WVTK Local & State News October 11, 2010

It's Columbus Day and a number of businesses are closed in observance. In fact, all local, state, and federal courts and offices are closed today. All post offices are closed today with no delivery except for express mail. Some banks are open.

The next public meeting regarding the possible consolidation of schools in the Addison Northwest Supervisory Union will be held tomorrow from 6:30 – 8:00 PM at the Ferrisburgh Central School. The union is exploring a possible unification vote on Town Meeting Day 2011.

Crown Point residents will mark the year anniversary of Champlain Bridge closure. A "Community Gathering" will be held at 1:30 PM Saturday, October 16, at the Crown Point State Historic Site, adjacent to the now demolished bridge. The event will include a question-and-answer session with Flatiron Construction personnel. The new bridge is expected to be open to traffic by December of 2011.

Police are looking for $9,000 worth of guns and other valuables taken from a West Addison home sometime in the last two weeks. Police say between Sept. 22 and Oct. 5 someone forced their way into a home on Route 17 and stole 13 firearms, ammunition, a safe, camera, bows and arrows and fishing tackle valued at more than $9,000. Anyone with any information is asked to call the Vermont State Police at the New Haven barracks.

About 500 pounds of powdered calcium carbonate became airborne after spilling out of the Omya Inc. plant in Florence early yesterday morning. The fine powder was a finished product and mixed with other elements but does not pose a risk to human health or the environment. Cleanup efforts were under way yesterday and will continue today.

Views from the other side of education policy reform, including that of a longtime Vermont superintendent, are now available online. Reports and briefs critical of federal education policies from the Colorado-based think tank National Education Policy Center, managed by William Mathis, are available to the public for free or for purchase on their website (www.nepc.colorado.edu). 

Mathis is the former head of the Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union and was the longest-serving superintendent in the state.

More problems are being reported at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant with the radioactive element tritium. Vermont health officials announced Friday it had been detected in a drinking well on the plant property. The well apparently had not been used since March, and the EPA says the levels of tritium are within what's considered a "safe" range. The state health department is now looking into whether ongoing testing at the plant may have cross-contaminated the well.

Candidates misspeaking, mangling descriptions of their opponents' proposals and getting historic facts wrong have become a big feature in this year's campaign for governor of Vermont. Peter Shumlin vastly exaggerated the amount of electricity Germany gets from solar power and Brian Dubie falsely described a list of crimes he waved around at a Bennington debate as a list of inmates. Political observers say the rhetoric has strayed from the truth this year more often than is the norm in campaigns for governor of Vermont.

Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas is helping get the word out about the need to prevent home fires. On Friday the governor signed a proclamation at the St. Johnsbury Elementary highlighting fire prevention week, which ends Saturday. The governor says working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are essential for the safety of Vermonters.

A Vermont advocacy group is pushing for a law that would ban cleaning products that have toxins in them from schools. Environmentally friendly cleaning products have been required in state buildings since 2004, but now Vermont Public Interest Research Group wants lawmakers to extend that to schools. Vermont lawmakers considered a bill to ban them in the Legislature's last session, but the bill didn't make it out of committee.

Seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is going to be in Vermont this week to help raise money to fight ovarian cancer. Armstrong is planning to speak at the 2nd Annual Mary E. Haas Ovarian Cancer Fundraiser & Awareness Dinner at the Sugarbush resort in Warren. The dinner is scheduled for Wednesday. Armstrong is a cancer survivor.

Sen. Bernie Sanders is hoping to help Social Security recipients who face another year without cost-of-living adjustments. The COLA adjustments are automatically set each year based on inflation. And The Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to announce Friday that there will be no increase in the coming year. He plans to introduce a measure calling for a one-time payment of 250 dollars in lieu of the COLA adjustment.

There is good news for those out of work right now ... the seasonal hiring season has started. Many major retailers like JC Penny, Kohls, and Best Buy all say they will be bringing on more employees this season than last year. And as an added bonus, if you get a job of this early in the season, it increases your chances of keeping it after the holidays are over.

The grow an extra row campaign is coming to an end, but officials say they still need a lot more food. Rutland are farm and food link collects donations from families and farmers at the Saturday farmers market. The food is distributed to food shelves across Rutland County to provide fresh produce to struggling families. Organizers say they have seen lots of generosity so far, but they are still short on their goal. They have set a goal of collecting 20 THOUSAND POUNDS OF FOOD by the end of next month.

Foreclosures around the country are being halted. Bank of America-- the nation's largest bank-- announced Friday it's stopping sales of foreclosed homes due to potential flaws in foreclosure documents. The move comes amid evidence that mortgage company employees and their lawyers may have finalized foreclosure documents without verifying them. Vermont currently has the lowest foreclosure rate in the country, so realtors predict the impact here will be minimal.

New voting machines malfunctioned in most New York counties during last month's primary election. The New York Comptroller says 44 of the 57 counties outside of New York City experienced problems. Machines malfunctioned in 21 counties, small print caused voter confusion in 15 counties and privacy issues were reported in 20 counties. The new machines replaced an 80-year-old mechanical lever system.