What’s the buzz?
Dance of dragons
Vermonters plant native crops for pollinators.
Rotary club races in Lake Champain rowing event
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August 15, 2024
Tropical storm cut power for thousands of users
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Weekly news coverage for Charlotte and Hinesburg
See STORM on page 11
thecitizenvt.com
Charlotte residents balk on inclusion statement
Light’s out
Selectboard mulls town meeting vote instead
ERIN PETENKO AND ETHAN WEINSTEIN VTDIGGER
More than 600 Vermont electric customers were still without power as of 2:30 p.m. Monday, three days after the remnants of Hurricane Debby hit the state, according to VT Outages, which tracks utility data in the state. Nearly all the remaining outages were customers of Vermont Electric Cooperative, which serves a broad swath of northern Vermont. The longest outages were concentrated in Chittenden and Franklin counties, with more than 150 customers apiece out of power in Essex and Underhill. VEC representatives did not respond to requests for comment Monday afternoon. At its peak, the storm caused nearly 1,000 outages that led more than 50,000 customers to lose power as high wind and rain hit Vermont. That number dropped gradually, with about 28,000 outages as of 6 a.m. Saturday; 8,500 as of 6 a.m. Sunday; and
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PHOTO BY TOBIAS NADELL
Tobias Nadell stayed up until the wee hours of Monday morning to capture this shot of the aurora borealis over Lake Champlain. Nadell took the photo between 2-3 a.m. Monday from the Charlotte town beach.
Charlotte residents may see a declaration of inclusion on next year’s Town Meeting Day ballot. To date, 152 Vermont cities and towns, home to about 77 percent of the state’s population, have adopted the Vermont Declaration of Inclusion, which was conceived by a group of grassroots organizers in the Rutland area four years ago in the heat of 2020. The initiative’s intent is to promote and reinforce a message to all visitors that Vermont is a welcoming community made of people who will treat strangers fairly, provide encouragement and support their interests. The declaration, which asks towns to “condemn racism and welcome all persons, regardless See CHARLOTTE on page 10
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