WVTK Local News November 19, 2009

Vermont and seven other states will share nearly $4 million in economic stimulus funding to support a green jobs program. The states will use the funding to produce data on the demand for green jobs, and list job openings and job training in clean energy industries as part of an effort to develop a green jobs bank.

Vermont Health Department officials say three students got doses of swine flu vaccine at school-based clinics against the wishes of their parents. Health Commissioner Dr. Wendy Davis calls the errors extremely unfortunate but says the errors come against the backdrop of thousands of doses being delivered without incident.

State Police in Vermont have seized $200,000 worth of marijuana believed to have been dropped from a plane into a field near the U.S.-Canadian border. Police say they received several 911 calls about pot being dropped from a yellow plane in Newport Center. When police arrived, they found nearly 55 pounds of marijuana.

Vermont has been ranked the healthiest state in the country. United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention say in their 20th anniversary edition of America's Health Rankings that Vermont is the healthiest state.

Vermont freighter captain Richard Phillips says he has nothing to say about the latest attempt by Somali hijackers to take the Maersk Alabama, which was repelled by security guards today. Phillips was captain on the ship and taken captive when it was hijacked in April.

A New Hampshire grand jury has indicted a Lunenburg, Vermont, woman on negligent homicide charges in a deadly traffic accident in July. The Berlin Daily Sun reports investigators concluded Diane Silsby was under the influence of alcohol in the crash, which killed her mother, daughter and a Maine woman.

The owner of Vermont's Killington ski resort, Powdr Corporation, is laying plans to expand its ski empire in Colorado. The company says it has a deal to buy Copper Mountain, but the arrangement still needs approval from federal officials.

New York Lawmakers still have not come to an agreement on how to deal with a $3.2-Billion deficit. But they have come up with several ways to blame each other for inaction. Meanwhile, Governor David Paterson says he will soon begin planning how to deal with the worst case scenario of no deal at all.

Drunk Drinking Laws in New York just got stiffer. The senate has given approval to Leandra's law. The law is named for 11-year-old Leandra Rosado. The law makes it a felony to drive drunk with a child 15 or younger in the car. It also requires anyone with a dwi conviction to have a device installed -- that prevents you from starting your car -- if you are intoxicated.

Vermont Health Officials say a second person has died in the state from the H1N1 virus. Health officials won't release any other details about the person who died, other than to say it was an adult with a serious underlying condition. Also this week, another 20 people were hospitalized, six of them children.

Non-stop flights from Plattsburgh International Airport to Punta Gorda, Florida begin this weekend. Direct Air will offer the direct flights from Plattsburgh to Punta Gorda, which is halfway between Fort Myers and Sarasota starting Saturday Morning and running thru April 17 beginning at $99 each way.

The Marble Valley Regional Transit District, operators of The Bus, will introduce a new route on Monday on the south side of the city, thanks to a three-year federal grant awarded in October by Vermont Agency of Transportation. The Bus is working to finalize the stops along the route by Friday, according to Ellen Coyle, community outreach director. However, Coyle said the route, which will be called the south route extension, is intended to help alleviate pressure on the existing south and hospital routes and is expected to travel through the Howe Center, onto Park Street and Route 7 South, up Curtis Avenue and Mussey Street, onto Allen Street and Stratton Avenue to the hospital. It will operate from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. The details of the route's stop should be available online at www.thebus.com by Friday and will be posted in the transit center and on the organization's buses, according to Coyle. (From the Rutland Herald)