WVTK Local & State News March 2, 2010

Today is Town Meeting Day in Vermont and many school districts this year are either proposing smaller budgets or only modest increases. For the first time in decades, school spending will actually decline this year if every budget passes by point 1 percent. Some 135 districts statewide are looking to decrease school spending-- 45 more than last year. Get the complete list of polling places and times for Addison & Rutland Counties on the Area Calendar Page.

The latest round of layoffs at Pfizer now has over 200 people looking for a new job. The layoffs include 115 employees at the Rouses Point Plant and 86 at the Chazy Research Facility. Pfizer officials say once the facilities in Plattsburgh, Chazy and Rouses Point are closed, a total of 645 employees will be out of work.

Vermont business owners will get another break on workers' compensation insurance. The new rates that will take effect April 1 will mark the fourth consecutive year in which rates have decreased. The rate changes vary by industry. Governor Jim Douglas says the decreased rates would not be possible without employers' continued attention to the need for workplace safety.

An economic-impact report prepared for the Essex County Board of Supervisors says the Moriah Shock Incarceration Facility pumps about $8 million a year into the local economy. Board members are taking the new report with them to Albany to meet with area legislators over the proposed closure of the shock camp.

Police in Essex are looking for the person responsible for firing a stray bullet that entered a home early Sunday morning. Police say they believe the person was trying to shoot a deer. While only one person was at the Curve Hill Road home at the time, no one was injured. Essex officials are asking anyone with information about the incident to contact them.

About 280,000 Vermont adults – nearly 60 percent – are overweight or obese. This has prompting the state Health Department and the Attorney General's office to jumpstart efforts to encourage people to exercise and improve their daily diets. This follows the Attorney General's past health-related initiatives on senior issues, lead in the environment and anti-tobacco efforts.

IRV or Instant Run-Off Voting goes before the voters in Burlington today. IRV asks voters to rank the candidates instead of voting for just one. Mayor Bob Kiss was re-elected last year using the IRV system after not getting a 50% majority when the votes were first counted. Voters will decide today whether or not Burlington continues using the voting system.

34 Senior Centers across the state will receive $500,000 in grant money. Senator Bernie Sanders made the announcement yesterday. He says that money will go a long way. Most of the money will go toward Meals on Wheels programs which are just one of the vital programs centers provide, often on a cash strapped budget.

A soldier from Tupper Lake is recovering after being injured in Afghanistan. 24-year-old Bergan Flannigan was inspecting a motorcycle with a trailer attached to it last week, when someone detonated a bomb. The Army First Lieutenant lost her right leg in the blast. Flannigan is receiving treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

A sure sign of spring is the blossoming of flowers, and some hope is budding along with bunches and bunches of bright yellow daffodils being sold by the American Cancer Society. Daffodil Days is an annual fundraiser, which usually brings in about 160-thosuand dollars which stays in Vermont, with 81 cents of every dollar going directly to patient care and research. Flowers can be ordered from now until Friday, March fifth. The daffodils will be delivered the week of March 15th.