WVTK Local & State News December 19, 2011

The Town of Middlebury will hold a special Select Board Meeting tomorrow evening at 7 in Town Offices Conference Room. Items on the agenda include Chili-Fest coming up in March, a report on incorporating Bike-Friendly Elements to Public Works Projects that includes a follow-up to Presentation to the Downtown Improvement District by Andrew Gardner. There will be an FY13 Budget discussion, deliberation & decision on the budget amount to be warned for public hearing on January 17th as required by Town Charter. More information is always available at Town Of Middlebury's website.

Last night CBS aired the finale of this season's reality series, Survivor. 22-year-old Sophie Clarke of Willsboro, NY won the million dollars and title of sole survivor. The Middlebury College graduate said she studied survival guides for weeks beforehand. The final immunity challenge came down to just her and veteran player OZZY. The win is determined by a jury vote and competitors chose Sophie as the winner.

The cost of the new Lake Champlain Bridge is running 8-9% over budget. Public records requested by the Burlington Free Press of New York, Vermont and federal agencies show that what started as a $69.6 million construction bid has become $75 million and is likely to reach $76 million. The newspaper says that much of the added cost is due to completing the bridge on an accelerated schedule. It also cites a report showing that cost overruns on transportation projects are not unusual. The new bridge carries an estimated average of 3,000 cars a day.

Fewer than 200 students are attending Proctor Junior - Senior High School this year. About 50 years ago that number was 500 or more. The school and town are living the effects of the absence of industry. And now the school is up for debate. On Saturday, community members, parents and high school staff had a talk on how to keep the school open and affordable and how to keep the community together. Across the state, other school districts face a similar challenge as enrollments dwindle. Saturday’s audience considered things like partnering with other schools, creating a magnet high school and consolidating or merging Proctor with other school unions or districts.

Rutland City Aldermen trimmed roughly $700,000 from the proposed budget at the end of last week. Mayor Christopher Louras came to the board with an $18.3 million budget, an increase of 5.4 percent over last year. By the end of the meeting late Thursday night, the final number was an increase of 1.3 percent from last year. The budget now goes before city voters on Town Meting Day.

The results of an income survey in Proctor promises to save more than $1 million in payments on a 30-year water bond. The $6.1 million bond, passed by voters in 2010 for improvements to the town water system, originally qualified for an interest rate of 0.2 percent under the state’s Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund. Now the estimated rate is -1.9 percent due to the results of a survey that indicated the median household income in town was lower than state estimates.

Vermont’s congressional delegation announced that Vermont would receive $19.5 million in Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding for Fiscal Year 2012. The funding level is less than the $26 million Vermont received in FY2011 but more than the $11 million proposed by President Obama. LIHEAP funding is included in a FY2012 omnibus appropriations bill, which passed the House Friday afternoon and was scheduled to be voted on in the Senate over the weekend.

The childhood poverty rate for Essex County is 19.3 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s an increase from 17.1 percent five years ago. In Ticonderoga 21.4 percent of people age 17 and younger live in poverty. In Crown Point it’s 20.9 percent, Moriah 17.4 percent and Schroon 8.2 percent. Overall, 13 percent of Essex County residents live in poverty, according to the government. Essex County is near the national average, 19.8 percent in childhood poverty. The county is slightly better than the state average of 20 percent. All of those numbers have increased in the past five years.

Glens Falls National Bank & Trust Co. has received a Superior 5-Star rating from BauerFinancial Inc., a rating it has earned for the last 19 consecutive quarters. Glens Falls National was established in 1851 and has been providing financial services to its local communities for 160 years. It currently operates through 29 offices in five counties in Upstate New York.

Rep. Bill Owens has joined the New York Farm Bureau in praising new, common-sense guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that affect nutrient and waste management in the agriculture community. The original guideline created by the Natural Resource Conservation Service for Nutrient Application Timing and Placement did so without taking into account the already satisfactory rules and performance related to nutrient management in New York. Most troubling in the original guidelines was a section that almost banned manure spreading during the winter months.

A panel of Vermont lawmakers that's been reviewing the state's public records law plans to take up several more exemptions to disclosure this week. The Public Records Legislative Study Committee will meet today and start reviewing whether materials related to academic research or creative efforts at the University of Vermont and state colleges should be exempt from public disclosure.

The likely death of a planned nuclear waste site at Nevada's Yucca Mountain has left federal agencies looking for a possible replacement. Now, a national lab working for the U.S. Department of Energy is eying granite deposits stretching from Georgia to Maine as potential sites, along with big sections of Minnesota and Wisconsin where granite is prevalent. Andrew Orrell, who headed up a site study for the Sandia National Lab in New Mexico, says it would be premature for anyone to worry about his or her neighborhood becoming a potential high-level waste site.

The Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity at the University of Vermont is no more. The Fraternity’s executive director Brian Warren announced the decision to shut down the UVM chapter immediately. The move comes after a week of headlines about a survey tied to the fraternity that asked students a controversial question regarding rape. In a statement Warren said, "Without suggesting that every member had knowledge of this questionnaire, the questions asked in the document are deplorable and absolutely inconsistent with our values." The University's own investigation will continue.

South Burlington police are reminding motorists to lock their cars after a sudden increase in thefts from cars in the city. Police are asking community members to be vigilant and report suspicious activity. Police say it's also helpful if motorists remove valuables and lock their vehicles. They say few of the thefts from cars involved forced entry.

Starting this spring, Delta will offer daily flights to New York's LaGuardia airport from Burlington. Delta currently does not serve Vermont, but starting in late March, the major air carrier will offer three flights a day to LaGuardia and three flights back. Those flights on regional jets are set to begin in late March. US Air is currently the only other airline offering flights to LaGuardia.

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department wants to hear from young hunters. The department is seeking entries into the 2011 Young Hunting Memories Contest. The hunters are asked to submit an essay or artwork about their time out on a hunt. Essays should describe why hunting is important to the writer as well as tell a story about a hunting experience. The winners in three age categories will get special prizes from the department and Beagle Outdoor Wear. Winners will be announced on January 21st at the Yankee Classic Sportsman's Show in Essex Junction. The deadline for submissions is December 31st.

MTV threw a big party for high school students at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex Junction on Saturday. Essex beat out hundreds of other schools as part of the "MTV/Above the Influence Unwasted Weekend" challenge. The event was more than teaching kids they can have fun without drugs or alcohol. The Essex students decided money raised from ticket sales would help kids with special needs play sports. The event has already raised more than $2,000 for the Essex High School Unified Sports Team. That will help the students participate in the Summer Special Olympics Games.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Visitors Center & Café in Waterbury re-opened Saturday. The shop's basement was flooded destroying inventory and the heating and cooling system. Café employees say although it was a lot of hard work it was worth the effort. The café also did some remodeling, with more seating space for customers. The restaurant was also able to bring back all of its employees.