WVTK Local & State News November 5, 2010

Addison County and Brandon voters followed statewide trends on Election Day in backing Democrat Peter Shumlin for governor, Republican Phil Scott for lieutenant governor, Democrat Jim Condos for secretary of state, and incumbent Republican Tom Salmon for state auditor. Support from the area was also shown for U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch.

Incumbent state Sen. Harold Giard will return for a fourth consecutive term representing Addison County and Brandon. His re-election remained in doubt until early Wednesday morning as a result of a spirited challenge from Orwell Republican Mark Young. Giard finished second behind Senate Majority Whip Claire Ayer who saw her successful run for a fifth consecutive term. Young, a longtime former House member and president of the First National Bank of Orwell, finished less than 400 votes shy of Giard.

Ferrisburgh residents backed the $150,000 purchase of a home and 2 acres next to the town’s office building and community meeting center at the polls on Tuesday. Selectmen proposed the purchase, which will provide for some of the town’s future needs. The article approved by voter’s calls for financing the deal with a 10-year bank note that officials estimate will cost about $900 a month.

Rutland Mayor Christopher Louras presented his $17.5 million budget proposal to the board this week. He was able to trim roughly 2.3 percent from last year’s final number. He said the bulk of the savings was in insurance and required no operational cuts. However with the tax rate going over $.90 per $100,000 of property, Alderman Robert Barrett said he wanted to get the rate down closer to the old 85-cent cap, which a 2 percent reduction would not accomplish.

Gov.-elect Peter Shumlin is forming a transition team to assemble a cabinet and help to write a budget to present to the Legislature is January after he takes office. Former Gov. Howard Dean and Elizabeth Bankowski will co-chair the transition team. The team will also include Susan Bartlett, outgoing chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, who will work on budget issues. Shumlin defeated Bartlett and three other Democrats in the August gubernatorial primary.

Howard Dean has announced that he will not be running for president in 2012, he plans to support Obama. There have been rumors circulating for awhile now that Dean was going to make another run for the oval office in 2012. Dean said, "Not right now, you never know what's going to happen in politics but the answer right now is no."

The owners of Vermont Yankee nuclear plant say they're looking to sell it. Entergy Corp. said Thursday it expects multiple parties to show interest in the 38-year-old plant, which is located in Vernon. In a prepared statement issued yesterday, Entergy's chairman said the company's motivation to explore a sale is to do what's in the best interest of stakeholders, including the plant's 650 employees. He says no decision has been made to sell it yet.

The head of the Vermont National Guard says most of the state's 1,500 soldiers serving in Afghanistan should be home for the holidays. Adjutant Gen. Michael Dubie says the first groups of Vermont soldiers should be leaving Afghanistan later this month. The soldiers will fly to Indiana where they will be demobilized before they return to Vermont.

Goshen residents David and Erica Sabatini were acquitted of the charges of disorderly conduct leveled against them last April. The dispute between the Sabatini’s and the state was resolved after a trial that lasted most of two days and a number of witnesses. Their attorney said that it’s unusual for a disorderly conduct charge to go to court.

Across the state schools are examining their budgets in the wake of the Legislature’s Challenges for Change recommendations. As school boards sit down for discussions, some are finding that they’ll have to trim even more than originally projected. The Orwell Village School board will be looking to reduce the school’s spending by approximately 10 percent.

The Paterson administration says closing the latest deficit may require cuts of perhaps 1 percent in every area including a midyear cut in school aid. Budget Director Robert Megna says the $315 million shortfall in the current budget must be addressed by Dec. 31. That's when Paterson's term ends and Andrew Cuomo takes office.

Teachers in Barre are not going to leave classrooms for the picket line. That announcement came after contract talks between the teachers and school district broke down once again. Members of the teachers union met, and then stated they will not strike. The teachers say they've been working without a contract since July and are under a pay freeze.

Medicaid fraud costs taxpayers millions in this state each year. Now the Vermont Attorney General's office is working with state agencies on how to better detect that fraud and stop it. On average, about 170 billion dollars in the U.S. is lost to Medicaid fraud every year. Vermont looses an estimated 3 to 9 million dollars out of its 209 million dollar budget. The program is a collaborative effort between the Attorney General's office and Vermont's Department of Health Access.

The Brandon American Legion received a new set of old wheels Thursday. After a four-year process, Post 55 received a tank from Camp Johnson. The 60 year-old artillery received a face-lift and a paint job before being transported to take up permanent residency in Brandon. Crews from J.A. Macdonald, working on road repairs in Brandon, stepped in to set the tank in place.

Unlike the adult voters, students favored Republican Brian Dubie in the governor’s race with Dubie receiving 50 percent of the vote and Democrat Peter Shumlin garnering 34.5 percent in this year’s initial results of the Vermont Votes for Kids mock election. Many Vermont schools participated in Vermont Votes for Kids activities with students casting mock ballots in both small and large schools. In partnership with daily newspapers throughout the state, the Secretary of State’s Office again offered Democracy in Action, a five-week Newspapers-in-Education series on voting and democracy, which was used in classrooms across Vermont.

The annual Holiday Pops concert, under the direction of Robert De Cormier, joins the VSO Chorus with the Orchestra for a festive program entitled “Glory Hallelujah!” This traditional holiday concert will celebrate the season in three locations: Barre, Burlington, and Rutland. Guest soloists include mezzo-soprano Amy Frost of South Burlington and soprano Susanne Peck of Middlebury College. Performances are Friday, December 10, 7:30 p.m. at the Barre Opera House, Saturday, December 11, 7:30 p.m. at the Flynn Center in Burlington, and Sunday, December 12, 3:00 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre, Rutland (the first of the three concert Sunday Matinee Series). For mystical and majestic music of the holidays, Robert De Cormier and the VSO Brass Quintet and Counterpoint present music of the season in five picturesque, intimate village settings: Warren, Jay, Grafton, Manchester, and Brandon. Brass and voices alternate and join forces for a rich range of festive repertoire, presenting traditional carols and Renaissance pieces, excerpts from the The Nutcracker Suite and The Christmas Story, and more. The Brass Quintet will perform The Cordoban Puppet, a new composition by 18-year-old composer Joshua Clinger of Newport. Performances are Thursday, December 16, 7:30 p.m., Warren United Church, Warren; Friday, December 17, 7:30 p.m., Jay Peak Resort, Jay; Saturday, December 18, 5:00 p.m., The White Church, Grafton; Sunday, December 19, 4:00 p.m., the First Congregational Church, Manchester; and Monday, December 20, 7:00 p.m., the Congregational Church, Brandon.