WVTK Local & State News August 3, 2010

Vergennes-Panton Water District residents will vote tomorrow on whether to support a $5.1 million proposal to upgrade the district’s 37-year-old water treatment plant in Panton. The project will replace all the plant’s pumps and filters, electrical, heating and ventilation systems. It will also build a new control room, improve chemical treatment equipment and improve chemical storage areas.

According to correspondence last week between the town and Liza Myers’ attorney, the Brandon Development Review Board will hold off on deciding if her sunflower painting violates the regulations on signs in the town’s zoning ordinance. In the meantime, town official said, the Planning Commission will look at rewriting the ordinance to clear up vagueness in the section dealing with signs.

Work to install 186 solar panels along Route 7 next to Vergennes Union High School could begin as soon as September. According to the owner of the 16-acre parcel the Addison Solar Farm would be the largest such project north of New Jersey.

Middlebury officials are planning to order an asbestos assessment of the former Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society meetinghouse on Water St. The future plan is to demolish the structure and sell the lot for a retail or commercial venture.

Vermont School Districts will have to plan for more cuts in funding. School Districts learned yesterday that they will need to cut $23-Million dollars across the state. The cutbacks are voluntary but the Vermont Department of Education expects that most schools will try to meet its goal. Whatever schools don't cut, the state will have to make up for.

Governor David Paterson has vetoed 23 bills including a pension increase for prison guards. Another vetoed bill would have placed a tooth decay warning label on "sippy cups," and another would have required sellers to sanitize used mattresses in the battle against bed bugs. Paterson continues to say he wants lawmakers to stay in Albany until a budget deal is worked out.

Congressman Peter Welch this week will be spending part of Congress' summer recess touring renewable energy sites in the state, along with some would-be sites. Among this week's stops, Welch will go to Montpelier Friday to talk with local leaders about a proposal for a new biomass energy facility serving the city's downtown area.

A 46-year-old man has died while hiking on a mountain trail in northern Vermont. State police say the Hinesburg man became tired Monday as he was hiking with two friends on Hunger Mountain in Waterbury and asked his friends to go ahead without him. Police say the man's death isn't believed to be suspicious, but his name is being withheld.

Michelle Zullo of Rutland has been charged with bilking Medicaid out of money. Police say she created fake time sheets in order to receive over $3,000 dollars in Medicaid payments for mental health services that her disabled adult child never received. She denied eight felony charges and four misdemeanor charges and could spend 84 years in prison plus fines totaling twice the stolen money if convicted on all counts.

One of the Republicans hoping to challenge Democrat Andrew Cuomo in the race for Governor of New York made a campaign swing through the North Country. Former Congressman Rick Lazio told business leaders in Plattsburgh he'll cut excessive spending in Albany, state jobs and lavish pensions to trim next year's projected $10-billion deficit and get the state's financial house back in order.

Residents looking for a night out that includes food, music, entertainment and crime prevention tips have a perfect opportunity tonight. National Night Out, an annual crime-fighting event celebrated in more than 10,000 communities nationwide, will host “farewell parties” to drugs and crimes today in Rutland, Fair Haven and Chester. Rutland’s event takes place at White’s Pool while Fair Haven’s event will be held in the town park.

The Thrift Shop at the First United Methodist Church in Ticonderoga will be open to the public Friday, Aug. 6, and Sept. 10, from 3 - 7p.m. in addition to the shop's regular hours on Wednesdays and Saturdays, 9 – 2. Summer merchandise is now displayed. The shift to fall merchandise will start in late August after the semi-annual bag sale.

A family who was at North Beach in Burlington and had their tiny Chihuahua stolen on Saturday are happy to have their dog back once again. Burlington police will only say the dog named Sasha was located in a Burlington home Monday night, and returned okay to her rightful owners.