Friday, June 8, 2012

WVTK Local & State News June 8, 2012


The Middlebury Summer Festival On-The-Green celebrates its 34th season July 8-14.  This year, festival organizers invited students from teacher Lisa Rader’s class at the Hannaford Career Center to submit design suggestions for the 2012 t-shirt.  The Festival Committee reviewed an impressive portfolio of designs and narrowed the selection down to a few finalists and they invite the community to cast a vote for this year’s winning design.  To participate in the voting process just visit 9-2-1 WVTK Dot Com, the link to access the survey is posted with today’s Local News! Voting will remain open until noon today.  CLICK HERE!

Pocock Rocks!  Bristol’s annual Music Festival and Street Fair is just a little over a week away.  This year’s festivities take place rain or shine on Saturday June 16th 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 clicking HERE!

Police are investigating break-ins at three burglaries carried out Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.  Break-ins were reported at the Vermont Sandwich Shop, Ron’s Auto Shop and Teddy Tire all within minutes of each other starting shortly after 7AM Thursday morning.  At the Sandwich Shop, police found evidence that someone broke in through a door and stole cash from the register. At the auto shop, a similar method of entry was used by someone who stole about 20 Vermont inspection stickers and at Teddy Tire, someone who stole loose change out of a cash register broke through a door.  Anyone with information about the crimes is asked to call Brandon police at 247-0222.

The City Of Rutland is asking motorists to avoid Stratton Road if possible for the next month or so.  Drivers who cannot bypass the street can expect delays as the city extends the storm sewer there, a project slated to start next week. The new line will extend about 600 feet between Freeman Avenue and Allen Street, connecting to the existing line that discharge into Paint Mine Brook.

Some Essex County farms could qualify for disaster funding, due to crops destroyed by frost after March 1.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued federal agriculture disaster declarations for several New York counties. The Farm Service Agency said disaster emergency loan assistance was available effective June 5th for those who lost at least 30 percent of their production. Eligible farmers must be unable to obtain credit from private commercial lenders. The interest rate on the loans is 3.75 percent.  Applications will be accepted until February 5, 2013.

The Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce will host their ongoing Open Houses with the North Country Small Business Development Center and OneWork Source in June.  The North Country Small Business Center will be at the Chamber office next Tuesday from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Services provided by the North Country SBDC are available directly at the Chamber office on the second Tuesday of each month unless otherwise advertised.  For more information you can visit www.ticonderogany.com

Vendors continue to be sought for the 20th annual Ticonderoga Area Car Show.  The event, sponsored by the Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce, will be held Sunday, August 5th in Bicentennial Park.  The chamber is seeking food and non-food vendors for the show.  Vendor forms and information along with rules and regulations are available at www.ticonderogany.com, by calling the chamber office at 585-6619 or by Emailing chamberinfo@ticonderogany.com.  The deadline to register as a vendor is Friday, June 29th.

The Ladies Between the Lakes will celebrate their 10th anniversaryTuesday, June 19th at the Lake George Club in Diamond Point.  The Red Hat group began in 2002with nine women and has grownto over 60, representing Crown Point, Westport, Elizabethtown, Schroon Lake, Hague, Silver Bay, Port Henry, Putnam Station and Ticonderoga.  Lunchesand entertainment at more than100 venues have been enjoyed.  The group has provided an opportunity for ladies to celebrate life at every age, make new friends and discover new places.  There is a special program planned the 19th with a speaker, door prizes and a record ofthe local chapter’shistorywith a slidepresentation to see how the group has grown.  All previous members and interested ladies are encouraged to attend. Contact Dawn House at 585-7208 or email dawnnybuoy@gmail.com to reserve a spot.

Brandon Music on Country Club Road will present Michael-Louis Smith this Sunday at 7PM in the Music Café!  NYC guitarist Michael-Louis Smith plays with a sound that is warm and broad, echoing influences of Wes Montgomery, Grant Green and John Scofield. While an in-demand musician in New York City's vibrant jazz scene, Smith frequently tours the northeast circuit. He will perform at Brandon Music with his long-standing Hot House ensemble. The concert is a part of a year-round weekly jazz series at Brandon Music. 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.  For ticket info and reservations just visit www.brandon-music.net

Police in Vermont say a 48-year-old woman who fired a handgun into the door of her St. Albans apartment before fleeing is now in custody. St. Albans police say 48-year-old Elizabeth Harrington was spotted at about 10:30 yesterday morning on Route 7. Police say that at about 1PM Wednesday Harrington fired at least one shot in the building where she lives. Police say Harrington was involved in a dispute with her landlord.

Police in Vermont have arrested the mother of the teenage driver in a fiery car crash that killed a Colchester woman. Earlier, Colchester police had arrested 16-year-old James Companion on a charge of driving under the influence with death resulting. Yesterday, they arrested his mother, 43-year-old Melissa Grant, on a charge of enabling consumption of alcohol by a minor with death resulting.

Officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the states of Vermont and New York are working to reduce the population of a bird species that has been overwhelming some Lake Champlain islands for decades. Biologists from the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department will be working this summer to remove excessive double crested cormorants from islands in the lake as a way to protect nesting habitat for other bird species such as herons, egrets and terns.

Officials say 30 high school seniors in the Vermont city of South Burlington were caught trying to break into the school during the night as part of what could be called "senior pranks."  Among the students caught Tuesday were a number of athletes. It's unclear if those students could be kept from playing in any of the state championship games that the school's teams are scheduled to play in within the next few days.

A Danville High School senior says his school principal told him that if he didn't take off the plaid kilt he was wearing to celebrate his Scottish heritage he might not be allowed to march at the graduation from the Vermont school. Student Andy Towle says he took off the kilt on Monday after consulting with his father, but the superintendent overruled the principal and Towle wore the kilt that had belonged to his late grandfather to school on Tuesday.


Forget what was said recently about Greyhound discontinuing bus routes out of southern Vermont due to low ridership.  A spokesman for the bus company now says those services will still continue after all, now that an agreement has been reached with the Vermont Agency of Transportation.

Today is the last day of classes for a school in the Northeast Kingdom.  Students are not saying goodbye to the E. Taylor Hatton School in Morgan for just the summer, but for good.  Just 33 kids go there, and next fall they'll be attending instead nearby Derby Elementary.  In March, residents in Morgan overwhelmingly approved closing Hatton School, considered one of the smallest schools in Vermont.

A few bills in Albany would allow New Yorkers to register to vote over the Internet.   It would also encourage teens to register, even before they're eligible to vote.   A state senator and an assemblyman announced the Voter Empowerment Act of New York yesterday.   It aims to end New York's decline in voter turnout.   Officials say, less than 40% of New Yorkers, old enough to vote, did so in the 2010 elections.

Coming up next Tuesday at noon there will be a discussion regarding the Sheldon Museum’s new exhibition "Take Me to the Fair: An Addison County Tradition".  The exhibit features many colorful Addison County fair posters, tickets, ribbons, programs and historic photographs from the Sheldon’s archives.  Bring a brown bag lunch; beverages and dessert provided. Admission is only $2. The Sheldon Museum is located at 1 Park Street in Middlebury across from the Ilsley Public Library.  For more information please visit www.HenrySheldonMuseum.org.

Fort Ticonderoga’s King’s Garden is open for the season. As the largest public garden in the Adirondack-Lake Champlain region and one of the oldest gardens in America, the King’s Garden offers daily guided tours and self-guided activities for adults and children throughout the season. The King’s Garden is open from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily through October 8. For additional information on the King’s Garden’s and its 2012 programs visit www.fortticonderoga.org or call 585-2821.

The heARTs of Rutland, a public art project raising money for disaster relief and children’s art education, will be unveiled at noon Sunday in front of the courthouse on Merchants Row.  Local artists, including a club of students at Rutland Intermediate School, decorated 30 4-foot fiberglass hearts. Each heart was sponsored and will be located with its sponsor until the hearts are auctioned off in November. However on Sunday you’ll have the chance to see them all in one place. 

From Fox 44 and ABC 22 News – Your Voice in Vermont and New York:

Blue-green algae is a growing concern for Vermont health leaders.  That's because they say the blooms could appear elsewhere besides Lake Champlain and that's where they need some help to catch them.  St. Albans Bay was a popular spot for fishing Thursday and come summer it's also a common place to find blue-green algae blooms.  "We've just heard that it's toxic and harmful to pets," says Erin Charron, who lives nearby.  That's why Charron says she keeps her family away from the blooms.  "It's nothing we want to mess around with," says Charron.  The health department is concerned that the problems that affect St. Albans Bay could also pop up in ponds and lakes across Vermont.  Tracking these blooms is the job of Vermont state toxicologist Sarah Vose.  Vose says blooms could increase in the coming years and appear in lakes and ponds where they haven't before. She blames more nutrients in the water and rising temperatures.  "When the water is warmer the blue-green algae are more likely to multiply," says Vose.  Vose says there are tests in known bloom areas on Lake Champlain.  But the health department wants people to be on the lookout for blooms on other lakes and ponds.  "They can also call the health department, send us a picture, even with a cell phone camera, and someone can probably give some advice on whether it is blue-green algae," says Vose.  The healthdepartment has put together a guide on how to spot blue-green algae.

The Green Mountain State is getting a little greener.  Yesterday in Montpelier, governor peter Shumlin signed a bill that moves the state closer to universal recycling.  Over the next few years companies will no longer be able to dispose recyclable and compostable materials in landfills.  The democrat says right now, Vermonters throw away more than 7-million dollars in trash that could be recycled.  The new law also has another financial benefit.  “It will mean more money in Vermonters pockets because the most expensive thing we do is build landfills where we can and fill them up.”  The new law will also require dump trucks to collect leaf and yard waste.