WVTK Local & State News March 18, 2010

The Vermont Legislature is considering a bill that would ban hospital advertising as one way to control health care costs. Middlebury Representative Steve Maier says Vermont hospitals spend an estimated $10 million a year on advertising and marketing. The ban would not prevent hospitals from advertising to fill job openings.

A Rutland man will serve 35 years to life in prison for a stabbing death that was captured on surveillance video. 25-year-old Jonathan Bruno was sentenced yesterday in Vermont District Court in Rutland for the 2007 stabbing death of 24-year-old John Baptie in the parking lot of a Rutland store. The stabbing was supposedly over a $40 drug debt.

A 16 acre piece of property in the town of Ferrisburgh could become the sight of one of the largest solar energy facilities in the state of Vermont and the Northeast. The project would be built on the corner of Route 7 and Monkton road. About 4,000 solar panels would be put in the ground, creating power that Green Mountain Power can distribute to more than 160 homes.

A Vermont National Guard brigade is fully in place in eastern Afghanistan. A Guard spokesman says the final contingent of solders in the 1,500 member deployment arrived in the country Monday. Most members of the 86th Brigade have already begun carrying out their on-the-ground missions.

A Plattsburgh man has filed a $5 million lawsuit against Clinton County, the City of Plattsburgh, local prosecutors and police. 43-year-old Dwane Clay says he was arrested without probable cause following a stabbing outside of nightclub in 2007. He also alleges that authorities threatened him with physical harm and decades of incarceration if he didn’t admit to the crime.

The man who was convicted of murdered a 21-year-old UVM college student in 2006 is hoping to have his life sentence overturned. Lawyers representing Brian Rooney say their client didn’t get a fair trial. They say the state relied heavily on DNA evidence and the labs were sloppy with the small samples. The court could issue a ruling in the case sometime this summer.

There's a new way for Vermonters to access state services. People can now apply online for food, fuel and health insurance help, and also use the computer to track the progress of their benefits. The new website is -- MyBenefits.VT.GOV. While some services are working now, the rest will be up and running this June.

The Vermont Health Department is kicking off a new campaign to deter teen alcohol use. And this time it's taking a different approach; not targeting kids, but their parents. The “Parent Up Campaign” aims to give parents of middle schoolers the tools to start conversations about alcohol use and set policies in their homes.

There’s a new restaurant in the area. Michele's Fine Dining opened last week off of US Avenue in Plattsburgh. The owner, Howard Fleisher, is a certified chef from Canada. He said the menu is completely different from anything in town.

It’s a sign that spring has officially sprung in downtown Burlington … the Beansie Bus has opened for season. Beansie's opened in its familiar spot on the edge of Battery Park, serving up fries, burgers, and more. Bus owner Bill Peters says he thinks this is the earliest he’s ever opened. Peter’s hopes this is not a tease and the good weather is here to stay.

Governor David Paterson's press secretary has become the 4th top person to quit the governor’s administration. Press secretary Marissa Shorenstein said she resigned after two years because she could no longer do her job because of the abuse scandal. Paterson has insisted throughout the resignations and calls for his own that he did nothing wrong.

A Craftsbury student has won Vermont's statewide spelling bee with the correct spelling of ornithoscopy. Mael Le Souezec beat 46 other kids on Wednesday to go on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington in June. He outlasted Taylor Marquis of Missisquoi Valley Union High School and third place, Abigail Postlewaite of Charlotte Central School. The contest was sponsored by the state Department of Education, Vermont Principals' Association, Vermont Humanities Council and the Burlington Free Press.

A man from Grand Isle says he's found a rock with the image of Michael Jackson on it. Daniel Larrow makes walking sticks in his home and often walks along the nearby shore of Lake Champlain. He says he likes to look for rocks which may have images on them. Larrow says that's what he was doing last June when he found one particular rock with the likeness of the late King of Pop, adding even most of his friends agree with his interpretation. Larrow now plans to put the stone up for sale on eBay.