WVTK Local & State News January 1, 2010

Vermont State Police have ruled a 5-week-old baby's death in October a homicide. They said Thursday that final autopsy results show that Colin Van Vleck's death was due to mistreatment but did not say how the baby died. The investigation is continuing. The baby was taken from a home in Bennington to a hospital on Oct. 3.

A Pittsford man will join the Vermont House of Representatives, replacing Peg Flory, who was recently appointed to the state Senate. Gov. Jim Douglas on Thursday appointed Butch Shaw to the vacant seat. Shaw owns a small electrical contracting business, is assistant fire chief, chairman of the Board of Civil Authority, and justice of the peace in Pittsford.

More than 1,000 Vermont dairy farmers will share in $5.7 million in emergency federal support to help them recover from the lowest prices in 40 years for their milk. The state's portion of a federal aid package will result in a payment of about $8,000 to the typical Vermont farmer.

A Vermont man has confessed to a 1982 killing in a plea deal with prosecutors. Forty-7-year-old Theodore Caron of Barre was arrested in February in the strangulation death of Pamela Brown. A DNA sampled linked him to her slaying. He pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder in a deal his lawyer says could get him fewer than seven years in prison.

Vermont State Police are investigating a snowmobile crash that killed a 30-year-old woman from New York. Police say Kristen T. Bednar of East Patchogue, N.Y., and a group of friends and relatives were riding snowmobiles late Tuesday night in West Windsor when she lost control of her machine and crashed into a tree. Bednar suffered severe head injuries and was flown to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H. Police were informed Thursday night that Bednar had died as a result of her injuries. Officials say Bednar was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. A passenger on the back of her snowmobile was not injured.

If you're making a list of New Year's resolutions, Governor Paterson has one for you to add: Get a swine flu shot. Paterson says the H1N1 flu, or swine flu, is still active in New York, and increasing the number of people who get the vaccination will reduce its spread. Some pharmacies started getting supplies of the flu vaccine last week, and it's also available at county health departments and physicians. It's available to everyone over six months old. The state health department has allocated nearly 4.5 million doses of the vaccine for New York state outside of New York City. Through the week ending December 26, there were 59 confirmed swine flu-related deaths in the counties outside New York City since September 1. During the week ending December 26, 126 people were hospitalized in New York state with swine flu.

The New York state Health Department gives high marks to retailers for complying with the law forbidding tobacco sales to kids under 18. A report released by the agency says nearly 92 percent of retailers who sell tobacco are complying with the ban. That's the highest compliance rate since the enforcement program started 11 years ago. Health Commissioner Richard Daines says the state's youth smoking rate is now at 14.7 percent. Over the last 11 years, more than $20 million in fines were levied against 32,559 retailers for selling tobacco to minors. Between October 1, 2007 and September 30, 2008, 256 retailers lost their tobacco-selling licenses for six months and 85 Lottery agent licenses were suspended for multiple tobacco sales to minors.