WVTK Local & State News January 29, 2010

The National Weather Service has issued a Wind-Chill Advisory through 7AM Saturday. Weather Channel Meteorologist Ray Stagich says Very Cold & Windy Today with Snow Flurries possible, high temperature around 9 above.

Some parts of northern Vermont stand to see as much as 8 inches of snow by this morning as a frigid air mass moves into the region. The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for areas north of Burlington, with Franklin County expecting the heaviest snow amounts.

Hundreds of people in New York's North Country say they aren't ready to accept a plan to close a huge part of their community. Thursday night they rallied just miles from the Moriah shock facility, which is one of four state prisons Governor David Paterson wants to shut down. Lawmakers want people to write letters to Paterson and other state leaders and share personal stories. If the facility closes employees of Moriah Shock would be transferred to other prisons in New York State. Right now the prison is proposed to close in March of 2011.

The Web site of Representative Peter Welch was one of 49 congressional Web site's hacked early yesterday morning. The hackers posted some obscene language on the web sites. A message on Welch’s site yesterday afternoon read “This site is currently undergoing maintenance. Please check back soon.”

Residential Resources, a home-care service provider in Peru is laying off up to 39 people, forcing 19 brain-injury clients to find new care. The layoffs will take place Sunday, but some of the caregivers already have new jobs. So far, about 25 of the 39 caregivers will begin work at North Country Home Services, based in Plattsburgh.

The new Walgreens in Plattsburgh is set to open next week. The new Plattsburgh location will employ 25 to 30 people and has two drive-through pharmacy lanes. It is the second Walgreens store in the tri-county area. The company has a store in Malone. The mayor said new jobs are always welcome news.

A special Burlington City Council meeting has been called for noon today to hold a public hearing on ballot items for the annual meeting day, March 2. Mayor Bob Kiss has called another special City Council meeting for 6 PM next Thursday. The meeting will focus on a committee’s Burlington Telecom report.

Senate lawmakers will fast-track a bill that would ban texting while driving, but legislators are still debating whether the new law should apply to all motorists or only younger drivers. On Wednesday, members of the transportation committee hosted a public forum on the proposed texting-while-driving law.

A New Hampshire teenager convicted in the revenge killing of a disabled Wal-Mart cashier from Vermont is going to prison for it. Nineteen-year-old Michael Robie was sentenced Thursday to 20 to 40 years in the stabbing death of Christopher Gray of Groton, Vt..

Vermont's congressional delegation says the state is poised to receive $50 million to help pay for upgrades to the rail line used by the Amtrak Vermonter passenger train. The funding will help improve track, roadbed and bridges along 190 miles of track the Amtrak Vermonter uses between St. Albans and Springfield, Mass.

A Mount Mansfield Union High School bus driver charged with driving the hockey team while under the influence of alcohol has 11 criminal convictions. The Burlington Free Press says the convictions against 30-year-old Shane McBrayer of Waterbury include a 2003 DUI conviction in the state of Georgia.

The state of Vermont is going to offer six new license plates for military veterans from World War II through the present conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The plates were unveiled Thursday by Motor Vehicle Commissioner Robert Ide and Gov. Jim Douglas at the Statehouse in Montpelier.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has kept up his criticism of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, saying he was "asleep at the switch while Wall Street became a gambling casino." Despite widespread opposition, Bernanke is expected to win a second term to his post from lawmakers.