WVTK Local & State News December 1, 2010

After years of deep cuts, Otter Valley Union High School will likely get some relief in 2012. After four years and the reduction of more than 14 full-time staffers, the board’s budget for next year includes the reduction of one certified English teacher position. As of Monday the school’s budget for 2012 was down 1.6 percent compared to the current years spending plan. One English teacher is retiring and will not be replaced because of declining enrollment. No programs for students will be eliminated. The board is expected to vote on its budget December 15.

Rutland’s winter parking ban takes effect today. Cars will be forbidden from the sides of all city streets from Midnight until 6 a.m. through March 31. Cars parked in the forbidden zone after midnight will get $50 tickets, and those caught on the roadside during snow removal will be towed and issued a $75 tickets. If the snow removal is happening after midnight, both the car owner will get both tickets for a total of $125.

The public will get its first taste of what a town with one less school will look like today. 

A study will be presented regarding the potential closing of the Castleton Village School at 7 PM at the school’s regular board meeting. The presentation is the culmination of a voter-approved, $10,000 look at merging all seventh and eighth-graders into the Castleton Elementary School.

Rutland city's hands are tied when it comes to collecting on the largest delinquent property tax bill. Telephone Operating Co. of Vermont owes over $63,000 on property in Rutland, dwarfing the other unpaid tax bills. City Treasurer Wendy Wilton identified the company as a FairPoint subsidiary and said the communications company's bankruptcy protects them from a tax sale.

Gov.-elect Peter Shumlin has chosen Democratic primary rival Doug Racine to head up Vermont's Agency of Human Services. Racine is a state senator from Richmond with a long record of advocacy for poor, disabled and other vulnerable Vermonters. Joining Racine will be David Yacavone who will now run the Department for Children and Families. Patrick Flood, the deputy human services secretary in the outgoing administration of Gov. Jim Douglas, will stay in that job.

Vermont Governor-elect Peter Shumlin is headed to the White House. Shumlin travels to Washington, D.C., today to meet with members of Vermont's congressional delegation and attend a Democratic Governors Association meeting. On Thursday, he'll be at the White House for a meeting of new governors.

Sen. Bernie Sanders says he's expecting the U.S. Federal Reserve to release details on emergency spending actions during the financial crisis of 2 years ago. Under a provisions Sanders got into a Wall Street reform bill, the central bank was required by Dec. 1 to disclose which financial institutions, corporations, and foreign central banks took more than $2 trillion in heretofore secret loans.

The states of Vermont and New York and the province of Quebec are joining hands to beef up the protection of Lake Champlain. Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas gathered yesterday with representatives of all three - and officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - to sign an updated work plan aimed at reducing the pollution of Lake Champlain. The "Opportunities for Action" plan commits them to specific action to curb phosphorus and other pollutants.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean says President Barack Obama must reclaim progressive voters or risk both re-election and the Democratic Party's future for years to come. Dean said that Obama has "clearly upset members of his base" on issues including tax cuts and allowing gays to serve openly in the military. He said Obama stands to lose both the presidency and his party's credibility if he doesn't reverse course.

Police say two men have been found dead of gunshot wounds in a Readsboro home following a dispute in an apparent murder-suicide. Officers responding to a 911 call from a home on Smith Drive at around 6 PM Tuesday found 69-year-old James Finley and his 47-year-old son Robert dead of gunshot wounds on the lower level of the house.

A handful of South Burlington financial institutions have been swindled out of tens of thousands of dollars. 

Now police are searching for John Ross Hughes who is the man accused of running this fraudulent checking scheme, The Waterbury Center man is also a convicted sex offender - charged in California with the aggravated sexual assault of a minor. Hughes is believed to be in Chittenden County either staying at an area motel or with friends. If anyone has any information on his whereabouts they're urged to call the South Burlington police or Crime stoppers.

A review of Vermont's tax code is nearing completion and it could mean some changes for what you pay. The three-person group is trying to rework the state tax code to make businesses more competitive and to make the overall code easier to understand. One thing it is looking at is a rule to expand the sales tax to include consumer services, but not ones that are considered "social safety nets." The commission says its goal is to keep tax revenue even, so if it makes increases in one area it will mean decreases elsewhere.

Gov.-elect Peter Shumlin and outgoing Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie are done with the election battle and are now planning to work together. Dubie served as Vermont's unofficial ambassador to Quebec under Gov. Jim Douglas. Now Shumlin has asked his Republican rival to do the same under his administration. Shumlin wants to work with Quebec on energy and rail issues, namely restoring train service between Vermont and Montreal, and Dubie has agreed to stay on.

An audit of this year's election results shows the automated machines used to count ballots are accurate. Yesterday, volunteer’s hand counted ballots from four randomly selected communities. In two of the towns the hand count produced exactly the same results as the tabulator machines. In the other three towns the count was off by only a vote or two.

More Vermont soldiers are due home this week. Fifty guard troops have already returned to Vermont from their yearlong deployment in Afghanistan. Yesterday, another group arrived in the U.S. They are currently in Indiana. The Vermont National Guard says that 90 to 95 soldiers will arrive back in Vermont on Thursday. The guard has not said when the other 1,400 or so will be back home, but most should be here by Christmas.

The Burlington School Board has two weeks to decide whether or not it will be able to meet the state's request to cut $1.2 million from its 2011 budget. This is part of a larger $23 million education cut state wide as part of Challenges for Change. However, the Burlington School Board fears the cuts will eliminate programs such as AP classes, arts, music, and sports.

State records show Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo outspent millionaire Republican Carl Paladino by nearly 3-to-1 in the race for governor in New York. Cuomo spent more than $8 million in the last two weeks of the campaign alone. That's twice as much as the millionaire Buffalo developer.