Gravel grinders
Ashes to ashes
Top to bottom cycling trail tells Vermont’s story
Towns race to stop the beetle klling trees
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August 22, 2024
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Weekly news coverage for Charlotte and Hinesburg
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Tax rates go up for Hinesburg
Setting sail
LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
The Hinesburg Selectboard approved a tax rate last month at almost exactly what they anticipated when the board crafted its $5.4 million budget this year. With the roughly 13 percent increase in expenditures from the
town’s previous year’s budget, the new municipal tax rate was approved at $0.6285. With the grand list increasing slightly less than the estimated 1 percent, the tax rate is increasing by 4.3 percent over last year. This will See TAX RATE on page 13
CVSD contemplates “phone-free” future LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
COURTESY PHOTO
Polar Express, a Henderson 30 sailed by Chris Duley from the Valcour Sailing Club, was the first boat to finish in last week’s Diamond Island Regatta.
AUGUST 30TH - SEPTEMBER 2ND
As students prepare to head back to school, the Champlain Valley School District is questioning whether their cell phones should come with them. The school district is joining others in the state, and many nationwide, who are wondering what a school atmosphere would look like without the pocket devices. A new committee charged by interim Superintendent Adam Bunting has been tasked to find out. The movement, which has been causing a buzz this summer, is an extension of restrictions that are already at play within the school district, Bunting said. In all the
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elementary and middle schools, the district has a staunch overarching “away for the day” policy, which states that if students choose to bring cell phones to school, they need to be powered off and in backpacks. For the high school, he said, that policy is slightly trickier. As the former Champlain Valley Union principal, Bunting has first-hand knowledge of developing policy that encourages students not to use their devices in academic spaces. “What we noticed coming out of Covid, which was a time period that I hope people keep in mind, was that we were actually encourSee PHONE on page 12
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