WNTK Local News

A juvenile from Hartford is facing a DUI-Drugs charge following a motor vehicle accident on Saturday, reports the Vermont State Police-Royalton Barracks.

At approximately 12:30 AM on Saturday, February 20th, the VSP received notice of a vehicle off the road near VT Route 5. An investigation into the incident uncovered that the operator was under the influence of intoxicants. The identity of the operator, a 17-year-old male from Hartford, has not been released due to their age.

The operator was arrested for suspicion of DUI and transported to the Hartford Police Department to be processed.

They were then released with a citation to appear in Windsor County Family Court on April 7th at 1:30 PM to answer to the charge of DUI-Drugs. 

Dartmouth College is said to be planning for a “normal fall term”, reports the Associated Press.

According to the report, the fall term will be “normal” as long as COVID-19 cases on campus remain low, and a large portion of the community gets vaccinated by the end of the summer. There will be caveats, according to Provost Joseph Helbe, and it is possible that not all students will be on-campus for the fall semester.

At this time, approximately half of the school’s undergraduates are on-campus.

There have been no new COVID-19 cases among students for five days now, and it has been eight days since the last diagnosis in an employee. 

At a press conference on Thursday, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu announced that all schools statewide will be required to have in-person teaching starting next month.

According to a report from WCAX, by March 8th, all K-12 schools that have been teaching fully remotely have to offer at least two days of in-person instruction. Sununu cited mental health concerns as a factor into his decision.

This choice comes at a time when lawmakers are discussing several provisions in Sununu’s pandemic-related emergency orders, which include multiple aimed at schools and the authorization of emergency remote or hybrid teaching.

The governor states that he will sign the bill this Friday. 

According to Becker’s Hospital Review, Lebanon’s Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center has launched a new program to screen new mothers for postpartum depression.

Reportedly, new mothers are typically screened immediately after giving birth then at their six-to-eight week postpartum checkup. DHMC’s new program will have women complete a screening program on a tablet before their baby’s two-week, two-month, four-month, and six-month checkups with the hospital’s pediatricians. If a woman is deemed positive for postpartum depression, their child’s pediatrician can connect her to a primary care physician or mental health provider.

According to pediatricians at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock in Manchester, the pandemic has led to an increase in cases of postpartum depression. They attribute this increase to isolation, lack of sleep, and natural hormone imbalances. 

Students at two New Hampshire higher education institutions will now be learning remotely following spikes in COVID-19 cases.

According to a report from the Associated Press, Plymouth State University announced on Tuesday that all classes would be moving online until at least Sunday. The university stated that it had essentially run out of quarantine and isolation space on campus.

Due to this, all campus events, including athletics, have been cancelled. Also, all on-campus gatherings will be capped at six people, while students can only visit students within their own residence hall. The school’s on-campus dining services will be moving to takeout only.

Meanwhile, the University of New Hampshire reported 428 infected students, along with five faculty or staff. There have been nearly 630 people under quarantine on-campus.

The UNH campus is under similar guidelines to PSU’s. 

A South Royalton man is in police custody following an attempted robbery on Monday night in Barnard, reports the Vermont State Police-Royalton Barracks.

At approximately 5:30 PM on Monday, February 15th, the VSP received reports of a suspicious-looking male who seemed to be breaking into a house on Broad Brook Road in Barnard. Upon arriving at the scene, troopers were able to locate a male matching the description given by witnesses. The suspect has been identified as Jasper Digby, 38, of South Royalton. At the time of his arrest, Digby was reportedly armed with several weapons and “burglary tools.”

He was transported to the Royalton Barracks to be processed before being transferred to the Southern State Correctional Facility.

Digby was cited to appear in court on Tuesday at 12:30 to answer to the charges of; Burglary, two counts of Violation of Conditions of Release, and Unlawful Mischief. 

A youth snowmobile operator was injured following a crash in Claremont, according to a press release from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

At approximately 6 PM on Saturday, February 13th, Fish and Game received notice of a snowmobile accident on Claremont’s Trail 387. A Conservation Officer, along with members from the Claremont Fire, Claremont Police, and Golden Cross Ambulance, responded to the scene of the accident.

Reportedly, the operator of the snowmobile was riding with a group of six individuals when they went off the right side of the trail and collided with a tree.

The craft’s operator, a minor from Keene, sustained serious, but non-life threatening injuries in the crash and was transported to Valley Regional Hospital to receive treatment.

At this time, officials believe that rider fatigue and difficult terrain caused the crash. 

The discovery of a suspicious vehicle at the Westminster Irving led to the arrest of a Brattleboro man on numerous drug possession charges.

According to a press release from the Vermont State Police-Westminster Barracks, at approximately 5:30 on Sunday, February 14th, troopers responded to the sighting of a suspicious vehicle outside the Westminster Irving. The vehicle had reportedly been parked outside the building for several hours.

Upon investigation, it was discovered that Nathan Kenyon, 34, of Brattleboro, had fallen asleep inside the vehicle with the door open. Troopers were able to observe drug paraphernalia in open view. A further search of the vehicle discovered Fentanyl, bath salts, and other prescription medications that were not in his name.

He was processed and released with a citation to appear in VT Superior Court Windham Criminal Division on March 30th at 11 AM to answer to the charges of; Possession of Heroin/Fentanyl, Possession of Bath Salts, Possession of a Narcotic/Stimulant/Depression. 

A Sunday afternoon motor vehicle accident remains under investigation in Hartford, reports the Vermont State Police-Royalton Barracks.

On Sunday, February 14th at approximately 1:30 PM, troopers from the VSP, along with Hartford Fire and Rescue, responded to a report of a single-car accident on Interstate 91 Southbound. Upon arrival, it was discovered that the driver, 57-year-old Thomas Scibetta of Hartford, had exited the vehicle on his own and was being treated for a possible head injury.

A preliminary investigation uncovered that the 2016 Prius had been traveling southbound on I-91 and veered left, striking the guardrail and the ledges. Scibetta was transported to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire to be treated for serious, non-life threatening injuries. Reportedly, the vehicle was totaled in the accident.

At this time, the cause of the crash is still under investigation, and anyone who witnessed the crash are encouraged to call the VSP-Royalton Barracks at 802-234-9933. 

A new bill in Vermont is aiming to further protect victims of sexual violence, according to WCAX.

The bill, reportedly spearheaded by the Vermont Network Against Domestic Assault and Sexual Violence, would change the threshold for consent by stating that it cannot be given while under the influence of alcohol and drugs. It would also restart the state of VT’s college campus sexual harm task-force, while increasing data collection for law enforcement.

Democratic Representative Sarah Copeland Hanzas of Bradford, who is a sponsor of H.183, states that the bill is aimed at protecting survivors of sexual violence and bringing justice to the perpetrators. She said, “Our justice system is set up to consider sexual assault is a stranger in the bushes type of scenario and that’s too bad because men and women I’ve talked to report far too many life-altering experiences that don’t look anything like that.”

Data from the VT Youth Risk Behavior Survey states that 9% of high school girls report having experienced sexual assault before graduation.