugs were likely in the vehicle.

During the on-scene investigation, K-9 Ozzy “alerted” on the truck several times indicating the presence of an illicit substance.

The suspect’s truck and clothing were seized and later searched after police obtained a warrant.

Police say they found nearly 3 ounces of a white powdery substance, cash, and two iPhones during their search of the truck and clothing.

As a result of the investigation, Porter was arrested.

He was charged with possession of cocaine, attempted sale of cocaine, and conspiracy to sell cocaine.

He was arraigned at Orleans County Superior Court yesterday.

“I commend the officers for their hard work, as well as our citizens who came forward anonymously to report this activity,” Newport Police Chief Seth DiSanto said.

NEWPORT — Columbia Forest Products recently announced the retirement of three long-time employees.

Donald Deslandes

Thursday, March 28, 2019, marked the retirement of Don Deslandes from Columbia Forest Products, after 28 ½ years of service.

Born in Newport, he graduated from N.C.U.H.S.

Deslandes held his first job farming on Jordan’s farm for 3 years.

He then put down new tracks for the CNR Railroad for 3 summers, after which he was a sprayer at Ethan Allen in Island Pond, for 5 years

He also worked on both the Brighton and Newport Ambulance for 9 years.

Deslandes joined Columbia Forest Products on September 7, 1990, as a janitor.

He later held the patcher job in the splicing department for a few months. He held the hazardous waste coordinator position for the last 10 years, up until his retirement.

Deslandes and his wife Candy live in Newport.

They raised 5 children; Ralph, Alain, Christine, Cheyenne and Melissa and were blessed with 4 grandchildren; Peyton, 7, McKenzie, 3, Kadence, 4 and Rayven, 2, and are expecting another granddaughter in July.

His retirement plans are to spend more time with the family. He enjoys traveling and hopes to visit Las Vegas and Florida.

Deslandes is an avid NY Yankee and Jets fan. He also enjoys camping, and fishing and will continue to do some part-time security work.

Mike Fortin

Thursday, March 28, 2019, marked the retirement of Mike Fortin from Columbia Forest Products, after nearly 25 years of service. Born in St. Albans, he graduated from N.C.U.H.S.

Fortin held his first job working on the family farm for 20 years.

He joined Columbia Forest Products on May 16, 1994, as a part-time janitor.

He later held the following jobs: pre-sorter, clipper operator, grader, defect clipper operator, weigh & tag.

He also held the service job for the last 15 years, up until his retirement.

During his tenure, he had an exemplary attendance record.

Fortin and his wife Debbie live in Holland.

They raised 1 daughter; Christine and were blessed with 3 grandchildren; Adam, 25, Jacob, 23 and Rebecca, 17.

He looks forward to planting a vegetable garden with his mother and maintaining his late father’s blueberry and raspberry patches.

He enjoys hunting and is an avid Red Sox fan.

Fortin can be found working in his sugarbush doing one of his favorite things, operating his chainsaw to expose young maple trees.

He says he will never forget the kindness from his peers following the passing of his father, and that he is fortunate to have had the opportunity to work at Columbia Forest Products.

Randy Westover

Friday, March 29, 2019, marked the retirement of Randy Westover from Columbia Forest Products, after 40 ½ years of service. Born in Newport, Westover graduated from N.C.U.H.S.

He held his first job farming as a teenager for 3 years and then worked as an assembler at Newport Plastics for 3 weeks when he received a call from Columbia for an interview.

Westover joined Columbia Forest Products on September 11, 1978, as a round-up man for approximately one year.

He held the following positions:

Janitor, salvage clipper operator, service, booker during the first five years, after which he was promoted to the drying department crew leader for 5 years, and then cutting department crew leader of which he held for the last 30 years, up until his retirement.

Westover and his wife, Lisa live in Derby Line. They raised 4 children; Adam, Amanda, Travis and Jeremy and were blessed with 8 grandchildren; Haden, 12, Kaleb, 10, Tristin, 10, Jayce, 7, Lexi, 6, Silas, 6, Jaydon, 5, Mason, 7 months, and are expecting another in September.

Westover’s retirement plans are to work on some home improvement projects and to re-learn how to play his new guitar.

He hopes to travel to Florida, Hawaii and Las Vegas.

During the summer, he enjoys riding his motorcycle and spending time at the lake.

He also enjoys modifying muscle cars, bowling, playing cards and golf on the Wii.

He may consider taking up brook fishing again and finding a part-time job.

Representatives from Columbia Forest Products say they deeply appreciate the dedicated service all three men showed over the years.