NEWBURY—Community members continue to resist the state’s plans to operate Vermont’s only juvenile detention facility in a repurposed former inn in rural Newbury.
Becket Family of Services, the private contractor chosen to run the facility, held their third forum to gather community input on March 18. Despite continued efforts to allay local concerns about safety and security, Becket and Vermont’s Department of Children and Families continue to face a backlash.
At the first community meeting to discuss the proposal on Feb. 11, DCF Commissioner Sean Brown said the state hoped to gain community support before proceeding with the project.

WARREN—An attempt to informally rename the Baker River its original Abenaki name of Asquamchumauke was defeated after town meeting voters deadlocked on the proposal.
In an 18-18 vote on March 13, Warren residents could not approve the article on the town meeting warrant that would change the name of the river in Warren to Asquamchumaukee River.
The article’s protagonist said the name change would not prompt any need for money or new signage.
Selectman Charles Chandler said he proposed the article to make everyone aware of the heritage and that Abenaki lived on its shores for 11,000 years before European settlement.

CHELSEA—There was a court hearing last week on a woman’s request to be discharged from probation after a 2007 fatal car crash on Route 5 in Newbury.
Former Wells River resident Kristy O’Meara was convicted of gross negligent operation with death resulting after the car she was driving collided with another car driven by Christina Vinnacombe Ellison, a 27-year-old North Haverhill mother of two.
Ellison, who was on her way to work as a waitress at P&H Truck Stop, was over eight months pregnant with her third child. The baby, named Taylor, was stillborn at the scene. Ellison died two weeks later.

BRADFORD—A budget was approved on March 10 by members of the Oxbow Unified Union School District’s school board for the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1.
The $17,171,968 budget and several other articles will be decided by Australian ballot by Bradford and Newbury voters on April 13. Polls will open in each of the towns at 10 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m.
The ballot vote on next year’s budget comes just three months to the day after voters approved the current year’s budget.

NEWBURY—As Newbury awaits an official permit application to open a juvenile treatment facility on Stevens Place, residents and state officials met for a second time last week via Zoom to discuss lingering apprehensions.
The central topic became: Why Newbury? What other locations were considered for this facility and why was this Orange County town deemed the most suitable?
“I hear a lot of people in town do not want you here,” said Newbury Village Store owner Lance Battersby. Questions such as this were common during Thursday’s Zoom meeting as Newbury residents expressed their reservations towards the proposed plans.