WVTK Local & State News November 24, 2010

After two ho-hum seasons, Vermont’s retailers have their fingers crossed for a rebound this Christmas holiday starting with Black Friday. Tasha Wallis of the Vermont Retail Association is optimistic. She is basing her optimism on a National Retail Federation report forecasting a 2.3 percent growth in sales over the 2009 holiday season. For New England there are indications sales could be stronger. New Hampshire and Massachusetts are predicting 4 percent growth.

A Rutland, Vermont man is in jail on a sexual assault charge. Police say 20-year-old Joseph Rounds sexually assaulted a teen, three years ago. A 13-year-old girl reported the incident in August of 2007. Evidence was collected but the complaint was terminated. The victim has met with police again. Round, who was 17-years-old at the time is lodged in jail until his court date.

Vermont State Police are conducting several sobriety checkpoints and patrols this holiday week. To ensure highway safety during the Thanksgiving holiday, state police said they are targeting impaired drivers and will be enforcing seat belt compliance. Vermonters are urged to use a designated driver when drinking away from home.

The Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity hasn't seen demand for home heating help in Vermont this high in the 22 years. 26,000 Vermonters and the number is rising. The resources to help Vermonters heat their homes aren't there because congress has not finalized a budget yet. Usually, when the federal funds are low, there is emergency money available to fill the void but not this year.

Police said the murder of Kathleen Smith and the more-recent stabbing on North Williard Street have raised neighbors concerns throughout Burlington. Tuesday night police hosted a community safety forum to speak on both. The Burlington Police Department did the same forum 4 years ago after UVM student Michelle Gardner Quinn was murdered. It's a chance for police to address questions about violent crimes, and give advice.

An appeals court says a Vermont law that restricts companies' use of information about the drugs doctors prescribe is unconstitutional. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled yesterday that the law on so-called data mining is a commercial free speech restriction that violates the First Amendment.

The Vermont unemployment rate is continuing to go down. The Department of Labor says the October rate was 5.7%, a decrease of 1-tenth of 1% from the September rate. And the rate is a full point lower than it was in October 2009. Acting Labor Commissioner Valerie Rickert says the state is seeing positive year over year job growth for the first time since May of 2008. The state has also seen two consecutive months of increased employment and decreased unemployment.

Vermont's Democratic Gov.-elect Peter Shumlin is keeping the commissioner of Finance and Management first appointed by his Republican predecessor. Shumlin says he chose Jim Reardon because Reardon is widely recognized for his ability to resolve long-standing financial reporting problems and for his abilities to develop budgets, goals and policies and to work with the Legislature crafting state budgets.

The regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the circumferential Highway would cause unacceptable damage to wetlands and streams. In a letter to the regional commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, EPA Administrator H. Curtis Spalding says the corps should reject the plan for a portion of the 16-mile circumferential highway around Burlington.

Green Mountain Coffee Roaster's stock is soaring. This stock jump comes despite major accounting errors recently discovered at the Waterbury-based company as well as a federal investigation of the company's accounting practices. Green Mountain Coffee's stock closed at $35.78 a share on Monday, not far from the stock's 2010 high.

Vermont's congressional delegation is calling for federal home heating assistance to be boosted to last year's level, if not more. U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy and Congressman Peter Welch are warning that because new federal spending bills have not been passed, heating assistance could be cut be 40% below last year's levels. Sanders now is asking the Senate Appropriations Committee to match last year's funding level of $5.1 billion.

Black Friday madness is the day after tomorrow and at the University Mall in South Burlington, some anchor stores are trying something new. Kohl's and Bon-Ton are opening at 3 a.m. Friday, that's a new nationwide trend. McDonald's is also opening at 3. J.C. Penney and Sears will follow at 4. All stores will be open by 6 a.m.

Travelers will soon have to pay to park at Plattsburgh International Airport. Clinton County legislators agreed Tuesday night to implement a fee system some time later this winter. No prices were set but parking will be divided into short and long-term areas.

The day before Thanksgiving is considered one of the busiest travel days of the year. But this year, that may not be the case at the Burlington International Airport. Officials there say many schools have changed their schedules to give students the entire week off, allowing holiday travel to happen on the weekends. Also, the Burlington airport doesn't yet have the controversial body scanners that are slowing down the TSA security process in other parts of the country.

There are a few things that you need to know before you cook your Thanksgiving Turkey. The Vermont Department of Health says: You should always wash your hands before handling raw food, avoid cross-contamination by keeping raw turkey and their juices away from other foods, especially those that will not be cooked. Never defrost food at room temperature; the safest way to defrost a turkey is in the fridge for about 24 hours for each 5 pounds of meat. And be sure cook foods to their proper temperature since bacteria in food can cause illness.

In less than 24 hours, many of us will be preparing a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Firefighters are urging you to use caution this year. They say Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires. They say common mistakes made with deep fat fryers include heating the oil too hot, not drying off your turkey, putting it in the oil too quickly, and having too much oil in the fryer. If it does catch on fire, the last thing you want to do is dump water on it, which will only create a bigger fireball. Instead, use the fire extinguisher and try to shut off the gas. The biggest cause of holiday fires is simply leaving the food you're cooking unattended.