Bennington Banner from Bennington, Vermont • 1

WEATHER Find out afcsut First flight in cur special section Psga 15 r.TAU bays Icsa to Itocsac Valley Page 6 1 Kym William Shafttbury EfcmeoUry Today: Tonight: Cold and Clear, cold Serving the communities of Bennington County and nearby New York Established in 1841 blustery First Night High 20 LownearO Vol. 94, No. 305 22 Pages SO cents Wednesday, December 31, 1997 Cinema 7 roof is gone with the wind Snowstorm wreaks havoc on Northeast ERIK ARVIDSON Staff Writer BENNINGTON The year went out with a stormy finale as a powerful nor'easter smacked the Bennington area Tuesday, closing roads, cutting power and leaving damage in its wake. The storm dumped a blustery combination of snow, sleet and rain overnight Monday and throughout the day Tuesday. Wind gusts reportedly reached as high as 50 miles per hour here.

At Cinema 7, wind gusts early Tuesday morning peeled a 60 foot by 30 foot section of the steel roof off the building, leaving a rectangular opening in the ceiling of a theater. The Vermont State Police closed off Route 7 for seven hours Tuesday morning while road crews worked to clear the roads before traffic picked up. And hundreds went without power. Although the storm was expected to taper off by this morning, southern Vermont, the Berkshires and eastern upstate New York felt the vicious tail end of the storm all day as it moved to the north into Canada Tuesday night. Snow came down in sheets, piling 1-2 inches of snow an hour at times and causing motorists to fishtail on snow-covered HMaaaaBIBaHIHBH1 roadways, with a number of collisions and vehicles stranded.

"It must have been a hell of a wind to lift the roof off like that." MEL STUART Owner, Cinema 7 Police from around the region reported numerous fenderbenders and vehicles sliding off the roadway during the snowall Tuesday. No serious crashes with injuries were reported in the Bennington area as of press time. Hundreds of power outages were Lemaire gets 10 years in shooting BARBARA BENNETT Staff Writer BENNINGTON A young man who shot his father in the leg during an alleged argument over a dresser was sentenced to serve up to 10 years for first degree aggravated domestic assault. Brian Lemaire, 17, pleaded no contest Monday to an amended charge of aggravated domestic assault In exchange, the state dropped a felony charge of carrying a dangerous weapon. Lemaire will serve his sentence of two to 10 years on pre-approved furlough in intermediate sanctions program.

Lemaire's attorney, Public Defender John Lurvey, said Lemaire will be released from jail on furlough Jan. 5 when he will begin the life management program. Lemaire will most likely spend at least a year in a corrections apartment and will be Please see LEMAIRE, Page 14 Hauben buys site of former Grabber's SABINA HASKELL LAT0UR Staff Writer MANCHESTER Developer Ben Hauben has purchased the former Grabber's Restaurant property from New England Eateries. Hauben, a major developer in Manchester, has held an option on the property for several years since the restaurant burned to the ground in 1993. Hauben has been fighting for a zoning permit to redevelop the restaurant into 11,330 square feet of retail space.

The zoning board had granted a permit to Hauben but it was thrown out by Environmental Court Judge Meredith Wright last fall after long-time Hauben opponent James Sparkman intervened. Judge Wright's ruling included an order for additional traffic studies at the site during the winter ski season and peak fall reported Tuesday morning from tree limbs falling on power lines, although power was restored to most by press time. John Hockridge of New England Weather Associates in North Adams, said the region was hit with the backlash of the nor'easter Tuesday. Today, he predicted, the area will feel the chilly aftermath of the storm, as it drags in its wake a biting low-pressure blast of cold air which will freeze the new-fallen snow to the ground. Mel Stuart, the owner of Cinema 7, spent part of Tuesday afternoon theorizing hd Wind giists'ctjuld fiaVe rippart'6nhe roof weighing between 6-8 tons clean off, leaving steel girders hanging down into the theater below.

It happened at approximately 3 a.m. Tuesday, when the gusts were peaking, Stuart said. "It must have been a hell of a wind to lift off that roof like that," Stuart said. That roof's only been on there two and a half years." Inside the theater that lost part of its roof, two windows of quarter-inch glass, separating the theater from the cameras which project the picture onto the screen, had been blown out Stuart said it looked like they'd been "sucked out" by the air pressure after the roof came off. i ErtkAjvWion Workers make repairs to the hole in the Cinema 7 root A storm Monday night tore off a section of the building's roof and dumped It In the parking lot "We'll deal with it," Stuart said.

Only two of the cinema's theaters Please see SNOWSTORM. Page 1 4 1998 promises: Northshire residents share resolutions "Exercise more and eat less." ten "I sure don't want anyone getting hurt on my shift." PHILIP BOURN Tm going to fiJ continue to try to clean out my car." LIVINGSTON ii 1 1 have." Philip Bourn, fire chief, Manchester Volunteer Fire Department: "A safe and healthy 1998 for my firemen, my family and friends. A safe and joyous year. I sure don't want anyone getting hurt on my shift." Rep. Judy Livingston, R-Manchester.

"I want to continue to encourage Vermonters to develop a political voice. I'm going to continue to try to clean out my car for the first time in WALT FREED SABINA HASKELL LAT0UR Staff Writer NORTHSHIRE Making New Year's resolutions is a custom steeped in centuries of history, some say dating back to 153 B.C. The habit of breaking resolutions may be just as old. Nonetheless, the fascination with making promises that probably won't be kept is a ritual most of us still take part in -even when those resolutions are made in jest. Our "unscientific" small sampling of neighbors from around S3 and friends.

Here's what some had to say: 7 Kerry Csizmesia, Arlington Memorial High School principal: "From the school point, I'd like to see the second half of the year go a lot smoother than the first half was; find the time and spend more time with my family; and appreciate all. that I the Northshire revealed both the silly and the serious. No surprise Act 60 figured as prominently as trying to find more free time to spend with families Please see PROMISES, Page 14 Please see HAUBEN, Page 14 Talk of the Morning 'Community service officer' named to manage town parking Langlois will patrol meters, ticket offenders i Going usidsr The British ship Merchant Patriot rolls as It takes on water in the Atlantic Tuesday. All 28 crew members were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard.

and expects to make one or two rounds of the metered parking areas per day. Langlois also will focus in part on the two-hour parking limit, which has never been stringently enforced, Bohne said. Two hours is the maximum time motorists are suppose to park at a meter, and it is a viola-tion of local ordinance to "feed" a meter with change beyond that v. There will be a phase-in period, however, when motorists will receive a note warning them they are violating the ordinance, prior to the issuance of a Langlois will be authorized under local ordinance to write': tickets but won't be, a sworn' police officer, Bohne said. He will wear a dark green uniform and will be equipped with a police radio.

Along with frequent checks of Please see PARKING, Page 14 V. JAMES THERRIEN Staff Writer BENNINGTON A new town employee will help police with the enforcement and management of parking in the downtown area. Steve Langlois, a longtime local resident who began working this month in the newly created community service officer position, also will be responsible for providing visitors with" information concerning free parking areas and for maintaining downtown parking meters. According to Assistant Town Manager Paul Bohne, Langlois will work a 20-hour week with hours that will vary by day. He will be responsible for writing parking tickets, freeing police officers from much of that duty, INDEX SaWn HatkM Utour 14 Classifieds Comics DearAbby Editorial Local News 9 National 10 New York 10 Obituaries 12 Regional 2 Sports Wedding Bells Ring In The Year Anita Eart and Philip Howard of Baltimore, stopped In at the Arlington Town Clerk's office to get their marriage license Monday.

The couple was married Tuesday at East Arlington's Federated Church; the Rev. Joan O'Gorman officiated. Copyright 1997 Bennington Banner.