WVTK Local & State News July 14, 2011

Each evening through Saturday, Route 7, North Pleasant Street, will be closed from the Middlebury Inn to Elm Street from 10:00 PM to 10:00 AM. This is necessary as part of the Stewart Lane Infrastructure Project. All traffic will be diverted onto Seymore, Exchange Streets and back to Route 7. Local traffic only will be permitted on Elm Street.

This week members of the group "Lake Champlain Bridge Community" met with Vermont and New York transportation staff. They were told it could still be weeks before the opening date of the bridge is more concrete. But plans are moving forward for a big celebration the weekend after the expected opening. The group is planning a two-day celebration on October 15th and 16th. They hope to raise $50,000 to help pay for the celebration which will include parades, fireworks and music. Learn how you can get involved right now by visiting champlainbridgecommunity.org.

A fire at a farm in West Addison destroyed a silo and part of a barn yesterday. Five fire departments were called to the Reed farm on Route 17. When they arrived, the structure was fully engulfed. No animals were hurt, but a hay baler was destroyed. The Addison Fire Chief credited a quick response to saving most of the barn. Route 17 was briefly closed while firefighters battled the fire.

The Vermont State Police in New Haven along with the Vergennes Police Department will be conducting DUI sobriety checkpoints during the week of July 18th. The operation will take place at an undisclosed location in Addison County as the police agencies continue their commitment to getting impaired drivers off our roadways.

Due to an increase in the state education tax rate, residents in West Rutland will be paying about 3 cents more in taxes after the Select Board approved the new tax rate earlier this week. The Town Manager said the board unanimously approved the tax rate without much discussion. The increase in the approved tax rate was not something the town had any control over.

The two sides of Rutland’s recreation debate sat down to talk Tuesday. Recreation Committee Chairman Thomas DePoy is holding a series of meetings on the future of recreation in the city following the defeat of a $3.9 million bond for a new recreation center and the closure of the existing one. He wants to hear from the people who voted against the bond. More public meetings will be scheduled in the future.

The driver of a tractor-trailer truck that overturned on Route 125 near West Road on Monday afternoon walked away with just minor cuts and bruises, according to state police. He was driving east on the highway just after 3PM when he lost control on a curve and slid off the road. The road was closed for about 30 minutes. Police said the crash remains under investigation.

State Police on Monday arrested a man who allegedly beat his roommate after pursuing him from Leicester to Salisbury. Police charged Craig B. Lonergan of Leicester with criminal counts of domestic assault, unlawful mischief and disorderly conduct by telephone for alleged conduct stemming from an incident that police say started with an argument between Lonergan and his roommate. Lonergan was arrested and jailed at the Addison Sheriff’s Department.

Federal authorities in Vermont say a former bookkeeper at the Proctor Junior-Senior High School has been sentenced to 14 months in prison for financial crimes. The U.S. attorney's office said yesterday that Deborah Clough's sentence on charges of theft from an organization receiving federal funding and filing false tax returns also calls for two years of supervised release following her prison term. Authorities say Clough stole about $106,000 from a student activities fund during a 2-year period beginning in 2007. The tax charge stemmed from not paying money on that income.

New York State Police are canceling an Amber Alert issued Wednesday morning. Police say Matthew Slocum is now in custody. It all started early Wednesday morning after police said a child was abducted from White Creek, New York. Police said Slocum was armed and took his 4-month-old son and the baby's mother against their will. Slocum was wanted for questioning after a house fire killed his mother, her husband, and his son. His car was found in Gilsum, New Hampshire.

A Westport man will serve six months in jail and 10 years of probation for repeatedly molesting two girls. Earl Welch was arrested in August 2009 after the girls, who are now in their teens, came forward about the abuse. Welch was arrested on several charges for the crime and pleaded guilty in May to attempted second-degree rape and first-degree sexual abuse. Welch must also now register as a sex offender, pay fees and submit a DNA sample for the state databank.

The Vermont Student Assistance Corp. will be able to retain outreach counselors who help about 5,000 low-income Vermonters get into college each year via a federal grant renewed last week. VSAC’s federal Talent Search grant, set to expire in 2012, will be renewed for five more years. VSAC will contribute about $400,000 to the same endeavor, which employs counselors who offer pre-college support, education and information to middle and high school students.

Vermont National Guard officials say firefighters had to be called out after a leak was found in a propane tank at a training site in Jericho. A spokesman for the Guard says area fire crews went to the Ethan Allen firing range about 10:30 yesterday morning. About 100 gallons of liquid propane leaked when a valve failed as contractors were in the process of transferring propane from a 1,000-gallon tank to a bulk storage truck.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it wants to hear from Vermonters about plans to improve the cleanup of a Superfund site in Burlington. From now through August 15th, the EPA wants input on recommended changes to an underwater cap built around the Pine Street Canal site to stem contamination from reaching Lake Champlain.

Vermont's transportation secretary says the state is suspending work on an $8 million reconstruction of Route 2 in Danville amid complaints about long traffic delays. Effective today, work will stop on the project until state Agency of Transportation planners can figure out a better way to complete it. The project entails reconstruction of the road and the village green and relocation of underground utilities.

A Vermont town is planning work on its 141-year-old covered bridge. Select-board members in the town of Guildford voted this week to hire the engineering firm of Hoyle, Tanner & Associates for rehabilitation work on the Green River covered bridge. The town hopes to have the construction work done in 2012.

Companies working with Green Mountain Power on its Kingdom Community Wind project are looking to hire workers to help with construction. Green Mountain Power, which plans to build 21 wind power turbines in Lowell starting later this summer, says its general contractor, Reed & Reed is hiring, along with three Vermont subcontractors. Those include J.A. McDonald of Lyndon Center, which is doing site preparation and roadwork and needs equipment operators and laborers. Bates & Murray Electrical Contractors of Barre is hiring people to help with underground electrical work, and the Barre office of Maine Drilling and Blasting also is hiring.

The Fair Haven Farmers Market and the Fair Haven Historical Society have teamed up to host the third annual Fair Haven Local History Day. The event, starting at 10AM on July 24 at the Fair Haven Park, will feature local farmers offering a variety of fruits, vegetables, meats, jams and more, as well as local craft-makers. The historical society will host several historical displays highlighting the history of the region and town as well as offer tours of the Marble Mansion.

The Champlain Valley Folk Festival will be returning to the Burlington Waterfront for a second straight year. The annual festival celebrates traditional folk music, dance and culture. This is its 28th year. The event was moved from its longtime home at Kingsland Bay State Park in Ferrisburgh to the Burlington Waterfront in 2010. The festival runs from July 29-31.