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By Credit search: Valley News Columnist

By JIM KENYON

When the nonprofit Carter Community Building Association, or CCBA as it’s known, launched a fundraising drive last October, the good name of Jim Vanier and his half-century of service to Lebanon kids was used as a major selling point. “Following in...

By JIM KENYON

When Lebanon High School teachers and administrators gathered in June to recognize their colleagues who were retiring or leaving for new jobs, one person was conspicuous in his absence.Kieth Matte, who spent 24 years at Lebanon High as a physics...

By JIM KENYON

Busy, busy, busy. New Dartmouth President Sian Leah Beilock anticipates being so busy, in fact, that the college is advertising for someone to pick up her dry cleaning, drop off packages at the post office and do her grocery shopping.Then there’s the...

By JIM KENYON

After losing her home and many of her belongings to Tropical Storm Irene’s floodwaters 12 years ago, Ethel Davis braced for worst as she made her way back to Riverside Mobile Home Park in Woodstock around noon Tuesday.“I told myself, ‘If the place...

By JIM KENYON

When Hartford Dismas House needed someone to tell its story, the nonprofit that provides affordable lodging and meals for people coming out of Vermont’s prisons often turned to Tommy Shea.Several years ago, Shea was dispatched to Montpelier to educate...

By JIM KENYON

With the first half of 2023 in the books, it’s time to catch up on what’s happening with some Upper Valley residents whose stories I’ve shared in the past.After two surgeries and a monthlong hospital stay, Daniel Diaz is back making pizzas and riding...

By JIM KENYON

The choice was hers.Sanna McAuliffe could have the three-page victim impact statement that she’d written entered into the court record and left it at that. She could have someone else — a family member or an attorney — read it on her behalf as she sat...

By JIM KENYON

After this upcoming Friday, school will be out for the summer in Hanover and Norwich. For students, that is.Teachers and educational assistants have been told by their bosses that they need to continue working for another week or so. Never mind that...

By JIM KENYON

For almost a decade, Kyle Fisher was able to keep his money troubles hidden in plain sight.By 2014 — two years before he was selected to head Listen Community Services — Fisher had amassed $40,000 in credit card debt. His car was repossessed. He owed...

By JIM KENYON

ENFIELD — During his 27 years as the town’s police chief, Peter Giese took mentoring Enfield officers to a new level. He made sure they dotted every I and crossed all Ts — literally.Giese checked officers’ investigative reports and court affidavits...

By JIM KENYON

By all accounts, Daniel Diaz, at age 29, was getting his life together. He’d stopped drinking. He joined a church. He moved into a new apartment in West Lebanon.Then came the accident.On a dark January night with temperatures in the low 30s, Diaz was...

By JIM KENYON

As delectable as the fresh breads and sweets are that come from the ovens at King Arthur Baking in Norwich, the company’s never-ending campaign to aggrandize its work environment is still hard to stomach.A few samples from King Arthur’s website:“Our...

By JIM KENYON

It’s been public knowledge for a while that Hartland Town Manager Dave Ormiston and Town Clerk Brian Stroffolino aren’t exactly office pals.But who knew their working relationship had gone to the dogs? Or precisely, Stroffolino’s dog.Their feud...

By JIM KENYON

In late December, two longtime respiratory therapists at Gifford Medical Center in Randolph discovered an unexpected bonanza — roughly $100,000 each — in their final paychecks of 2022.Until last year, Timothy Flanagan and David Gehlbach were unaware...

By JIM KENYON

On paper, Ben Goodwin doesn’t seem like a safe bet as a new employee. He’s been in and out of jail since he was a teenager. Until about four years ago, he was losing the battle of substance use.And as I wrote in a recent column, Goodwin is also...

By JIM KENYON

Coke or Pepsi? Then again perhaps Mountain Dew is your soft drink of choice. And there’s always an oldie but goodie like Orange Crush.Compared to just a few years ago, it’s a whole lot easier now for employees, patients and visitors at...

By JIM KENYON

Almost a year ago, David backed his 30-year-old travel trailer into the corner of a large vacant lot behind a fast-food restaurant on Route 12A in West Lebanon.He’s lived there ever since.Compared to other homeless people living in the Upper Valley,...

By JIM KENYON

The names Manu Tesone and Omer Trajman didn’t appear on Norwich’s Town Meeting ballot, but their fingerprints were all over Tuesday’s outcomes.Tesone and Trajman are the founders — and pied pipers — of a group called Stand Up For Norwich formed last...

By JIM KENYON

For nearly 30 years, Norwich Town Clerk Bonnie Munday has issued dog licenses, recorded property transactions, handled election preparations and performed the other daily duties that come with the high-profile public office.As Munday, 65, heads into...

By JIM KENYON

Less than 24 hours before Friday morning’s court hearing to restart criminal proceedings against Scott Traudt for allegedly assaulting a Lebanon police officer in 2007, Grafton County Attorney Marcie Hornick ended the charade.It was the right...