The Year In Review, 2006

One of the biggest stories of 2006 was certainly the lopsided victory of Congressman Bernard Sanders in his race for the U. S. Senate. Above, the candidates square off in a debate at Vermont Law School. (Herald / Tim Calabro)

Below are the top stories from the first half of 2006, as found in the pages of The Herald of Randolph. The stories from July through December will appear next week.

January

Kylie Paradise Parthree was a surprise arrival as Gifford's New Year's baby. Her mother Christine, of South Easton, Mass., came to Bethel for a wedding; her father Sean is in Iraq.

Randolph police played a key role in the arrest of a Northfield man who had been using the Internet to send sexual messages to two 14-year-old Randolph girls.

A 51-year-old truck driver was found dead in his tractor trailer in the southbound Sharon rest area. No foul play was discovered.

John Hasham pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his neighbor David Drown in Drown's Route 12 garage near Baker's Pond in Northfield.

Wayne and Karen Warner re-open Valley Bowl in its new Prince Street location.

Century 21 narrowly escapes a disastrous fire thanks to the alertness of Lisa Jacobs, owner of Ashley's.

Ty Handy settles in as new president of Vermont Technical College.

The late Wes Herwig is honored by the Vermont legislature with a resolution and reception.

The Rochester School board votes to begin exploration with Bethel on school consolidation. That effort gained steam late in the year. Meanwhile, Bethel and Randolph open consolidation talks, which quickly went nowhere.

February

Randolph Budget Committee takes the unusual step of urging voters to vote against town budgets at Town Meeting, citing a 23% increase in the three budgets.

A New Hampshire woman spends an hour stuck on the steep wall of the Bethel gravel pit before being rescued by state troopers.

The Gifford Auxiliary contributes $300,000 toward the expanded Menig Nursing Home.

The Randolph Union High School and Technical Careers Center both had their budgets rejected in February's meeting. Both schools projected small increases, and generalized taxpayer resentment seemed to be the reason.

Former Orange Co. State's Atty. James McKniwght dies suddenly of heart complications at age 57.

Warden Keith Gallant named Warden of the Year by the National Wild Turkey Federation.

Gifford Medical Center holds its 100^th annual meeting, unveiling another solid financial year, and the addition of a clinic in Sharon and completion of a 7000-square-foot building addition in Randolph.

Rev. Susan Henderson becomes interim minister of the Vermont Conference, United Church of Christ, which is headquartered in Randolph.

Daniel H. Daigle is sentenced to 8 to 14 years in jail for the 1997 robbery at gunpoint of an elderly South Royalton couple.

Gov. James Douglas gives the official kick-off for the Salisqury Square affordable housing project in Randolph (20-25 units), a project of RACDC.

Bill Sugarman is named director of the Randolph Technical Careers Center.

Bill Elberty is named administrator of the Pittsfield Academy, which is run by the Windsor Northwest Supervisory Union for students who need special attention.

Gifford's President Joseph Woodin is named the Business Executive of the year by the Ranodlph Area Chamber of Commerce.

Adult Education program in Randolph celebrates its 30^th year.

March

86-year-old Ethel Conger of East Brookfield is rescued from her burning home by Kelly Hopkins, Jr. and Claud Molleur, two loggers from Hardwick.

The same week, Diane Brunner of Denver, attempting to rescue her dog from the White River in Stockbridge, fell through the ice and was rescued, along with the dog, by 17-year-old Whitcomb High School junior Cody Griffin.

Cartoonist Harry Bliss features Randolph in a nationally-syndicated cartoon; not all are amused.

Anne Silloway and Anne Pritchard of Randolph and Charlie Biederman of Rochester travel to India with Rotary to help administer polio shots.

Four Randolph budgets are rejected at Town Meeting- general, highway, roads, and police- while Bethel actually increases its proposed budget.

Braintree rejects the idea of holding Town Meetings on Saturday.

Brookfield voted, 59-38, to impeach President George W. Bush.

Sen. Patrick Leahy secures $100,000 grant for Pierce Hall in Rochester.

Vermont Law School loses in U. S. Supreme Court, which rules that VLS must permit military recruiters on campus as a condition of receiving federal aid.

Applied Research opens its Veritek Division in the former Waterbury Plastics plant in Randolph.

A recount in Royalton reverses the election of Ernie Amsden as selectman, making Dennis Ives a 202-199 winner.

RUHS high school student Micah Battino's musical composition is performed by the Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival.

Green Mountain National Forest issues a new 20-year plan for management of the forest.

Janet Bullard is named national Women in Business champion of the year, with a trip to Washington.

Young actors at Randolph Union High School, Whitcomb High School and The Sharon Academy win the right to perform their plays at the state festival. Randolph later wins the state title with the play "Wit."

Entertainer Rusty Dewees releases a CD made at Chandler Muisc Hall in 2005.

The new Catholic Bishop of Vermont, Salvatore Matano, celebrates his first mass at Sts. Donatian and Rogatian in Randolph.

Richard E. Moses Jr. of Strafford is charged with trying to arrange the murder of a witness against him in a drug case.

Artist Warren Kimble comes to Randolph to promote the statewide "Palettes of Vermont" project.

April

RUHS and the elementary school budgets all are passed by voters on the second attempt.

Sgt. Tom Stone, 52, of Tunbridge, a highly-trained National Guard medic, is killed in Afghanistan, during his third tour of duty there.

Lucas Earle of Brookfield wins the state Geo-Bee.

A committee studying the proposal to merge schools in Royalton and Bethel decides not to pursue the matter further.

World's Fair shocking announcement: No demolition derby at the 2006 fair.

The family-owned Rochester Electric Light and Power Co. is sold by Tom and Sandy Pierce to CVPS.

A bill filed in Congress would expand the officially-designated Wilderness in the National Forest by 48,000 acres, whereas the Forest Service plan had proposed only 27,000. The bill in Congress would include 12,000 acres in Hancock and Rochester. The bill is eventually passed in December.

Chelsea native Amy Bullard returns home to tell the story of her 2004 conquest of Mount Everest.

Randy Trask of Bethel Gilead survives the crash of his small plane without a scratch.

Three teaching positions and a study hall monitor are cut in Rochester.

In a small turnout, Randolph voters vote down all four town budgets for the second time.

Posthumously, Wes Herwig's book on the Peavine Railroad, "A Whistle Up the Valley," is published, as a joint project of Mim Herwig and Robert C. Jones.

May

The vintage Tunbridge General Store re-opens under new ownership; however, it closed again before the end o the year.

Orange County side judges begin studying the need for expansion at the courthouse.

2005 VTC graduate Randi Grout will be first farmer to get a jumpstart through VTC's "farm incubator" project that is the brainchild of Ag professor Chris Dutton.

ClearSource begins production of its own bottles.

Tim Crowley of Rochester is the National Distinguished Principal for Vermont.

Bethel voters take back the extra $80,000 they added to the school budget in March.

Controversy erupts over VTC's decision not to re-hire five supervisors at the SHAPE facility.

Meredith Martin opens tattoo parlor in Randolph.

Judy Moore honored with a Chandler Music Hall party as she steps down from leadership at The Sharon Academy, which she founded 10 years ago.

Hannah McMeekin of Randolph is one of just 30 students across the country to be chosen to serve as a page in the U. S. Senate; she finishes her term next week.

June

Orange County Sheriff Dennis McClure announces retirement for health reasons after seven years in the job.

New Hampshire resident Tyler Blain drowns while swimming in a tiny Locust Creek swimming hole in Bethel.

Work began on the long-awaited $1-million rebuilding of the Chelsea-East Randolph Road. It was completed later in the summer.

The Stanley Tools manufacturing plant in Pittsfield honored by the Environmental Protection Agency for its earth-friendly practices.

Hartford School bus found burning on a Royalton back road.

Roxbury man cited to court after shooting a bear that was raiding his bird feeder.

Rochester rejects its school budget for the second time, by a thumping margin.

Bethel Mills is named the Small Business Administration's Family-Owned Business of the Year for Vermont.

In the third try Randolph voters finally approved all four municipal budgets.

Six young people injured, one critically, when a fully-loaded car hits a tree on Route 12 in Bethel; high speed and alcohol involved. Police later arrested three of the men and charged them with an attack that left a Bethel man with a fractured skull.

For the second year in a row Gifford's Menig Center wins the top award in the state for nursing homes.

Vermont's Music Man, Dick Ellis, begins his 60th year conducting the South Royalton Town Band.

An official farm disaster is declared by the U. S. Department of Agriculture because of the "perfect storm" of low milk prices, high fuel prices, and terrible weather for crops. Despite the very late start to the growing season, most farmers eventually had near-normal harvests.

Sharon Academy announces plans for a 5400-square-foot addition.

Ronald Dessaint of Bethel is killed in a motocycle accident on Route 12A.

July

(Note- July held out for next week)