Police: Road rage issue led to gunshot

Rutland Herald

September 18,2014

 

Police: Road rage leads to gunfire

Police said a case of road rage led a Rutland man to fire a gun into a passing log truck Wednesday afternoon on Route 4 in Rutland Town.

Michael Barnes, 23, will be in Rutland criminal court today for an arraignment on a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment, said Rutland Town Police Chief Ed Dumas.

Dumas said a motorist called police around 12:10 p.m. Wednesday reporting that the driver of a black car fired a shot from a handgun at a tractor-trailer carrying logs. The black car and log truck were traveling east on Route 4 near Home Depot in Rutland Town, Dumas said the motorist reported.

The chief termed the shooting a road rage incident and said an investigation led to Killington where Barnes was taken into custody.

Dumas said a handgun was also seized. The chief said police believe the shot did strike one of the logs in the truck.

Killington: Improved access road seen for season

By Bryanna Allen
STAFF WRITER | September 18,2014

 

Anthony Edwards / Staff Photo

A banner posted next to Killington Road warns drivers about road conditions and repairs.

KILLINGTON — The condition of the access road that leads to the Killington Ski Resort has some residents and the police chief concerned.

Most of Killington Road is owned by the town, but above the Lookout Bar & Grill, ownership shifts to the resort.

The town is making construction progress on the bottom half of the road before it gets covered in ice, but the top half still requires attention.

Sam Patel is a resident who works on the road and drives it several times a day. He said he has seen a lack of effort in the restoration process in the past couple of years.

“The town does a tremendous job attempting to keep up with their part of the road,” Patel said. “But you can tell where the town line ends and the resort begins because it suddenly gets awful.”

His job requires him to interact with tourists during all months of the year, and he said customers complain they feel unsafe driving on the road.

“Not everyone who comes up the road has four-wheel drive or knows what to look out for,” Patel said. “I know where the potholes are and I still worry about my tires bursting — winter or summer, it doesn’t matter.”

Patel said the resort just hasn’t made it a priority on their to-do list.

On Aug. 30, during the Killington Classic motorcycle event, police said a biker hit some rough road that caused him to lose control and crash.

Killington Police Chief Whit Montgomery said the rider was thrown to the pavement and suffered a head trauma, among other injuries. He was airlifted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H.

“It’s not a big secret that the road needs a lot of work,” Montgomery said.

He said he was glad to see signs put up to warn drivers about the road.

Mike Solimano, president and general manager of Killington Ski Resort and Pico Mountain, said earlier this month the original plan was to have that section of the road paved by the end of July, but delays have caused the deadline to be pushed back.

Solimano said he expects work to start before the end of the month.

Solimano also said fixing the road has become a priority for the resort and, in the meantime, parts of the road are being patched over.

The police chief said that news puts his mind a little more at ease.

“I’m happy to see the road start to get some work done,” he said.

Resort spokesman Michael Joseph said a combination of last winter’s temperature swings and the continuous traffic stream took an additional toll on the road.

“But we expect significantly improved driving conditions for the coming season,” he said.

He said throughout the delays and road work, he will keep frequent travelers to the ski area updated via social media.

bryanna.allen @rutlandherald.com

Killington is now Powdr’s flagship resort

Rutland Herald

By Bruce Edwards
STAFF WRITER | September 12,2014

 

KILLINGTON — The sale of Park City Mountain Resort by the parent company of Killington and Pico will not place the two Vermont resorts on shaky financial ground, Mike Solimano, the company’s Vermont president, said Thursday.

After a several years’ legal battle, Powdr Corp., reached an agreement to sell Park City Mountain Resort to Vail Resorts for $182.5 million.

Powdr had been embroiled in a legal dispute over the resort’s leased land that threatened Powdr’s continued operation there.

Park City was the anchor resort of Powdr’s stable of ski areas. But Solimano said it will be business as usual at Killington and Pico this season.

“Killington Resort and Pico Mountain will not be affected by Powdr’s decision to sell Park City Mountain Resort to Vail Resorts,” Solimano, president and general manager of Killington Resort and Pico Mountain, said in a statement. “Rather, this positions Powdr, which owns and operates Killington and Pico, well for future growth and success.”

SP Land Co. is in the permitting process to build a ski village at the base of Killington.

Steve Selbo, president of SP Land, said the sale of Powdr’s Utah property won’t have a ripple effect on the village plans.

“We’re stuck in Act 250 right now,” Selbo said. “It (Park City) really hasn’t affected us one way or the other and I don’t think it will affect us in the future either.”

Parker Riehle of the Vermont Ski Areas Association said the end of the legal dispute and sale of the Utah resort should benefit Killington.

“We see nothing here that would affect the operations or ownership of Killington Resort,” said Riehle, the VSSA president. “In fact, the way I view it, this certainly moves Killington to the very forefront of Powdr’s ski areas and really makes them the preeminent resort in their portfolio and I see that as certainly a positive thing.”

John Cumming, Powdr’s owner, is selling Park City’s assets, including the base area, parking, lower ski terrain and lifts, water and snowmaking to Vail. The base parking lands have approved zoning for approximately 687,000 square feet of residential and commercial development.

“First and foremost, we are very pleased to bring a permanent end to this dispute and provide assurance to the guests and employees of PCMR, and to everyone in the Park City community, that they no longer have to worry about any disruption to the operation of the resort,” Rob Katz, chairman and chief executive officer of Vail Resorts, said in a statement. “This has been a difficult period for everyone involved, and I commend John Cumming and Powdr Corp. for helping to find a solution to this situation.”

Ski Area Management, an online magazine, quoted Cumming as saying, “Selling was the last thing we wanted to do, and while we believe the law around this issue should be changed, a protracted legal battle is not in line with our core value to be good stewards of the resort communities in which we operate.”

Vail, which already operates The Canyons, next door to Park City, intends to merge both resorts for the 2015-16 ski season, which would create the largest ski resort in the U.S., with 7,000 acres of skiable terrain.

Powdr found itself in trouble three years ago when it failed to renew its lease with Talisker Land Holdings on time. A Utah court ruled that Talisker could evict Powdr, raising the specter that the resort would not open this season. Just last week, Powdr agreed to post a $17.5 million bond, clearing the way for the resort to open while Powdr appealed the judge’s ruling.

The sale of Park City leaves Powdr with eight ski areas: Copper Mountain, Colo.; Killington, Pico, Vt.; Mount Bachelor, Ore.; Boreal, Nev.; Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard; Gorgoza Park, Utah; and Soda Springs, Calif.

Vail Resorts Inc. operates Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada; Canyons in Park City, Utah; Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mount Brighton in Michigan; and the Grand Teton Lodge Co. in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. RockResorts, a subsidiary, manages luxury hotel properties. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estate development and construction subsidiary.

Vail Resorts is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (MTN). Vail closed Thursday at $85.75 a share, up $8.98.

Utah ski resort sold amid long legal battle

Rutland Herald

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST
the associated press | September 12,2014

 

ap file photo

A skier enjoys the terrain at Park City Mountain Resort, in Park City, Utah. One of Utah’s largest resorts will open its slopes this upcoming ski season after agreeing to pay a $17.5 million bond that a judge said it must pay to keep the slopes open.

SALT LAKE CITY — One of Utah’s largest ski areas was sold to Vail Resorts Inc. Thursday, resolving a legal battle between two ski titans and paving the way for the creation of what could be the country’s largest resort.

The $182.5 million deal, effective immediately, gives Vail the base area and parking lot at Park City Mountain Resort, as well as lifts and snowmaking equipment. The Colorado-based company is already leasing the upper 3,000 acres of slopes, but couldn’t use them without the base area owned by Powdr Corp.

The sale will allow Vail to connect Park City with the adjacent Canyons ski area it leased last year from real estate company Talisker, which applauded the deal Thursday.

When the two are connected with a lift in the future, the resulting 7,000-acre resort will be the largest in the country, said Vail CEO Rob Katz.

“This is one of the most impactful opportunities our company has ever had,” said Katz.

Vail’s stock had shot up about 11 percent by Thursday afternoon on news of the deal.

For the upcoming season, Vail will operate the two resorts separately. They’ll honor Park City passes or allow skiers to exchange for the company’s $749 Epic Pass, which allows access at 22 resorts, or a local version. The company will maintain the two names in the future, but the connection between the two will be seamless, said Katz.

Powdr Corp. CEO John Cumming said his company entered the deal reluctantly, but it will give security to the city and the 2,000 employees who will stay in their current jobs.

“Selling was the last thing we wanted to do, and while we believe the law around this issue should be changed, a protracted legal battle is not in line with our core value to be good stewards of the resort communities in which we operate,” Cumming said in a statement.

A judge ordered Park City evicted from the slopes in May after ruling the long-running fixture had missed a deadline to renew a decades-old sweetheart lease it got from a mining company. Though they continued the court battle, the two sides also started court-ordered mediation talks.

Vail’s properties include resorts in the Lake Tahoe area and the Midwest as well as Utah and Colorado.

Powdr owns seven major U.S. ski areas, from Vermont’s Killington to Oregon’s Mount Bachelor.

At one point, the legal battle between the ski titans put the upcoming season at risk, raising concerns about thousands of jobs and millions of sales dollars in Park City.

Grub Steak Restaurant owner Hans Fuegi said the sale should relieve three years of tension, but the news is bittersweet.

“Most people have a lot of respect for not only the resort, but what John (Cumming) has done for the area,” said Fuegi, who welcomed the concept of a connected Canyons and Park City.

“Geographically, quite frankly, it should have happened a long time ago,” he said. “From the topography and the terrain, it’s very easy to join these two resorts.”

Lifts began running at what was then called Treasure Mountain in 1963, marking the start of the modern-day ski industry in the town about 30 miles east of Salt Lake City that hosted many of the events in the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Funding schools with imaginary students raises questions

Letter to the Editor
Mountain Times
September 11, 2014

Dear Editor,

After reading Gov. Shumlin’s letter to Rebecca Holcombe, secretary for the Vermont Agency of Education, dated Aug. 19, 2014, which outlines initiatives he hopes she and the Agency will pursue on his behalf to advance progress this year, I was confused on a number of topics. 

Shumlin refers to the fact that many schools benefit from the “hold harmless provision,” which limits declines in enrollment used for school funding to 3.5 percent per year. Meaning that if a school looses more students, they are not penalized financially for the additional losses in their enrollment. This, in essence means we (the taxpayers) are paying schools additional money to educate students that don’t actually exist. Which raises the questions: exactly how many imaginary kids we’re funding as a state?

Schools that have seen a dramatic decrease in numbers over the past few years are assumably being funded by this provision almost entirely, as they have not been required to cut back as much as such as a decline in student enrollment should warrant.

The governor also mentions that between FY1997 and FY2014, enrollment K-12 has dropped from 103,000 to 79,600 students, do those numbers include imaginary kids?

When Shumlin now says that this formula will be adjusted over next few years so that we are in fact not paying for imaginary students, does that mean that the schools for whom this provision has aided have caught up to the real numbers over time? Or that this provision is being eliminated and those schools should prepare for the dramatic loss of funding?

On a side note, I find it funny that actual students that are tuitioned into our schools do not count toward our equalized pupil ratio, but imaginary kids do…

If this program is indeed going to continue, can we get some of these imaginary students to help with our budget, which in turn will help with our property taxes?

Jim Haff, Killington

Police probe car break-in

Rutland Herald


KILLINGTON — Vermont State Police is investigating a theft from a car parked at the intersection of Route 4 and East Mountain Road.

Police said Killington resident Shari Borzekowski parked her gray Hundai Accent there at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and then left for a short walk with her children, returning about a half hour later to find the window smashed.

Borzekoski told police a brown Haiku purse with a green strap was taken, and that the purse contained items, including some belonging to her young daughter, totaling $300 in value.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the Vermont State Police at 773-9101 or submit an anonymous tip text “CRIMES” to keyword “VTIPS” or utilize Vtips.Info in order to submit anonymous information.

Crews at Pico cleanup after strong winds damage condo complex

Rutland Herald

September 03,2014

By Bryanna Allen
STAFF WRITER

KILLINGTON—Powerful winds swept through Pico ski resort around 9:45 p.m. Tuesday during a rainstorm, causing damage to two of the condominium buildings, the base lodge and surrounding trees and signs.

Parts of the condo roofs were torn off, windows were broken and several metal chimney caps—weighing a couple hundred pounds each—were tossed into the parking lot, according to Pico property manager Tom Rock.

Of the combined 60 rooms in the two buildings, only 10 of them were occupied and everyone was evacuated without injury and sent to the Killington Grand Resort Hotel for the time being.

The storm damage in Killington was isolated to the Pico resort area.

“It’s all very strange,” Rock said Wednesday morning. “It was just around here, no damage anywhere else.”

Rock said there is no estimated cost of the repairs as of yet and no next step has been planned.

“We’re just trying to clean up still,” Rock said.