ST. JOHNSBURY - You don't have to be young to enjoy coloring in or outside the lines. The Catamount Arts hosted a free coloring event for adults and high school students last night.
ST. JOHNSBURY- Many people know Lisa Warren as being the Caledonia County's District Attorney. A Vermont native, Warren does a lot more than just being an attorney, she enjoys taking the time to take advantage of and enjoy living in the Northeast Kingdom. "I love to hike, and walk my dogs," Warren said. "I love to be out doors in nature, and my husband and I like to hike and snow shoe, but I love to exercise."
ST. JOHNSBURY- Many people know Lisa Warren as being the Caledonia County’s District Attorney.
A Vermont native, Warren does a lot more than just being an attorney, she enjoys taking the time to take advantage of and enjoy living in the Northeast Kingdom.
“I love to hike, and walk my dogs,” Warren said. “I love to be out doors in nature, and my husband and I like to hike and snow shoe, but I love to exercise.”
Warren has realized her love for the state of Vermont, as she has lived in other places throughout her life. She spent her college years in Boston, as she is a Boston College graduate.
After her time in Boston, she moved to Maine to be with her husband, but they eventually both moved back to their home state.
“Our roots are in Vermont. I loved Boston, and I loved Maine, but our roots were here, and it’s home.” Warren continued, “I love the city and I love going back and visiting, but I love home!”
Being in Vermont, Lisa Warren has been a practicing attorney for over two decades. After being in private practice for three years with a firm, she then spent five years on her own, and two years in the court system as a court deputy clerk.
“I thought I wanted to get into court administration,” said Warren. “Then a position opened up here just over ten and a half years ago for a juvenile prosecutor in juvenile court and I was really interested,” and did that for three years.
In 2009, Warren’s predecessor, Robert Butterfield was retiring, Governor Douglas appointed Warren to take over the rest of the term, and has been in the position is district attorney ever since.
Warren also had to run in an election for the position. Every four years, elections for positions in the county are held, while state position elections are every two years. She still has two more years in November before another election.
“You have to get signatures from voting people in the community and the county to be put on the ballot to run for state’s attorney,” Warren said. Those signatures are then brought to the Caledonia County Clerk.
Throughout her nine years, Warren has done a lot of cases, but she talks about the biggest case.
“The biggest case I’ve handled is the Prue case,” said Warren. “It went to trial, we spent weeks and weeks and weeks preparing and we were over there for just shy of three weeks in Burlington because that’s where we tried it, so it was very labor intensive.” Warren continued to talk about how a case like that has not happened in a long time in the area.
Not every case that goes through her office is like the Prue case, or even goes to court. Warren explained that not many people know about the process of just a case going to court.
“There’s different steps along the way. It’s kind of like a system of checks and balances,” Warren said. “Not every case that comes to this office is prosecuted.”
Sometimes the case will also go to the community justice center, but Warren said that a very small amount of cases go that route.
ST. JOHNSBURY- The Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury received a grant last year that has helped them create and execute many updates. The museum was one of six Vermont projects chosen from the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC), which, in total, invested more than $1.2 million into the different projects.
ST. JOHNSBURY- Those who live in areas that snow a lot understand that some roads shouldn't be used when it gets icy and slippery out, and one of those roads is Hosptial Drive in St. Johnsbury. On February 24th, at around 8 p.m. an incident occured that proved the road was not the best option for travel.
St. Johnsbury- Property tax payers in St. Johnsbury could be seeing an increase in their tax rate due to the Town and School budget increasing. The town held their anual meeting last night where they laid out proposals for both the Town and School Budget for the next fiscal year.
ST. JOHNSBURY- The St. Johnsbury Food Co-op announced this Friday that they will soon be closing their doors.
According to the Co-op Board President, Brian Romeo, it has always been a struggle to keep things open, due to simply a lack of business and lack of funds.
ST. JOHNSBURY- The Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium in Saint Johnsbury, Vermont, has just received an upgrade at the beginning of January—and is expecting more.
ST. JOHNSBURY- If you are around Saint Johnsbury, you might see a small building at the end of Steeple Place, located between the North Congregational and St. John Churches. This is where members of the community go if they are in need of clothes or food.
ST. JOHNSBURY- The town of St. Johnsbury has made a proposal to add more bike lanes and crosswalks along Route 5 near Railroad Street and Main Street to make the intersection safer.
SAINT JOHNSBURY - With Town Meeting Day set to take place for Saint Johnsbury in less than two weeks, one major concern faces both the municipal and the school district. The possibility of a budget increase.
SAINT JOHNSBURY- According to recent reports, Vermont and the Northeast Kingdom has seen an increase in robberies. Federal statistics say over the past few years’ crimes like this have more than doubled.
ST. JOHNSBURY - The Food Network’s "Kids Baking Championship" sent home St. Johnsbury resident, Peggy Fischer, on Monday nights episode, after seven weeks of a long competition. The contest gives the winner $25,000 to do whatever they’d like, whether that goes towards college, savings, or even vacation.
St. Johnsbury- A new local brewery had its grand opening this weekend at the Green Mountain Mall.
SAINT JOHNSBURY- The town of Saint Johnsbury is looking for more ways to use the Passumpsic River to get people out and about. The River Front Committee has received a grant as a payment for the conceptual drawing of plans to make the river more accessible to residents in the area.
SAINT JOHNSBURY- In the medical journal The Lancelot, recent studies show breastfeeding can potentially save over 800,000 lives annually. The journal looked at over 1,000 cases over the course of decades.
ST.JOHNSBURY- The old armory building in St.Johnsbury has been experiencing some issues with various leaks. With the age of the armory comes natural decay and the roof of the building has been deteriorating for several years now.
ST. JOHNSBURY- The O'Hagan trial is not yet over as the third and final suspect is asking for the murder charges to be dropped.
Keith Baird is asking that the charges against him for the first degree murder of Mary "Pat" O'Hagan be dropped. The burglary and murder of O'Hagan took place almost six years ago. Michael Norrie and Richard Fletcher have already reached their deals. Fletchers deals makes it so he has to testify against Baird.
Saint Johnsbury - Saint Johnsbury residents are concerned about speeding along New Boston Road. St. Johnsbury Police Chief Clement Houde says there have been several compliants filed about drivers speeding to several different town officials. Chief Houde says the area has quite a bit of traffic during the day which means they want to tackle this issue as soon as possible.
Saint Johnsbury - A water main underwent maintenence in Saint Johnsbury last Monday morning, cutting off water service for some residents. Households near the corner of Federal and Pearl Street were unable to use water at around 8 in the morning.
ST. JOHNSBURY- Volunteer a Kid Program, made its first year debut this winter with the help of the seventh and eighth graders at the ST. Johnsbury School.
SAINT JOHNSBURY - Family man, ex-felon, state representative, and public defender aren’t terms that would normally be used collectively to describe someone—until you meet Caledonia County representative Janssen Willhoit.
VT Supports is an organization that has been bringing the communities of the North East Kingdom together to support Veterans since it gained official non-profit status in 2013. Their goal is to pack and send 400 boxes of supplies overseas to American soldiers.
SAINT JOHNSBURY - The holidays are a time of celebration, but it can be difficult if a loved one is thousands of miles away, battling brazen enemies in a hostile environment.
That’s where VT Supports comes in.
ST.JOHNSBURY-Farmers from across the Northeast Kingdom gathered at the Comfort Inn in St. Johnsbury, to review a water quality draft that relates to Act 64. Act 64 which was passed earlier this year, improves the quality of the state's water. The act also serves as a way to regulate agricultural practices.