Vermont State Police are investigating a burglary
and theft of a large amount of jewelry from an unoccupied residence on North
Street in Bristol. The incident occurred while the owner was away on business.
The estimated value of jewelry stolen is over $7, 000 dollars. The State Police are encouraging you to
take precautions when leaving your home unoccupied for an extended period of
time. Learn more about keeping your home safe HERE. The State Police are soliciting your
assistance. Please contact them at 802-388-4919 if they have information
regarding this crime or any other suspicious activity in the area.
The Middlebury Select Board approved the proposed
FY2013 Water and Wastewater budgets as proposed. While the approved budgets do
not require increases in utility rates this year, staff noted the use of
$59,000 in surplus funds in the wastewater department from previous years to
avoid an increase in sewer rates in FY2013. Staff also noted that rate
increases may be required in the next fiscal year in order to fund capital
projects.
The contract for Green Mountain Place Utility
Upgrade Project has been awarded. The Middlebury Select Board awarded the bid
to the low bidder, Markowski Excavating, Inc. with four members in favor and
three opposed.
The Middlebury Select-Board accepted the Downtown
Improvement District Commission's recommendation to award the bid for a parking
study in the Downtown to RSG for $10,000. The study will take place in August,
with a final report anticipated in mid-October.
This week at the Middlebury Select-Board meeting
the Fire Facilities Committee Chairperson Patrick Shaw reported that the work
on Stations #1 and #2 is progressing nicely, on schedule and on budget. Also the Epoxy Floor Finish in Fire
Stations #1 & #2 was approved as well as the Standing Seam Metal Roof for
Station #2.
At this week’s Middlebury Select Board meeting the Agreement
with Vermont Emergency Management for Technical Rescue Team Response was approved.
The agreement formalizes the current understanding between VEM and the Town and
provides compensation for the Town's response to calls by the Technical Rescue
Team.
On Tuesday the Town Offices/Community Steering Committee
heard about support available from Efficiency Vermont as the Town considers the
construction of a new Community Center and renovation and rehabilitation of the
gym. Efficiency Vermont stressed the importance of including planning for
energy efficiency and consumption early in the conceptual phase of the project. The Committee also discussed reaching
out to the community to encourage public participation in the project planning
process. There are currently two new task forces for the project that are being
formed, the Finance and Fundraising Task Force and the Municipal Gym Task
Force. Residents should contact the Town Manager's Office, 388-8100, ext. 200,
to find out more or to express interest in serving on these task forces.
Chinese Students have been touring Addison County
by bike thanks to Sojourn bike tours. Chinese high school students have been visiting Middlebury
Union High School this month. Sue Rand
of Sojourn led a 16-mile bike tour of Addison County with 30 of the Asian
students along with Middlebury Union High and Middle School student ambassadors
on Wednesday. After studying
English at the high school in Middlebury during morning hours for several days,
the students will depart for China August 4th.
Ten 4-H teens from three Vermont counties participated
in Citizenship Washington Focus in Washington, D.C., one of the largest
national citizenship education programs for youth. The Vermont 4-Hers, along with delegates from several other
states, attended the June 30th - July 6th session. The
visit was coordinated by University of Vermont Extension and funded in part by
the State 4-H Foundation, local county 4-H foundations and donations. Attendees from Addison County were
Britney Hill of Bristol along with Alexis Ouellette and Sharon Palmer both from
Weybridge.
The Three Day Stampede toward the cure for Cystic
Fibrosis starts today and runs through Sunday in Bristol at the Vermont
Recreation Field. This event includes a giant lawn sale with over 20 tents full
of goodies, a silent auction, a 5K run, a walk a thon, a flea market, and food
concessions. All proceeds benefit Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Fort Ticonderoga will host the first-ever joint
conference on Lake Champlain and Lake George. The conference will be held Saturday and Sunday, August 11th
and 12th. This new conference
explores the history, geography, culture, ecology and current issues related to
the Lake George and Lake Champlain region. Registration for the conference is
now open. You can learn more about the conference by downloading a conference
brochure from the Fort Ticonderoga website at www.fort-ticonderoga.org.
Moments after Franklin County legislators killed a
plan to convert an unused bookmobile into a shared mobile-command vehicle, a
plea from firefighters resuscitated the idea. The Clinton-Essex-Franklin Library System took its
bookmobile out of circulation in September 2001, when it could no longer afford
to operate the traveling book-loan program. During a recent meeting of the
Public Safety Committee, they informally voted 4 to 2 to walk away from the
deal. But when the full
legislature session was convened and members heard from Malone Chief Brian
Gokey a few minutes later, the seven-member panel asked for more information
from County Attorney Jonathan Miller and vowed to bring up the idea again at
its next meeting on August 2nd.
The highest court in Massachusetts has found that
civil unions for gay couples in Vermont should be treated as the equivalent of
marriage in Massachusetts. The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today that a couple
who enters into a civil union in Vermont must dissolve that union before either
can get married in Massachusetts.
Two Burlington beaches closed earlier this week due
to high levels of E. coli bacteria are open to swimming once again. The latest tests revealed the bacteria
levels in the waters off of Leddy and North beaches are back below guidelines,
opening it up once again for swimming.
The closures Tuesday and Wednesday came after regularly scheduled tests
detected the high amounts of the bacteria. Very heavy rainfall earlier in the week likely caused the
flush of bacteria-filled soil particles into Lake Champlain.
Nurses and residents at the Vermont Veterans Home
in Bennington say there's a huge lack of staff, and it's impacting care of vets
living there. They spoke out
during a recent public meeting, with one nurse saying it's becoming
increasingly difficult to provide the highest quality care, especially with low
morale due to management. The
Bennington Banner is reporting mandatory overtime is a nearly daily
occurrence. The union representing
the nurses there says the last four-week work schedule had 177 open shifts, and
that was even before anyone called out of work. The Vermont Worker's Center sponsored the meeting.
Town officials in Fair Haven are open to leasing
office space to the Vermont State Police if the outpost on Route 4A closes at
the end of the summer. The agency
may close the outpost at Castleton Corners after 30 years and needs a new base
of operations in the region. The ideal place is Fair Haven. Fair Haven Police
Chief William Humphries said the department has enough space to accommodate the
troopers.
Legislation signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo
this week will help the region’s ongoing battle against invasive species. The Invasive Species Prevention Act,
unanimously passed by the New York State Legislature in June, is designed to
create a statewide regulatory system to prohibit or limit the sale and
transport of plants and animals known to threaten communities, natural areas
and job-creating industries that depend on natural resources.
Golfers and sports fans will again come together to
help raise funds for a degenerative disease that afflicts many in the Champlain
Valley. The Third Annual ALS
Raising Hope Foundation Golf Tournament will be held this Saturday at the
Harmony Golf Course is Port Kent. Just in the past year, eight more local
residents have been diagnosed with the disease from Rouses Point, Champlain,
West Chazy, Cumberland Head, Plattsburgh, Westport and Ticonderoga. For more
information, visit www.alsraisinghope.org.
Proceeds from the event go to the ALS Raising Hope Foundation.
Coming up this Sunday there will be a benefit
Spaghetti Dinner in Ticonderoga at the American Legion. It begins at Noon and runs until it
sells out. A horseshoe tournament
and various raffles are also part of this benefit. The cost is $5.00 per person for horseshoes. The dinner is to benefit Connor
Courtright. He’s a local
6-year-old boy who has been diagnosed with B-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma.
For the past five years, Boys & Girls Clubs
across Vermont have been the beneficiaries of the 100 on 100 Relay that is set
to take place on Saturday, August 18th.
This is a 100-mile relay race through the heart of Vermont on the Route
100 corridor. This year the
Vergennes Club stands to raise more than $2,000 by providing volunteers at
Transition Areas along the route where runners pass the baton to their teammate
to continue the race. With many
thanks to the Vergennes Lions Club, they have the finish line at Okemo Resort
fully stocked with volunteers, but they are still looking for more help at
these two locations: Harwood High
School in Moretown from about 8:15 AM to 1:00 PM and the Granville Town Hall in
Granville from about Noon to 4:00 PM. PLEASE consider helping them out at one
of these areas and bringing some much needed funds to the Club! To register or for more information
contact the Boys & Club in Vergennes at (802) 877-6344 or Email bgcvergennes@comcast.net.
Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh will be holding their
Annual Pie and Ice Cream Social on Sunday, Aug. 12th from 1 – 4PM. Rokeby Museum volunteers have been
perfecting the art of pie baking for more than 25 years. Peach, apple, berry pies of every kind,
even recipes from the Robinson family collection, including maple butternut
chiffon with ice cream from Vermont’s Wilcox Dairy. The Vergennes City Band
will provide live music. Guided
tours of the house will be available every half-hour throughout the afternoon;
tour admission is $6 adults, $4 for seniors and students, and $2 for children. Rokeby was home to four generations of
the Robinson family, from 1793 to 1961. The Museum is located on Route 7 in
Ferrisburgh.
From Fox 44 and ABC 22 News – Your Voice in Vermont
& New York:
A New Hampshire community is fighting for justice
for a girl who was killed. A year
ago, Celina Cass disappeared from her West Stewartstown home. She was found dead nearby. A year later, prosecutors still say no
one has been charged with her death.
Family and friends of Cass came together in West Stewartstown for a
vigil Thursday. In the same park a
year ago, they prayed for her safe return after the 11-year-old disappeared
from her nearby home. A week after
Cass vanished, searchers found her dead in the Connecticut River. Police say she had been killed. "We don't want Celina remembered just for the way she
died," says Amanda Chapple. Chapple
is a family friend and helped organize the vigil. "Our goal is to get justice for Celina and the proper
justice, not just anybody. We want
the right person," says Chapple. As for when there will be justice for Cass, that's
unclear. The New Hampshire
Attorney General's Office will just say the case is under investigation but
wouldn't say if they're close to naming suspects or making any arrests. For now, family and friends remember
the good times, the laughter, and love that Cass brought to the community. The attorney general's office says
there are three state troopers almost exclusively assigned to the case and they
are working with the FBI.
A number of Vermont economic leaders took an
unusual business trip Thursday. Walking
through the rain and wind they boarded an army black hawk helicopter. The destination was supposed to be Fort
Drum, but the weather only allowed for a short trip over the National Guard
base in South Burlington. Military
leaders say this was a way to thank business owners. "Cause let's face it the employers have sacrificed to
allow their members to be in the guard," said Major General Michael Dubie. Besides the flight, owners got to learn
about equipment, military training and even got to taste the food soldiers live
off of when deployed. "To
come out here and actually see what they do on their weekends and their two
weeks and deployment was a great time," said Shelburne Plastics manager
Kristin Robillard. It also gave
people a chance to ask questions to the head of the guard. In a couple weeks Dubie will be
leaving. In his six years as head
of the guard, the base has gone from 80% capacity to nearly 100. That means more employees available for
jobs off the base. Thursday,
employers expressed concern over those jobs. In the past, Dubie has said, if the base doesn't get the
louder F-35 fighter jet, the guard will be reduced. To qualm their fears, Dubie
introduced them to the man taking over and shared his plans to keep the guard
alive for many years to come. An
experience that some say was exactly what they needed to hear. "It seems like General Dubie has
left it in good hands," said Robillard. Dubie isn't leaving the military. He's been promoted to lieutenant general and will be
stationed in Colorado next month. He'll
be responsible for protecting the U.S., as well as Canada, Mexico and
international waters.
