Friday, July 30, 2021
A pilot from electric aviation startup Beta Technologies crashed a helicopter on the Colchester Causeway on Friday afternoon, shutting down the popular recreational path as emergency crews responded to the fiery scene.
The pilot, later identified as 31-year-old Nathaniel Fortin, escaped with minor injuries and was taken to the hospital, the company said in a statement. No one else was hurt.
The helicopter was gas-powered and not one of Beta's experimental electric aircraft, a spokesperson said. An investigation into the cause of the crash is under way.
"The pilot, a certified flight instructor and sole occupant of the aircraft, executed emergency procedures and successfully and safely landed the aircraft," the spokesperson said in a written statement.
Photos of the crash posted on social media showed flames erupting from the crumpled helicopter. Police said the two-passenger aircraft "was a total loss."
Nic Longo, acting director of the Burlington International Airport, said it was not immediately clear when the aircraft took off. He said information about the aircraft's flight path will "eventually come from the pilot."Crazy, a helicopter crashed on The Causeway! pic.twitter.com/4MsantjasR
— Michael McKennedy (@mmckennedy) July 30, 2021
Colchester police said the crash had closed the causeway "until further notice." The popular path was reopened on Saturday.
Beta, the subject of a Seven Days cover story in May, is headquartered in a hangar near BTV's main terminal. The company is in the midst of a meteoric rise in the world of aviation and has tripled in size over the last year. It recently announced plans to build a massive new assembly facility for its electric aircraft.
Tags: Beta Technologies , Vermont , Helicopter Crash , Gas-powered , Colchester Causeway , Web Only , Image
A dozen survivors last week added Century International Arms as a defendant in their pending civil lawsuit against the nonprofit that ran the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival, the City of Gilroy, Calif., and a private security contractor.
They say the gunmaker's business practices have funneled “uniquely lethal” semiautomatic rifles to criminals and “helped cause the mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival” that left three people dead and 17 wounded.
Tags: Century Arms , Gilroy Garlic Festival , Mass Shootings , WASR-10 , AK-variants , Gun Manufacturer , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
After dropping for months, the rate of COVID-19 deaths started rising nationally and in Vermont in mid-July as the more infectious Delta variant took hold.
And on Tuesday, several national media outlets reported that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control would start recommending that vaccinated people wear masks indoors in some areas of the U.S.
Tags: Phil Scott , Mark Levin , vaccinations , Web Only , Image
Friday, July 23, 2021
Burlington residents received their fiscal year 2022 tax bills this week, nearly three months after a citywide reassessment recalculated their home values. The results have sent some Queen City taxpayers into sticker shock.
"I took a very deep breath. It was like, Oh, my God," Meryl Goldfarb, 62, said of receiving her tax bill. "I literally lost sleep that night, because I was like, I don't know how I'm gonna get through this."
Before the reassessment, the city valued Goldfarb's three-bedroom condo in the city's South End at $218,600; today, that value has jumped to $353,900, a 62 percent increase. Her tax bill increased 16 percent, or about $1,000.
Goldfarb isn't alone. Many of her neighbors have complained about their new valuations; others have taken to Front Porch Forum and social media to air their grievances.
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“I’m suddenly inundated with people because there’s no lodging,” said Lisa Gaujac, who owns the Old Lantern Inn and Barn in Charlotte with her husband, Roland Gaujac. “There’s so much lodging normally in the Burlington area that I don’t usually have people calling and saying, ‘Do you have a room available?’”
Hospitality business owners have been living with uncertainty since COVID-19 restrictions closed them down in March 2020. While they were allowed to reopen at limited capacity a few months later, it was difficult for them to book guests for this summer without knowing what the pandemic restrictions would be.
Tags: hotels , weddings , rates , Old Lantern , Web Only , Image
Thursday, July 22, 2021
The department "has been working with community members this past year in an effort to better serve everyone in our community, especially those most impacted by racism and inequity," Hoague wrote. "We have engaged our public in conversation and efforts like never before and we realize that incidents such as this indicate we have more work to do."
Williams was the only one charged of at least four people involved in the July 13 fight, which police said took place at the home of a man who Williams had hired to repair a motorcycle. Police had previously said their investigation was not over and that additional charges could follow.
Tags: Essex Police Department , Ron Hoague , Brandon Williams , Racial Justice , Hate Crime , Assault , The Black Perspective , Web Only , Image
The deal puts the scenic hillside campus, known as Potash Hill, under the control of its longtime summer tenant, which hosts the annual Marlboro Music Festival there. It also resolves a legal dispute between Democracy Builders and a mysterious cryptocurrency entrepreneur who had laid his own claim to the property.
“We are delighted to announce this historic agreement enabling us to protect Potash Hill and our use of the campus,” Christopher Serkin, Marlboro Music’s president, said in a press release.
Tags: Marlboro Music , Marlboro College , Democracy Builders , Type 1 Civilization , Seth Andrew , Adrian Stein , Christopher Serkin , Alize-Jazel Smith , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
“I’m sure the congressional delegations and governors of every border state to the north are probably furious right now, and rightly so,” said Jeff Lawson, who is vice president of tourism and marketing at Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce. “I’m pretty upset about it.”
Northern state governors and members of Congress have been pushing the White House for weeks to open the border. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has shown impatience with the White House, especially after the Canadian government this week announced that travelers would be able to enter Canada from the United States on August 9 without quarantining in a hotel “provided the COVID situation is under control.” Scott said he has asked the White House to reciprocate, saying it is now safe to do so.
Tags: Canadian border , Jackson's Lodge , Web Only , Image
Monday, July 19, 2021
Hundreds more travelers were expected to make the journey by car, stopping to eat at the popular 160-seat restaurant in Derby and to hand-feed the friendly elk pastured next to the parking lot.
COVID-19 put the kibosh on those trips, and the extended closure of the Canadian border has deterred travelers from plying the busy route through Derby to Québec. Manager Melissa Nelson said Monday she hopes that Canada’s decision, announced Monday, to start letting American citizens and residents into Canada will get that traffic flowing again.
Friday, July 16, 2021
Boland and four passengers took off on Thursday evening from Post Mills Airport in Thetford, where Boland lived with his partner, Tina Foster. Some time later, the balloon touched down in a field. The basket tipped over, causing one of Boland’s passengers to fall out. As the balloon rose again, Boland became entangled in the gears below the basket, fell to the ground and was killed, according to Vermont State Police.
The balloon drifted across the Connecticut River, landing in a copse of trees, where the remaining three passengers climbed out unharmed.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.
Boland had been building and flying his homemade aircraft for more than five decades. In 1971, he constructed his first hot air balloon for his master’s thesis at the Pratt Institute in New York City. After graduating from Pratt, Boland became an art teacher at Farmington High School in Connecticut, where Paul Stumpf, a balloon mechanic and builder who now lives in Andover, was one of his students. Under Boland’s tutelage, Stumpf found his own passion for ballooning.
Tags: Brian Boland , Vermont , hot air balloon , accident , Web Only , Image