Monday, March 22, 2010

WVTK Local & State News March 22, 2010

Congress has approved the Health Care Bill. U.S. House members from Vermont, New Hampshire and Northern New York all voted for the bill. The vote in the House was 219 to 212. The bill now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.

Starting today, ferry service returns to the Essex-Charlotte Ferry Crossing. The ferry crossing will operate 5 days a week for the next two weeks. And then on April 2, return to a 7-day-a-week schedule. The ferry rates also return to normal starting today; which are the same rates before the Crown Point Bridge was closed.

Police in Bristol are investigating a vandalism spree. Authorities say Vandals smashed 19 windows at Mount Abraham Union High School some time early Thursday morning and another 4 windows at Bristol Elementary School. The vandalism spree follows a break in at the Rite Aid in Bristol early Wednesday morning.

State and local police are looking for a Rutland man on charges he allegedly sold crack cocaine and heroin from his house. Rutland police say they have an arrest warrant for 39-year-old Edward Mullin on charges of drug trafficking. The Vermont Drug Task Force on Friday executed a search warrant at Mullins' home at 35 Williams Street. Kevin Ballard of Brooklyn, New York was arrested during the search on charges of possession of crack cocaine and possession of marijuana. Ballard is due to appear today in Rutland District Court.

State Police say a sugarhouse fire early Friday morning was arson. It happened on Mountain View Road in Tinmouth. Police say the fire was deliberately set, and that the sugarhouse and about 400 gallons of syrup were destroyed. Damage is estimated at $100,000.

As students at Plattsburgh State return to classes today from Spring Break, they have to be immunized against Mumps or they are not allowed to return. Officials at PSU are trying to put an end to the Mumps Outbreak. Returning students, who are not properly vaccinated, can go to the health center, which is holding a vaccination clinic today.

The House Transportation Committee will recommend $596 million in transportation spending beginning July 1 … an increase of $42 million over the current year. Vermonters should see lots of paving projects, as they did last summer when the state spent its first allotment of economic stimulus money.

9 Vermont fire departments will split nearly $900,000 in federal grants. The grants were announced Saturday at a firefighters and EMS summit at Vermont Technical College in Randolph Center. Grants have been given to fire departments in Norwich, Jay, West Dummerston, St. Albans, West Fairlee, Rutland City, Enosburg, South Burlington and Rupert.

The state House of Representatives is expected soon to consider renewable energy legislation that could generate some heat. One provision would remove a size cap on hydroelectric projects that can be considered renewable sources. Critics say large hydroelectric generators are a source of methane, a greenhouse gas.

At Vermont Yankee, the main source of leaking radioactive tritium appears to have been stopped. Levels measured in a nearby monitoring well have been dropping for weeks. A meeting with interested parties is expected soon to wrap up the tritium investigation to date. Officials say it could be two years before the tritium in the groundwater is gone.

A Saranac Lake woman has been found guilty of embezzlement. A jury convicted 37-year-old Rebecca Farnsworth of second-degree larceny. She was accused of racking up more than $80,000 on a company credit card to pay for trips to Florida, cell phones, grocery shopping and car repairs over a four-year period. She is due to be sentenced in late April.

Lawmakers in New York may have found money to keep dozens of state parks and historic sites from closing due to budget cuts. North Country assemblywoman Janet Duprey told supporters at a rally in Plattsburgh yesterday that lawmakers have agreed to take money from a state fund used to fix up parks. It means all of the sites can stay open for at least another year.

Students from across Vermont are being invited to compete in the 23rd annual Vermont Scholastic Chess Championships. The event will be held Saturday, April 10, at Berlin Elementary School in central Vermont. Students from kindergarten through 12th grade are eligible to compete for state championships in each grade.