The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 15

Zht Turlington Jfrte press Vermont INSIDE Calendar 2B Deaths 4B Sports 5B SECTION www.burlingtonfreepress.com fr Wednesday, October 4, 2006 Metro Editor Patrick Garrity 660-1897 or (800) 427-3124 Page IB Red Robert's Store Deli changes hands g. r- i Ckt ROBERTS Rainville staff rewrites statements Web site closed over plagiarism UBBj 2006 fi II ii.i.m,..,..JI By Terri Hallenbeck Free Press Staff Writer Republican congressional candidate Martha Rainville's Web site will likely remain off-line until at least today while her staff checks and revamps policy statements. The changes come after a staff member resigned because of evidence that he had lifted wording from other politicians in several of the policy statements. "We want to make absolutely certain that we've gotten everything," Rain-ville campaign spokesman Brendan McKenna said Tuesday. Christopher Stewart, 29, a staff member in charge of policy research, resigned from the campaign Mon- For complete election coverage go to our special section at www.burlingtonfreepress.com day after a Westminster woman found evidence of plagiarism.

Stewart was responsible for creating campaign policy statements that copied wording from three other politicians, including Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York. Rainville's campaign de-See RAINVILLE, 3B ALISON REDLICH, Free Press Linda and Jim Robert of Milton (from left) have sold the family business, "Red" Robert's Store Deli, to George and Christine Alvanos of Burlington. The Roberts were helping the Alvanoses settle in Tuesday. Couple vow to respect tradition McMahon wins spot in Senate recount To read our political blog, vtBuzz, go to www.burling tonfreepress Jon Hie WEB By John Briggs Free Press Staff Writer Red Robert's Store and Deli, the South End fixture at the northeast corner of Flynn Avenue and Pine Street, is no more.

The Roberts sold the store Friday to George and Christine Alvanos, who have operated the Parkway Diner on Williston Road for the past 10 years. The store will stay open and be renamed the Pine Street Deli and Convenience Store. Their diner will stay open, too, "for now," the Alvanoses said, with George Alvanos working there and Christine Alvanos" working at the store. They made the decision to buy the store, he said, "for our retirement." Jim and Linda Robert bought the store 31 years ago from Red Robert, his father, who died unexpectedly in September 2005 at 95. Red, widely known in the South End, worked in the store until the day before he died.

Linda Robert said the decision to sell wasn't easy and was dictated by her husband's failing health. They will leave Burlington on Sunday to begin looking for a house in Concord, N.C., family-run," Christine Alvanos said. "No corporations here. We won't have anyone dictating, 'You can do this. You can't do "We own it.

We want it to become one of the best stores in the area," George Alvanos said. "We're very excited." Passers-by will soon notice a new sign and, he said, the motor in the clock in front is to be replaced and the clock will show the correct time. Linda Robert said Tuesday would be her last day in the store. "They're very nice people," she said of the new owners. "A lot like us.

We're ending an era here. It's hard for people to understand. I have a pocketful of addresses so we can write to them and send pictures, and I wilL What we'll miss the most is' all our customers. It's hard for people to understand. Over the years, they've become our friends.

It's 50 years this year he's been working at the store," she said of her husband. "Please, give our many thanks to our customers. I've been trying to tell them one by one, but I won't see everyone Contact John Briggs at 660-1863 or jbriggsbfp.burlingtonfreepress.com. about 30 miles northeast of Charlotte. The trip there, she said, will be their first vacation in 18 years.

Christine Alvanos said the store will remain a family store, a neighborhood store and deli, but customers will see gradual changes. In the deli, she said, they plan to keep the menu but slowly expand it at breakfast and at lunch, and they will bring their recipes for hot soups, homemade gravies and roast turkey dinners from the diner. Her husband, who emigrated from Greece to the United States 26 years ago at age 32, said the deli will eventually offer take-out Greek dishes. They plan to modernize the store and change the selection on the shelves as they learn what the customers want. "But it will be just as at the diner," Christine Alvanos said.

"People have been coming here for years. It's got that neighborhood atmosphere." The original store, built with wood from an old barn in Shelburne, opened in 1947 as "The Corner Store," and was commonly known as "Red's." The current building went up in 1963. "This will be family- owned and By Nancy Remsen Free Press Staff Writer A recount confirmed Tuesday that Dennis McMahon of Burlington will be one of the Democratic candidates on the November ballot seeking to represent the six-seat Chittenden District in the state Senate. Tim Palmer of Williston, the seventh-place finisher in the Democratic primary to decide the party's six-member slate, requested the recount because he had finished just 25 votes behind McMahon in the primary election. Following the recount, which took seven days, the gap between Palmer and McMahon had grown to 29 votes.

McMahon's tally was 3,506 to Palmer's 3,477. The other five Democratic candidates are Jim Condos of South Burlington, Ed Flanagan of Burlington, Virginia Lyons of See SENATE, 3B Hearing set on land sale Schools seek restructuring help Burlington board to hold public comment sessions Upcoming forums TODAY: 7 p.m., Edmunds Elementary Middle School cafeteria. MONDAY: 7 p.m., Hunt Middle School. OCT. 12: 3:30 p.m., Burlington High School cafeteria.

This meeting is for district staff. OCT. 17: 6:30 p.m., H.O. Wheeler Elementary School. OCT.

26: 7 p.m., Contois Auditorium, Burlington City Hall. "II, City to explain Intervale proposal By John Briggs Free Press Staff Writer The city is hosting a public meeting from 7 to 8:30 p.m. today at City Hall to allow city officials and others to explain the proposed sale of 199 acres of city-owned land in the Intervale to the not-for-profit Intervale Center. The proposed sale has been controversial, but even the six members of the council likely to vote "no" at the Oct. 23 council meeting haven't found fault with the center, which has leased much of the sale land from the Burlington Electric Department for the past decade.

"The Intervale Center has been doing great," said Bill Keogh, D-Ward 5. "I have no qualms about them at all, but I would like to see the property leased out for 10 years. My major concern See INTERVALE, 3B V- two Old North End elementary schools with a high concentration of students from low income families. The closure was meant to improve student performance by mixing low-income students in the Old North End with middle-class students in other districts. That proposal failed following intense objection from Old North End residents.

The demise of the consolidation plan prompted the formation of the task force as a way to study the issue. District Superintendent Jeanne Collins said public participation is critical during the next month, as advice from district residents will shape an eventual recommendation. Collins cautioned that the task force's three recommendations likely will evolve into an entirely different proposal. "I think what's coming out of this process will be something more evolved See SCHOOLS, 4B By Jill Fahy Free Press Staff Writer The Burlington School Board tonight will ask the public to weigh in on several recommendations that would change the structure of the district's six elementary schools. The 7 p.m.

forum at Edmunds ElementaryMiddle School cafeteria will be the first of five meetings this month to gather comments on three proposals aimed at better mixing low-income students with middle-class students from other districts: Consolidate into two types of elementary schools: Kindergarten through second grade and third through fifth grade. Redraw district neighborhoods. Create magnet schools. Some or all elementary schools would shift from general to specialized curricula. The recommendations were part of a report generated last spring by an all-volunteer, board-ap- pointed task force.

The report argued that the district configuration of elementary schools is a barrier to student success, and that socioeconomic integration would dissolve that barrier. The School Board in September agreed with the task force's overall assertion. The issue of student success was highlighted last year, when administrators proposed closing Barnes Elementary School one of AV ALISON REDLICH, Free Press Rob Rock of Burlington weeds baby lettuce at Arethusa Farms In Burlington's Intervale on Tuesday. ftrr EHLER'S RV sap, ftj Oct 6th Sat, Oct 7 8am-6pm; Sun.f Oct 8th 11am-4pm 70 Upper Main St, Essex, VT 800-339-4307 www.ehlersrv.com.