WVTK Local & State News December 16, 2010

A new business debuted in Vergennes, which many are calling a first. The Ferrisburgh Solar Farm held a "Sunrise on Solar" party yesterday afternoon at Vergennes Union High School. The farm has actually been in operation for two weeks, and the one-megawatt project is considered the state's largest solar field.

The Kennedy Brothers Marketplace in Vergennes has been home to the family business since the 1940s, but soon that era will come to an end. The store and the building are now up for sale. The marketplace is home to seven other stores that will remain open. But the 9 employees at Kennedy Brothers will be out of work. Storeowners say they have not yet set a closing date, but that time is quickly approaching.

The Killington Select Board will have to find savings in 2012 after agreeing to abolish a $71,000 tax agreement with Killington Resort. Since 1966, the resort has paid the town one-third percent of all gross receipts produced from ticket sales, shops and restaurants each year to ease the burden of ski resort growth and its impact on roads and the overall community infrastructure.

A charter change proposal headed for the March ballot will lengthen the time Rutland police officers and firefighters can be suspended without pay. A charter provision prevents employees from being suspended without pay for more than two weeks. The proposed change would let the police chief suspend an officer for up to six weeks and the fire chief suspend a firefighter for up to four weeks.

The Coalition for a Tobacco Free Vermont wants to cash in on tobacco sales with a proposed $1 per pack tax increase on cigarettes to help fund the ever-diminishing Tobacco Trust Fund. 

If it were to become law the tax would raise an estimated $10.2 million dollars for state coffers.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders says he's disappointed he failed in his one last effort to get fellow senators to agree to let the Bush-era tax cuts expire for the wealthiest 2% of Americans. Sanders' amendment failed Wednesday before the Senate passed a compromise measure including an extension of the tax cuts for all income levels and a renewal of jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed.

Governor-elect Peter Shumlin has picked the executive director of Smart Growth Vermont to be the state's commissioner of the Department of Economic, Housing and Community Affairs. Noelle Mackay was appointed yesterday; Jennifer Hollar was picked as deputy commissioner. Shumlin says the mission is to support economic development, while preserving Vermont's heritage, promoting vibrant communities, and creating affordable housing.

Vermont's largest health care provider and the hospital that serves central Vermont are hoping to join forces. The trustees of Burlington's Fletcher Allen Health Care have voted to join with the Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin. Central Vermont trustees approved the proposal last week. If approved by regulators, the new parent organization will be called "Fletcher Allen Partners". But facilities connected to each organization would retain their current names.

An electronics store in South Burlington can't catch a break. Police say Small Dog Electronics on Dorset Street was burglarized just after 6 AM yesterday. An unknown number of Apple iPads were stolen. This store was burglarized last week and on Monday, Small Dog's store in Waitsfield was hit too. If anyone has information, please call the South Burlington Police Department.

There's no doubt that painful pump prices are back. Gas prices in Vermont have jumped $0.46 since September. Now the average cost for a gallon of regular is $3.13, the highest price since July of 2008, when a gallon cost $4.09. Home heating oil is $0.38 more per gallon than last year and diesel fuel is up $0.18 since last month.

Officials in the town that hosts the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant are looking for a way to generate tax income if the plant closes in March 2012 as is currently scheduled. The town would like to explore the possibility of taxing the used nuclear fuel, stored in dry casks that could be on the property for up to 100 years.

The school board in Vermont's largest city has said "no" to a state suggestion that it cut its budget next year by $1.2 million. Instead of agreeing to the cut suggested by the state austerity measure known as Challenges for Change, the Burlington school board approved a proposed budget for next year that included a 2.8 percent budget increase.

Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell says the state will receive $425,000 as part of a multistate settlement with Dannon Co. Inc. over its marketing claims about its Activia and DanActive products. Vermont joins 38 other states involved in the settlement in which Dannon will pay $21 million nationwide. The company had claimed that DanActive dairy drink helped people avoid colds or the flu and that Activia yogurt helps relieve digestive irregularity. But the Federal Trade Commission says there is not enough evidence to back those claims.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer says a little-used tuition tax break that was due to expire this month has been renewed for middle class families nationwide. It will provide up to $2,500 a year in tuition relief. The measure takes $1 off a taxpayer’s federal bill for every $1 spent on college tuition. Just 43 percent of families eligible took advantage of the break last year. But families who didn't seek the break can still amend their old tax returns dating back three years to claim the credit.

The Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce December After Business Mixer will be held the evening at the Hancock House located next to the Liberty Monument. The Hancock House is home to the Ticonderoga Historical Society. The event is from 5:30 – 7 PM. Sponsors providing door prizes will be Glens Falls National Bank and The Wagon Wheel Restaurant.

Gormly’s Christmas Trees in North Chittenden began selling Christmas trees 23 years ago. On Sunday it closed for its final season. 

Bill Gormly and his wife, Jackie, began selling Scotch pine trees in 1987 as a way to help finance tuition for their three children. The business grew from 1,000 pine trees to more than 12,000 trees. On Sunday, they closed with about 23 trees left.