WVTK Local & State News January 14, 2010

The Brandon Area Chamber of Commerce will hold a forum on Hannaford's purchase of the local Grand Union at 7 p.m. Monday in the Otter Valley Union High School Auditorium. A representative from the Hannaford grocery chain is scheduled to attend and answer questions. Hannaford is in the middle of a controversial application to place a store at the corner of Route 7 and Nickerson Road. The company announced last month it had bought the Grand Union in downtown Brandon and planned to run it as a Hannaford supermarket until the new store opened, after which it would move out of the downtown location.

Pfizer said it would keep 350 employees on until the end of the year. David Champagne, managing director of the Pfizer manufacturing facility in Rouses Point, confirmed that the company had extended its agreement with Akrimax Pharmaceuticals. Pfizer recently announced a mass layoff at its Rouses Point and Chazy locations. A total of 200 employees will still be let go.

A well-known Vermont storyteller has issued a statement after it was made public he is under investigation for violating state securities law. Court papers indicate Mac Parker of Addison collected money to finance a movie he was making, guaranteeing investors hefty returns. He's not registered to do that. And the movie, called "The Birth of Innocence," is not a registered investment. Some 200 people gave amounts ranging from a $100 to $500,000. Investigators will also look into whether he was shifting money around in a Ponzi scheme.
Mac Parking issued this statement:
I have borrowed money to make a beautiful film called "Birth of Innocence." This is not a scheme, and I have no intention to deceive or violate anyone. I have made an absolute commitment to repay all loans made to me, and I remain steadfast in this commitment. I have always considered these loans, and had no idea the State might consider them Securities. The State raised these questions, and I have acted with openness and cooperation to support their investigation. I dismantled my website at their request. I have assured them I will work to bring myself into compliance with all regulations, if violations are found. 'Birth of Innocence' is nearly completed. I am asking for the time and freedom to finish it, and to honor my promises to all the good people who are supporting this project. Thank you. Parker says his movie is nearly completed and he hopes to have the time and freedom to finish it so he can honor his promises to the people who supported the project.

About 150 people who want the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant closed have completed a 126-mile walk from Brattleboro to Montpelier. Participants from Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire towns near the Vernon plant arrived in the state Capital on Wednesday, nearly two weeks after they set out on their walk.

A Vermont woman accused of shooting her mother to death and then burning her body in a backyard fire pit is out of jail. Fifty-9-year-old Jeanne Sevigny of Westford posted $150,000 bail Wednesday and was released on conditions. She's charged with killing her mother three years ago.

Doctors in Utah say American snowboarder Kevin Pearce of Norwich, Vt., is making encouraging strides in his recovery after suffering a severe brain injury last month. Doctors at University Hospital in Salt Lake City say Pearce is making daily progress after being injured in a half pipe training accident on New Year's Eve in Park City, Utah.

Vermont police say three men charged with stealing more than 200 sticks of dynamite and detonation cord from a Bethel granite quarry had hoped to trade the explosives for cocaine. Authorities say the men ranging in age from 18 to 21 stole the items in August 2008. The explosives were recovered several days later in Brookfield.

Three employees of the city of Winooski are out of work after their jobs were eliminated to help close a $500,000 budget shortfall. City Manager Katherine Decarreau wouldn't name the employees, but said they worked in city management positions. The Burlington Free Press says Winooski faces a $500,000 budget deficit for the fiscal year that ends June 30.

Vermont Judge Ben Joseph is planning to retire in June after 12 years on the bench. The 67-year-old Joseph says he wants to retire while he still has what he calls "a fair amount of energy." Joseph's retirement comes as former state judge Christina Reiss leaves the state courts to become a federal judge and Judge Howard VanBenthuysen is headed to Afghanistan with the Vermont National Guard.

The Vermont Senate has approved a bill designed to encourage large commercial trucks to use the state's interstate highways rather than smaller roads. The bill takes advantage of a federal pilot program lifting an 80,000-pound limit on trucks using the interstate highways. The state measure takes a similar step, with the aim of lessening the traffic of big trucks on Vermont's smaller roads.

Police say a St. Johnsbury pair has been charged with robbing a woman as she tried to make a night deposit at a Lyndonville bank in October. Twenty-5-year-old Gregory Gosselin and 23-year-old Randi-Lynn Aldrich are accused of assaulting and robbing a 19-year-old McDonald's employee at gunpoint, taking the money and her vehicle.