WVTK Local & State News March 6, 2012

Voters are headed to the polls and attending Town Meetings all across Vermont today. Polls here in Middlebury are open from 7AM – 7PM today at the Municipal Auditorium-Gymnasium. In addition to Presidential Primary voting, residents will also be voting on local Articles Nine through Eleven as provided by the Middlebury Town Charter. Article Ten is the Bond Vote for the proposed expansion of the Middlebury Fire Station and replacement of the East Middlebury Station.

With only weeks remaining in the 2011-2012 United Way of Addison County campaign, the organization has received a Challenge Grant of $8,500 from a few anonymous donors who have agreed to match any additional donations to the United Way dollar for dollar between now and March 31st. This year more than ever community support is needed as continuing economic issues and the outpouring of support for victims of Tropical Storm Irene had an impact on the local campaign. Anyone who would like to participate in this Challenge Grant should contact the United Way office at 388-7189, mail a donation to PO Box 555, Middlebury, VT 05753 or make your gift online at www.UnitedWayAddisonCounty.org.

Vermont State Police in New Haven have received a vandalism complaint from Hardscrabble Road in Bristol. Reportedly, at approximately 1:30 yesterday afternoon a white Subaru operated by a young female had gone off Hardscrabble Road and damaged property on 3 resident's lawns. This subject then left the scene without notifying the residents or leaving her name and contact information for them. Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the State Police in New Haven. (802-388-4919)

A disoriented driver smashed into a utility pole in Addison yesterday. Emergency crews says they man was heading south on Route 22A when he ran into the pole, that now needs to be replaced. It is not clear what caused the driver to go off the road, but firefighters say the man appeared disoriented, like he had been sleeping. The driver was taken to the hospital for observation.

The Rutland Fire Chief announced yesterday morning that the boil water order for Rutland has been lifted. According to a press release, “water quality tests performed after the water leak experienced March 3 showed no evidence of contamination.” The Chief said that residents could freely drink or use their water. A connection to a fire hydrant has been identified as the broken pipe that caused the leak. The break spilled half a million gallons of water, causing a drop in water pressure around the city Saturday night. While city officials had earlier attributed the break to a century-old 12-inch main, the Department of Public Works found it was actually an 8- or 10-inch pipe connecting that line to a hydrant at the corner of Wales and Center streets.

The Moriah Central School Board will hold a meeting to work on the budget at 6PM tomorrow in the High School library. Budgets presented at the session include those for the high school; elementary school; special education; buildings, grounds and transportation; central administration; and athletics. The public is welcome to attend.

Excessive overtime at Essex County Jail could be reined in with a new correction-officer scheduling system just approved by the Board of Supervisors. The program from VCS Software would cost $15,600 but could alleviate some of the $50,000-a-month drain on county coffers from overtime at the jail. Sheriff Richard Cutting said there's a trial period for the program, at a cost of $630 a month for three months as a test period.

Essex County, New York is looking to secure funding to complete a nine million dollar replacement of its current emergency radio system. Right now most of the communication system is considered outdated. During Tropical Storm Irene many first responders could not communicate with each other. This week a number of representatives from Essex County are attending the National Association of Counties in Washington. They are meeting with federal officials to lobby for funding. The overhaul of the radio system is expected to cost nine million dollars, but so far the county only has about two million to spend on it.

More than 50 Vermont communities are going to be using their annual Town Meeting Day to push for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution declaring that corporations are not people. States and communities across the country have considered or are considering similar calls. The goal is to overturn the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision. Critics say it poisoned the electoral process by unleashing unlimited and unregulated volumes of money into the electoral cycle. Two Vermont communities that held their meetings over the weekend approved the idea by overwhelming votes.

As many as 15,000 Vermonters are expected to fill out Senator Bill Doyle's Town Meeting Day survey this year. The 2012 survey marks the 44th consecutive year that Doyle has solicited the opinions of voters on a variety of issues facing the state. Doyle originally started the survey in 1969 to gauge his constituents' opinion on Governor Deane Davis's plan to implement a state sales tax in Vermont. One of the questions Doyle is asking this year is whether Vermont's bottle deposit law should be expanded to include all bottled beverages. Last year, 79 percent of people responding to the survey said yes. Doyle's 2012 survey also includes questions about the future of Vermont Yankee and approval ratings for Governor Peter Shumlin and the Legislature.

In more than half of Vermont's cities and towns today’s Town Meeting Day ballots will be counted by hand. The state has the technology to change that, but many towns are not making the switch. Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos is hoping the use of electronic tabulators will spread and has roughly 14-million dollars in federal money to cover the tab for communities that want to get on board. Condos says the machine can cut down the final count from hours to just minutes and calls the technology, that's been around for years, "very accurate." The Vermont Legislature is considering a plan to require communities of more than 1-thousand to use the tabulating machines to determine their final counts.

Acting Essex Police Chief Brad LaRose is now the official chief of the city. The announcement came Monday night at the annual Essex town meeting, with the audience of 200 giving LaRose a standing ovation. When the former chief retired last year LaRose was given the job of acting chief until a permanent one could be named. Apparently, town leaders didn't need to look very far, although 40 people applied for the job.

Manchester Vermont voters say they are opposed to smart meters. At their Town Meeting Saturday they held a non-binding vote asking if the town should oppose smart meters. Voters said yes by a 2-to-1 margin. The wireless technology is designed to help manage electricity use, making real time data available to users and utilities. But some believe the systems are an invasion of privacy and emit harmful radiation.

Senator Bernie Sanders and like-minded members of Congress once again are calling for a crackdown speculation in crude oil markets. The Vermont independent is 1 of 23 senators and 45 House members to sign a letter calling on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to curb speculation as gasoline prices at the pump near $4 per gallon.

The state of Vermont is getting about $3.4 million in federal funds to help support Head Start education programs in Barre and Burlington. The Central Vermont Community Action Agency in Barre has been awarded $1.8 million, and the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity of Burlington has received $1.5 million.

Students around the area celebrated the birthday of children’s book author Dr. Seuss. Most schools marked March 2nd as the date for National Read Across America Day, an initiative on reading created by the National Education Association. Seuss published 46 children's books. At the Neshobe Elementary School in Brandon, school librarian Chris Naylor focused a library bookshelf display of Seuss books and a life-size, stand-up Cat in the Hat model. First graders in teacher Beth Greeno’s class had a breakfast of green eggs and ham—colored green with organic food dye—and discussed their favorite books including a visit to the official Dr. Seuss website. Some schools will be celebrating Dr. Seuss’ birthday this week. Younger students at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Middlebury plan a green eggs and ham breakfast in their pajamas tomorrow.

The Carillon Garden Club will start its new club year on Thursday, March 15th, with a regular business meeting at the Hague Community Center on Route 8 in Hague at 10AM. The Carillon Garden Club was founded in 1974 and now has 49 members. The objectives of the club are to promote interest in gardening, aid in the protection and conservation of natural resources, protect civic beauty, and to study and advance the fine arts of gardening, landscape design, floral design and horticulture. New members are encouraged to join and share in the projects, the informative meetings and fellowship with other gardeners.

The Ticonderoga Festival Guild will mark a milestone this summer as its Arts Trek program celebrates its 30th anniversary. Arts Trek is the series of free children’s programs held each summer by the guild. Arts Trek has become the centerpiece of the Ticonderoga Festival Guild, which was formed in 1980 to present performing arts in the Ticonderoga area. The guild is now in the midst of its spring fund raising campaign. Letters were recently sent to members and community leaders announcing the summer programs and inviting memberships for the coming year. Arts Trek will open with a birthday party on Tuesday July 3rd at 10:15AM at the Knights of Columbus pavilion.