Thursday, January 7, 2010

WVTK Local & State News January 7, 2010

Gov. David Paterson wants to rebuild the state's economy and rebuild trust in state government. Paterson delivered his State of the State address Wednesday afternoon. It included a list of reforms meant to limit the influence of special interests and curb runaway spending. Paterson says the state has been worn down by fiscal and ethical crises.

Meanwhile Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas will deliver his final State of the State address this afternoon at 2.

Middlebury College history professor and president emeritus John McCardell will leave to take over Sewanee: The University of the South. McCardell, who served as acting president of Middlebury in 1991 and president from 1992 to 2004, announced Wednesday he would take office at the Tennessee liberal arts college on July 1.

During his time in office at Middlebury, McCardell instituted a new residential system, led a capital campaign and added several facilities to the campus. The school's science center bears his name. Sewanee contains an Episcopalian seminary and its alumni include several Episcopal bishops as well as a Georgia governor and congressmen from three states.

Vermont lawmakers say they'll give themselves a 5 percent pay cut for the next two years. Under an agreement announced Wednesday, the pay for rank & file legislators will go from $636 a week to $604 a week during sessions. Assuming a 17-week session, it'll cost a typical lawmaker $544.

About 100 Vermont National Guard soldiers are on their way to training before heading to Afghanistan. The soldiers from armories in Waterbury and Vergennes left Wednesday morning for their yearlong mission. They'll spend two months at Camp Atterbury before shipping out

American snowboarder Kevin Pearce is no longer in critical condition. A spokeswoman for Pearce's family says Pearce has improved to serious condition. The 22-year-old from Norwich, Vt., suffered a brain injury while training on New Year's Eve.

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources has adopted a rule allowing all-terrain vehicles on state land. The rule was quietly put in place this week less than a month after it drew a formal objection from the Legislature's Committee on Administrative Rules.

A crack dealer arrested in a 2008 Rutland-area sweep has been sentenced to five years in prison. U.S. District Judge Garvan J. Murtha also ordered four years of supervised release for 21-year-old Kajuan Woods, of Brooklyn, N.Y., at his sentencing Wednesday. U.S. Attorney Tristram Coffin says Woods conspired with others and distributed crack in the Rutland and Brandon areas. Over a 2-year period, Woods allegedly sold more than 500 grams of it before his arrest in May 2008. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute five grams or more of crack cocaine.