Pocock Rocks!
Bristol’s annual Music Festival and Street Fair is coming up this
Saturday! This year’s festivities
take place rain or shine from 11 – 4. Rockin' music and entertainment will be
filling the downtown as beer and wine tents share tastings and bottles from
various local breweries and vineyards. Premium food and craft vendors pack the
streets along with demonstrations, children's activities (including a bouncy
house), Bristol's own Farmers' Market and, of course, their incredible restaurants
and retailers! Pocock Rocks is kicking off the 250th anniversary of Bristol
celebration! Get set to join Bruce
& Hobbes and have fun at Pocock Rocks 2012! Get details right now by visiting: www.pocockrocks.com
The Town Of Middlebury will hold its regular Select
Board meeting tomorrow evening at 7 in the Town Offices Conference Room. Items on tomorrow’s agenda include a
Public Works Committee Report on the South Street & Green Mountain Place
Project and Public Works Specifications for Water Mains, a brief update in the
work of the River Task Force, a Downtown Improvement District Report that
includes a request for proposals of a Parking Study and Bike Racks. The Select Board will also discuss Resolutions
& Certificates for Bonding for the Fire Facilities and a Reimbursement
Resolution for Fire Facilities Project.
Get more information and view the complete agenda on the Select Board
Page of Middlebury’s Website.
U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Bernie Sanders and
Rep. Peter Welch announced Friday that Five Vermont airports are in line for
$1.2 million in Federal Aviation Administration funds to conduct repairs and
enhancements. The taxpayer funds
will be shared among Burlington International Airport, Middlebury State
Airport, Rutland/Southern Vermont Regional Airport, Caledonia County Airport
and William H. Morse State Airport.
In a joint statement, Leahy, Sanders and Welch said, “In a rural state
like Vermont, regional airports help connect Vermont businesses and individuals
to the world. Ensuring the reliability and safety of these regional hubs is
incredibly important to Vermont’s economy.”
Vermonters who want to talk over their
experiences during and after Tropical Storm Irene have a place to go. Starting
Over Strong Vermont, which has federal funding, is holding a meeting this week
in Rutland. The session is set for Wednesday at 4PM at the Rutland Free Library
on Court Street in Rutland.
FEMA is now doing its assessment of the damage done
by the severe storms, which swept through Vermont last week. Four counties, Lamoille, Orleans,
Addison and Windham had the most damage, especially to the roads. The Vermont Agency of Transportation
has current estimations of one-point-two million dollars in damage, a number that
is expected to grow because of all the roads and culverts washed out. The cost of repairs could make the
state eligible for federal emergency funds, according to the Director of
Vermont Emergency Management.
The amount of training election inspectors should
get and where, was debated recently by lawmakers in Essex County. At issue was a request from the County
Board of Elections to buy a $3,500 cargo trailer to haul electronic voting
machines from town to town to train election personnel. The County Board of Supervisors
recently OK’d the purchase but not before suggesting renting U-Haul trucks,
holding regional training or using a trailer from another department.
Megan Moser, Distinguished Young Woman of
Ticonderoga, participated in the Distinguished Young Woman of New York recently
and won the “Be Your Best Self” award during a statewide scholarship program
for high school senior girls held at Maryvale High School in Buffalo. Distinguished Young Women of New York
is an official state preliminary of Distinguished Young Women, a national
scholarship program that promotes and rewards scholarship, leadership and talent
in young women.
The East Shore Schroon Lake Association recently
hosted students from the West Michigan Academy of Environmental Science. The academy is a charter school in
Grand Rapids, Mich., that focuses on the environment and service. A group takes
an extended field trip every year to discover first-hand some environmental
issues of various regions. They also assist with trail maintenance, garden
work, artifact cataloging and any other task that needs doing. The Adirondack Park was the destination
this year.
Sen. Betty Little and their school administrators
honored Top Essex County High School seniors in a special ceremony on May 31st.
The Essex County School Board Association hosted the event at Willsboro Central
School, honoring 53 seniors from Ticonderoga, Elizabethtown-Lewis, Moriah,
Westport and Willsboro central schools. The event recognized students who
maintained a grade point average of 90 or above throughout their high school
careers with a metal and certificate of recognition.
Vermont police have issued an alert about a phone
scam attempting to defraud people out of their money. State police in Derby say they received several calls on
Friday from area residents who said they had gotten calls telling them they had
a family member who was sick or in jail in a foreign country and in need of
money. Police say the callers
usually hang up when asked specific questions. Officials are cautioning people to not give out personal
information or to send money.
A year after a Vermont couple disappeared from
their Essex home, the search for a resolution to their case continues.
Co-workers last saw Bill and Lorraine Currier when they left their jobs in
Burlington last June 8. Investigators later determined that their home had been
entered forcibly, and there was evidence of a possible struggle. Their car had
been stolen. It was recovered two days later at a nearby apartment complex.
Police now believe the Curriers were victims of foul play.
Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced legislation
that he says is designed to deal with a growing dental care crisis in this
country. As the chairman of the
Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health, Sanders says as many as 130 million
Americans lack any type of dental insurance. His legislation would provide dental benefits to everyone
covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and the Veterans Administration. Sanders says the plan would cost $25
billion each year and would be financed by imposing a small surcharge on large
stock transactions. He says it's
critical to address the issue before it gets worse.
A little-known policy created by Vermont's
judiciary years ago allows the state's judges to be reimbursed for their daily
commutes between home and court, minus the first 20 miles of each round trip.
The Burlington Free Press found that nearly $80,000 was paid in mileage
reimbursements to judges in 2011, up more than $15,000 from 2010. The highest
mileage payment in 2011 was $6,893 to Judge Robert Gerety of White River
Junction.
Vermont's remote Northeast Kingdom is getting a
financial boost from mountain bikers. Bikers began arriving in the northern
Vermont region in late April to ride on Kingdom Trails' 110-mile trail network
at a cost of $15 a day or $75 for a season pass. Cross-country skiers use the
trails in the winter. Kingdom Trails Executive Director Jim Tierney says the
average visitor spends about $100 a day; meaning last year's 49,000 riders
pumped about $5 million into the economy.
A panel of state lawmakers is set to meet this week
to tackle some major health and mental health issues. Tomorrow's session will
start with a review of efforts to implement the information technology systems
that will be crucial if the state continues toward Governor Peter Shumlin's
goal of a single-payer health care system.
Vermont is preparing to implement an historic
engineering project to bring a narrow, deteriorating bridge across the Winooski
River in Richmond into the 21st century. State engineers are getting ready to
separate the sides of the bridge and add steel, and eventually concrete. The
project is expected to cost about $16 million.
A former University of Vermont hockey star is suing
the university claiming he was unfairly cut from the team. The Rutland Herald
reports Justin Milo is seeking unspecified damages in a federal lawsuit filed
last week in Burlington. Milo says the decision to cut him in February of 2010
deprived him of his scholarship, his reputation and a promising career.
Yesterday 30 Fiberglas hearts were unveiled at the
courthouse on Merchants Row. The heARTs of Rutland are 4 feet high, 53 inches
wide and 10 inches thick. Each of them represents a specific theme such as
Vermont, snow-capped mountains, ice cream, wildlife, “The Wizard of Oz,” and more.
Hearts were chosen as the theme after what the area sustained after Tropical
Storm Irene. The hearts were sponsored by local and regional businesses and will
be on display throughout the Rutland area until the late fall. They will be
auctioned off at the Paramount Theatre on November 2nd. Proceeds will benefit disaster
relief and children's art education.
For more information, visit www.theheartsofrutland.com.
From
Fox 44 & ABC 22 News, Your Voice in Vermont & New York:
Many seniors are looking at just days left of
High School and with the end of the school year around the corner some students
look for one last laugh and organize a senior prank. Sometimes seniors prank their teachers by putting their
classroom furniture out on the lawn, or switching a friend's locker lock, but
sometimes a prank isn't just a prank, and it could actually be criminal
behavior. School is almost out for
the summer, and as tradition goes, senior pranks often come with each
graduating class. "Paintballs,
notes in mail boxes, donuts in the parking lot," Colchester Patrol
Officer, Jaime Bressler said. But
there's a difference between a good spirited joke versus a prank that breaks
the law. We wanted to find out what's deemed acceptable and what's not, so I
asked Officer Bressler at what point would they get involved? "Damage to school property,
breaking into school buildings, trespassing, those are the kinds of things that
we would obviously be more aware of happening," Bressler said. Egging school property is another
popular prank and while those cases aren't normally prosecuted, they can be,
because if the eggs dry, they can cause permanent damage. "We would be interested in looking
into see whether that's an unlawful mischief charge or vandalism charge,
depending on the severity of the damage," Bressler added. And a lot of high school seniors are 18
years old, and that means they're considered adults, so any of those charges
could go on their record permanently. I caught up with William Gilbert who has
a son who just graduated from MSJ in Rutland; he had a conversation with his
son about what would be acceptable.
"As long as it was done in just, appropriate and not intended to
hurt somebody, or somebody's feelings that would be fine," Gilbert said. The recent graduate says the idea of a
senior prank was tossed around but no plans followed through. "The only thing we were going to
do is like take all of the teachers parking spots, instead of our own, just for
laughs or what not, but not really to harm anybody," Bill Gilbert said. If the senior prank isn't necessarily
against the law, it doesn't mean the students are in the clear quite yet,
school officials have the authority to implement their own form of punishment.
People are tired of getting nickel and dimed.
Hidden fees are popping up everywhere and traveling is often the most
expensive, but today, two airlines vowed to be transparent. JetBlue and Virgin America have
committed to allow families to sit together without paying extra fees for the
preferred aisle or window seat. Proponents
say this will allow consumers to make informed decisions about the real cost of
flying. "I actually already
look for JetBlue flights, just because I have their credit card so I can get
their points, so now I think it will just be where I make it my sole airline, I
don't like being surprised," JetBlue passenger Gayla Bujnowski said. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer who's
advocating for these changes also wants the Department of Transportation to
require that airlines who do charge extra fees to put that information right on
the first screen where the ticket price is quoted, so that people can compare
the full price of the ticket.
Tens of thousands of unemployed people are getting
their benefits cut short this month.
70 thousand jobless Americans' benefits will run out. And all long-term unemployment
insurance will eventually be phased out by the end of the year. To make matters worse congress cut down
the maximum length of time a person can collect from 99 weeks to 73. "It is frightening, to realize
that one safety net is being pulled out from under you." As of right now nothing is on the table
to extend benefits past this year.
President Obama says congress needs to act to help stimulate the economy.
