HereCast is shutting down

HereCast, the website dedicated to content 'by locals for locals', is going on hiatus at year-end. No return date is set and the website will go dark. This blog posted 427 times on HereCast over a two year period.

In an email to casters (bloggers) on November 29, 2019, the White River Junction, VT startup said:

We started HereCast 6 years ago to help fill a void we saw in our local communities. Your efforts have far exceeded our expectations; however, we’ve fallen short of other goals, so we are shutting down the site while we reassess our future. 

This is big loss for residents of and visitors to the Upper Valley specifically and for hyperlocal coverage in rural communities in general. HereCast's content came from locals who were paid from a pool funded from advertising revenue. The site was popular in the region, "reaching more than half of Upper Valley residents month-in, month-out," said the HereCast website. "HereCast showed that — given the opportunity — people from all walks of life will step up to inform and engage their communities."

Growth was a problem.The company "overestimated how quickly we could expand our readership beyond the Upper Valley. We’re growing, but not quickly enough to support the cost of continuing to develop and maintain our platform."

"Second, we underestimated the hostility of traditional media." As reported elsewhere, the regional newspaper Valley News, based in Lebanon,NH viewed HereCast as a competitor and refused to let company advertise in its paper. In the six year history of the local startup, the only news story that I recall Valley News writing about HereCast was to report its shutdown.

As the Valley News and other newspapers fight to survive in the internet era, it was "naive to think they could risk exploring a different future with us under those circumstances," said HereCast.

See also, Site dedicated to content 'by locals for locals' announces shutdown in the Eagle Times on December 3, 2019.

Weekly Roundup - Norwich News, for week ending May 18, 2013

Police Chief Comments On Door-to-door Solicitors

Since Tuesday, the Norwich, VT listserv was [and still is] abuzz about two young men from Nebraska who are selling products door to door. Most of the posts express concerns about safety, but some suggest patience.  The two men are affiliated with Southwestern Advantage.  The company hires college students as independent contractors to sell educational materials door-to-door. A few students make a lot of money. Most just fail. See Door-to-door for the summer?, in USA Today April 19 2012. Here are Police Chief Robinson's comments issued on Sunday:
        The town of Norwich has a vendor ordinance, if someone comes into the station requesting a permit we obtain the solicitors information, names and addresses, company, any vehicles etc.. and we set parameters' for when they can peddle their wares including but not limited to i.e. only 9 AM to 7 PM /  No Sundays / No Saturdays etc... They are also told that if we get any complaints (rude behavior, aggressive tactics, peddling outside the parameters set then the vendor permit will be revoked.
       If they come in with proper credentials and we have no information or previous complaints from other communities we issue them the permit.  If the town adopts a NO SOLICITATION ordinance then we can refuse the permit.  If you have complaints about the door to door sales you should immediately call the police so we can document the complaints and show enough evidence to revoke the permit.  We also ask, as previously posted by someone on this list serve to keep an eye out for your neighbors and report any suspicious behavior.
       My officers are now gathering all the complaints made to the police as well as on the list serve which will be filed if the company returns next year.
       I hope this explains and addresses some of the complaints.  I will be back from vacation on Wednesday the 22nd, if you have any questions or concerns please give me a call.

Norwich Architect's Drawings On Display At AVA

From the Architect’s Drafting Table
Stuart White’s Plans Were Made by Hand
By Nicola Smith, Valley News Staff Writer
May 17, 2013
Thank the thieves who broke into Stuart White’s car during a trip he made to Italy in 1962, and stole his passport, some money and his camera: without them the drawings he made of the ruins of ancient Greece and Rome, now on view in an exhibition of his drawings and architectural plans at the AVA Gallery in Lebanon, might not exist.
Left untouched were a money belt that his mother had urged him to bring with him, containing $200, and his drawing pencils and pad. Without a camera, White had to rely on his skill as a draftsman to show the colossal monuments of Mycenae and Delphi, and the Parthenon in Athens. “I scarcely dared draw it,” White said of the Parthenon. “My heart was beating too fast.”
Sitting in a chair in the Johnson Sisters Library on the second floor at AVA, where the show of his work runs through June 7, White, modest in manner, gazes over at his drawings. “They’re sketchy, not perfect,” he said. But they have one signal virtue: when he looks at them, “I can feel where I was.”
Read the rest of the story.

ECFiber raises another $430,000

vermontbiz.com
May 17, 2013
The next phase of ECFiber’s broadband deployment received a sizable boost when local investors connected to its 23 town service territory purchased $430,000 of its 2013 Series tax-exempt promissory notes. This new investment will finance extension of the community-based nonprofit’s existing fiber-optic network by as much as 20 miles and will serve an estimated 100 or more households and businesses which currently do not have high-speed broadband access.
ECFiber Treasurer John Roy of Vershire announced results at the groups Governing Board meeting on May 14 noting that the total raised now exceeds $3.5 million from over 300 individual investors. ECFiber currently has about 330 subscribers along its existing 50 miles of network in Barnard, Royalton, Tunbridge, and Vershire. Within the next few months, it expects to connect customers in Chelsea, Thetford, Strafford, Norwich, and Sharon. The next routes to be built are now under design.
ECFiber, based in Royalton, is a consortium of 23 municipalities in east-central Vermont building a community-owned fiber-optic network to deliver reliable high-speed broadband Internet connectivity to every home, business, and civic institution throughout its territory. The number of subscribers is expected to double as the funds raised in 2012 are spent during this construction season.

LINKS:
http://www.usatodayeducate.com/staging/index.php/career/door-to-door-for-the-summer

http://www.vnews.com/search/6239565-95/from-the-architects-drafting-table

http://www.vermontbiz.com/node/27229

The Norwich Observer. Aggregating news and information about Norwich, Vermont with occasional commentary ... . 

My Brigadeiro Chocolates

Upper Valley Business Briefs: My Brigadeiro Chocolates
By Guy C. Denechaud, Times Argus
May 7, 2013
Ana Paula Alexandrescu has kicked off her new business, My Brigadeiro Chocolates, from her home in Norwich, VT.
Orders for the hand-made specialty chocolates exceeded her expectations during the first weeks of start-up, she said, adding she has had to increase the rate of production heading into spring.
Brigadeiro chocolates are a type of confection popular in her home country of Brazil, where she had lived before moving to the U.S. with her husband, Dorian Alexandrescu. She makes the chocolates by hand, with one part-time helper.
Only organic chocolate is used in the Brigadeiro chocolates, and Alexandrescu concentrates on the use of local products whenever possible. Although the chocolates are available in a few stores, such as Dan & Whit’s in Norwich, the majority of sales come through the firm’s Web site.
“I did not believe that it was possible to achieve so much in such a short time, but I have sold my chocolates to customers in each of the 50 states,” she said.
The chocolates, said Alexandrescu, have a consistency that is different from any other chocolates she has tried. “They are sort of between a piece of fudge and a truffle. They are not as chewy as a caramel, but much chewier than a typical chocolate-covered cream candy,” she said.
Read the rest of the story.
My Brigadeiro Chocolates web site is here

LINKS:
http://www.timesargus.com/article/20130507/BUSINESS11/705079945/1042/IRENE
www.mybrigadeiro.com.

The Norwich Observer. Aggregating news and information about Norwich, Vermont with occasional commentary ... . 

ECFiber: misquotes in the Valley News

from the listserv May 12, 2013
Some "news" really is too good to be true. The business section of the Sunday Valley News carried two stories about ECFiber, one focusing on the town of Vershire, and the other describing our expansion plans in other towns incuding Norwich. Unfortunately, there were some fairly serious misquotes and errors in the second story. I did _not_ say that we expect to connect people in "almost all of Norwich" by next fall. Almost all of two or three unserved Norwich neighborhoods, maybe, but at best perhaps 5 or 6% of the town as a whole.


Among other errors, ECFiber is not already "delivering service to 23 municipalities in the Upper Valley and other parts of the state," and the reference to "service from Barnard to Vershire" is true alphabetically but not geographically. We now have customers connected in Royalton, Bethel, Barnard, Pomfret, Chelsea, and Vershire, and fund-raising efforts are underway in Pomfret and West Windsor as well as the towns mentioned in the article.

Lsst but not least, Strafford residents have had some fun today renaming their mis-spelt town as "Stratford on the Ompompanoosuc."

I only wish we could make things happen as fast as the news reporter seems to have imagined, but we're doing our best.

Thanks,
Irv Thomae (Chair, as well as Norwich delegate, ECFiber.)

Weekly Roundup - Norwich News, for week ending May 11, 2013

Bread Loaf Is Architect For Proposed Fire/Police Station

The nascent plan to build a new fire/police/public works facility in Norwich, Vermont took a major step forward on Wednesday May 8th when the Selectboard approved the choice of Bread Loaf Corporation as the Town's architect for the project at an approximate cost of $25,000.  The next step is site selection followed by design of three options.  Public forums are expected for the Fall.

The owner of the Agway Property (198 Church Street) as well as the owner of the Upper Valley Events Center, asked the Town to consider those sites. The land at 198 Church Street has long be rumored as the favorite. But the Town Manager said that there are "no top prospects" and that the "evaluation or site selection process has [not]started."  

According to its web site, Bread Loaf is a full-service planning, architecture, and construction firm headquartered in Middlebury, Vermont.

ECFiber Summer Expansion Plans Include Norwich 

“Before the fall, we’ll have people connected in Chelsea, Vershire, Thetford, Tunbridge, Royalton and Sharon, and a lot of the people in Stratford and almost all of Norwich,” said ECFiber Chairman Irv Thomae, who lives in Norwich, Vermont.

ECFiber Plans Summer Expansion

By Warren Johnston, Valley News Staff Writer

May 12, 2013 

ECFiber has connected 325 customers to high-speed fiber-optic broadband Internet service and is about to expand its network to more underserved customers this summer, the organization’s chairman said last week.

The Vermont nonprofit provider, which is delivering service to 23 municipalities in the Upper Valley and other parts of the state, also has just completed a round of funding and now has service from Barnard to Vershire. ECFiber also is moving quickly to provide fiber connections in parts of West Fairlee, Thetford, Stratford, Sharon and Norwich for customers who are not being served by commercial providers, said ECFiber Chairman Irv Thomae, who lives in Norwich.

“Before the fall, we’ll have people connected in Chelsea, Vershire, Thetford, Tunbridge, Royalton and Sharon, and a lot of the people in Stratford and almost all of Norwich,” he said.

The nonprofit has raised about $3.5 million through grants and investment loans from community members.

Although residents wanting service are not required to loan money to ECFiber, the tax-free notes promise a good return for investors, ranging from 5.3 percent to 7.65 percent, depending on the type of note.

Read the rest of the story. 

Norwich Inn Brewery Marks 20th Year With Belgian Stout

Current and former brew meisters of the Norwich Inn in Norwich, Vermont are collaborating on a Belgian Stout to celebrate the brewery's 20th anniversary.  The three are Tim Wilson, Patrick Dakin and its current brewer, Jeremy Hebert. 

On Tap: Three Men and a Stout

By Chris Fleisher, Valley News Staff Writer

May 8, 2013

The three men peered over the edge of a steel tank being filled with water, waiting for it to heat as though it were charcoals burning in a grill.

It was a moment of tedium during the beer brewing process that each had experienced countless times before. Over the past two decades, each had taken his turn standing in the brewhouse of the Norwich Inn, soaking grains in hot water with the intent of serving up fine ales to thirsty patrons.

But this time they were doing it together. The three of them — Tim Wilson, Patrick Dakin and Jeremy Hebert — had decided to collaborate on a singular beer to mark the brewery’s 20th year in existence.

“I just thought it’d be kind of fun,” said Hebert, the latest to hold the title of brewer at the Inn’s Jasper Murdock’s Alehouse. 

Read the rest of the story. 

More Graffiti

Graffiti and Vandalism Targets Norwich VT Police

WNTK News Blog

Posted on May 6, 2013 by ghedrington

For the past three years, Norwich Vermont has experienced sporadic out breaks of offensive graffiti. Although the language and symbols are racial epithets, they appear to be to be aimed only at the Norwich Police Department. One of the milder writings offers Free Meth for killing a NPD officer. The offensive writings appear on roads and bri.dges throughout the town, and it remains an ongoing and active investigation. Police Chief Douglas Robinson said that the graffiti is written in in orange or yellow paint and painted on the roads and bridges in Norwich. Chief Robinson asks for anyone with information on this active investigation to call 802-649-1460

LINKS: 

http://www.breadloaf.com/index.html

http://www.vnews.com/search/6147020-95/ecfiber-plans-summer-expansion

http://www.vnews.com/news/townbytown/norwich/5950750-95/on-tap-three-men-and-a-stout

http://wntk.com/wp_news/2013/05/06/graffiti-and-vandalism-targets-norwich-vt-police/

A subscription may be required for access to the Valley News stories. 

Weekly Roundup - Norwich News, for week ending May 4, 2013

Columnist Praises Girl Scouts and Norwich Boy Scouts For Inclusiveness

Jim Keynon: Two Kinds Of Scouts
Valley News
May 1, 2013
For an organization that prides itself on teaching survival skills, the Boy Scouts of America seems to have a death wish.
As long as the Boy Scouts’ national leaders continue to insist it’s OK to discriminate against gays, the organization grows increasingly irrelevant in a society where — thank goodness — a person’s sexual orientation becomes less and less a big deal.
As you may have read, the Boy Scouts of America’s executive committee has proposed a change in membership rules: openly gay youths will no longer be excluded.
This is progress?
Hardly. The Boy Scouts will continue to ban openly gay adults from being Scout leaders.
Read the rest of the story.

VTel Loses Part Of State Grant
$5 million VTel cell service grant cut in half
by Nat Rudarakanchana, vtdigger.org
May 4, 2013
A state agency has cut a $5 million telecommunications grant to Vermont Telephone Company in half.
This is the third time the Vermont Telecommunications Authority has pulled VTel grant money in recent months. On March 29, it revoked two broadband grants to VTel worth $3.4 million.
The most recent decision, made at a board meeting on Friday, comes after negotiations between the VTA and the private firm VTel stalled. The $5 million cellphone grant was announced at a news conference by Gov. Peter Shumlin in December 2012.
Read the rest of the story.

Earlier This Week In The Norwich Observer 
Norwich Selectboard Condemns Hate Speech

LINKS:
http://www.vnews.com/search/5939600-95/jim-keynon-two-kinds-of-scouts
http://vtdigger.org/2013/05/04/5-million-vtel-cell-service-grant-cut-in-half/http://norwichobserver.blogspot.com/2013/05/selectboard-condemns-hate-speech.html


A subscription may be required for access to the Valley News stories. 

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/


A subscription may be required for access to the Valley News stories.
The Norwich Observer. Aggregating news and information about Norwich, Vermont with occasional commentary ... . 

Weekly Roundup - Norwich News, for week ending April 6, 2013

Another Instance Of Anti-Semitic Graffiti In Norwich

Graffiti Found in Norwich
Valley News Staff Report
March 31, 2013
Several instances of anti-Semitic and racially charged graffiti showed up along two of the town’s main roads between Friday night and yesterday morning, police said.
Police were alerted yesterday morning to the graffiti, which appeared in two instances on the roadway about half a mile on either side of the intersection of Route 5 and Route 132, and one instance on the I-beam of theInterstate 91 bridge over Route 132, Patrolman Michael Scruggs said. The graffiti on the I-beam included obscenities and an anti-Semitic slur next to a swastika and knife in orange spray paint.
Read the rest of the story.
LINK:
http://www.vnews.com/news/5388417-95/graffiti-found-in-norwich

TCE And Richmond Middle School

TCE and its presence at the Richmond Middle School remained in the news this week as a informational open house was held on Tuesday at the school. Seventh and eighth graders from Norwich, VT attend the school in Hanover, NH that is across the street from CREEL.
Hanover Goes to School on TCE; Waiting On Fruther Tests
By Sarah Brubeck, Valley News Staff Writer
April 3, 2013
After learning on Friday that trichloroethylene was present in a Dartmouth College owned house, officials were relieved to find out this week that two other vacant homes showed no sign of the chemical compound that can cause cancer.
But the good news was tempered by mixed feelings among neighbors of the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, where TCE was discovered at the property boundary earlier this year. Teachers and parents at an open house at Richmond Middle School last night still expressed concern, while noting they don’t want to jump to conclusions until more tests have been conducted. Five residents at Dartmouth-owned housing south of CRREL have asked to be relocated after initial test results revealed an air-borne TCE presence in one home, as well as benzene and carbon tetrachloride.
The discovery of levels have caused officials to expand their testing to adjacent properties, including Richmond Middle School and five homes owned by Dartmouth College in the Fletcher-Cedar neighborhood.
Read the rest of the story.
LINK:
http://www.vnews.com/news/schools/5433732-95/hanover-goes-to-school-on-tce-waiting-on-fruther-tests

Thompson of Norwich Named VP At Trumbull-Nelson Construction 

Theodore G. “Todd” Thompson , of Norwich, has been named vice president of Trumbull-Nelson Construction Co. of Hanover and Montpelier.

Thompson joined Trumbull-Nelson as assistant project manager in 2000 and was promoted to the position of project manager in 2002, overseeing a wide variety of institutional, commercial and residential building and renovations, including work at the ... .

Read the rest of the story. 

LINK: 

http://www.vnews.com/news/business/5429722-95/people-in-business

A subscription may be required for access to the Valley News stories.

The Norwich Observer. Aggregating news and information about Norwich, Vermont with occasional commentary ... . 

Weekly Roundup - Norwich News, for week ending February 16, 2013

CoreValue Software Helps Small and Medium Businesses Find Value

CoreValue Software in Norwich, VT, co-founded by Chuck Richards and Lisa Kable, creates web-based software to help owners of private companies build valuable companies. A profile of the firm appeared on February 10, 2013 in the Valley News.

Finding Hidden Value: Norwich Firm Helps Small Businesses Figure Out What They're Worth 
By Warren Johnston Valley News Staff
February 10, 2013
The mission of CoreValue Software is easy to see, although it’s not readily apparent.
Clues — large photographs of aged, closed factories, steam locomotives, rusted, discarded machinery — populate the office walls of the global company that operates in the back of a two-story building with no sign on Main Street to announce its presence.
However, even the poster-sized black-and-white photos don’t give a clear picture of what CoreValue is about. The bright office, functionally furnished with sensible desks and chairs, computers, an occasional dog bowl under a desk and bags of canine treats covering an entry shelf, could house any number of businesses — perhaps a real estate firm that sells off shuttered or dying factories or an equipment brokerage that finds buyers for obsolete machines.
But instead of hovering over the decaying carcasses of outmoded industries, CoreValue’s plan is to swoop and save them with a software program that makes closely held small- and medium-sized businesses look deeply at their operations with an eye on the future.
“The photographs are a reminder of what we do, and what we’re trying to prevent,” said Lisa Kable, the president of CoreValue, who co-founded the company with Chief Executive Officer Chuck Richards.
“We feel like we’re reaching and helping business owners, and when they transfer their business, it will be a net job generator — that the business will do well and jobs will be created,” Kable said.

Read the rest of the story.
CoreValue Software Web Site
LINKS:
http://www.vnews.com/home/4102921-95/business-corevalue-businesses-companies
http://www.corevaluesoftware.com/

Former Chef at Carpenter &  Main In Minneapolis

"Man, this guy can cook" reports the Star Tribune

Lynn on Bryant: A neighborhood gem of a restaurant
By Rick Nelson, Star Tribune
February 14, 2013

REVIEW: A transplanted Vermont chef sets up a great-looking shop in south Minneapolis. Are there more chefs like him?

The Twin Cities area has more than its share of local-chefs-made-good stories, but the culinary scene has also prospered from the fresh perspectives and enviable skills brought here by gifted out-of-towners.

Including Peter Ireland. The Vermont native cooked for big-name chefs in Chicago, New York and France — then ran his own acclaimed restaurant, Carpenter & Main, in his hometown of Norwich, Vt. — before relocating to Minneapolis (where his wife, Rebecca, was enrolled in law school) and opening the Lynn on Bryant.

The name is a reference to the surrounding Lynnhurst neighborhood. That only seems right, since the Lynn is billed as a neighborhood restaurant, and its breakfast-lunch-dinner format bears that out. But with Ireland at the helm, it’s also so much more.

Man, this guy can cook. The menu is tightly focused. At dinner, it’s just six appetizers and as many entrees, which could feel limited, but doesn’t. What makes the Lynn such a remarkable dining experience is Ireland’s intrinsic ability to subtly manipulate and balance outcomes up and down the continuums of flavor and texture: bitter-sweet, tangy-mellow, crispy-silky; all masterfully exploited.

Read the rest of the story.
LINK:
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/191058101.html?refer=y

Preview Of Town Meeting

Sarah Brubeck of the Valley News nicely summarizes the big topics for Town Meting 2013

Cell Tower On Warning In Norwich

By Sarah Brubeck Valley News Staff Writer
February 14, 2013

Norwich town and school budgets will be discussed Monday, March 4 at 7 p.m. in Tracy Hall. Voting for town officers and all warning articles will be done by Australian ballot on Tuesday, March 5 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Tracy Hall.

Norwich — This year’s Town Meeting warning isn’t lacking for controversy with one nonbinding article that would authorize the Selectboard to spend $275,000 to build a new communications tower, undercutting a deal the Selectboard struck with a private telecommunications company.

Voters will also decide whether an assistant town clerk who has been working full time will have her hours reduced to part time.

The tower flap started last fall when the Selectboard authorized Town Manager Neil Fulton to sign a letter of intent with VTel, a Springfield, Vt.-based telecommunications company, that would allow the firm to lease property on New Boston Road in order to build a communications tower to provide high-speed Internet service to the area. In return, the town could freely use the tower to upgrade radio communication among the police, fire and public works departments.

Norwich residents petitioned the article that calls on the town to build and own the tower itself. Proponents said passage would show the Selectboard that there is widespread opposition in town over the deal with VTel. The article is not legally binding, however, and if it does pass ... .

Read the rest of the story.
LINK:
http://www.vnews.com/news/townbytown/norwich/4397511-95/town-budget-selectboard-increase

Tierney of Norwich Leads Valley Community Loan Fund

New Fund Offers Businesses Lending Option

By Warren Johnston, Valley News  January 27, 2013
Lebanon — A new nonprofit group is hoping to begin soon making commercial loans to under-served small businesses and projects that will create jobs and help Upper Valley residents living in poverty.

The Valley Community Loan Fund will lend money to marginal or higher risk projects and businesses that aim to provide new jobs or workforce housing in the Upper Valley and that don’t qualify for money from banks or other conventional lenders, said Paul Tierney, of Norwich, one of the organizers and chief executive officer of the loan fund.

“We estimate that there are 35,000 people living under the poverty level and 12 percent to 15 percent of them are children,” Tierney said. “There’s a need for about 2,000 workforce housing units in our area,” The fund will serve southwestern New Hampshire and southeastern Vermont, with an initial focus on the Upper Valley.

Recent changes in the federal banking laws make it even more difficult for some small businesses and projects, such as building affordable housing, to get loans through banks. “We want to make the loans that will provide a permanent fix to help move these people out of poverty,” Tierney said.

The Valley Community Loan Fund is one of about 500 community loan funds in the country. Most of them are run by municipalities and county governments to provide economic stimulus, Tierney said.

Read the rest of the story.
LINK:
http://www.vnews.com/search/4029532-95/valley-fund-tierney-loan