WVTK Local & State News February 9, 2010

Supporters of human services programs are blasting budget cuts proposed by Gov. Jim Douglas. The Legislature's budget-writing panel heard from people around the state last night, many testifying through Vermont Interactive Television. Some argued that cutting programs that help the disabled would cost the state more money in the long run.

Vermont health officials are reporting a slight drop in the latest tritium readings from a groundwater monitoring well at Vermont Yankee. It's been about a month since the leak of the radioactive material was first reported at the state's only nuclear power plant.

A 42-year-old Rutland man has pleaded guilty in the beating death of a woman whose body was found buried in the basement of her Poultney home. David Denny faces 22 years to life in prison. Police said 49-year-old Linda Wiggin - a professor at Castleton State College - was killed after an argument in November 2008.

A 62-year-old Vermont man has been sentenced to 90 months in federal prison for distributing child pornography over the Internet. John Perry Ryan pleaded guilty to six counts last year in a plea deal. Prosecutors said 1 of the charges involved a photo of an adult male having sex with a toddler.

FairPoint Communications is hoping to slash its debt by nearly two-thirds as part of a restructuring plan filed in a New York court today. The plan also includes agreements with Vermont and New Hampshire officials to ensure regulators still have oversight, while a similar deal is being negotiated with Maine.

State authorities have settled a complaint with the Dollar Tree store chain. The chain will pay $100,000 in civil penalties and other costs after investigators found several pieces of jewelry contaminated with lead and cadmium$. Tree has since stopped selling metal jewelry.

Retired prison guard Anthony Pavone pleaded not guilty in a northeastern New York courtroom in the killings of his ex-girlfriend and the man she was dating. WPTZ reports Pavone has been ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation. He was arrested late last week after a search that stretched into Vermont and Maine.

Today, students and teachers across the state will open their notebooks for a unique writing lesson. It is called Vermont Writes Day. The computers are open and the students are ready. As the 2nd annual Vermont Writes Day kicks off parents, students and teachers alike have just seven minutes to stop what they are doing and simply write. Geoff Gevalt is the director of the Young Writers Project. He created Vermont Writes Day to help people understand how critical it is to have good writing skills.