WVTK Local & State News November 22, 2010

Applications are being sought for the Vermont Folklife Center's 12th annual Gingerbread House contest, which pits culinary artisans against one another in a bid to see who can craft the best house of all-edible materials. There are seven categories. Last year, over 75 houses were entered and displayed in an exhibit that drew more than 4,000 visitors. This year, the creations will be displayed at the Folklife Center here in Middlebury, through Dec. 21, starting with a public reception Dec. 3.

Gov.-elect Peter Shumlin's transition team has received several hundred resumes as it works to fill about 60 senior positions. The pile of job applications is a normal occurrence when the governor's office changes hands and parties. Shumlin is asking all those in appointed jobs under Douglas to submit their resignations.

Vermonters applying for assistance through the Department for Children and Families are encountering long delays. In some cases clients are waiting on the phone for hundreds of minutes. The delays are due to problems as the department modernizes services for Vermonters who are seeking financial assistance for food, fuel and health care.

The commander of the Vermont National Guard says 1,500 soldiers are leaving Afghanistan earlier than scheduled and should be in Vermont for the holidays. Maj. Gen. Michael Dubie says the return schedule for the 1,500 Vermont Guard troops stationed in Afghanistan is moving up, and he's optimistic everyone will be home by Christmas.

Vermont game officials say the success rate for moose hunters increased slightly during this fall's season. Vermont's Fish and Wildlife Department says 486 moose were taken, out of 765 hunting permits issued for the Oct. 16-21 season. There was a sharp decline in the number of moose permits issued this year.

Two years after a Vermont man was stabbed to death, prosecutors are still considering whether to bring charges against the man they say killed him. Twenty-4-year-old Herman Hier is expected to be released in January on unrelated charges. He had pleaded guilty to attacking his mother with a knife and trying to escape from the Rutland jail.

The rising price of copper is causing a spike in theft across the country, including Vermont. In the last month, agencies have had to deal with copper thefts in at least three places. The most recent was in Williston, where $17,000 worth of metal was stolen from ECI Construction. Police released a surveillance photo of a silver Toyota van on the premises. Copper is a prime target because of its high value.

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up your personal information will be floating around the cyber world, easy for thieves to get, if you are shopping online. According to the Consumer Affairs Department of the Vermont Attorney General's Office the most frequent theft is credit card information from online shoppers. Remember to always look for either a lock symbol or something stating that the website is secure before entering your credit card information.

School boards are cutting teachers and services because they were asked to earlier this year by lawmakers to ease the state’s budget woes. But now they may not have to. 

There’s $19 million in federal jobs money waiting in the wings and the state is trying to figure out what to do with the money. One of the first issues the Legislature tackles this coming session likely will be whether to make schools cut their costs, a mandate included in legislation approved this year called Challenges for Change.

On December 4 energy leaders from across the state will gather for the third annual Community Energy and Climate Action Conference in Fairlee. Anyone interested in Vermont’s energy future is welcome to attend. Concern about energy use has been intensifying for some time across the Green Mountains. For more information visit www.vecan.net.

Calls to the state’s telephone assistance referral program run by the United Ways of Vermont have increased substantially. When Vermonters who need help with everything from food or housing to transportation to their jobs call the 2-1-1 system, they are referred to the appropriate agency or nonprofit. The program received roughly 5,000 calls in 2005 and more than 38,000 in 2009. Housing-related referrals alone went from 236 in October 2007 to 491 in October this year.

The Vermont Health Department is reminding people that antibiotics won’t cure the common cold. The health department says antibiotics are an important tool for fighting infections caused by bacteria such as strep throat but trying to use antibiotics to treat illnesses caused by viruses, such as colds, can contribute to the development of drug-resistant organisms such as MRSA. So Vermont is participating in a program called “Get Smart About Antibiotics,” a national public health campaign to call attention to the problem of drug resistant bacteria.

Rutland's Secret Santa is back. He handed out six cards this past week. It's Santa's fourth year. The cards contain either a $20 or $50 bills. The Secret Santa plans to hand out a total of 25 cards this year. Last year he distributed $1,100.

Who would think that a sale of something as simple as socks would draw out thousands over the weekend? And yet, that's what happened in Northfield. The Cabot Hosiery Mills Factory held their 31st annual sock sale. Owner Ric Cabot says they hold the sales during two weekends each year, and usually sell 170-thousand pairs of socks over the two weekends.

The students at the Miller's Run School in Sheffield spent two weeks collecting a mountain of honor in memory of Pat O'Hagan, who had a very active life in Sheffield. O'Hagan volunteered at the library, her church, the historical society — and to the Sheffield Food Pantry. Miller's Run wanted to keep her memory and good deeds alive by helping the pantry and the more than 200 families it serves with the food drive.