Mountain Times - Volume 48, Number 23: June 5-11

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14 • NEWS BRIEFS The Mountain Times • June 5-11, 2019 Courtesy of VTF&W Vermont Fish & Wildlife’s summer course for teachers and other educators will be held July 14-19 at Buck Lake in Woodbury. Openings available for wildlife course Vermont Fish & Wildlife says it still has a few openings in its fish and wildlife summer course for teachers and other educators. The hands-on field course gets educators out into Vermont’s streams, forests and wetlands with some of the state’s leading natural resource experts. It will be held at the Buck Lake Conservation Camp in Woodbury from July 14 to 19. Now in its 34th year, “Wildlife Management and Outdoor Education Techniques for Educators,” is a one-week, three-credit graduate course taught by Vermont Fish & Wildlife and other Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) staff through Castleton University. “Wildlife resources are important to all Vermonters in one way or another,” says Fish & Wildlife’s Education Manager Alison Thomas. “If educators can get connected with the outdoors and in turn expose their students, then many of these students will be able to make informed decisions about Vermont wildlife and their habitat needs.” “This course is unique in that it helps non-formal and pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade teachers from any discipline -- math, language arts, physical education, or history -- improve their instructional strategies and make their lesson plans more relevant to their students.” “This course is hands-on,” added Thomas. “It continues to evolve and incorporate new environmental education ideas and activities. But, we also continue to do traditional programs that have been part of the week for 34 years. It’s a great mix of new and old with all of it being incredibly helpful and memorable.” Tuition is $650 for the course. Books, food and overnight facilities are included. A limited number of partial scholarships are available. A course description, schedule of activities, and registration information are available by emailing: Alison.Thomas@ Vermont.Gov. Buck Lake Conservation Camp is located east of Route 14, north of Woodbury Village. Submitted Vaccine rates vary significantly across the state, but overall are better than average. Vaccinations: continued from page 7 Media reports from across the country suggest that Waldorf schools, which tout a “holistic” approach to learning, often have low vaccination rates. Last year, North Carolina saw its largest chickenpox outbreak in decades at an Asheville Waldorf school, according to the report. In Vermont, lawmakers got rid of the philosophical exemption to the state’s vaccination law in 2016. But while vaccination rates have gone up since that exemption was removed, the number of families using the religious exemption has shot up noticeably. During the 2015-16 school year, the last year in which families could still claim the philosophical or religious exemptions, just 0.9 percent of kindergarteners were exempt for religious reasons; 4.6 percent were exempt on philosophical grounds. The following year, religious exemptions jumped to 3.7 percent. This year, it’s at 4.4 percent. (Families can also claim a medical exemption – with documentation from a medical provider – from vaccination, but that number has held steady at roughly 0.2 percent.) Schools and camps pay closer attention “The data kind of implies that many of those who can no longer utilize the philosophical exemption have chosen to utilize the religious exemption,” Levine said. Levine said many schools appear to be acting proactively to encourage immunization – including certain private religious schools, including those affiliated with the Roman Catholic Diocese in Burlington. And as the warm weather nears, the commissioner said he’s also gotten reports of summer camps and even resorts tightening – or for the first time creating – vaccination requirements. The Tyler Place Family Resort in Highgate Springs is now asking customers if they’re vaccinated and refunding deposits if guests say any member of their party (unless they’re too young to get their shots) is unimmunized against measles. The resort’s CEO, Ted Tyler, said he’d gotten a smattering of pushback, but mostly praise from relieved customers. “There’s not much question that we have to pursue safety, and that’s what we do,” he said. Rutland County Solid Waste District Household Hazardous Waste Rural Collection Schedule Date Place Time June 8 Castleton 8:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Poultney 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. June 15 Mount Holly 8:00AM - 12:00PM June 22 Brandon 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Pittsford 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. GLEASON ROAD HHW DEPOT OPEN YEAR ROUND MONDAY – SATURDAY 7A.M. – 3P.M. For more information residents can contact 802-775-7209; 802-770-1333 Or check our website at www.rcswd.com we are Soliciting bids for all trades for a new fire station project. Any interested parties can contact Tim to get bid documents and the bidding schedule. DEW is the agent for the Town. Tim Heinlein Project Manager main - 802.872.0505 direct - 802.764.2333 cell - 802.363.3697 email - THeinlein@dewconstruction.com Letter: Climate solutions start with us continued from page 8 titions, attending rallies, and having hard conversations is about all we can do at a federal level. The state level is similar but we have more say. Our local communities are where we can all make a difference. Advocate globally, act locally. If we are truly discussing an investment of $1 million all the way up to a bond of $60 million, it had better take climate change into consideration. The claim is that the status quo is not sustainable. But to date, the sustainability discussed is that of finance. I would argue that our status quo is not sustainable due to climate. We need to take a step back and consider the future we face. Climate change will affect everything, it already is. Cutting emissions will affect everything. Coping with what we have done thus far changes everything. We must make choices accordingly. Our future and that of our children depend on it. Solutions to the same problem look very different depending on perspective. It’s time to change ours. Giles Hoyler, Ripton
The Mountain Times • June 5-11, 2019 NEWS BRIEFS • 15 Condos to headline cybersecurity summit Mountain Times Half page 2.19.qxp 2/14/19 10:24 AM Page 1 Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos will be delivering a keynote address on cybersecurity at Route Fifty’s “Building a New Cyber Security Paradigm” summit in Boston on Thursday, June 6. “Defending our elections and other government systems from cyber attackers takes constant diligence, and requires continual investment in the robust defense network that keeps the bad actors out,” said Secretary Condos. “With respect to elections, voters deserve to know that when they cast their ballot, their vote is secure, and that when they give information to state and local governments, we’re doing everything in our power to ensure that information is protected.” Condos, who also serves as president for the National Association of Secretaries of State, is considered a national leader on election security, due to the robust cyber defenses in place protecting Vermont elections, and the suite of best practices employed in Vermont, which include voter marked paper ballots for every vote cast, post-election audits, automatic voter registration, same day voter registration, daily backup of the voter registration checklist, and ongoing threat monitoring and deterrence. “State and local governments are increasingly challenged by the rapidly changing nature of the cybersecurity landscape,” said Condos. “Our responsibility to protect the foundations of our democracy is like a race without a finish line. We must keep evolving daily to stay one step ahead of those who wish to sew chaos and discord in our fair and free elections.” The secretary’s keynote will focus on the ongoing evolution of election cybersecurity since the news that Russian agents had executed a concerted effort to attack state election systems in 2016. Further evidence in the recently released Mueller Report shows an orchestrated effort by Russian cyber agents to attack U.S. election systems and propagate widespread disinformation on social media. More information about the upcoming event can be found at www.routefifty.com/ feature/cybersecurity-roadshow. Solid Waste Transfer Station SUMMER HOURS: SATURDAY + MONDAY 8A.M.- 2 P.M. All stickers and coupon cards may be purchased at the Town Office Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and at the Transfer Station - checks only there - when open. Service You Can See. Experts You Can Trust.SM †Based on a survey of over 250,000 Valvoline Instant Oil Change customers annually. COUPON $ 10 OFF ANY FAST, FULL-SERVICE OIL CHANGE * *With this coupon. Includes up to 5 qts. any Valvoline motor oil, std. filter, lube & maintenance check. May not be combined with other same-service offers or discounts. Expires June 19, 2019 open 7 days RUTLAND 60 U.S. Rte. 7 (near Kinney Subaru) 773-0677 ✃
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Mountain Times - Volume 48, Number 23: June 5-11

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