Updating Some of Vermont’s Top News Stories of 2013

Most of the big news stories of 2013 are still getting ink and pixels: The F-35 fight aint over yet or so say opponents. Victims of serial killer Israel Keyes continue to turn up. Officials are working on the multi-million-dollar details of Vermont Yankees shutdown. And the business manager of Seven Days is still waiting for a call back about medical insurance from the IT department at Vermont Health Connect.

Youve read all about it.

But in the spirit of alternative journalism, our reporters are always on the lookout for stories that no other media outlet is reporting. Why are some Asian massage places open at all hours of the night even in far-flung corners of Vermont? Ken Picard conducted a simple investigation and turned up glaring evidence of human trafficking and uncaring cops in our own backyard.

Also from the police blotter: Officers in Winooski and Burlington opened fire on suspects, with results that ranged from alarming to tragic; and a pissed-off artist succeeded in shaming the Shelburne 5-0.

Some Seven Days stories played out in the political realm, as lawmakers gave terminal patients the right to seek a doctors help to die; officials kicked hate groups out of the state employee charitable pool; and Champlain Valley superintendents heard loud and clear that parents want school out for summer.

Other stories sprang up from the grass roots, as volunteers launched a farm to make goat meat available to the newest group of Americans; entrepreneurs built a wind-powered barge to bring Vermont farm products to the Big Apple; and residents of Jericho and Underhill tried to resolve their feud over what to do with a sweet gift of land.

None of these dramas ended the day you read about them. To that point, Seven Days reporters followed up with their sources to get the latest on everything from state daycare regulations and Burlingtons bike lock registry to leaderless Goddard College. What they found is nothing short of well, read on.

Illustration by David Junkin

Jan 30: In June 2012, a 3-year-old boy attending the Ed-U-Care Childrens Center in Essex Junction walked off the premises and into heavy traffic on Susie Wilson Road. Luckily, a passing motorist pulled him out of harms way. A subsequent investigation by Vermonts Child Development Division found that daycare staffers never alerted authorities that the boy had gone missing, as required by law. The state cited the center, but allowed it to remain open and licensed.

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Updating Some of Vermont's Top News Stories of 2013