Weekly Roundup - Norwich News, for week ending April 20, 2013

Two From Norwich Named To Mascoma Bank Board

Mascoma Savings Bank recently named four new members to its Board of Directors, two are residents of Norwich, according to a display ad in the Valley News on April 18. The two are Deidre Goodrich, a CPA at Nathan Wechsler & Co, and Catherine Richmond, a lawyer at Stebbins Bradley.

ECFiber Gets Grant; VTel May Lose One

ECFiber is the recipient of a Vermont grant of almost $170,000 to expand its broadband internet network by about 6.5 miles in Norwich and Thetford, VT. The grant is the first for ECFiber which has raised $3 million through grassroots funding. Meanwhile, VT Digger Reports that VTel is in danger of losing its $5 million grant from  the Vermont Telecommunications Authority.  
Telecom Authority Grants To Help Broadband Expansion
By Steve Zind, VPR News
April 19, 2013
In the state’s effort to provide broadband access to all Vermonters by years’ end the focus is on some of the most difficult to reach areas.
Many of them involve just a handful of addresses.
One recent state grant designed to bring service to a small part of Orange County also represents a milestone in the history of ECFiber.
The non-profit municipally owned provider has relied almost exclusively on small local investors to build its network.
The Vermont Telecommunications Authority grant for $167,000 is intended to provide broadband service to 17 addresses in  Norwich and Thetford.
For ECFiber, which is working to run fiber optic lines to some of the state’s most isolated areas, the grant is significant.  After 5 years of disappointment it’s their first successful broadband grant application.
Without grants or ready access to large sources of capital, ECFiber has created a grassroots funding model fueled by small investments from residents of the nearly two dozen communities it hopes to serve.
Once it raises enough money in a town, it expands service to that community.
So far it’s raised $3 million. Chairman Irv Thomae says he hopes the grant money will help boost ECFiber’s effort to raise money from local investors, particularly in the towns the grant will serve.
Read the rest of the story.
$5 million cell phone expansion grant to VTel under question
by Nat Rudarakanchana, VT Digger
April 12, 2013
A $5 million grant Gov. Peter Shumlin touted last December that would bring cell phone service to severely underserved parts of southern Vermont appears to be in trouble and may end up being yanked.
The grant’s status was thrown into uncertainty after a subgroup of the state’s Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA) failed to reach an agreement with Springfield based VTel on a final contract on Thursday.  Read the rest of the story.

No Norwich Pool This Summer

As reported last week here, the Norwich Pool will in likelihood not open this summer.  The Valley News followed our lead with a detailed story on April 17, Norwich Likely Without Pool Again.

Police Have Infant Car Seats To Lend

from the listserv on April 17
Over the past several months I have seen several requests on the List Serve asking to borrow a car seat for a visiting relative or friend. The Norwich Police Department now has two Infant Car Seats that we will/can loan out if you have visiting friends or relatives in need of the car seats.

Teen Is Second At Squash Nationals

Margaret Werner of Norwich, VT placed second in an Under-15 national tournament for squash.

Norwich’s Werner Second at U.S. Squash TourneyStaff Reports, Valley News
April 18, 2013
Norwich’s Margeret Werner came home with runner-up hardware on Sunday, working her way to the finals of the girls under-15 division at the U.S. Squash Association’s Junior Silver Squash Championships at the Squash Club at Episcopal Academy.
Read the rest of the story.

Funeral Planners To Meet At Norwich CC

The Funeral Consumers Alliance of Vermont will hold its Annual Meeting on Saturday, May 4th at the Norwich Congregational Church.  Author Gail Rubin will deliver the keynote address, "Laughing in the Face of Death: Funny Films to Start Serious Funeral Planning Conversations".   The FCA-VT is a volunteer-run, nonprofit association of “consumers from all walks of life who want a dignified alternative to the elaborate and increasingly expensive funeral services promoted by the funeral industry.” The May 4 Norwich meeting is free and open to the public. Read the rest of the story at Montpelier's community paper The Bridge.  The FCA-VT’s website is http://vermontfca.org/

LINKS:
http://digital.vpr.net/post/telecom-authority-grants-help-broadband-expansion
http://vtdigger.org/2013/04/12/5-million-cell-phone-expansion-grant-to-vtel-under-question/
http://www.vnews.com/home/5706392-95/norwich-likely-without-pool-again
http://www.vnews.com/sports/5747624-95/norwichs-werner-second-at-us-squash-tourney
http://www.montpelierbridge.com/2013/04/heard-on-the-street-4-18-13/
http://vermontfca.org/


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