Cavendish Update 5/6/22: Thank you/Composting/Green Up/News

VIEW THE CAVENDISH VT FACEBOOK PAGE FOR THE LATEST NEWS

GREEN UP DAY IS TOMORROW

Meet at Greven Field 9-10 for gloves, bags & routes

Cook Out @ Greven 11-1

GM Booster Club Bottle Drive @ Greven from 9-1

5/6/22

1.    Thank you

2.    Cavendish Info

3.    Composting at the Cavendish Transfer Station

4.    Covid update

5.    Events

1. THANK YOU! We’re now well into year 3 of Covid, which has required a lot of extra time and effort from Cavendish Connects. Yet, the donations we receive makes it easier. This generosity helps keep our community informed, as well as masked and even tested. It also keeps us busy. If somewhere along the way we haven’t reached out to personally thank you, we want you to know we truly appreciate it and couldn’t be doing this without your support. Please note, we received a shipment of new KN95s yesterday. We will be getting them to distribution points over the weekend. If you have an immediate need, e-mail cavendishconnects@gmail.com or call 802-226-7807 to arrange for a drop off.

2 . CAVENDISH INFO

• Graveside Service for Harry Westcott: A graveside service will be held on May 14 (Saturday) at 2 pm at the Hillcrest Cemetery in Proctorsville. Harry died December 16, 2021.

• Vermont DMV to keep scheduling system

3. COMPOSTING AT THE CAVENDISH TRANSFER STATION: When the Vermont legislature banned food scraps from the trash and mandated that all Vermonters compost food scraps, the Town of Cavendish engaged the services of a company to haul away those scraps each week. That quickly became hugely expensive, so the town decided to try a different route. For several months now the Cavendish transfer station has been composting on site. That saves both the carbon cost and dollar cost of haulage, making composting more economical and environmentally sustainable. Any Cavendish resident with access to the transfer station can use the new composting section for no extra charge.

What must stay out of the trash and instead be composted includes those parts of food items that are typically discarded rather than eaten such as peels, rinds, cores, eggshells, seeds, pits, bones, coffee grounds and paper filters, loose-leaf tea & paper tea bags, and fats/oils/grease. It also includes food plate scraps or leftovers and any food that went bad. And not just food must be composted - if it was once part of something alive, like a plant or an animal, it does not belong in the landfill. So, grass clippings and any other yard debris must stay out of the trash and can be put into the compost.

Eventually the newly created compost will be available to Cavendish residents free of charge, although it will take time for the scraps and waste to become useable compost. Meanwhile the town employees ask that people be more careful in what they throw into the compost pile. Plastic bags are not compostable. Dump compostables into the pile and throw the plastic into the trash. Some plastic food containers and utensils may be recyclable, but they are not compostable, even if the manufacturer says they are. Food scraps will compost in a few months, the containers and utensils will take many years if at all to compost. If they are clean, put them in recycling.

For those people who have a yard where they can set up a compost pile or bin, there’s no reason to bring that food and yard waste to the transfer station. Instead, create your own compost. It’s usable to enrich the soil of lawns, gardens, and potted plants. For information on how to make your own compost, or about any aspect of food waste disposal, go to Composting Workshop 2015 or to VT Waste Management website. FMI: Caall the Cavendish town office at 802-226-7291.

4. COVID UPDATE: For local information on testing, vaccinations, boosters, notifying contacts as well as other resources, including for Long Covid, please see the Cavendish COVID-19 Resource Guide.

TRSU SCHOOL NUMBERS: New cases of COVID-19 in the TRSU 4/29-5/4/22 GMUHS 3; Ludlow Elementary 1.

LONG TERM CARE: There has been a multi resident Covid outbreak at the Gill home this week.

STATE: According to Tuesday’s, May 3 Modeling report The 7-day average has increased from 285 to 326 (+5%) cases per day over the last week. Vermont reported 2,317 new COVID-19 cases this week, 318 more cases compared to the prior week.

As of May 5, 2022, hospitalizations (56) and ICU admissions (16) are where they were in mid-February of this year. There were 345 new cases yesterday and 504 on Wednesday. Since May 1, there have been 5 new death reports, bringing the state total of Vermonter deaths to 642.

At Tuesday’s press, health commissioner Dr. Mark Levine noted that Omicron BA.2 was going to be with us for a while so now was a good time to assess individual risk factors and act accordingly. He noted that the majority of Covid-19 hospitalizations were those over 65, who had received vaccinations, but not booster shots. Ultimately, Levine recommended that if you are 65+ and/or have an underlying condition, be vaccinated and boosted (2 x), wear a protective mask, such as a KN95, when in public (that includes public transportation) and practice social distancing.

VT Receives 2,000 Paxlovid Doses: Levine noted on Tuesday that the federal health agencies increased the Covid antiviral Paxlovid to 2,000 doses this week for a one time allocation. The state has been receiving 200 doses, which has been insufficient to meet demand. The state’s weekly supply will be 220, with 45 doses for those who have kidney issues. Note: Rite Aid Ludlow has received doses of the antiviral.

If you test positive, contact your primary care health provider for a free prescription for an antiviral. You will need to take the medication within five days of having a positive Covid test. This is particularly important for those 65+ and/or having an underlying condition.

CDC restates recommendation for masks on planes, trains: Americans age 2 and older should wear a well-fitting masks while on public transportation, including in airports and train stations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended, citing the current spread of coronavirus and projections of future COVID-19 trends.

And the Variants Keep on Coming: In the U.S. a new version of omicron called BA.2.12.1 was identified in central New York state last month, causing a sharp rise in cases. This new variant is spreading rapidly across the country, about 50% faster each week than the omicron BA.2, which has been dominant variant in VT.

In South Africa, two variants,  BA.4 and BA.5, are causing a fifth wave of cases. In the past two weeks, cases jumped from 1,200 each day to 4,600 each day. And the positivity rate jumped from about 8% to 18%. So far this is a rare variant in the US and it’s a matter of waiting and seeing.

Unfortunately, even if you’ve had omicron, you can be reinfected with this new variant. The re infection rate may be higher for unvaccinated.

5. EVENTS

MAY 7 (SATURDAY): Green Up Day & GM Booster Bottle Drive, Greven Field

MAY 15 (SUNDAY): Town Taxes due

MAY 16 (MONDAY): Cavendish Select Board Meeting 6:30 Town Office

MAY 17 (TUESDAY): Fire District 2 (Cavendish Village) annual meeting, 7 pm at the Cavendish Fire Department.

MAY 20-21 (FRIDAY-SATURDAY): BRGN Rummage Sale at Fletcher Farm on Route 103. 10-4.

MAY 27 (FRIDAY): 5-7 pm, Early Bird Cavendish Historical Society plant sale in front of the Museum

MAY 28 (SATURDAY): 9-noon: CHS Plant sale continues in front of the Museum.

MAY 30 (MONDAY): Memorial Day. Legal holiday. Town Office Closed

JUNE 1 (WEDNESDAY): CCCA’s Cavendish Calendar Photography Contest photographs are due today.  FMI: cavendishcommunityconservation@gmail.com.

JUNE 21 (TUESDAY): Last day of school

-       1st Day of Summer

JULY 30 (SATURDAY): Cavendish’s Annual Town Wide Tag Sale, 9-2.

    IF YOU READ THIS PLEASE HELP SUPPORT CAVENDISH CONNECTS

Cavendish Update 4/29/22: News Events

VIEW THE CAVENDISH VT FACEBOOK PAGE FOR THE LATEST NEWS

GREEN UP BAGS CAN BE PICKED UP NOW AT THE TOWN OFFICE. Take a walk and “green up” Cavendish. Drop off at the Cavendish Transfer Station free of charge.

4/29/22

1.    Cavendish Info

2.    Covid update

3.    Events

1. CAVENDISH INFO

• Leonard T Carlisle Funeral: Funeral Services and calling hours will be held, Friday, May 20, from 5-7 p.m. at Clifford Funeral Home in Rutland. The funeral is Saturday, May 21, 11 a.m. at the Cavendish Baptist Church. Burial at the Cavendish Cemetery with a reception will follow in Ludlow.

• PCB Testing of TRSU Schools: According to VT Digger,   the testing of PCBs will be as follows: CTES 4/1-30/22; GMUHS 7/1-31/23; CAES 10/1-31/22; LES 7/1-9/30/22; and Mt. Holly 10/1-31/22

• GMUSD discusses BFK, buses, and contract increases

• BRGN Rummage Sale: Black River Good Neighbor Services annual Gigantic Spring Rummage Sale at Fletcher Farm, 611 Route 103 takes place on Friday, May 20 and Saturday, May 21 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. each day. The sale includes clothing, shoes, sporting goods, housewares, linens, furniture, artwork, books, a boutique, a bake sale, grills, and more. Proceeds benefit BRGNS’ food and financial assistance programs. FMI: Krey Kellington BRGN Thrift Store, 37B Main St., Ludlow at 802-228-3663 or brgoodneighbors@gmail.com.

• Fletcher Memorial Library Ludlow Selected for Palace: The FML in Ludlow has been selected by the VT Dept. of Libraries (VDL) to be one of the 30 initial participants in a new downloadable service called “Palace.” It is an application in which “libby” and new VDL download programs may be accessed. Click here for more information about Palace and read the May Newsletter at the FML website.

• Broadband could take longer and cost more to deploy in Vermont than anticipated

• New program offers free associate degree to Vt. high school students

2. COVID UPDATE: For local information on testing, vaccinations, boosters, notifying contacts as well as other resources, including for Long Covid, please see the Cavendish COVID-19 Resource Guide.

TRSU SCHOOL NUMBERS: No new cases at CTES or GMUHS since the 4/15/22 report. There have been 3 cases in the TRSU, 2 at Ludlow Elementary School and one at Chester Elementary. Note, schools were on spring break the week of April 18. Since the start of the 21/22 school year, there have been at least 272 cases district wide.

STATE NUMBERS: Tuesday’s press conference was held at a job fair, and did not include updates on Covid. However, the modeling report for April 26, was released and  noted a new trend, reflecting the Omicron BA 2 variant. Cases of COVID-19 this week in Vermont increased again, growing from an average of 261 to 283 (+8.5%) cases per day over the last seven days while testing was flat. Hospital admissions and inpatient numbers increased this week, with those hospitalized for COVID in Vermont growing 42% over the last seven days. However, the average number of Vermonters in the ICU has fallen this week, although low counts create instability in the percentage change. One more Vermonter has died of the virus. The total death toll is now 630 .

As of April 28, there are now 64 Vermonters hospitalized with Covid, 8 in the ICU. This is highest number of hospitalizations since Feb. 15. There have been 13 new deaths reported since April 21, bringing the total to 634. Seropositivity, the percentage of positive Covid tests, has jumped to 13%.

Mike Pieciak, Commissioner of the Dept. of Financial Regulation, a member of the Governor’s Covid Response team and responsible for the weekly modeling report, has announced his resignation “to pursue other opportunities.” VT Digger

According to the VT Dept. of Health, We are seeing more flu activity and know there are stomach bugs, colds and other illnesses around, in addition to COVID-19. It can be hard, but staying home when you’re sick is important to limiting the spread of any virus and keeping everyone healthier.

Here's why Dr. Fauci says the U.S. is 'out of the pandemic phase'. "We are in a different moment of the pandemic," he said. After a brutal winter surge, Fauci added, "we've now decelerated and transitioned into more of a controlled phase. By no means does that mean the pandemic is over." His reasons include nearly 60% of the country's people — including almost 75% of children 11 and younger — now have antibodies to it in their blood. However Covid is not going away. "We're not going to eradicate this virus," Fauci said as he looked to the future and COVID-19's global reach. The best hope is to maintain the coronavirus at low levels of transmission and pursue intermittent vaccinations, Fauci said.  "That might be every year, that might be longer, in order to keep that level low. But, right now, we are not in the pandemic phase in this country."

3.EVENTS

APRIL 30 (SATURDAY): Got Drugs? Drug Take Back Day. Turn in expired and unused drugs from 10-2. Needles not accepted. No questions asked. Sites include Springfield, Weathersfield, Windsor and Ludlow Police Depts. Weathersfield Transfer Station The Ludlow Pharmacy and Ludlow Police Dept provide drop boxes for year round disposal.

-       Ludlow Rotary Penny Sale, 6 pm Black River High School Gym

MAY 2 (MONDAY): Grant applications for the Cavendish Community Fund are due. FMI: Douglas McBride at 226-7142 or Peter LaBelle at 226-7250.

MAY 7 (SATURDAY): Green Up Day

MAY 15 (SUNDAY): Town Taxes due

MAY 17 (TUESDAY): Fire District 2 (Cavendish Village) annual meeting, 7 pm at the Cavendish Fire Department.

MAY 20-21 (FRIDAY-SATURDAY): BRGN Rummage Sale at Fletcher Farm on 103. 10-4.

MAY 27 (FRIDAY): 5-7 pm, Early Bird Cavendish Historical Society plant sale in front of the Museum

MAY 28 (SATURDAY): 9-noon: CHS Plant sale continues in front of the Museum.

MAY 30 (MONDAY): Memorial Day. Legal holiday. Town Office Closed

JUNE 1 (WEDNESDAY): CCCA’s Cavendish Calendar Photography Contest photographs are due today.  FMI: cavendishcommunityconservation@gmail.com.

JULY 30 (SATURDAY): Cavendish’s Annual Town Wide Tag Sale, 9-2.

    IF YOU READ THIS PLEASE HELP SUPPORT CAVENDISH CONNECTS

Cavendish Update 4/22/22: Household Hazardous Waste/News

VIEW THE CAVENDISH VT FACEBOOK PAGE FOR THE LATEST NEWS

4/22/22

1.    Cavendish Info

2.    Household Hazardous Waste Disposal

3.    Covid update

4.    Events

1. CAVENDISH INFO

• Ludlow Rotary hears from local business owner Troy Caruso: Currently Caruso owns five restaurants in Ludlow-Calcutta’s, LaTavolta, Off the Rails (formerly Mangiamo Ristorante), Sam’s Steakhouse, and Mr. Darcy’s. He is planning a $20 million project for Fox Run, which would include a 50-60 unit hotel, wedding facility and a new pro shop. VT Journal

2. NEW FOR 2022 HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL BY APPOINTMENT: The Southern Windsor/Windham Counties Solid Waste Management District, of which Cavendish is a member, now has a permanent, seasonal household hazardous waste depot (HHW) at the Springfield Transfer Station. Open 8-10 hours a week, please call the Alva Waste Transfer Station 802-674-9235  for an appointment to bring in HH wastes. Open mid-May through September, it is free to users of the Cavendish Transfer Station.

Please note: Keep products in their original containers. Do not mix products. Never smoke near hazardous materials. The District has the right to refuse any material based upon its nature. Click here for information on what to bring.

The following stores take labeled, non-leaky unwanted paint cans year-round: Aubuchon Hardware & LaValley’s in Ludlow; Bibens & Sherwin-Williams in Springfield and Aubuchon in Windsor

3. COVID UPDATE: For local information on testing, vaccinations, boosters, notifying contacts as well as other resources, including for Long Covid, please see the Cavendish COVID-19 Resource Guide.

TRSU SCHOOL NUMBERS: Schools were closed this week for spring break so no new data.

STATE NUMBERS: Tuesday’s modeling reports Cases in Vermont and New England have increased over the last week, although the pace of those increases is slower than during the rapid surges at the beginning of the Omicron wave. Vermont’s confirmed COVID-19 cases grew from a seven-day average of 201 to 256 per day, an increase of 27%. Regionally, cases grew from 3,288 to 4,226 cases per day (+29%). Vermonters in the hospital for the virus also increased this week… Testing is up in Vermont as cases rise, with testing increasing 18% in the last week. Vermont continues to report one of the highest per capita testing rates in the nation, consistent with historical testing trends.

Yesterday, 4/21/22, Vermont had 50 people hospitalized with Covid, rates that haven’t been seen since mid- February. Three people were in the ICU. There have been 3 additional deaths, bringing the total to 623, with 6 reported since April 1.

HAVE A PLAN: Health Commissioner, Mark Levine, stressed at Tuesday’s press conference that it’s important that older Vermonters and those with underlying health conditions have a plan in place should they test positive. It’s important to start taking the antiviral drugs within the first five days of symptoms. A prescription can be obtained from your health provider. In the event you do not have one, you can get care from the Ludlow Health Center. The antivirals are free of charge.

Get medical care immediately if you have trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, new confusion, inability to wake or stay awake, or changes in color on your lips, gums, face, around the eyes, or nails. Tell your health care provider or 9-1-1 that you have COVID-19 and are isolating at home.

MASKING: While the CDC recently extended the mask mandate through May 3 for public transportation, on Monday, a federal judge in Florida struck down the Biden administration’s mask mandate for airplanes, trains and other public transport methods. In response, most major US airlines, along with Amtrack,  have dropped mask mandates.

Health Commissioner Mark Levine, said on Tuesday that VT continues to recommend following the CDC mask guidelines for indoor, public transportation, noting that while masks may not be required, it’s still a good idea to wear one. Since the press conference, Burlington International Airport has dropped their mask requirement.

 Moderna's combination COVID booster appears more protective against variants, company study finds: A booster shot that includes the original Moderna vaccine plus one directed at the beta variant protects well against a range of COVID-19 variants, a new company study has found. The 50-microgram dose is the same as a current booster dose and appeared just as safe, the company said in a news release. The study included nearly 900 volunteers, 300 of whom received the 50-microgram dose. The rest received twice that amount, which was deemed unnecessary.

4. EVENTS

APRIL 30 (SATURDAY): Got Drugs? Drug Take Back Day. Turn in expired and unused drugs from 10-2. Needles not accepted. No questions asked. Sites include Springfield, Weathersfield, Windsor and Ludlow Police Depts. Weathersfield Transfer Station The Ludlow Pharmacy and Ludlow Police Dept provide drop boxes for year round disposal.

MAY 2 (MONDAY): Grant applications for the Cavendish Community Fund are due. FMI: Douglas McBride at 226-7142 or Peter LaBelle at 226-7250.

MAY 7 (SATURDAY): Green Up Day

MAY 15 (SUNDAY): Town Taxes due

MAY 17 (TUESDAY): Fire District 2 (Cavendish Village) annual meeting, 7 pm at the Cavendish Fire Department.

MAY 30 (MONDAY): Memorial Day. Legal holiday. Town Office Closed

JUNE 1 (WEDNESDAY): CCCA’s Cavendish Calendar Photography Contest photographs are due today.  FMI: cavendishcommunityconservation@gmail.com.

JULY 30 (SATURDAY): Cavendish’s Annual Town Wide Tag Sale, 9-2.

    IF YOU READ THIS PLEASE HELP SUPPORT CAVENDISH CONNECTS

Cavendish Update 4/15/22: Road Work/SB Mtg/Internet

VIEW THE CAVENDISH VT FACEBOOK PAGE FOR THE LATEST NEWS

The Cavendish Town Office is closed today for Good Friday. The Cavendish Transfer Station is closed this Sunday for Easter.

4/15/22

1.    Road Construction 131

2.    Cavendish Select board Mtg 4/11

3.    Telecommunications

4.    Cavendish Info

5.    Covid update

6.    Events

1. ROAD CONSTRUCTION 131: Starting Monday, April 18, route 131, from the intersection of 106 (Downers) to the VT/NH border will be resurfaced along with associated approaches. This project goes all summer and into the fall. Be prepared for alternating traffic and delays. For issues and concerns contact brandon.kipp@vermont.gov or 802-224-6110. Project Fact Sheet

2. CAVENDISH SELECTBOARD 4/11: The meeting can be watched at the Okemo Valley TV website. Minutes will be available at the municipal website and the Vermont Journal has filed a report on this meeting.

Discussed/Action Taken

• Annual organizational meeting: No substantial changes from the previous year.

• Town Plan’s Draft “Energy Chapter” Discussed

• Update on roads: Coming out of a particularly challenging mud season, a lot of stone has been added to various back roads. Grating and ditching are now getting underway. A number of culverts, including old metal ones, need to be replaced this summer.

• Wednesday Night Summer Concerts: Approved. Concerts start Wed. July 6 and run through Aug. 10 at Svec Park (Proctorsville Green) at 6pm.

• Reviewed Town Meeting. Will consider a hybrid format for town meeting moving forward, recognizing that voting cannot be done in this manner. There was a low turnout of voters, which was attributed in part to the lack of issues on the agenda.

• Speed on 131 in Cavendish Village and in front of the school. Have a new deputy sheriff, who has been asked to monitor these areas. A speed study is being slated for 131 that should be completed by the end of the month.

• ARPA Funding Committee: The town manager would like to put together an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Committee which would oversee the disbursement of these funds. Currently the town has received $225,000 with an additional $225,500 due shortly. Funds must be spent by 2024. The committee will include no more than two SB members along with interested community members. Anyone interested in serving on this committee, or having an idea of how to spend the money, should contact Brendan McNamara at the town office 802-226-7291 as soon as possible.

• Junkyard Ordinance: The issue is going to be enforcement. In the meantime Brendan is working with the property owners identified places of concern, most of whom are beginning to work at cleaning up their properties.

3. TELECOMMUNICATIONS: At Monday’s Select Board meeting, the board had questions about any actions taken on Internet as a follow up to the March meeting where this was discussed at length.

TDS: According to TDS’s Joel Dohmeier’d April 8  report, regarding the wiring of Cavendish TDS catchment area with fiber, I have checked internally and this project is in engineering.  Cavendish and Proctorsville are a part of a larger build beyond these two areas as well.  Construction will begin this year on this larger project and the good news is that this will largely be an aerial build (vs. burying the fiber), which allows work to go through the winter months as well. TDS will most likely apply for the slightly more than half a million dollars that has been set aside by the state to wire Cavendish with fiber in order to reach the most underserved of the TDS catchment area. TDS covers 87% of Cavendish.

Unserved areas of town: Primarily in the northeast section of town, there is no reliable service for about 21 addresses. As a stop gap measure, it is being suggested that  Starlink be considered by residents in poorly served areas.   This is the high speed, low latency broadband Internet using advanced satellites in a low orbit spear headed by Elon Musk.

Comcast: With 78% of the town covered by Comcast, including a large part of the northeast section of town, the question is how to expand their service to reach those under/un served. Because VT will only pay for fiber, and has specifically excluded both Comcast and Spectrum (the cable arm of Consolidated Communications) from receiving state funds, other sources of funds are needed.

Lines have been extended by Comcast in Cavendish in the following manner: homeowner lives within a range that they can “bump out” from a nearby property that has Comcast; homeowner pays for the line extension; and a grant was secured to expand service into the northeast part of town. Comcast wires on their own dime if they have 16 subscribers within a mile.

According to the VT Dept. of Public Service’s Cable Line Extension Rule The cable rule requires the costs of service buildout to be apportioned such that as the density (number of homes passed per mile) of subscribers increases the company bears a greater share of the cost, up to 100%. This can be a great opportunity to engage your neighbors in discussions and organize them to participate, subscribe to cable and lower the costs of service buildout for everyone. This means the more subscribers you can have in a given area, the lower the buildout cost will be to the individual subscriber.

4. CAVENDISH INFO

• Warning of the Annual Meeting for Fire District 2: The legal voters of Cavendish Fire District #2 are warned of the annual meeting at the Cavendish Volunteer Fire Department station on Tuesday May 17th at 7 pm

• April 6 Cavendish Planning Commission: The meeting can be watched at the Okemo Valley TV website

• GMUSD board chair asserts ownership of buses at TRSU Board Meeting

• DHMC Name Change: As part of a ‘rebranding effort,” Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center has dropped the Hitchcock and will be known as Dartmouth Health.

5. COVID UPDATE: For local information on testing, vaccinations, boosters, notifying contacts as well as other resources, including for Long Covid, please see the Cavendish COVID-19 Resource Guide.

TRSU SCHOOL NUMBERS: The state stopped reporting cases by school as of January 10, 2022. From August 2021 through Jan. 10, 2022,  58 cases were reported among the TRSU schools as follows: Cavendish Town Elementary School (CTES ) 5 cases; Green Mountain Union High School (GMUHS) 26 cases; Chester Andover (CAES) Elementary School 16 cases; Ludlow Elementary School 8 cases and Mt. Holly Elementary 3 cases.

Since January 4, 2022 the Two Rivers Supervisory Union (TRSU) has been providing daily counts of Covid cases by school at their website. From Jan. 4-April 13 there have been 211 cases in total. The school with the most cases has been Chester Andover Elementary (95 cases) followed by Green Mountain Union High School 73 cases; Mount Holly Elementary 17 cases and with Cavendish and Ludlow Elementary Schools having 13 cases a piece.

January, by far, had the highest case counts. From April 1-13, there have been 11 new cases in the district- 7 cases at Chester Elementary; 1 each at Ludlow and Mt. Holly elementary schools and 2 at CTES.

Between the two data sets, covering the 2021/2022 school year, there have been an estimate of at least 269 cases in the TRSU. It should be noted that a number of cases occurred over the December break, and most likely the Feb. break, which would not appear in either data set.

STATE NUMBERS: Tuesday’s Modeling report shows a continuing rise in cases.  Reported cases in Vermont this week increased from a daily average of 152 to 196 (+29%). The state reported 370 more cases this week than last. Burlington wastewater testing shows an overall increased presence of the virus. New England cases increased from 2,812 to 3,286 cases per day (+17%) in the last week as BA.2 continues to spread.. The BA.2 Omicron subvariant .. is making up more than 90% of sequenced cases in the region.  Hospitalization admissions, inpatient census, and ICU numbers have increased this week….The number of booster doses administered in Vermont increased again this week, climbing to 1,664 doses over the last seven days. Vermont continues to rank first in doses administered per capita and first in percentage of fully vaccinated individuals with a booster dose.

While there has been an increase for all age categories in the last seven days, it’s the highest (51%) for those 25 to 49, followed by those 50-64 (41%). For the youngest population 0-24, there has been a 26% increase with the slowest growth rate occurring in those 65+ (24%).

Springfield Rivers Nursing & Rehab is having an active outbreak, with 66 cases reported as of Tuesday. There have been cluster outbreaks in a school in Northern VT and the Williston Public Safety Answering Point (one of the two police call centers).

Yesterday 4/14/22, 327 new cases were reported with 35 in the hospital (7 ICU). There have been no new deaths reported since April 8.

WHO/HHS Continues Public Health Emergency: Covid continues to remain a major public health threat. "This virus has over time become more transmissible and it remains deadly especially for the unprotected and unvaccinated that don't have access to health care and antivirals," said World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

On Tuesday, US Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the extension of the nation's own, separate public health emergency declaration for COVID-19 for 90 days. This allows for federal funding to be used for tests, vaccines, and certain treatments for people covered by Medicare and Medicaid health insurance programs. Private insurers must cover all costs associated with COVID tests and vaccines. This changes once the health declaration is lifted in the U.S.

On Wednesday, the Biden administration extended the nationwide face mask requirement. This requires that travelers in airports, planes, buses, trains and at transit hubs mask until at least May 3.

6. EVENTS

APRIL 15 (FRIDAY): Happy Passover. Town Office closed for Good Friday

APRIL 16 (SATURDAY): Cavendish Egg Hunt 10 am Greven Field

-       Easter Jazz Concert at St James United Methodist Church Main St Proctorsville at 6PM.

-       10:30 AM at Hoisington Field in Perkinsville. Bring your own basket. Special prizes will be available. Special area for infants -3 year olds. This event will take place regardless of the weather. Sponsored by the Weathersfield Proctor Library

-       Town Wide Easter Egg Hunt Ludlow from 11-2 at Fox Run Golf Course

APRIL 17 (SUNDAY): HAPPY EASTER Cavendish Transfer Station Closed

APRIL 18 (MONDAY): TAXES DUE

APRIL 30 (SATURDAY): Got Drugs? Drug Take Back Day. Turn in expired and unused drugs from 10-2. Needles not accepted. No questions asked. Sites include Springfield, Weathersfield, Windsor and Ludlow Police Depts. Weathersfield Transfer Station The Ludlow Pharmacy and Ludlow Police Dept provide drop boxes for year round disposal.

MAY 2 (MONDAY): Grant applications for the Cavendish Community Fund are due. FMI: Douglas McBride at 226-7142 or Peter LaBelle at 226-7250.

MAY 7 (SATURDAY): Green Up Day

MAY 15 (SUNDAY): Town Taxes due

MAY 17 (TUESDAY): Fire District 2 (Cavendish Village) annual meeting, 7 pm at the Cavendish Fire Department.

MAY 30 (MONDAY): Memorial Day. Legal holiday. Town Office Closed

JUNE 1 (WEDNESDAY): CCCA’s Cavendish Calendar Photography Contest photographs are due today.  FMI: cavendishcommunityconservation@gmail.com.

JULY 30 (SATURDAY): Cavendish’s Annual Town Wide Tag Sale, 9-2.

    IF YOU READ THIS PLEASE HELP SUPPORT CAVENDISH CONNECTS