WVTK Local & State News November 19, 2010

The public will get an update today about the new Champlain Bridge. Today representatives from New York's Transportation Department and bridge contractor Flatiron Construction will update the public on the progress of the project. That meeting is set for 2PM at the Crown Point State Historic Site parking lot in New York. There will be no fee to enter the site for the meeting.

Kennedy Brothers Marketplace President Win Grant announced this week that he plans to end retail operations at his Vergennes building after 50 years. The decision will affect Kennedy Brothers’ nine employees as well as 50 craft vendors. Kennedy Brothers has sold gifts and crafts in Vergennes for five decades, but has twice downsized within the building in the past six years. Kennedy Brothers non-retail tenants will remain. Grant said he and his wife have been wrestling with Kennedy Brothers’ future as sales have declined and their retirement has neared.

UD-3 school district administrators presented their first draft of a 2011-2012 budget that not only meets the state’s “Challenges for Change” guidelines but also beats it by almost $70,000. The tentative list of proposed cuts to the Middlebury Union Middle and High School spending plans includes a handful of part-time teaching, clinical and technical support positions; school supplies; computer purchases; and some athletic offerings. The UD-3 board will discuss lacrosse and other elements of the budget during the coming weeks before a endorsing a final budget to put before ACSU voters next March.

The Addison County Solid Waste Management District is considering a 2011 budget that reflects a 1.9-percent increase in spending but would not result in any boost in tipping fees at the district transfer station in Middlebury. The disposal fees for some recyclables are expected to go down due to a more lucrative market for such items and because of the provisions of a new electronics waste law that will soon take effect.

The Mount Abraham Union High School Board will not move forward in the budget development process until its next meeting on December 7th at 6:30 PM. Many have been waiting to hear exactly where Mount Abraham Union High School will be making its cuts to meet the 2-percent reduction in spending for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Dubois Farm in Addison has brought its methane digester on line this week. The $2.6 million digester is expected to generate enough power to run 400 homes, and it will take its place as the 10th working digester in Vermont including the one at Foster Brothers Farm in Middlebury, which has been in operation since the 1980s.

70 students from Addison and Chittenden counties rowed in the second annual Otter Creek Challenge, a 2.5-mile-long rowing race sponsored by Lake Champlain Maritime Museum's Champlain Longboats program. Eleven crews rowed in two heats. Participating schools included Middlebury High School, Vergennes Middle and High School, Champlain Valley Union High School, Mt. Abraham Union High School, South Burlington High School and Burlington High School. Vergennes Middle and High School finished first overall and first in the experienced six-oar division. Middlebury High School finished first in the novice four-oar division.

The Vergennes FFA represented Vermont both at the regional competition in Springfield, Massachusetts and at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis this year. The convention included a career and college fair. The team is thanking Monument Farms for providing milk for their practices and Dairy Farmers of America for sponsoring the national competition.

The Orwell Historical Society Museum was the recipient of the Vermont State Historical Society's Award of Excellence for the "Soldiers in the Attic, Celebrating 200 Years of Orwell's Patriots". An award presentation to the Orwell society was made at the 57th Annual League of Local Historical Societies meeting. The Orwell Historical Society Museum is currently creating not only the new 2011 spring exhibit, but also exploring updated presentations of the entire museum collection.

It appears visitors to Bulwagga Bay campsite in Port Henry want wireless Internet service. The campsite on Lake Champlain is owned and operated by the town of Moriah. The town board has investigated providing wireless Internet service at the facility. Trustee Rick Carpenter said he had contacted an Internet provider and the price tag appears to be $19,000. The board took no action on the issue.

The Salvation Army is seeking volunteer Bell Ringers for its Red Kettle Campaign in Ticonderoga. They are looking for volunteers to stand by the kettles on Friday, Saturday and Sunday now through Christmas Eve from 8 AM to 5 PM each day, in 1-2 hour time slots. People interested in volunteering for the Red Kettle Campaign, or throughout the entire year, should call Glen Buell at 597-3222.

Otter Valley Union High School football coach Dennis Perry has resigned. Perry was at OV for five years and in his first year there led the team to its first-ever state championship record. Perry said he feels the time is right to move on and has no plans to coach anywhere else but left the door open to possibility.

Brandon Police have arrested a Pittsford man after an investigation into a string of anonymous obscene phone calls to women in the area. Scott Hughes was arrested for making the calls between April and October of this year. Both Brandon Police and Vermont State Police are interested in hearing from potential victims of these types of calls.

The controversial full-body scanners are coming next year to Burlington International Airport. That's according the airport's Director of Aviation. A spokesperson for the T-S-A said she's not sure just when next year the scanners will come in to the airport.

Lake Placid Leaders say the Empire State Games will go on. Organizers were shocked Tuesday when state officials told them they were being canceled because of budget cutbacks. Since then, they have rallied to keep the winter event going. Officials say they can raise enough money though business sponsorships. The Games will be held February 25th though the 27th.

State Police will be out in full force in the next 2-weeks looking for unbuckled drivers. It’s all part of the Click It or Ticket Campaign. Troopers plan to use extra patrols and checkpoints to monitor compliance with the state's mandatory safety-restraint law. The effort will continue through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Flooding in downtown Rutland two years ago has led to another lawsuit. The owners of Three Tomatoes say the city didn't have adequate storm drainage to deal with flooding that damaged their restaurant and forced them to close for more than two months. They also allege that the way the Transit Center was built on West Street changed the grade of the street, causing Center Street to flood.

A worker at a closed Vermont slaughterhouse will be sentenced to 30 days on a state work crew after pleading guilty to animal cruelty. Thirty-7-year-old Christopher Gaudette, an employee of the now-closed Bushway Packing, Inc., in Grand Isle, pleaded guilty to the felony charge yesterday.

Democrats could end up holding the same strong majority in the Vermont House that they've enjoyed for the past two years - 94 of 150 seats. But recounts could trim that majority a bit. Republicans are challenging what appear to be narrow Democratic victories in five House races around the state. They're also challenging an apparent victory by one Progressive.

A Maine-based forest management company is expanding into New Hampshire, Vermont and New York by acquiring a company that operates in those states. Prentiss & Carlisle President Donald White says the acquisition of Upland Forestry adds nearly 270,000 acres to the 1.5 million acres the company manages in six states and Quebec. Prentiss & Carlisle is based in Bangor. Upland Forestry is based in Bristol, VT and has offices in New Hampshire and New York.

Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell is set to announce a new bias-free policing policy in Vermont. The policy is meant to define what police actions are racially discriminatory. An advisory committee on civil rights recommended a statewide policy be developed in response to complaints about racial-profiling. But Sorrell's policy is also expected to set guidelines on how Vermont police deal with illegal aliens.

More Vermonters are requesting home heating help this winter but the amount of the average benefit is going down. The state says more than 18,000 households have received a fuel assistance benefit as of this week. That's about 2,000 more homes than the same time last year. But despite increased demand, Washington is making less money available. Congress approved $15 million for Vermont's fuel assistance program, down from $25 million last year.

The largest electric utility in Vermont is buying one of the smallest. Central Vermont Public Service announced Thursday that it has reached an agreement to take over the Readsboro Electric Department. The town-owned utility serves 319 customers. Readsboro is an island in a sea of CVPS territory that covers virtually all of southern Vermont.

An elderly Elizabethtown woman missing since Wednesday has been found alive. She has been taken to a hospital for evaluation but appears to be in good condition. Nancy Foster who suffers from Alzheimer's disease wandered from her home Wednesday afternoon. It has been reported she was found only a couple of miles from her home on old logging trails.