The Port Henry Village Board has scheduled a
special meeting for 7 PM today at the Village Hall on Main St. The board will discuss matters
pertaining to the campground. All board meetings are open to the public.
The Willsboro Central School Board of Education has
scheduled a special board meeting tomorrow morning at 9 to discuss the tax rate
and tax levy for the 2012-13 fiscal year.
The meeting will be held in the conference room at the school.
Various meetings are on the schedule this week here
in the Town Of Middlebury. The
Municipal Gymnasium Task Force will meet this afternoon at 1. Items on the
agenda include a review of the Task Force Mission and a discussion regarding
the schedule and timeline for Task Force Work. Tomorrow morning at 10:30 the Town Center Steering Committee
will meet. This will include a
review of the Task Force Mission and Charters along with a project
schedule. Then on Friday the
Finance and Fundraising Task Force will meet at 9:00 AM. A presentation will discuss net-zero
and net-zero ready construction, including construction costs, operation and
maintenance costs, and potential energy savings vs. the current building. All meetings are being held at the
Middlebury Town Offices. Learn
more right now on the Town’s Website.
The Middlebury Business Development Fund Advisory
Board is meeting tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 in the Main Conference Room of the
Town Offices. Items on the agenda
include a review of the notes from the July 16th meeting, discussion of the
Statement of Need and a review of the updated schedule. Get details right now
on the Town’s Website.
The parents of a 15-year-old Otter Valley Union
High School student are suing the school after Ping-Pong tables fell on the
girl and broke her leg. According
to a lawsuit filed in Rutland civil court by Mariah Merkert’s parents, Robert
and Luanne Merkert, she was the victim of negligence by the school when their
daughter’s gym teacher made her and her classmates take the 70-pound tables out
of a storage room on March 21, 2011. The tables fell on her and another student.
The school’s attorney said: “This was an unfortunate accident, but the school
is not legally liable for the injuries.” Both parties are waiting on a
scheduling order from the court.
Facing a 2013 deadline, the town of Moriah may be
forced to make a difficult decision to save its Bulwagga Bay beach and
campsite. The town-owned facility
is being damaged by Lake Champlain erosion. Without action the public beach and
175-site campground will be lost. According to the Adirondack Park Agency the
shoreline has moved back 25 to 40 feet since 1995. Realizing the problem two years ago, local leaders secured
permits from the APA, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build three revetments made of half-ton rocks
reaching into Lake Champlain to combat the erosion. The town also applied for a
$500,000 grant from the state to cover the cost of the project. If the grant
application is not approved soon, Moriah officials will have to decide whether
to borrow the money for the Bulwagga Bay project or let Mother Nature takes it
course.
Board members of the North Country SPCA and
contractors held a groundbreaking ceremony at the site for a new shelter last
Tuesday. The ceremony held at the
construction site on Route 9N east of Elizabethtown was a small victory after a
year of planning and two years of fundraising according to co-chair of the
capital campaign. The project is still in need of $50,000 for final
construction costs but the group is faithful the funds will be attained through
fundraisers before the building is completed. The new shelter will have a
capacity designed to meet the needs of 65 cats and up to 25 dogs and will not
only be able to comfortably house more animals than the current shelter but
should help increase adoption rates.
Members of the Essex County Public Health
Department want people to protect themselves and their animals against the
spread of a pair of diseases that have been found here. Last week Kathy Daggett reported to
members of the Essex County Human Services Committee that she is working to
promote awareness of Lyme disease and the recent outbreak of rabies in the
region. She says Lyme disease is
here and the numbers rose about five years ago. It has stayed at that level,
and they want to get the message out more to people what they can do to protect
themselves.
The Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce will host
OneWorkSource and the InternetXpress @ Your Library services open house at the
chamber office next Wednesday the 29th from 10 AM to 3 PM. OneWorkSource
and InternetXpress @ Your Library offer services to the area by utilizing
donated space in the chamber of commerce. The services are provided once a
month on the third Wednesday unless otherwise advertised. For more information
about the open houses at the chamber office visit www.ticonderogany.com.
Vendors of crafts and Adirondack goods are invited
to participate in Hague’s fourth annual 2012 Oktoberfest Friday and Saturday,
Sept. 21 and 22, in the town park.
Organizers say that more than 1,200 visitors are expected to attend with
more than half from outside the immediate geographic area. Vendor space for two
days is $50. There is no charge for Hague merchants. Call or email Carol
Pittman, 543-6313, hagueite@gmail.com to reserve space.
Time may be up for the information booth in Rutland’s
Main Street Park. Acting on a
recommendation from the Routes 4 and 7 Committee, the Board of Aldermen will
discuss removing the booth during its regular meeting today. The Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce
has long used the city-owned building as a welcome center, and while alternate
locations have been discussed before, Routes 4 and 7 Committee Chairwoman
Sharon Davis said the removal of the curb cut at the location in the upcoming
highway project has forced the issue.
More than $4,000 was stolen from the clubhouse at
Green Mountain National Golf Course and $40 was taken from the town’s transfer
station last week. The burglaries
have the town instituting mandatory security measures, including making nightly
cash deposits, according to Town Manager Seth Webb. The transfer station was broken into with a screwdriver
sometime between Monday the 6th and Saturday the 11th, and a cash box was
robbed of $40. At the golf course, someone entered the clubhouse shortly after
10 PM Sunday the 12th and stole cash collected over the weekend from the
restaurant and pro shop.
The Vermont Supreme Court has been asked to rule on
the constitutionality of a 2009 law allowing the state to take DNA samples from
people charged with crimes. A lawyer says lower court rulings effectively have
blocked the state from carrying out the law. It was enacted after the 2008 rape
and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Randolph.
The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department has some
advice for would-be first-time hunters: Now is a good time to sign up for
hunter education courses. Hunter education coordinator Chris Saunders says demand
for the classes tends to peak beginning in late summer in advance of fall
hunting seasons.
This summer, many Vermont towns have made plans to
become more bicycle and pedestrian friendly with help from the Agency of
Transportation. Through the end of
the month, the agency is accepting applications to its "bicycle and
pedestrian program." Under
the program, the state allocates up to $2 million in federal money toward
projects to expand bicycle and pedestrian accessibility. Towns are required to
match the money they get if their project proposal is accepted. Around eighty percent of the costs will
be paid by the federal government with State and local sources paying for the
rest. The League of American Bicyclists says Vermont is only ranked eighteenth
in the nation for bicycle accessibility.
People upset about recent decisions by the Vermont
Public Service Board are planning to rally on a mountaintop in the southwestern
Vermont town of Wells. The event coming
up this Saturday is expected to draw critics of wind power, smart meters, cell
tower placements and the feared redevelopment of pipeline to carry tar sands
across northern New England. It's
being held on the property of a couple who recently were ordered by the Public
Service Board to grant an easement to the Vermont Electric Power Company for a
communications tower.
The U.S. Forest Service is asking for public input
for a project primarily in Dorset and Peru that would improve habitat diversity
and forest health, restore eroded areas and improve public access opportunities
in parts of Vermont's Green Mountain National Forest. The Green Mountain National Forest staff is seeking public
comments on its preliminary Environmental Assessment for the Dorset Peru
Integrated Resource Project. The comment period is open 30 days. The project would also restore stream
function by adding large woody debris and replacing culverts, preserve heritage
resources such as an old mill, furnace and kiln sites. More than 2,000 acres of timber
harvesting is proposed to support the local economy, enhance forest health and
create more diverse wildlife habitat.
Vermont residents will get a chance to weigh in a
new proposed rule to regulate public activities on land owned by the Vermont
Fish & Wildlife Department. The
proposal would allow hunting and fishing on more than 133,000 acres but
prohibits snowmobiling, mountain biking and horseback riding except in
designated corridors. Officials
say the proposal will give game wardens the authority to enforce the rule. The Fish and Wildlife Board has given
preliminary approval to the proposal in the first of three votes. A public hearing will be held on
Tuesday in Montpelier at the Pavilion Building. The second hearing will take
place Wednesday at Kehoe Conservation Camp in Castleton. Both hearings start at 6 PM.
With the growing interest in local food, Vermont
has come out with a new interactive website to help link people to nearly 400
food experiences around the state. www.DigInVT.com
is designed to promote agriculture and tourism. Visitors to the website can learn about locally grown
Vermont products and the farmers, producers and chefs who make them. The website was developed by the state
of Vermont, the Vermont Fresh Network and the Vermont Agriculture and Culinary
Tourism Council, which is made up of 13 food producer groups, nonprofit
associations, tourism organizations and state agencies, who want to promote
tourism that focuses on experiencing culture through its food. The site was developed with funds the
Vermont Agriculture Innovation Center and John Merck Fund.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is going to be talking
about the benefits of "smart grid" technology for the state of
Vermont as he plans to discuss the issue today with some of Vermont's
environmental leaders in Burlington.
He says Vermont is a leader in the nation on development of a smarter,
stronger, more efficient and reliable electric system that promotes renewable
energy sources and saves money. The
head of the Vermont Electric Cooperative will share what his utility learned
through its almost universal rollout of smart grid technology. Proponents say
smart grid technology can help consumers and utilities better manage electric
use, saving power and money.
Maybe it was the weather, or the craft fair,
exhibits, demolition derby or classic car show. Whatever the reason, thousands of visitors flocked to the
95th annual Deerfield Valley Farm Fair this weekend. The president of the three-day event told the Brattleboro
Reformer it's a true community fair and real American nostalgia. This year brought the largest crowd
organizers have seen in the past 20 years, with people from all over New
England attending. It was also the
first regional get-together for so many displaced by Tropical Storm Irene last year.
A Vermont filmmaker has made a documentary of how
Tropical Storm Irene affected her town of Pittsfield. Vermont Public Television will broadcast the hour-long film,
“Flood Bound,” three times over the next 10 days. Filmmaker Marion Abrams said that something amazing
happened after Irene hammered her town. Residents helped each other by digging out, schooling
children, cutting hair, cooking, teaching yoga, and providing other
services. VPT will air the film today
and Saturday, Aug. 25th. For more information about the film, visit www.FloodBound.com.
From Fox 44 and ABC 22 News – Your Voice in Vermont
& New York:
This weekend was the third annual Vermont Vineyard
and Winery Open House. Winemakers
showed off 20 vineyards and wineries from across the state. Activities including wine tasting, live
music, picnics in the vineyards, and guests could even pick their own fruit in
the orchard. Many vineyard goers
couldn't believe that with Vermont's cold winters, the state could still
produce enough grapes to produce great tasting wine. "We actually have grape varietal's like the one I'm
standing next to, that can withstand 20 to 30 below zero temperatures without
any tissue damage and really produce a very fine wine," says Jim Hillis,
owner of Hillis Sugarbush Farm & Vineyard. The weekend was not just about sampling great wine. There were also classes including about
wine making and work on the vineyard.
Police have identified the 53-year-old man who died
during the USA Triathlon in Burlington Saturday. Police say the man was Richard Angelo of Beverly, MA. Police say the matter remains
under investigation, however nothing appears outwardly suspicious at this time. Angelo was participating in the
triathlon and they believe he had some type of medical problem during the swim
portion of the race. He was
transported to Fletcher Allen Health Care and was pronounced dead.
