WVTK Local & State News October 18, 2010

Rutland Police are asking for your help tonight trying to figure out why someone shot at a house then drove away. Police say Friday night just before midnight, 28-year-old Eric Grenier of Orwell drove up to 43 Summer Street in Rutland and fired a shot into an upstairs apartment. Rutland police got tips from neighbors, and before too long were able to track down Grenier. If you have any information you are urged to call Rutland City Police.

A year ago Saturday, officials from New York and Vermont closed the Champlain Bridge for good due to severe structural problems. Community members gathered on Saturday at Crown Point on the shores of Lake Champlain beside the bridge site to reflect on the past year. The community seems more optimistic now because the bridge is more than halfway to its projected completion date in September 2011.

The National Weather Service says snowfall records have been smashed on Vermont's highest mountain. The weather service said Mount Mansfield received 18 inches of snow on Saturday, breaking the old record for the date of 4 inches, set in 1982. The mountain got 7 inches of snow on Friday, which also set a record for the date. Meanwhile Vermont's Killington Resort got anywhere from 4 to 10 inches of snow from the passing Nor'easter.

Fire and Rescue crews were very busy Friday, trying to keep up with the amount of weather related calls. Everything from fixing downed power lines and picking up the tree limbs the wind left behind. In Charlotte fire officials say they had at least three fire trucks out at any given time responding to power lines and trees down, and this was on top of their normal call volume.

It's been a busy autumn in Vermont for deer poachers and the game wardens that try to catch them. Already Vermont Fish and Wildlife says five people have been charged including George Devoid, of Salisbury, and Ronald Blakeslee, of Brandon, who were cited Sept. 21 for deer poaching.

To passengers looking forward to riding high-speed trains in New England, planners have a message: Not so fast. Washington is spending $8 billion in federal stimulus money to establish high-speed rail corridors nationwide. But in populated areas of New England where city streets and railroad tracks intersect and trains must negotiate curves, hills and tunnels, travel at speeds as high as 150 mph are out of the question.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the credit rating for Vermont's Burlington International Airport, the second time it has fallen this year. The credit rating for Burlington's Electric Department also was downgraded. Moody's cited financial uncertainties arising for Burlington Telecom's $17 million debt to the city.

The Vermont Health Department says there is plenty of flu vaccine available this year. A number of public clinics are planned. But unlike last year, there will be no school-based flu clinics. Last year those clinics were scheduled to prevent the H1N1 virus from spreading rapidly. The public vaccination clinics will be starting shortly.

The Vermont Attorney General has joined his colleagues across the country in a foreclosure document mess. There are allegations that banks evicted people without reading the documents. Several major lenders have suspended foreclosure and sales of repossessed homes until the picture becomes clearer. Vermont is part of the 50 state investigation.

Three people are safe and sound after getting stranded on a mountain in Fayston. Officials say the hikers from New York became stranded on Burnt Rock Mountain in the Mad River Valley. They spent the night near the top Friday night but needed help getting home Saturday. Waterbury Backcountry Rescue led the three hikers down the mountain Saturday afternoon.

A recent poll shows the race for Vermont governor is a dead heat. The poll conducted by Mason Dixon asked 625 voters if the election were today, whom would they choose? The answer is Republican Brian Dubie leads Democrat Peter Shumlin by a single percentage point-- 44 percent to 43 percent.

A court hearing is set for today in the American Civil Liberties Union's lawsuit against the state of Vermont, which seeks information on whether police agencies are using cell phone tracking technology to keep tabs on people and their whereabouts. The ACLU filed the suit in March after its public records requests for the information was denied by the state Attorney General's office, which contends that the information is exempt.

School officials in the five-town Washington Central Supervisory Union are scheduled to resume bargaining with teachers Oct. 25 in hopes of breaking their contract negotiation stalemate. Teachers at elementary schools in Berlin, Calais, East Montpelier, Middlesex and Worcester, and U-32 Middle and High School are working with a contract.

The Ticonderoga Federal Credit Union will host Shred Fest, a free paper-shredding event to increase public awareness of identity theft prevention, today and tomorrow as part of their annual Credit Union Week celebration. Documents will be shredded on site in a mobile shredder. The Credit Union asks participants to bring a non-perishable food item for donation to the local food pantries, in exchange for the free service. Shredding will be at the Ticonderoga office 11AM to 1PM today and at the Port Henry office 9-11 AM tomorrow.

The Bixby Library’s Booked for Bikes program just finished its thirteenth year. Young people, ages 5-15, read books throughout the summer months in hopes of winning a Trek Mountain Bike provided by the Vergennes Rotary Club. The literacy program was designed to help keep kids reading during the summer months. For more information regarding the "Booked for Bikes" program you can visit their website at www.bixbylibrary.org.