ST. JOHNSBURY - The Fairbanks Museum will be closing down tours for the month of January in order to complete their yearly clean-up, which had begun five years ago. One very interesting development for this upcoming year, however, is the additions that will be made to the exhibits.
ST. JOHNSBURY- Cynthia Boyd's experience with drug-use began as a teenager. According to her, not fitting in and feeling uncomfortable in her own skin were two prominent factors which influenced her initial experimentation. "My drug use went anywhere from smoking and drinking, to using heroine to using cocaine- was my drug of choice for 25 years," she said. Proceeding to note that she'd do anything to numb herself and not be able to feel.
ST. JOHNSBURY - After many many years away from home, the portrait painting of Francis Fairbanks has returned to the side of her husband, Franklin at the Fairbanks Museum. Thanks to some heavy research performed by town resident, and Director of the History and Heritage Center, Peggy Pearl was able to return Francis to her husband, and they are both now hanging next to eachother in the Fairbanks Museum welcome landing.
ST. JOHNSBURY - William Liberatore started experimenting with drugs when he was only 13 years old. His drug-use started with marijuana, but quickly evolved into abusing Phencyclidine, and eventually prescription pills. For most of his teen years, Liberatore was in and out juvenile detention centers for drug-related crimes.
ST. JOHNSBURY- The town of St. Johnsbury will be welcoming new businesses in the next few weeks. Some of which will be adding to establishments currently in business, and some will be starting brand new. Executive Director of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce, Darci McCann sees this as a big turn around for the town of St. Johnsbury and surrounding communities.
ST. JOHNSBURY- The Northeast Kingdom Council on Aging rang in the holidays with their annual "Winter on Summer" rememberance celebration fundrasier. The celebration is a way for the community to gather together and remember those who have been lost in the 2018 year.
ST. JOHNSBURY - Around this time of year, the most common form of illness is the flu. Though it has not yet hit our region, it is not to early to think about what you can do to prevent getting sick.
ST. JOHNSBURY- The Federal Communications Commission has proposed a new rule that would cut funding to cable-access television stations across the country. According to Kevin Christopher, Executive Director of Lake Champlain Access Television, it's a decision that the Commission is backing with the explanation of allowing new service providers to be more competitive with the incumbents. However, he feels their true motive may be a bit more money-based.
ST. JOHNSBURY- V.T. Supports held their annual packing event this past Saturday at the St. Johnsbury Elks Lodge. This event helped those who can't quite make it home for the holidays while serving in the military overseas.
The day allowed the community to come out and pack 600 boxes of everyday supplies for the troops, some of which included socks, toothbrushes, soap and nonperishable goods. This event was dedicated to the late Joseph Fortin who was killed on active duty in the Iraq War in 2009.
ST. JOHNSBURY - A new set of physical exercise guidelines was released from the federal level this week, and the healthcare proffesionals at NVRH were happy to read about the new focus on physical activity for those of all ages. While many think that being physically active comes standard with a gym membership and a three-month supply of whey protein; the new guidelines focus on the simple act of being active throughout the day, performing simple, everyday tasks that naturally raise the heartrate.
ST. JOHNSBURY- What started out as a childhood hobby, has grown into Tom Turek's way of spreading holiday cheer. Turek says, "So I had trains when I was a little boy and I played with them all through high school."Every year the St. Johnsbury Welcome Center decorates for the holiday season and one year Turek got an idea to share his hobby with others. But as you're aware it's an old train station. And I thought wow wouldn't it be fun to have a Christmas display, a train display in the Welcome Center at Christmas time."
ST. JOHNSBURY- The St. Johnsbury Academy woodworking students have been working on building benches as a way to give back to the community. These benches have been in the community since 2013, as well as other places all over the state of Vermont.
Read more: St. Johnsbury Academy Students Make Benches for Community
ST. JOHNSBURY- Over the weekend, NEK resident Jerry Johnson, organized an effort show support for local Eye on the Sky meteorologist Steve Maleski, who was recently diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
ST. JOHNSBURY- Preparations are underway at the St. Johnsbury Warming Shelter for their season opening tomorrow evening. "People need a place to go," said coordinator Janis Patoine. "And you know, you don't like to see people not warm, not clean, not dry. They have the opportunity to do their laundry here if they need, and just to get warmed up and not feel so left out of the community."
ST. JOHNSBURY - The Vermont Agency of Transportation has begun the long haul for the end of the year. The long haul of course is combatting with snow on the roadways all throughout the state of Vermont. The District 7 Agency had it's day cut out for it on November 12th when the Vermont Weather Service recorded nine inches of snowfall in the single day. VTrans workers were out plowing roads at 4 AM, and some stayed out and worked till 7 at night.
ST. JOHNSBURY- The Moose Club held a fundraiser for Charlie and Pat Cushman this past Saturday. The fundraiser was used to help the cost of Charlie's medical expenses.
ST.JOHNSBURY- The St. Johnsbury school has been holding their Everybody Wins program for the past few weeks now. The program allows students to learn how to read with adult mentors during their lunch time if they want to.
ST. JOHNSBURY- Republican Senator of Caledonia District, Joe Benning, is running unoppsed in today's election. That being said, his chances of serving the state for the next two years are fairly high. When asked about his plans for the upcoming term, he discussed the importance of keeping things affordable across the state in order to get the economy growing. "Try to change our demographics in such a way that we have more as opposed to less people in the work force," he said.
ST. JOHNSBURY- Tomorrow night is a big night in St. Johnsbury, as the town will be shutting down Main Street for their 4th annual Halloween Parade.The parade starts at the Fairbanks Museum and goes down the street ending at Arnold Park. The parade was created by members of the community 5 years ago as a way to keep everyone safe on Halloween night.
ST. JOHNSBURY- Democratic nominee for Vermont Governor Christine Hallquist was the special guest at the St. Johnsbury Rotary club on Monday. Hallquist had the opportunity to meet members of the Northeast Kingdom and speak with them about what lead her to where she is today. "My life has been quite unimaginable and I'll call it a miracle that I stand here today. But I recognize that the reason I stand here today is because of the thousands of Vermonters before me who fought for what is right and what is just," she said.
ST. JOHNSBURY- The Summerville neighborhood in St. Johnsbury celebrated their second annual Great Pumpkin Walk this past Saturday. Over one hundred community members came out to celebrate Halloween with the neighborhood.
Read more: Local Community Celebrates 2nd Annual Pumpkin Walk
ST. JOHNSBURY - Winter-like weather has hit the Northeast Kingdom early this year. And because of this, the steps to prepare the roads, and our cars, for the icy season is beginning much sooner.
"When it comes early like this, there is a little extra running around," says Gary McGinnis, a senior maintenance worker for VTrans in St. Johnsbury.
ST. JOHNSBURY- It's been over a month since a fire burnt an abandoned building in St. Johnsbury. The fire happening at 659 Bay Street is being investigated as arson. Jon Bouffard the St. Johnsbury Fire Chief said it was an, "Incendiary fire, the State Police came in and the Fire Marshal's office, and determined that there were two locations within the building that there were fire."
ST. JOHNSBURY- It's finally that time of year again when the legendary rivals matchup. The Lyndon Institute Vikings and The Saint Johnsbury Hilltoppers have hard at work all week prepping for this weekend. The Hilltoppers have won the past four years now, but they're still keeping a close eye on the Vikings.
ST. JOHNSBURY- Northern Vermont Regional Hospital held its 3rd annual COPD health fair on Monday. The fair hosted numerous health organizations, all of which informed attendees about Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and its effects.
Heather Nelson, the hospital's Respiratory Therapist, started the fair three years ago in order to inform the community on the disease as COPD is common in the St. Johnsbury area. "COPD is very heavy here in the St. Johnsbury community, and that's what we mostly see here in the emergency room and the admissions."