WVTK Local & State News February 24, 2012

Vermont State Police are currently investigating the theft of approximately $950 of scrap copper from a work site at the Lincoln Elementary School. The school has been undergoing a renovation project and that scrap copper was being stored unsecured on the school property. The copper was stolen on Saturday Morning February 18th but was not reported to authorities until yesterday. The school was going to use the proceeds from the scrap copper from renovations being done to fund new computer chairs for the computer lab or other needed school items for the school children. Anyone with information is asked to contact VSP New Haven. (802-388-4919)

Here’s yet another indicator that the ice is not safe: A family of eight had to be rescued from Lake Champlain yesterday. Authorities say five adults and three children had been ice fishing 700 feet offshore near Crown Point for most of the day. When the family was set to leave they noticed a 15-foot channel of water separated the ice. They called for help with a cellphone. Emergency crews spent the next hour bringing the family to safety using a ladder to make a bridge over the water. Authorities warn people to stay off the ice.

The next opportunity for you to meet with your Addison County legislators takes place on Monday at the Firehouse in Orwell with a Legislative Breakfast. The Breakfast is at 7AM and the program begins at 7:30. Purchase of breakfast is not required to attend but helps the hosts to defray the cost of opening their facility. Get more information right now at Addison County Dot Com.

The Rutland man whose wheelchair was severely damaged during a hit-and-run accident got a new wheelchair yesterday. Robert Campbell was injured in the crash Tuesday and his wife, Deborah, was fatally injured. Yankee Medical sold Robert Campbell his first wheelchair when his cerebral palsy left him unable to walk two years ago. Thursday, the company donated a brand new one to him. It's the same make and model as his old one. Campbell's family members said they would not have been able to afford the $1,100 price tag. Meanwhile Police say they're following up on several leads but have still not identified the car or the driver involved in the deadly crash.

Candidates for the two contested races on the town of Brandon’s ballot this year will participate in a candidates forum starting at 7:30PM on March 1st at the Brandon Senior Citizens Center. The candidates include Select Board incumbent Kellie Martin who is being challenged by David Atherton for a three-year seat, while Maria Ammatuna is challenging Lou Faivre for a Listers seat. The candidates will have an opportunity to introduce themselves and answer questions from the public. The candidates’ forum is sponsored by the Brandon Area Chamber of Commerce and will be moderated by Charlie Jakiela. For more information, contact the chamber. (247-6401)

Pittsford residents hooked up to the soon-to-be-abandoned Proctor water system were presented yesterday with a group rate option for new wells. Residents were informed they were going to be disconnected from Proctor’s 150-year-old water system in July 2010. The cut-off deadline is December 1st. Currently, there is a court litigation between Proctor and the Pittsford residents in which Proctor has agreed to pay $250,000 that will be divided among the residents in an answer to court documents.

Mike Christian, owner of Village Sugarworks in Orwell has recently demonstrated his unique culinary talents while appearing as a guest in Vermont Public Television’s studio kitchen. Christian appears with host Sean Buchanan and other Vermont syrup makers. The show, “VPT Cooks: Maple Madness”, featuring Mike will be broadcast Saturday, March 3rd, from 2 to 4 p.m. The program will also be webcast on vpt.org. Buchanan and his guests demonstrate favorite recipes featuring Vermont’s signature flavor. Christian prepared his special Vermont maple ground beef stew recipe.

The chief financial officer and senior vice president at Central Vermont Public Service Corp. will be leaving the company to take another industry job. Pamela Keefe will leave CVPS on March 30th to become CFO of the Electric Power Research Institute. Keefe said she began exploring potential opportunities to remain with the company once the merger of CVPS and Green Mountain Power Corp. is completed but the EPRI position was too good to pass up. She joined CVPS as CFO in June 2006.

The Lake George Land Conservancy is offering the first of what will be annual scholarship awards totaling $1,000 given to high school seniors and the winning student’s school science program. Eligibility is restricted to high school seniors, including home-school students, whose school district lies mostly within the Lake George watershed, which includes Bolton, Lake George and Ticonderoga central school districts. One $500 first-place and one $250 second-place prize will be awarded and an additional $250 will be awarded to the first-place student’s school science program. For more information just visit www.lglc.org.

Fort Ticonderoga has unveiled a new program specifically designed for visiting Cub Scout and Boy Scout groups during the 2012 season. “Planting the Tree of Liberty: the Beginnings of the Continental Army at Fort Ticonderoga,” will allow scouts to participate in a program based on the daily routine of soldiers at the fort in the weeks following its capture from the British by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold in the spring and early summer of 1775. This program is available by advance reservation most days during the 2012 season, which runs from May 18th – October 18th, and by special arrangement other times of the year. For more information visit www.fort-ticonderoga.org.

Authorities are not yet saying just what was in a letter triggering an evacuation of Senator Patrick Leahy's office in Burlington. Hazmat crews and the bomb squad were called to the downtown office after the letter containing some sort of substance was found. The Hazmat chief eventually declared it was benign, but the FBI is now involved as well. A handful of other state offices of U.S. senators around the country received similar letters this week.

Yesterday Vermont lawmakers debated Governor Peter Shumlin's health care exchange proposal. The proposal would require the employees of all small businesses in Vermont to get health insurance through a pool of insurers created by the State called a health care exchange. Vermont House Representatives talked about whether small businesses should have the choice of whether to join the exchange or stay with outside insurers. Opinions were split. The debate will continue today when the House will vote on whether or not to send the exchange bill to the Senate.

Vermont apparently has more of something than other states: veterans with jobs. The national average of veterans who are jobless is around 12-percent, but in Vermont, that number is down to nine-percent. A job fair exclusively for vets like the one held Thursday in Essex Junction is one of the reasons why. Organizers say it's a combination of Vermont employers wanting to do the right thing, and service members re-evaluating their job prospects while serving.

A Vermont group working to create jobs is getting a big boost thanks to $35 million in federal tax credits. The credits for the group Vermont Rural Ventures were announced Thursday by the three members of Vermont's congressional delegation. Vermont Rural Ventures is a subsidiary of the Burlington-based nonprofit group Housing Vermont. President Nancy Owens says the program has meant jobs for Vermonters and opportunities for people in low-income communities. The money will support community development, manufacturing, and farm and forest businesses.

Workers at Vermont's largest postal sorting center have learned that the plant is definitely closing. A regional manager for the U.S. Postal Service read a statement and played a video address from Postmaster General Patrick Donohoe to workers at the White River Junction plant on Wednesday. It's part of a national plan to close processing plants affecting more than 100,000 jobs. The Postal Service has been struggling to survive as use of its services declines. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said senators are working a plan to stabilize the Postal Service without making cuts.

Mail currently processed in Plattsburgh will be processed in Albany. This will affect first-class mail. It currently takes one day for mail to get from one address to another within the region. Postal officials said that would change to two days. The Postal Service said closing Plattsburgh's mail processing facility, which is staffed by about 60 people, will save an estimated $3 million per year.

Canada's consul general to New England says his home country will continue extracting oil from tar sands in Alberta, and that it is beginning to do so in a more environmentally friendly way. Patrick Binns told Vermont lawmakers yesterday that the amount of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide resulting from tar sands oil extraction had declined by 29% in recent years. Binns stopped in Montpelier for a general talk to House and Senate members about what he called strong cooperation between Canada and the United States on trade, security, environmental protection and other issues.

Some major changes are coming to Vermont's largest newspaper. The Burlington Free Press says it will begin charging a subscription for both its print edition and its online site. And the Free Press says it will stop printing its large edition, known as a broadsheet, and go, instead to a smaller tabloid size. The Free Press currently allows free access to all of its stories, photos and other features online. But it says it will require a subscription when it moves to the new size of the printed newspaper, which is expected in June. The newspaper also says it will concentrate breaking news on its Web site and will use the print edition for in-depth, narrative reporting.

The Chittenden County Transportation Authority has hired a new General Manager. Bill Watterson will be joining CCTA on March 5th. Watterson comes to Vermont from Virginia, where he is currently the Transit Manager for Charlottesville Area Transit. Watterson says his to-do list includes finding a suitable location for a bus station in downtown Burlington and deal with affordability issues in the face of rising gas prices.