WOODSVILLE—Haverhill schools will receive over $2 million in coronavirus relief funds that officials say will be used to improve conditions for student physical and mental health.
Priority projects targeted for completion this fall are an improved ventilation system in the Woodville High School cafeteria and gymnasium and window replacements, which were trimmed from the building renovations project undertaken a couple of years ago. The projects will be paid by funding received through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, funds.

BURLINGTON—A Vermont man, who is charged with abducting a woman, crossing state lines, and sexually assaulting her in front of her son in Windsor County, has asked a judge to throw out the four felony counts he is facing in federal court.
Everett A. Simpson, 44, most recently from St. Johnsbury, maintained the two kidnapping counts and two interstate transportation of stolen car counts should be dismissed for a variety of reasons.
“This case should not be allowed to go to trial,” Simpson declared during the hearing in U.S. District Court in Burlington on the afternoon of April 12.

PIERMONT—In 1771, the few people living in Piermont gathered to form a church.
Back then, there was no pastoral leadership or church buildings. In those years, Sunday meetings were held in the houses of the early settlers. But as the town of Piermont grew and evolved through the years, so did the church, which remains today.
This weekend, the Piermont Congregational Church will celebrate 250 years. On Aug. 21, from 1 to 4 p.m., there will be a free barbecue and live music featuring Patrick Ross and The Fiddler’s Crew. All from the surrounding community are invited.

NEWBURY—The Vermont Department of Families and Children and private contractors Becket Family of Services have submitted proposals to state and local governments for the privately run Covered Bridge juvenile detention facility in Newbury.
The Act 250 application to the state government, was submitted on July 23, and a site visit followed by a hearing in Bradford on that application will occur on Aug, 25. Becket also submitted a proposal to the town of Newbury, and Becket attorney Jon Anderson expects there to be a town hearing on that application at some point in September.

BRADFORD—The Bradford man shot and killed by Hartford Police last week had been living at Veterans Inc. on North Main Street for the last 10 months.
Police say Joseph John Howard, 35, was shot after he punched and strangled a Hartford Police Department officer outside a Paula Street home on the afternoon of Aug. 5. HPD Cpl. Eric Clifford responded to the address after the homeowner called 911 to report that Howard, who he did not know, was making a disturbance in his driveway.