WVTK Local & State News September 27, 2010

Police have released more information about a fatal boating accident Thursday on Lake Champlain. It happened around 3 p.m. near Monitor Bay off Crown Point. Police say William Wright of Whiting, Vt., and William Brown of Cuttingsville, Vt., were together in Wright's fishing boat when he lost control and both men were thrown from the craft. Police say the boat continued at full throttle in tight circles striking both men. Brown was pronounced dead at the scene. Wright was hospitalized in stable condition.

The founding director of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress will give a talk at 7 PM on Wednesday, October 6th, at the Ilsley Public Library. John Cole’s talk, titled “The Library of Congress: The Ups and Downs of Jefferson’s Legacy,” is part of the First Wednesdays lecture series run by the Vermont Humanities Council. Cole will discuss how Jefferson believed a national library was a necessity for democracy and how the institution he created became one of the most comprehensive research libraries in the world.

Fewer home heating oil dealers in the state are offering pre-buy and price protection plans this season. A PSD survey of approximately 80 fuel oil dealers found that 56 percent offer a pre-buy program. The average September price of pre-buy programs among the dealers surveyed was $2.83 a gallon. The September cash price for heating oil was $2.70 a gallon. The PSD report also found prices for kerosene, propane, diesel and regular gasoline were higher.

Sixty teachers at Mill River Union High School won’t get pay raises next school year. For the 2011-12 school year, union and Mill River School Board negotiators agreed that there would be no salary and no step increases, keeping teachers at the same annual salary and benefit levels as they are being paid in the current school year.

A young man who graduated high school two years ago in Swanton was killed in Afghanistan. The hometown of Marine Corporal Anthony Rosa is reeling after learning the news over the weekend. Details about how he died have not yet been released, only the confirmation of his death by the Department of Defense. There is no word yet on any services or burial.

While its still about six weeks until the voters have the final say as to who the next governor of Vermont will be, Republican candidate Brian Dubie enjoyed one victory over his Democratic rival Peter Shumlin this weekend. It was the first-ever Vermont Governor Grocery Bag-off, and Dubie beat Shumlin by four seconds. The Vermont Grocers' Association hosted the event at the Vermont Food Industry Expo with both candidates having to fill two bags the fastest and best way possible.

Governor David Paterson says that he wants the state to lay off as many as 2,000 employees by the end of the year. The state budget calls for saving $250 million with work force reductions this fiscal year. The Paterson Administration sent a memo saying state commissioners have the "discretion" to use layoffs to achieve the reductions.

A 1,200-member labor union that represents workers at Vermont Yankee nuclear plant is taking its case to the Statehouse. Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 300 have called a news conference today at which they'll call on political leaders and environmental advocates to stick to the facts in debating the future of the plan. The group will make its presentation at 1 p.m. Monday in the Statehouse.

A magnitude 3.1 earthquake sent tremors across much of New Hampshire and parts of Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts over the weekend. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake occurred at 11:28 p.m. Saturday, but there were no reports of injuries or damages.

It has raised more than $3.5 million and helped conserve almost 8,500 acres of wildlife habit, but the state of Vermont is making a change to its duck stamp program. This will be the last year that hunters, conservationists and stamp collectors will be able to get a duck stamp with an image of waterfowl on it. Instead, beginning in 2011, the stamp will be in the form of a validation sticker like the ones used for hunting and fishing licenses.

Vermont fish and wildlife officials have announced the winners of permits for the state's 9-day muzzleloader season for antlerless deer. The names are posted on a state website. About 18,000 people got the permits, and 6,000 are still available for the Dec. 4 to Dec. 12 season.

An armed robber is on the run in Rutland County. State Police say a young male held up the Smartshop Mobil on Main Street in Wallingford Friday night around 9 p.m. He made off with an undisclosed amount of cash. Police believe the robber may have been loitering outside of the station prior to the robbery.

State Police are trying to find out who is shooting cows from the roadway. Three cows are dead from two such incidents. One was shortly after midnight on Saturday morning, when State Police say a Guernsey cow in Tunbridge was shot four times in its side. About ten miles away and two and a half hours later, two more were shot in a pasture in Randolph Center. Authorities are examining shell casings and bullets extracted from the cows.

Mocked for years on "Saturday Night Live," the governor of New York appeared on the show to dish back. Gov. David Paterson joked that being governor is a lot like "Saturday Night Live." He said "there are a lot of characters, it's funny for 10 minutes and then you just want it to be over."

A program run by the Vermont Foodbank called "Pick For Your Neighbor” is in its second year. The program collects extra apples at 17 orchards throughout the state and then delivers them to more than 280 local food shelves and centers. Only half way through the apple season, the Vermont Foodbank says it's already collected 4,000 pounds of apples. Double what they had all of last year.