WVTK Local & State News January 24, 2011

Power has been restored to roughly 2,385 households in Addison County who were without power on this freezing morning. Nearly all the outages were Central Vermont Public Service customers in the Leicester area. CVPS officials say there was a line break outside the Leicester substation at around 4:30 this morning. The cause hasn't been determined but officials speculate the weather may have played a role.

There will be a Lake Champlain Bridge opening-ceremony planning meeting in Crown Point, NY this evening at 6PM at the Crown Point Historic Site Museum. The LCB Community will hold a public meeting to encourage area residents, business owners, and other stakeholders to become involved in the celebration planning by serving on a committee, volunteering time or offering ideas for the organization of a two day event celebrating the opening of the new bridge. The tentative opening target date is October 8th.

Students at Middlebury College will soon be choosing where they want to live on campus next year and who they want to room with. Unlike years before, the college is now offering all-gender housing for all upperclassmen. Last year, the college's Community Council unanimously approved a proposal allowing all students the opportunity to live in a two-person room with a person of the opposite sex. The college’s Student Government Association also unanimously supported the proposal, titled the Rooming Choice Act, last spring.

Police seized 186 marijuana plants and more than a pound of processed marijuana at a home off Hunt Road in New Haven Saturday. Sate police along with officers from departments in Vergennes and Bristol, and Vermont Fish and Wildlife wardens surrounded the house during the execution of a search warrant. The owners of the home were arrested and cited to appear in court in March on a felony charge of cultivation of marijuana as well as other charges.

Rutland Police ordered residents out of two homes on North Main Street after suspected explosives were found Friday night inside a home on North Main St. When police arrived they heard what they believe was a gunshot from inside the home. They found the home’s owner Carl Haas, Jr. dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police also found four hand grenades, which were later found to contain no explosives.

Kelly Clark made sure at least one Vermonter took top honors at the extreme skiing and snowboard competitions at Killington resort this weekend. The 27-year-old snowboarder from West Dover finished an impressive two days of competition with a final run that set a record for the Winter Dew Tour, which brought more than 100 of the best snowboarders and skiers in the world to Vermont for the four-day competitions.

The Vermont Health Department says the flu is on the rise this winter and it describes its presence across the state as widespread. The Health Department said the three strains of the flu that have been detected across the country this season have been found in Vermont. Officials are urging all Vermonters 6 months of age and older to be vaccinated. There is plenty of vaccine available and a single dose of vaccine will protect against the three forms of the flu.

Just as Republicans in Washington are trying to repeal a federal step toward universal health care, Vermont appears headed in the opposite direction. The Vermont Employers Health Alliance, which represents Vermont businesses in health care debates, says the state would need 14 federal waivers to move toward a single, government-backed insurer providing coverage to every resident.

There's another water well at Vermont Yankee testing positive for radioactive tritium. Plant officials are examining several drain lines trying to track down the source of the leak. Health officials say the level of tritium in the water isn't posing any danger, but they are watching it because it apparently has been going up since December. Vermont Yankee will continue testing the well on a daily basis, and the state health department will also independently monitor the levels.

Vermont's largest municipal electric utility is installing LED streetlights in a residential area for the first time, and saving 74% of the energy used by traditional streetlights. The Burlington Electric Department already had been using LED streetlights in downtown commercial areas, but now will do so on Shore Road along Lake Champlain and neighboring streets.

Up to 40 Vermont gardens will be able to use $1,000 mini-grants this spring to expand school community gardens in the state. The deadline for applying for the grants is March 15. The awards will be made by April 12. The goal of the program is to establish a statewide, school-based gardening initiative that teaches Vermont children and youths how to grow fresh produce. Groups applying for the grants must be affiliated with a public school or public-private academy, and be located on land owned by a town, city, school district, or tax exempt organization.

The state Treasurer’s Office is again co-sponsoring the annual statewide financial literacy poster contest for youth. The theme for the 2011 Be Money Wise Financial Literacy Poster Competition is “Be a Superhero! Save Money!” The contest features three grade categories. Each category winner receives a $100 U.S. savings bond and their school receives a $100 cash award in recognition of their support of financial literacy. The deadline for submissions to the Treasurer’s Office is February 14. Winners will be recognized at a State House ceremony on April 14.

The Shumlin administration is expected to rescind a proposal to allow all terrain vehicles limited access to state-owned land. The proposal from former Governor Jim Douglas to give ATVs more leeway ran into heated opposition from environmentalists. But a group of ATV owners is still pressing its case.

The Champlain Valley Fair may be more than eight months away, but it has already released its concert schedule. Lady Antebellum tickets are for sale. The country group has been named the CMA vocal group of the year. Thousands of tickets have already been sold. The concert is scheduled for September 3, 2011 at the grandstand.

Burton Snowboards has opened its new research and development facility, named after the late snowboard icon Craig Kelly. The 10,000-square-foot facility, known as Craig’s, is equipped with high-end, custom-built machinery. It is dedicated to R&D and will only build a handful of experimental snowboards a day. At Craig’s, Burton engineers can experiment with new ideas and feedback from pro riders, engineers, dealers and customers.

A committee of the Vermont Legislature is experimenting with tablet computers that could be the first step toward a paperless Statehouse. The 11-members of the House Government Operations Committee have been given Apple iPads, which allows them to download information, access the Internet and take notes. In the place of a white board on the wall of the committee room is a flat video screen.

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont says it's expecting more than 1,500 organic farmers, gardeners and consumers at its winter conference. The group's annual winter gathering takes place Feb. 12-14 at the University of Vermont in Burlington. The conference features more than 70 workshops on a variety of topics, two keynote speakers, an intensive workshop for commercial growers, an exhibitors fair, a Saturday night social and networking opportunities.

A southern Vermont police department is warning people about an online vacation rental scam. Police in Wilmington say they are investigating four or five cases in which people arrived in town expecting to spend time at a vacation home they rented on Craigslist only to find the house they thought they were renting didn't exist. Wilmington is near the Mount Snow ski area. A detective is working on the cases, but suspects in such cases are rarely caught. State officials say online renters should consult the local town clerk to see if rental property exists.

New York is considering what could be the first ban in the nation on electronic cigarettes. The plastic devices called "e-cigarettes" carry no warning labels and are heavily advertised on the Internet. Manufacturers say the devices are safe and emit only vapor. They say the products can help people quit smoking. Public health organizations say e-cigarettes should be regulated like nicotine gum or patches and warn they contain dangerous chemicals.

Casella Waste Systems announced today that it is selling recycling assets located outside of its core market area to Pegasus Capita Advisors LLC and Intersection LLC for $130.4 million. Casella also announced that it has begun a cash tender offer for its 9.75 percent senior subordinated notes due 2013.

Vermont Law School has chosen Amy Goodman, the host and executive producer of the radio and TV program Democracy Now!, to be the commencement speaker at its 36th graduation ceremony on May 21. Goodman is the first journalist to receive the Right Livelihood Award, which the law school says is known as the "alternative Nobel Prize."

Generous federal tax benefits and high prices for breeding stock have helped boost the alpaca industry in the United States. Breeders now hope to build up the herd and quality of fiber enough to support commercial mills in this country. A 2010 extension of the law lets ranchers write off the entire cost of buying their breeding alpacas in the same year.