Summer has come in with a bang in northern New
England. On the first day of the
season, temperatures soared to a record high of 95 degrees in Burlington, and
90 degrees, also a record, in Houlton, Maine. The previous records were 94
degrees in Burlington and 89 degrees in Houlton, both of which were set in
1988. Concord, NH, hit 96 degrees on Wednesday, but it wasn't a record. Portland, Maine, reached 93 degrees,
tying the record high set in 1964 while Montpelier, Vt., also tied the previous
record of 89 set in 1953. The heat
wave is expected to continue today.
State police say a 70-year-old Crown Point man will
now face a murder charge after the death of the younger brother he shot during
an argument. They say 63-year-old
Russell Lang died Wednesday at the Vermont hospital where he'd been taken after
the attack Tuesday afternoon. David
Lang was originally charged with attempted murder after calling 911 to report
the shooting. The brothers shared
a home in Crown Point. Police say
they'd been arguing, but the motive for the shooting remains under
investigation. Prosecutors say
they'll upgrade the charge to second-degree murder. A not guilty plea was
entered on Lang's behalf at his arraignment on the original charge.
The next Addison County Chamber Of Commerce “After
Hours Business Mixer” is coming up this evening and is being held at Helen
Porter Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center in Middlebury. Plenty of great
door prizes plus a chance to win the Pot of Gold—which is valued at $550! The mixer will take place on the 21st
from 5 – 7PM. For more information
and to RSVP to Sue Hoxie just click HERE.
The Addison County Humane Society is hosting their
Fifth Annual RUFF RIDE, a bicycle and motorcycle ride to benefit the animals this
Sunday. The bicycle rides will start at 10 am at Ski Haus of Vermont in
Middlebury. The motorcycle ride will start at 8:30 am at Cycle Wise in New
Haven. All rides will begin with
registration and continental breakfast and will finish at the Middlebury Green
for a BBQ, music, prizes, and lots of fun. The entrance fee for the ride is $25.00 per person and
includes the BBQ, free t-shirt and lots of fun! Our very own Bruce & Hobbes will be there to emcee the
festivities! Funds raised from the
RUFF Ride will be used to meet the rising costs of caring for the animals. For
more information, please visit www.addisonhumane.org
or call Jackie at 802-388-1443.
On Tuesday evening Vermont State Police received a
report of a single car motor vehicle crash on Route 22A near the Halfway House
Restaurant in Shoreham. Police said the driver, 33-year-old Jeffrey L. Hannigan
of Massachusetts, was intoxicated. He was later taken into custody without
incident for suspicion of DUI and transported to the New Haven State Police
Barracks for processing. Hannigan's
blood alcohol concentration was found to be more than three times the legal
limit. He was later released on a citation to appear in Addison Superior Court
on July 2nd to answer to the charge of DUI first offense.
Following on the heels of Castleton and Hubbardton,
officials in Pittsford took a stand Wednesday night against the proposed
industrial wind project on the Grandpa’s Knob. In a unanimous vote, the five-member Select Board
resolved to oppose the Reunion Power wind project. Pittsford is the third town
to take a stand against the ridgeline project that spans four towns. Only the
town of West Rutland has yet to take a position, although town officials there
recently said they expect to make one soon.
The Champlain Valley Flyers R/C model airplane club
invites you to attend its Second Annual “Valley of the Giants” air show at
Westport airfield June 29th through July 1st. The air show will feature large-scale radio-controlled
aircraft flown by pilots skilled in extreme aerobatics as well as realistic
scale flight. Wingspans of some brightly colored aircraft exceed nine feet, and
multiple planes often fill the sky to the delight of spectators. Activities
will run from 9AM – 5PM that Friday, Saturday and Sunday weather permitting.
Admission to the event is $3 per car.
Twenty-eight parents of West Rutland School
students are suing the School Board for keeping them in the dark about the
principal’s contract, and a state assistant attorney general has weighed in. The suit, filed in Rutland civil court yesterday,
claims the board violated the state’s open meeting law by warning a meeting as
an “executive session” March 14th and, at that meeting, voting to not renew the
contract of first-year Principal Juanita Burch-Clay, with conditions.
Burch-Clay would have to do remedial work to get rehired. The suit says the board voted in a
closed session, a violation of the law, and that warning the meeting as an
executive session denied the parents their right to participate, comment or
witness the decision made.
The Town of Moriah is sponsoring meetings to
provide information to local residents and small businesses about free and
low-cost energy services. The
meetings will be held next Tuesday the 26th. The schedule is 1PM at the Moriah
Senior Center, Port Henry Train Station, 14 Park Place, Port Henry; and 4:40 to
6:30PM. at George’s Restaurant, with free pizza provided. Short presentations
will be given at 5 and 6PM. Speakers from New York’s EmPower NY and Home
Performance with Energy Star Programs will share information about free and
low-cost energy services available to residences at all income levels. George’s
Restaurant will discuss its experience with National Grid’s Small Business
Program, which has resulted in savings on its electricity bill. Questions about
the energy meetings should be addressed to Jennifer Monroe at 251-2525 or jlmonroe@capital.net.
Cheese maker Cabot Creamery has dropped the word
"Vermont" from its label because of concerns over accuracy in
advertising. A Cabot official says
a discussion with the state attorney general's office prompted the change. State rules say dairy products labeled
"Vermont" have to be made in the state and get 75% of their milk in
Vermont. Cabot's butter is made in Massachusetts, with some cream from New York
and New England. Assistant
Attorney General Elliot Berg says Cabot could use Vermont on its label but
would also have to list where the milk is from. Gov. Peter Shumlin says removing Vermont from the label is
unfortunate and says he believes there's enough Vermont milk in Cabot products
for Vermont to appear on the labels.
Another day of scorching high temperatures is underway
along the Eastern Seaboard. Readings
are expected to be in the mid- to high-90s today in cities including New York,
Philadelphia and Boston. The hot
spell arrived yesterday, the first official day of summer. Temperatures hit
record-setting marks from New York City to Burlington and came close in
Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia.
Health officials across the Northeast warned residents to drink water,
stay out of the sun and in air conditioning, and to check on elderly neighbors
and pets. Public cooling centers have been set up in dozens of cities for those
without air conditioning. Temperatures
are expected to start dropping on Friday.
The U.S. Senate has voted to support an
Environmental Protection Agency rule. Senator Bernie Sanders says it will
protect Vermonters and others in downwind states by controlling mercury and
other toxic air pollution from coal-fired power plants. Yesterday's vote came
after Sanders spoke in favor of it.
The Fair Haven Welcome Center off Route 4 near the
New York border is hosting its 6th annual outdoor Vermont Fun Festival on
Saturday. Starting at 10AM, the
annual event promotes local Vermont businesses and organizations throughout the
day. There will be tables, booths, and tents offering free samples, free
raffles and goodies.
Vermont is getting a $5 million federal grant for a
new automated system that will allow it to better gather and report on
information from every school in the state. Officials say with the new system the state will be able
determine, for example, how many students have taken geometry by ninth grade or
attended full-day kindergarten. A
mechanism will allow schools and districts to send data they gather directly to
the state where it will be immediately available. It will track students,
teachers and courses from kindergarten through 12th grade and allow the state
to better track student progress or lack of it. Vermont is 1 of the last states to get a grant for the
technology. Two years ago, the state's application was rejected.
Democrats are critical of 2 planned fundraiser
speakers for GOP hopeful Randy Brock: Maine Governor Paul LePage and Virginia
Governor Bob McDonnell. Brock calls the backlash nasty, negative campaigning
and says their appearances don't mean he agrees with the two on every issue.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirms his proposal to
decriminalize small amounts of marijuana possessed in public is dead. Possession of less than 25 grams
of marijuana was reduced in state law to a violation in 1977, subject to a
ticket and fine. If the pot is burning or in public view, it rises to a
misdemeanor and can result in a lifelong police record. Cuomo's proposal would make public or
private possession of the small amount a violation, although smoking it
publicly would remain a misdemeanor.
The Senate's Republican majority opposed the measure.
The 20th Annual Ticonderoga Area Car Show will be
held Sunday, August 5th in Ticonderoga’s Bicentennial Park from 9:00 AM – 4:00
PM. There will be 27 classes with awards in each class. The show is a judged
show and a “SuperWheels Showdown” Qualifier. The first 150 People registered will receive a goody bag
& dash plaque! During the Car Show there will be food, vendors, a 50/50
Raffle, silent auction raffle tent, Car Show Raffle and music by Jerry’s Juke Box
as well as the Kiwanis Duck Race, a Piston Toss, Muffler Wrap and a Hoola Hoop
Contest. To enter as a
participant, there is a $15.00 pre-registration fee for those who enter before
August 3rd, 2012. Those who wish
to register as a participant at the gate will be charged a $20.00 registration
fee. For more details and a
registration form just visit www.ticonderogany.com.
Ticonderoga marks the Fourth of July with one of
the largest Independence Day celebrations in the region. A series of living
history events at Fort Ticonderoga July 4th will take a look at 1775. Activities
will get under way at 9:30AM when the Fort Ticonderoga Fife’s and Drums Corps
raises the flag. Get all of the
details right now by visiting www.fort-ticonderoga.org.
Brandon Music on Country Club Road in Brandon will
present the Harvey Sorgen & Esa Pietila Duo this Sunday at 7PM. Harvey is a celebrated drummer and
percussionist, whose many accomplishments have earned him the status of the
“first-call” musician General
Admission tickets are $15 in advance, and $18 at the door. Brandon Music offers
an Early Bird dinner special, which includes a ticket for the jazz performance,
for $25 per person. Reservations are required for dinner. Get details now at www.brandon-music.net/sundayjazz.
Hundreds of people are expected to walk in The
Relay For Life on Saturday and Sunday at the Vermont State Fairgrounds in
Rutland. Organizers say the
event will raise more than $135,000 for the fight against cancer, and also to
raise awareness about the disease. About 750 people are expected to participate,
an increase over last year. Registration for this event will begin at noon
Saturday prior to the opening ceremonies at 1PM. It is not too late to
participate in the race, volunteer or raise money, as there will be many
opportunities to help with on-site fundraising.
From Fox 44 and ABC 22 News – Your Voice in Vermont
& New York:
A famous Vermont brand is breaking some of its ties
to the Green Mountain State. Cabot
is launching a new label that does not have Vermont on it, replacing the Green
Mountain State with a green barn. That is because Vermont has regulations
saying that a product can only be labeled from Vermont if the majority of its
ingredients are from the State. "We represent about 1200 family dairy farms. Now, those
farms are located all over the Northeast. Each of the New England States plus
New York State," Cabot spokesperson Jed Davis said. Davis says the company has slowly been
making the change for years, taking the word Vermont off its dairy products.
But in the last year, it started phasing out the image of the State all
together. Not everyone is all
right with the change. "I just think it's sad. The cheese has been here
forever. It's been a part of Vermont," Cabot resident Tammy Christman
said. But Vermont tourism and
marketing Deputy Commissioner, Steve Cook, says he does not see this as a
negative for the State. "It's
actually a really nice success story of how they've grown as a Vermont
company," Cook said.
"Moody's investor's ratings system" has
downgraded Burlington’s credit rating...again. This is the second time in almost a year. The main reason...Burlington telecom's
default on 17 million dollars of taxpayer money given by the city. Mayor Miro Weinberger held a news
conference yesterday to make the announcement. He says because of the downgrade...the city will have to pay
more interest for what it will borrow in the future. Fifty-five thousand dollars is kind of the maximum estimate that's
fifty five thousand dollars not going to our park that's fifty five thousand
not going to our roads not you know not addressing poverty issues. The mayor said he is working closely
with the city council to make a responsible budget for the next year. The better the budget...the better
chance the rating can be reversed in the future.
