WVTK Local & State News January 28, 2010

Governor David Paterson announced that the new Crown Point Ferry will start running this Sunday. Paterson made the statement at a press conference yesterday afternoon. Lake Champlain Transportation will be conducting trial runs starting today. The Crown Point Ferry will be a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week operation till the new bridge is built and open to traffic.

Governor David Paterson’s proposals to cut state spending would close the Moriah Shock Incarceration Facility. The prison currently employs 100 people, many whom say this is the only income for their family. There will be an informational meeting this afternoon at 4:30. The meeting will be at the Knights of Columbus in Port Henry.

The State of Vermont will unveil six new veteran license plates during a ceremony today at the Statehouse. The plates will honor veterans who served in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Iraq War, and the Afghanistan War. The new plates will be available to eligible veterans beginning February 3.

Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut are getting $160 million for rail projects as part of the Obama administration's $8 billion in stimulus funding to develop high-speed rail corridors and to improve existing rail lines. Some $120 million of New England's money will be spent on the rail line from Springfield, Mass., to St. Albans, Vt.

Gov. Jim Douglas is asking that Vermont lawmakers put off a vote on whether to relicense Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in light of recent revelations that plant officials may have misled state regulators. Douglas is calling for changes in top management at the reactor, hoping that they will restore public confidence in the operators of the facility.

Is school getting in the way of your end-of-summer vacation? Vermont lawmakers have a solution. A bill pending before the state legislature would bar school districts from starting the class year before Labor Day. But the state Department of Education opposes the idea, and school superintendents are leery.

The bus driver busted for drunk driving while he was transporting a Mount Mansfield Union hockey team last weekend already has a lengthy criminal record - including robbery and DUI convictions in Georgia. The Burlington Free Press reports Shane McBrayer pleaded not guilty in a hearing today.

A State of Emergency has been lifted in Fort Covington. An ice jam formed on the Salmon River Tuesday night. Two families had to be rescued and several others were evacuated. Authorities say the flooding has stabilized and they expect the situation to improve. They will continue to monitor the Salmon River until 4 PM this afternoon.