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.
Voters will consider funding two water projects
affecting about 85 connections in Pittsford today. Polls will open from 7AM to
7PM at the town offices. The first
bond totaling $260,000 will pay for the expansion of the town’s water system to
include 24 connections in Fire District 1. The second bond, in the amount of
$200,000, is part of a revolving fund established in the Legislature this past
session to help construction private wells for about 60 customers who will be
abandoned from the Proctor water system.
The Select Board in Castleton hopes to get some
answers to the town office conundrum with a five-question survey. It comes on the heels of a focus group
study conducted by the Castleton Polling Institute on behalf of the town. The survey, which was sent to town
residents in a recent tax bill, questions people on their preferred location
for the town offices, what they want the town to do, if they should include
emergency services in the project and how much money is too much money. The
survey answers are due back to the town offices by August 31. The Select Board
will use the information to determine its next step.
North Country Community College’s proposed 2012-13
budget passed Essex County on a preliminary 16-1 vote yesterday. The spending plan comes up for final
approval by the Essex County Board of Supervisors at 10 AM next Monday. The Franklin County Legislature gave
its final approval on July 19. Both
sponsor counties must OK the $13.6 million budget, which calls for county
shares the same as last year: $1.19 million, which includes $100,000 for the
college capital fund.
Ticonderoga Vocalist Kathryn V. Major will sing
with the Lake Placid Sinfonietta during a performance in Ti Friday night. The
performance will begin at 7:00 pm at St. Mary's Church. Ms. Major has been
studying classical vocal performance at Baldwin-Wallace College, where she
anticipates completing her bachelor's degree in music next winter. The Lake
Placid Sinfonietta is the longest standing orchestra in the Adirondacks,
approaching 100 years. Due to the generous support of their sponsors, the
concert will be free to the public and donations will be accepted to support
the Cultural Arts and Economic Development Initiatives.
The Crown Point thrift shop Second Blessings is
collecting school supplies for local children. The shop, operated by the First Congregational Church of
Crown Point, wants to assist children and their parents prepare for the new
school year that starts in September.
All items donated will be given to Crown Point Central School for
distribution to children unable to provide their own supplies. Needed are 12 and 24-boxes of crayons,
glue sticks, pocket folders, small drinking cups, tissues, standard plastic pencil
boxes, boxes of #2 pencils, boxes of assorted colored pencils, pencil cap
erasers, loose leaf paper, composition notebooks, highlighters, gallon sized
zip-locked bags, book bags large enough to hold books, sneakers and extra
clothes. Second Blessings is open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from10AM to
2PM.
Hannaford Supermarkets is once again warning of a
food recall from one of its producers.
Burch Farms of North Carolina announced a recall of Athena cantaloupes
this past weekend because they may contain Listeria. No illnesses have been
associated with the recall, but customers should not consume the cantaloupes. They are whole cantaloupes labeled
Cantaloupe PLU 4319. You can return them to the store or dispose of them, but
bring in the sticker for a full refund.
Hannaford Supermarkets is based in Maine and operates stores in Vermont,
New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York including Middlebury, Brandon and
Rutland.
The event that launched the sport of snowboarding
30 years ago is moving out of Vermont.
The Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships attract the greatest
snowboarders in the world. The event was born in Vermont, and for the past 27
years it has been held at Stratton Mountain. But yesterday, event sponsor Burton Snowboards announced it
is moving the event to Vail, CO starting next winter. Burton founder Jake
Burton Carpenter said in a news release the move that Vail offers an
"ideal venue" that will provide for what he called the "future
progression" of the event.
Vermont's senior senator is calling for the nearly
two-century old canal linking the Hudson River and Lake Champlain to be closed
to keep a new invasive species out of the lake. But New York state officials are rejecting that plea from
Sen. Patrick Leahy saying to close the Champlain Canal would do severe harm to
the economy of east-central New York.
Leahy's concern is the spiny water flea, a half-inch-long barbed flea
that, it's feared, has the potential to hurt fish populations in the lake. The
creature has been found in the canal and is thought to be spreading toward the
lake. New York officials say
they're talking with the Army Corps of Engineers about the best strategy, but
they say closing portions of the canal isn't it.
Parts of Interstate 91 southbound were shut down
overnight for two-and-a-half hours, and could be closed again for a time later
today. The problem was a
tractor-trailer rig, which caught on fire and eventually was destroyed. The driver says one of the tires on his
big rig first started burning and while he was trying to put it out flames
reached up to the tarp covering his load.
Clean-up crews say they'll need to shut down the highway for a while at
some point today when they clear the charred remains out of there, but are not
sure when that will happen.
A group backing continued operation of the Vermont
Yankee nuclear plant says the state may face an energy gap by 2016. The Vermont
Energy Partnership says state utilities are expected to have commitments for
just 60% of the power they would need in four years.
Amtrak says it's launching its eTicket program,
which started as a pilot on the Downeaster, to all trains within its national
network. eTickets enable
passengers to skip the line at the ticket window and go straight to the gate by
printing their tickets anywhere or by using a Smartphone to present the eTicket
to the conductor. Lines where
eTickets can be used include the Northeast Corridor, state-supported routes and
long-distance services.
A civil liberties group in New York has joined a
national effort seeking information on how police use data from automatic
license plate readers to see whether drivers are being improperly tracked.
State guidelines issued last year left details on how the data is used up to
local police departments.
An archaeologist is leading resumed excavations
along Lake Champlain's western shore where American troops built an encampment
during the War of 1812. The Press-Republican of Plattsburgh reports that the
work has uncovered military artifacts that confirmed the site as Pike's
Cantonment. British troops burned the site in 1813.
Vermont State Police believe a 15-year-old boy was
accidentally shot to death with a muzzleloader. Police got a 911 call from a
home in Brownington on Saturday night about the shooting. Cody Cole was taken
to North Country Hospital in Newport, where he later died. An autopsy will be
done. It was not immediately known who fired the shot.
The state of Vermont has received approval to apply
for help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for repairs from last
year's flooding. FEMA had ruled earlier that the state wasn't eligible to apply
for the aid at first. That's now been reversed. One of the projects officials
hope to receive assistance for is a 93-mile trail across northern Vermont.
A 46-year-old Brattleboro man faces charges in what
authorities say was a July 7 arson fire on South Main Street in the town. James A. Ryan of Brattleboro was
arraigned Monday in the criminal division of Windham Superior Court on the
arson charge as well as multiple counts of recklessly endangering another
person and giving false reports to police. None of the residents of the 10-unit apartment building was
injured in the fire, but a firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion at the
scene. Authorities say some of the
apartments suffered moderate damage.
A new state law in New York will soon prohibit
teenagers younger than 17 from using indoor tanning beds. The legislation, signed into law
earlier this month by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, is designed to protect teens from
dangerous exposure to UV radiation by limiting their access to indoor tanning
facilities. Previously, children age 14 to 18 were required to present the
signature of a parent or legal guardian to access indoor tanning facilities.
Children under 14 were prohibited.
As of August 15, no one younger than 17 will be allowed to tan at such
facilities, and those who are 17 must obtain parental consent.
You can catch more Jazz this Thursday in Brandon.
Brandon Music on Country Club Road will present Michael Benedict & Bopitude
Thursday evening at 7:30. General Admission is $12. Brandon Music offers an
Early Bird dinner special, which includes a ticket for the jazz performance,
for $22 per person. Michael Benedict & Bopitude revisits the most memorable
tunes of the hard bop era while bringing back to life some more obscure
treasures from the past. Get
details right now by clicking HERE.
From Fox 44 and ABC 22 News – Your Voice in Vermont
& New York:
Top Canadian and U.S. officials discussed the
future of energy, the environment and transportation at a two-day conference in
Burlington. It was the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers 36th
annual event. Bringing tar sands
oil through Vermont is one of the main concerns protesters have, but Governor
Shumlin made it clear today that that will never happen. "That goes in the category of
things I think will never happen," Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin said. Governor Shumlin confidently told the
crowd Monday that tar sands oil will never flow through Vermont. In fact, the
Governor says the group of leaders is in harmony with much of their agenda. "We should work more quickly to
move to renewable's that don't emit carbon and compromise our kids and our
grand kids future," Governor Shumlin said. That's the plan, generate as many local and affordable,
renewable resources as possible. "We're
going to be a lot further along in 50 years, we're going to be a lot cleaner in
50 years than we are today," Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy said. The Governors and Premiers say progress
is already being made. The future of New England and Canada will have faster
trains by next year and a Montreal connection soon after. They're also
promising recharging stations for electric cars. Quebec has set an ambitious
goal that by 2020, 25% of all the cars on the road will be electric. "We can probably accomplish that
in a pretty timely manner and send a pretty powerful signal that this is where
the future is," Quebec Premier Jean Charest said. But leaders say the future depends on
how quickly we can end our addiction to foreign oil. "The cost of retrofitting some of the older coal
burning plants may actually be a better technology delivered at less
expense," Governor Malloy said.
A lot of the conversation was also focused on creating green energy
jobs. The conference next year will be in Quebec.
The Internet is flooded with videos of the protest
of the Conference of New England governors and Canadian premiers that turned
violent Sunday. Now both protesters and police are taking the next step in
resolving the controversy but police say they know who started it. "The aggressive actions were
precipitated not by police but by folks who were intentionally trying to
inhibit the movement of people who were trying to make their way to
dinner," Burlington Police Chief Mike Schirling said. Burlington police are now assessing the
altercation and determining whether charges should be filed against any of the
protesters. They'll be using any video online they can find. "Gives us a clear picture of how
things transpired," Chief Schirling said. "It will help very much in identifying those who may be
responsible for criminal acts during that event." Protesters who were shot with defensive
ammunition yesterday met with members of the Vermont Law Center Monday at
Burlington College. They refused an interview at the time but one member of the
Vermont Law Center said that they will be holding a press conference Wednesday
at 12:00 PM outside of City Hall. They said that taking legal action against
police was not talked about but no action is off the table. A small group of protesters did gather
at Perkins Pier to make a statement as New England governors and Canadian
premiers left from Burlington.
Joseph Bolduc, 25 of Burlington was teary eyed as
he walked into a Rutland, Vermont courtroom Monday. The Burlington man pleaded not guilty to four charges,
including second-degree murder for the death of Conrad Bell. During the five-minute arraignment, Bell's
wife, Tori, stood, and stared down Bolduc. "He ripped my heart out because I loved that man so
much and he took him away from me," said Bell. It all happened Friday night. State police say Bolduc went to a party in Ferrisburgh
looking for someone. After
learning he wasn't there, police say Bolduc started a fight. During it, police say Bolduc hit Bell
with a tire iron multiple times in the neck and took off. An injury friend says he never should
have received. Friend Todd Huestis
says Bell was trying to break up the brawl. "I hate to say it he saved my life. Why I didn't get
hit in the head with a weapon is beyond me," said Huestis. In court, Bolduc's family and friends
had a hard time comprehending what had happened. "It's just so hard to see him look like that because
that's not the Joe I know," said Naomi Manning. As emotional as it was inside the courtroom, outside was
just as tough. "I love you
Conrad," said Huestis. For
Bell's wife, she says even though Bolduc has been charged with her husband's
death, it's going to be awhile before she and her two children can move on. The crime happened in Addison
County, and the arraignment was supposed to take place there this afternoon. But because no judge was available they
moved it to Rutland County. Bolduc
is being held without bail. He'll
be back in court later this week.
