Rutland Town School principal resigns

RUTLAND — Rutland Town School Principal Patricia Beaumont has resigned.
Beaumont confirmed her resignation this morning after asked to confirm or deny the rumored resignation of her assistant principal Aaron Boynton.
She said, in fact, she was the one who was leaving but did not provide a timeline.
Beaumont said she was leaving for personal and professional reasons.
A Rutland Town School Board meeting tonight may address the issue. It begins at the school at 6:30 p.m.

Rutland Town School is a K-8 elementary and middle school serving about 350 schoolchildren.

Danby skull possibly from one of two missing girls

State police investigating the discovery of a skull in Danby said Thursday that the age and gender of the remains fit the description of two long–missing teenage girls.

Forensic examiners have pieced together that the human skull belonged to a young white woman but won’t know more until dental records or DNA samples reveal the woman’s identity.

But while little is known about the remains or how the skull arrived on an embankment along Danby Hill Road where they were found Sunday, state police said Thursday it’s possible the remains could belong to Brianna Maitland, missing since 2004, or Heide Wilbur, who disappeared in 1991.

In a statement released Thursday, state police said Maitland and Wilbur, both 17 when they were reported missing, “could potentially meet the age range criteria of the Caucasian female in this case.”

Read the full story by Brent Curtis in the Rutland Herald, with discussion of the missing persons cases and their custodian >>>

Video report from skull found in Danby

We posted this on the Rutland Herald site yesterday, but here it is again, from Cassandra Hotaling:

Skull found in Danby from 802 Live on Vimeo.

 

Speed a factor in fatal Bridgewater crash, police say

BRIDGEWATER — Evidence collected from a crash reconstruction, including excessive speed and the lack of any braking, contributed to a state police decision to issue a pair of felony criminal citations to a Rutland man involved in a fatal Bridgewater crash, a state police lieutenant said Wednesday.
The day after police issued a citation to 25-year-old Joshua Ouimette, who was one of the driver’s in a head-on collision on Route 4, Royalton state police barracks commander Lt. William Jenkins said the trooper investigating the case consulted with the Windsor County state’s attorney before deciding Ouimette’s actions leading up to the crash warranted criminal charges.
“The evidence indicated he clearly was not paying attention to what he was doing and crossed the centerline striking the other vehicle head-on,” Jenkins said.
Ouimette was driving a 2004 GMC Envoy with his 28-year-old girlfriend Stephanie Hill and his six-month-old son on board on Jan. 15 when he swerved into the eastbound lane of Route 4 striking a 2001 Ford Escape carrying a family of four from Las Vegas, Nev.

Read the full story by Brent Curtis in the Rutland Herald >>>

Police investigating discovery of human remains in Danby

State Police Lt. Charles Cacciatore and Capt. David Covell talk to the press in Danby on Wednesday afternoon.

Vyto Starinskas / Staff Photo

 

 

 

 

DANBY — Vermont State Police today are investigating the discovery of a skull belonging to a young woman on Danby Hill Road. The skull was discovered in an embankment by a passing motorist on Sunday, police said. Further examination of the remains by the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that the death had occurred sometime ago and the skull had been in its location in the embankment for a long period of time, police said. Examination also revealed traumatic injuries to the skull that could be an indication of homicide, police said. Police on Wednesday returned to the road with detectives, search teams and canines to look for additional remains. The site where the skull was located is in close proximity to a graveyard and police said they could not exclude the possibility that the skull had been removed from one of the graves. Police said they are looking at missing persons reports from the area as part of the investigation.

Rutland man charged in fatal Bridgewater crash

BRIDGEWATER — A Rutland man has been charged in connection with a head-on collision last month that killed a Las Vegas man and his son.
25-year-old Joshua Ouimette of Rutland was charged with two counts of careless and negligent operation with death resulting.
Police said Ouimette’s vehicle crossed the center line on U.S. Route 4 in Bridgewater on Jan. 15 and crashed into an oncoming sport utility vehicle. He is scheduled for a court appearance next month.
Killed in the accident were 56-year-old Christopher Raleigh and his 10-year-old son, Travis. Two other family members in the vehicle survived. A woman in Ouimette’s vehicle suffered non-life-threatening injuries and a 6-month-old infant was not injured.

High School sports recaps

There was plenty of action last night in hoops and hockey. For a Rutland-area roundup, visit the Rutland High School Sports page at the Rutland Herald, where you can find a writeup of the MSJ-Rutland matchup. MSJ took home the trophy and swept the season for the first time in recent memory.

We've got some great photo galleries of the fans and the game:

Game photos from MSJ - Rutland

Fan photos from MSJ - Rutland

Central Vermont also had a busy night, with Rivendell taking home its 11th straight win in boys basketball, and Harwood winning in girls hockey. For a photo gallery of the Harwood game, go here.

For the full recap of central Vermont high school sports, go to our Times Argus page here.

Innovation workshop coming to Rutland this week

The Vermont Small Business Development Center will present a Feb. 9 workshop on Small Business Innovative Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.
The workshops will highlight how to fund the development of innovative ideas and intellectual property. Grants can lead to sole source government contracts.
The Rutland workshop will be held at the Rutland Economic Development Corp. offices on Quality Lane.
Other workshops will be held March 15 in St. Johnsbury, April 12 in White River Junction and May 10 in Montpelier.
The fee is $20. Register at vtsbdc.centerdynamics.com/Events.aspx
Form more information, call Scott Holson at 281-5236.

Writing on the Hall: Half up front

Rutland reporter Gordon Dritschilo has a tidbit that he left out from earlier reporting on the CVPS/GMP merger and it's benefit to the Downtown Rutland Partnership. He fills us in at his Writing on the Hall blog:

This slipped my notice in earlier coverage, but Downtown Rutland Partnership Executive Director Michael Coppinger told me today that the partnership has already been given $50,000 of the $100,000 pledged to it by CVPS and GMP...

Read the full post>>>

 

Crash on Route 4 in West Rutland

WEST RUTLAND — State Police responded to a crash on Rte. 4 a mile west of Exit 6 in West Rutland this morning at around 6:19. Shannon Whitehurst, 19, of Fair Haven, was wearing her seat belt when she lost control of her 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee while heading eastbound on Rte. 4. The SUV went off the road, rolled onto its roof and hit one of the ledges, according to police. She was helped out of the vehicle, and was uninjured. West Rutland Fire Dept. responded to the crash as well.