WVTK Local & State News July 2, 2010

Ticonderoga Police say a 38-year-old man is dead after being hit by a train. Jeremy Crank was hit by a Canadian Pacific freight train just before 5 AM yesterday morning while walking in a tunnel near Route 74. Police say the train engineer saw the man but was unable to stop the train in time. Investigators are trying to determine why Crank was on Railway property.

Officials with Flatiron Construction say that the new Crown Point Bridge is on schedule. Heavy Duty Machinery is currently being delivered to both sides of the lake. Within the next few weeks, crews are expected to build the first piece of foundation for the new bridge. The foundation should be finished by the end of the summer.

Vergennes is working with a $180,000 budget surplus and will keep the municipal portion of the city’s tax rate level at 60.3 cents while also adding money into the 2010-2011 budget for more paving and for raises for city employees. An exact general fund budget figure has not been set but will probably land at a little less than $1.69 million.

Proceedings got under way this week to determine if a proposed Bristol gravel pit conforms with Act 250. The hearing is the latest step in the dispute about the gravel pit, which, if approved, would be located on a 65-acre parcel near the Bristol town center. Consultants estimate the pit could produce as much as 3 million cubic yards of gravel.

At a special meeting on June 29, Orwell voters OK’d a plan for the school district to borrow $43,000. The money will go toward repairs on the Orwell Village School building’s aging heating and ventilation system.

After a five-year affiliation, the Monterey Institute of International Studies officially became a graduate school of Middlebury College yesterday. The institutions have been affiliated since 2005, when M-I-I-S was struggling financially and Middlebury pledged its financial support. The transition will mean a change in the governing structure at M-I-I-S, where the board of trustees will be replaced with a board of governors appointed by Middlebury College trustees.

The Rutland City Fire Department welcomed three of its substitute firefighters to the department’s full-time ranks yesterday. In a brief ceremony the Chief swore in Nate Elwert, Colin Fitzsimmons and William Canfield. For all three, the occasion marked the fulfillment of long-held dreams.

Vermont's largest bank is changing its name after 106 years. On July 19, Chittenden Bank will be called People's United Bank. The Connecticut-based People's bought Chittenden in 2008. Chittenden Vice President Kathleen Schirling says the new name will be more efficient and remind customers they have access to their bank across northern New England.

A new handicap parking law is now in effect. Vermonters who illegally park in spaces reserved for people with disabilities now face a stiffer fine. It's doubling from $100 to $200. Vermont law also requires public buildings to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act when it comes to the number of parking spaces available.

A Clarendon man will spend the next 22-years-to-life in prison. Trevor Herrick was sentenced yesterday for the murder of Kerry Munger. Authorities say Herrick stabbed Munger in a Rutland parking lot last year during a fight over Munger's wife who was having an affair with Herrick. Trevor Herrick was convicted of murder last March.

Vermont's largest utility is apologizing for derogatory comments made about its low-income customers. During a debate about offering a price break to low-income customers an attorney for CVPS implied that low-income customers would just take the money they saved and go buy cigarettes. Bob Young, the CEO of CVPS, says the comments that were made were totally out of character for the company and do not represent either his views, or any of the views of the employees of the company.

The City of Plattsburgh now has a new machine for cleaning the city's beach. The $20-thousand beach-cleaning machine combs through the sand and removes all debris from rocks, to cigarette butts, to pieces of glass. The machine hit the beach for the first time on Wednesday and will run every morning when the beach opens.

The Salvation Army of Chittenden County will be closing its Burlington warehouse. Officials say they just can't afford to continue to rent the space on Industrial Avenue. So at the close of business on July 9 the warehouse doors will close for good. You can still drop off cloths at the locations in Essex, South Burlington, and Burlington. Furniture can be dropped off in Essex.

Firefighters with Hazmat suits will entered a home in South Burlington today to investigate the cause of a strange odor. So far 3 people have gone to the hospital because of the smell, 2 of them being police officers. Police entering the house yesterday said the place was a complete mess. The owner of the home, who lives in Florida, just recently evicted the tenants.