The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 17

An Section Births, Deaths: 2B Around Chittenden County: 3B Court news: 8B VERMONT Thursday, April 30, 1992 Metro Editor: Rob Eley, 660-1862 lease, watch out5 Blind woman asks her neighbors to be aware 'X. i It By Toya Hill Free Press Staff Writer After she was run over by a car two years ago and was nearly hit again about a week ago, Mid-dlebury resident Lynette Denney said enough is enough. She started a campaign to let people know that the town's only blind resident with a Seeing Eye dog is a living, breathing member of the community. "I live here. I'm alive.

I want to stay that way," said Denney, who became blind 22 years ago as a result of long-term diabetes. "I just want them to be aware of my presence here in the community as a blind person with a dog that can't jump out of their way." Denney has spoken with Mid-dlebury police about putting up signs downtown. She plans to speak with local church and school groups about Seeing Eye dogs and how they help blind people. Although she has lived in Middlebury for 1 8 years and conducted a similar awareness campaign when she arrived, many new residents have moved in, she said. Denney said she realized that people needed to be educated about her situation after she had a close call with a driver about a week ago.

Denney's dog, Flory, was leading her along the sidewalk on Main Street when a car on a restaurant's driveway, which crosses over the sidewalk and onto the street, almost hit them. "I became aware of a car right next to me," Denney said. "I opened my mouth and screamed as loud as I could. "Either he didn't see me at all or he thought I could see him. It (the car) was a hand away from me.

Denney said the car was so close to her that Flory had to lead her into the street and around the car to go back on the sidewalk. "He didn't know that Flory's harness meant that I was blind," she said. She and the dog were unharmed. Denney, a sculptor who used to teach math in the town's elementary school, wasn't as lucky two years ago when an elderly woman backed into her and Flory on South Street. The woman thought they were a flat tire, she said.

"She knocked me down and backed over me," she said. "She went right over my knee." Denney sprained her ankle, and her legs swelled. She was housebound for about a month. Flory could not walk up and down steps for a week, Denney said. "I've been living here quietly and happily with my dog for 20 years," Denney said.

But after those incidents, "I figured I'd better alert people." A brochure put out by The Seeing Eye based in Morris-town, N.J., where Flory was trained, says one of the most important things to remember when coming in contact with blind people and their dogs is not to distract them. "Grabbing a blind person's arm, taking hold of the dog's harness, or shouting a warning have much the same effect as grabbing the steering wheel away from the driver of a moving car," the brochure says. "I don't ask for anything special, just an awareness," Denney said. "Please, watch out." JVM WILSON, Free Press Lynette Denney's experiences with Flory, her Seeing Eye dog, have prompted her to begin a campaign to remind her Middlebury neighbors to give her extra consideration as a pedestrian. FOREST FIRE wHi i'iXfl I ill -I it il Cause of woman's death not known State Notes Lund Family Center names interim director Medical Center Hospital of Vermont's social work director will be the interim director of The Lund Family Center, the center's board of directors said.

Theresa Tomasi of Williston will be on loan from the hospital to fill the position left open by executive director Linda Watts, who resigned this month. Tomasi will start work at the center while remaining on part time at MCHV. The center, formerly the Elizabeth Lund Home, provides child and family services. It is a United Way agency. Jericho signs contract for state police help JERICHO Jericho has become the third community to sign a contract to obtain additional state police coverage.

The three-year, $142,592 contract will provide an additional 40 hours of troopers' time each week, State Police Maj. John Sinclair said. Jericho will continue to receive regular state police patrols from the troopers assigned to the Underhill-Jericho outpost, he said. The extra patrols will begin in mid-June. Poultney and Richford were the first communities to become part of the Contract Outpost Patrol program.

The Legislature has authorized state police to offer the services of up to 10 troopers for communities with no organized police departments. The patrol hours are established in conjunction with town officials' wishes, Sinclair said. "We have interest from several other towns," he said. Fresh Air Fund seeks host families The Fresh Air Fund is seeking host families for the summer for about 100 children from New York City. Fresh Air children are between ages 6 and 1 2.

Host families may request a boy or girl within a specific age range. Children arrive July 9 and leave July 23. Last year, Chittenden County families served as hosts to more than 200 children. For information, visit the Fresh Air Fund display table Saturday on Church Street in Burlington or call 864-0268, 434-4103 or 878-3016. Girl Scout center offers summer camp HARDWICK Registrations are being accepted for summer camp programs beginning June 28 at the Wapa-nacki Girl Scout Program Center.

The Hardwick camp is for girls ages 6 to 17. Fees range from $100 for a three-day session to $275 for two weeks. For information or a free brochure, call (800) 639-3055. Sobriety checks to be conducted Burlington police will conduct sobriety checks starting Friday, Cpl. William Wolfe said.

Police will set up checkpoints and have mobile patrols in the city to enforce drinking and driving laws, he said. Agency for women to train volunteers Women Helping Battered Women will offer a training session beginning May 15. The Burlington agency serves thousands of women and children annually through its 24-hour hot line, advocacy and family shelter programs. The programs are run by trained volunteers. For information or to register for the training session, call Betsy West at 658-3131.

From staff reports i 1 pulled back in too quickly, Ross said. Because of the suspicious nature of the crash and evidence found at the scene, the Vermont State Police Mobile Crime Lab and criminal investigators joined work on the case. Lunna's body remained at the scene for about 12 hours Tuesday while authorities investigated, officials said. Ross said it was possible that the car went into the brook after impact or that Lunna backed off the road after the collision. Her husband, Douglas Lunna, said state police told him little about the accident.

He said Detective Sgt. Jeff Cable had talked with him Tuesday and Wednesday. The couple had separated recently. Lunna was headed toward Vermont 12 when her car went off the right side on a curve, state police said. The car rolled over the bank and landed on its roof, troopers said.

Anyone with information may call state police at 234-9933. it 1: By Mike Donoghue Free Press Staff Writer BETHEL State police are looking for a light-colored car or truck that might have been involved in a car accident that left a woman dead. Cheryl F. Lunna, 42, of Rochester was found at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday after a passing motorist spotted her overturned car off Camp Brook Road in Bethel, state police said.

Her body was in the brook, they said. A cause of death was not determined during an autopsy Wednesday, said Dr. Paul Morrow, chief medical examiner. Police said toxicology tests are being conducted. The accident occurred between Sunday evening and Monday morning, Sgt.

James Ross said. The car or truck being sought has right-side body damage, he said, and its driver or other occupants might have been injured. Damage to the missing vehicle could be consistent with a vehicle that had passed Lunna's eastboud car and then si! 1 i ft- Abenakis, environmentalists criticize walleye program i 1 ADAM PIKE RIESNER, tree Press Zeke Plant of the Hinesburg Volunteer Fire Department cuts open a tree Wednesday afternoon on Brownell Mountain in Williston to clear smoke after fire swept a portion of the mountain. Winds whip Williston fires out of control take its course?" Abenaki Tribal Judge Michael Delaney said. He said he feared that many fish would be killed by the project, exacerbating a situation that has seen the river's walleye population dwindle.

Anderson said he was aware of only one walleye that was killed Wednesday, when it was caught in the propellor of his boat. "I basically just don't trust state biologists," Anne Petermann of Earth First! said. "Leave the rivers alone. The walleye need to spawn, and they're interfering with the walleye spawning, and that's just not right." Petermann and Delaney said efforts to boost the walleye population should focus instead on cleaning up the river, once famous for its bountiful walleye population. Boucher said the walleye population has declined by about 90 percent in the past decade.

He said studies are trying to determine the cause of the dramatic decline. Anderson said the decline continues, pointing out that no young walleyes were found Wednesday. "You could let nature take its course and not do anything, and we wouldn't have any fishery at all," he said. "Seems like a very foolish type of management to me." Anderson said a similar program on the Lamoille River has shown positive results. By Richard Cowperthwait Free Press Correspondent SWANTON A program aimed at restoring the walleye population in the Missisquoi River and Lake Champlain drew strong opposition Wednesday from Abenaki Indians and the Earth First! environmental group.

About two dozen Abenakis protested what they said was an illegal program being carried out by people trespassing on Abenaki property. "We're trying to give nature an assist," said Steven Boucher, president of the Lake Champlain Walleye Association, which is working closely with the state on the program. It involves "electro-fishing" stunning adult walleyes with an electronic current and bringing them to shore, where the females' eggs are removed and fertilized before the fish are returned to the river. After the eggs hatch in a state hatchery, the fish will be returned to the Missisquoi, either as fry in about three weeks or as about 2-inch fingerlings in July, officials said. They said the procedure dramatically increases the number of fish that will survive.

"We'll probably have a million fry that we'll be stocking out, and hopefully, between 10,000 and 40,000 fingerlings," said Jon Anderson, a state fisheries biologist. "Why don't they let Mother Nature From staff reports WILLISTON A fire fanned by shifting winds burned at least 100 acres of wooded land Wednesday afternoon before firefighters brought it under control, Lt. Ken Morton of the Williston Fire Department said. "The fire was quite large, quite substantial," Morton said. "On the way back, after they got the fire out on Brownell Mountain, somebody was burning on South Road, and it got out of control," Kirk Tatro, acting fire marshal, said.

That fire spread in the woods on a 2.5-acre lot at about 2:45 p.m., he said. Neither fire caused injuries or damage to structures, including utility pylons and a microwave tower on the mountain, officials said. Firefighters from Williston and eight other departments responded to the first fire at 12:06 p.m. and battled the blaze for more than three hours, Morton said. The fires started when controlled burns done with permits were left smoldering and then rekindled, Tatro said.

"If you're going to burn, you've got to have the manpower, and you've got to have the water source," he said. "You can't walk away." People who burn material on their properties need verbal permission from the department, Tatro said. They should call 878-2358. No charges will be brought against the two people who burned material Wednesday, Tatro said. He declined to identify them.

Tho ctatft annroDriation to Vermont Student Assistance Corp. for fiscal year 1991: $12,211,653 Source: VSAC 1991 annual report Research by SUE LETOURNEAU 1.