Jack Thurston Biography
Jack Thurston is an American New England Cable News Reporter at NBC5. Thurston covers Vermont for New England Cable News. NECN, an NBCUniversal network, is the nation’s largest and most-honored regional cable news network. NewsChannel 5 airs Jack’s stories through a content-sharing agreement with NECN.
Jack Thurston Age
Information about his age has not yet been disclosed yet.
Jack Thurston Personal Life
The American news reporter is a native of Westford, Massachusetts, apparently, information about his personal life has not been disclosed to the public yet.
Thurston Education
He is a graduate of Middlebury College.
Thurston PhotoJack Thurston Career
Jack Thurston joined necn and NBC10 Boston as a reporter in our Vermont news bureau in April 2011. In both 2018 and 2014, the Radio Television Digital News Association honored Jack with regional Edward R. Murrow awards for best news writing. In 2017, Jack won a New England Emmy Award for news writing. Before coming to necn, Jack covered Vermont for nine years at the state’s CBS affiliate, WCAX.
Jack Thurston covers Vermont for New England Cable News. NECN, an NBCUniversal network, is the nation’s largest and most-honored regional cable news network. NewsChannel 5 airs Jack’s stories through a content-sharing agreement with NECN.
Jack Thurston Awards
Thurston has received several awards and honors including a regional Edward R. Murrow award in 2011 for his continuing coverage of kidnapping and murder in Vermont’s the Northeast Kingdom. Jack won other regional Murrows in 2007 for best feature story and in 2006 for best news series.
In both 2018 and 2014, the Radio Television Digital News Association honored Jack with regional Edward R. Murrow awards for best news writing. In 2017, Jack won a New England Emmy Award for news writing.
Thurston NBC5
Thurston is an American New England Cable News Reporter at NBC5.
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Jack Thurston News
Published: Oct 24, 2018
Source: www.necn.com
With the ski season already underway at select resorts in New England, the ski industry in Vermont—the East Coast’s top state for skier and rider visits—is boasting of successes in going green. Opening day for skiing and riding is still more than a month away at Vermont’s Bolton Valley, but when the lifts start running, the snowmaking operation at the destination will be a lot greener.
Bolton Valley spokesman Josh Arneson said old air compressors that used to burn 25,000 gallons of diesel fuel a season are being swapped out for electric versions that will be more affordable to run long-term, with a much lighter environmental impact. “Bolton Valley, as well as a lot of other ski areas, are trying to do what we can, do our part, to reduce emissions and be more green,” Arneson said. The new outfits have a more comfortable fit for wheelchair users and include wheelchair accessories. (Published Thursday, July 18, 2019). Over the past several years, many of Vermont’s resorts have been switching to low-energy snowmaking guns.
At Mount Snow, which opens for the season earlier than ever this Saturday, its entire fleet of guns is now low-energy, operating on as little as a hundredth of the compressed air the old models needed. “We’re able to pretty much double our water capacity and only increase our energy consumption by 10 percent,” said Kevin Harrington, the director of on-mountain operations for Mount Snow. “Our engineers tell us the snowmaking efficiency in Vermont is the best in the country,” said Rebecca Foster, the director of Efficiency Vermont, the statewide utility working to promote energy savings.
For several years now, Efficiency Vermont has been encouraging the state’s ski areas to pursue green upgrades. Foster said new guns like Mount Snow’s can run for just ten cents an hour, compared to ten dollars an hour for the retired versions. Community members in Orem, Utah are in shock after a freak golfing accident killed a little girl. Investigators say 6-year-old Aria Hill was sitting in a golf cart next to a tee box when her father hit a ball that struck her in the back of the head.
All told, she estimated going green has helped Vermont resorts save $9-million a year in snowmaking costs and slash 80-million pounds of carbon emissions. “Ski areas–it’s important that they remain viable and vibrant because they do support so many other businesses and are a big part of the economic development picture in different parts of the state,” Foster said. Foster predicted the next frontier for resorts will be to make improvements to dining and lodging areas, finding new ways to operate smarter that benefit both their bottom line and the planet.
Vermont employers are turning to a growing applicant base to fill vacancies: people in recovery from substance use disorders.
The Burlington company Edlund, a manufacturer of professional-grade kitchen equipment like tongs, heavy-duty can openers, scales, and slicers make it a point to consider people in recovery for open positions. “I’m taking steps to better my life,” said Hunter Stetson, an Edlund employee who added that he appreciates the second chance the company gave him. Stetson is in recovery from alcohol use disorder, and used to dabble in some drugs, too, he said. When necn interviewed him the last week in April, he said he was nine months sober and living in a sober house. “I had no joy or purpose or meaning in life, really, and I didn’t feel good about myself,” Stetson recalled, describing the time he spent abusing alcohol and drugs. “I knew I wasn’t doing the right thing, but I just couldn’t stop.”
Stetson added that he does find joy and purpose in his life now—including through his job at Edlund. Chuck Hafter is an employment counselor at the Turning Point Center of Chittenden County, a substance-free space supporting people through all stages of recovery. “There’s been a big change in the past several years in Vermont,” Hafter observed of the culture around hiring people in recovery. Grants from the state labor and health departments have Hafter working with Turning Point’s guests to address possible gaps in their resumes and build interview skills.
Hafter sends people to mostly entry-level and just-above entry-level positions, he said, and connected Stetson to Edlund. “A lot of people go out and get jobs and they don’t want to pay taxes—they hate it,” Hafter said. “A lot of my people go out and get jobs and they say, ‘I’m contributing to my community now!’” Hafter acknowledged some work may simply not be the right fit for folks with certain criminal offenses from when they were using drugs. However, the job counselor said many positions—including cooking and kitchen work—are open to the full range of job-seekers.
Tammy Bushell, Edlund’s head of human resources, said the low unemployment rate in the Burlington area means she would likely still have vacancies if she didn’t embrace applicants from the recovery community, referred by Turning Point. “This is a chance for them to start over,” Bushell said of the handful of workers she recently hired from Hafter’s referrals, including Stetson. When asked if some companies may still be uncomfortable with the idea of hiring people in recovery, Bushell agreed. As for Hunter Stetson, he said he hopes to move up the ranks at Edlund, adding that he is grateful for the faith his bosses placed in him. “I know that, right now, I’m on the right path, and I’m glad they took a chance on me, for sure,” Stetson said.