WVTK Local & State News November 18, 2010

Members of the Addison Northeast Education Association will picket Mount Abraham High School today before an evening negotiating session with the School Board. The purpose of the picketing is to urge the boards to return to the table and reach a contract that is fair to teachers, students and the communities. As it stands now, the board insists on a $4,000-a-year pay cut for teachers. 

The informational demonstration will take place from 5:45 to 7 PM at the school in Bristol.

Residents presented grievances to the chairman of the state Agency of Transportation during a public hearing in Brandon this week. The purpose of the hearing was to determine what people think about transportation in the state. More than a dozen Brandon residents attended the hearing to raise concerns on local transportation issues, including inadequate construction on various roads in Brandon.

New York Police are searching for a 76-year-old woman who went missing from her Elizabethtown home yesterday. Nancy Foster went missing from her home at about 12:30 PM. Foster is about 5 foot, 7 inches tall and weighs about 135 pounds and suffers from Alzheimer's. She was last seen wearing tan pants and a blue windbreaker. Anyone with information regarding Foster's whereabouts is asked to call the sheriff's department.

You may not have heard of the sport Quidditch before, but it has its true fans, and a world champion title now held by a team from Middlebury College. The author of the Harry Potter books originated Quidditch. Forty-six teams in all competed for the Quidditch World Cup in New York City last weekend, and Middlebury won by defeating the team from Tufts University.

In a move to reduce loitering and noise in the town park, the Fair Haven Select Board has approved a revised version of the park ordinance. The park will now be closed between the hours of 9 PM and 7 AM except when permitted by the Fair Haven Select Board.

Sixty-five-years after narrowly surviving injuries he received in World War II, federal Judge Franklin Billings Jr. received his Purple Heart yesterday. The former chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court and speaker of the House in the state Legislature was honored during a long-overdue ceremony at the American Legion Post 24 in Woodstock.

A Vermont environmental group says the state's push to go "green" shouldn't destroy one of its best features, the Green Mountains. Vermonters for a Clean Environment says they aren't necessarily against wind power. They just don't want giant wind turbines built atop Vermont's unspoiled mountains. That's the message they hope to deliver to the state's next governor as various wind projects are underway or proposed for Vermont's mountain ridge lines.

An addiction to smoking may soon get some Burlington residents kicked out of their homes. A new smoking ban at a few of the city's subsidized housing complexes has resident smokers upset. The policy change is part of a national movement headed by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to make low-income housing a healthier place for all its residents.

A new report shows that Vermont is spending more on anti-smoking programs than most other states. A coalition of public health organizations ranks Vermont 9th best in its support for its efforts to prevent kids from smoking and to help smokers quit.

New statistics show that Vermont and New Hampshire have the lowest rate of premature births of any state in the country. The March of Dimes says 9.5 percent of Vermont births in 2008 were premature. New Hampshire's rate was 9.6 percent. That compares to a national average of 12.3 percent.

The state is starting a new program to help keep the elderly from getting scammed out of their money. State officials say they are going to start training medical professionals to spot signs of trouble because many elderly don't want to admit they were victimized. Signs include an overprotective caregiver, change in appearance or behavior and depression.

The Burlington Electric Department is warning people about a scam that uses the utility's name. Customers say they got phone calls yesterday promoting new credit cards and using the cards to pay their utility bills at reduced rates. But BED says it is not behind the calls and that customers should not give out any information to people making these offers.

Vermont's lone nuclear plant has received a passing grade from federal regulators, but details of the review are secret. Vermont Yankee received a letter from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission saying that it found no problems during a recent security review. Plant spokesman Larry Smith calls the results of the inspection a clean bill of health.

Vermont's top law enforcement officer wants the state to impose a penny per ounce excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, including sports and energy drinks and soda. Attorney General William Sorrell says the tax could raise $30 million a year and help combat the growing problem of obesity. Sorrell also says the Legislature might consider extending the state's 6% sales tax to candy.

A Bennington manufacturer of tear gas and pepper spray products is facing charges of illegally storing hazardous waste without a permit. The U.S. Attorney for Vermont said Wednesday that Mace Security International and Mace Bennington Unit President Jon Goodrich have been indicted by a federal grand jury with a felony, alleging that they kept hazardous waste in mill buildings and outside the facility in shipping containers.

Officials announced this week that the 2011 Empire State Games have been canceled due to the state's ongoing fiscal crisis. The Winter Games administrator sent a letter to athletes informing them that the winter, summer, and senior games as well as the games for the physically challenged have been canceled because of New York's $9 billion budget gap. The popular annual sporting events are run by the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

A new online registry system for organ donors in Vermont is getting a push from social media, with a website encouraging people to register as donors. The website, called DonateLifeVT.org, includes a simple link to register online, as well as links to social media sites meant to get the word out to other potential donors. Vermont started its online registry in the spring, making it the last state in the country to form a registry.

There are two opportunities the weekend after Thanksgiving to hear “An Advent Ceremony of Carols,” Benjamin Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols” with Vermont Symphony Orchestra harpist Heidi Soons accompanying the Ladies’ Night Out Women’s Chorus. The choir will also sing some seasonal carols with harp as well as a-capella. The first concert is at Trinity Episcopal Church in Rutland at 7 PM Saturday, November 27. The second concert is at 3PM Sunday, November 28 at St. Bridget’s Church in West Rutland.