Vermont State Police troopers are currently
investigating the August 29th report of stolen metal from the Panton Town
Garage. Approximately $7,100 in
various heavy-duty tire chains and snowplow segments was stolen from the garage
site. The crime is considered to be grand larceny in Vermont. The rise in recent metal thefts in
Addison County reflects a national trend, according to the Vermont State
Police. As metal prices rise, so do the number of metal thefts. Police are reminding businesses as well
as residents to secure your metal property to insure it is not stolen. Anyone with information about the
Panton theft is asked to contact the New Haven State Police Barracks at
388-4919. Information can also be submitted anonymously online at www.vtips.info or text "CRIMES" (274637) to Keyword: VTIPS.
The Middlebury Business Development Fund Advisory
Board will meet this afternoon at 3:30 in the Main Conference Room at the Town
Offices. Items on today’s agenda
include a review of the notes from the August 21st meeting, a
discussion regarding the Statement Of Need and a job description review. You can learn more about this meeting
right now on the Town Of Middlebury’s Website.
The Middlebury Energy Committee will meet tomorrow
morning at 8 in the Town Offices Small Conference Room. Items on their agenda include the
Municipal Plans and Projects, Education and Outreach, updates on local Energy
Developments including Hydro and Vermont Gas. The overall committee direction and future initiatives will
also be discussed. Visit the TownOf Middlebury’s Website for more information.
The Middlebury Gym Task Force will conduct a walk
through of the Gymnasium Building as a first step toward developing a
prioritized list of projects for the building this Thursday at 1PM. This walk-through starts at the ramp
entrance located on the College Street side of the Municipal Building complex.
Officials from the Vermont Health Department are
going to hold a public meeting in Brandon to discuss a plan to spray pesticides
from aircraft as a way to control potentially dangerous mosquitoes in parts of
Rutland and Addison counties. The
plan to spray comes after the discovery of Vermont's first two human cases of
Eastern Equine Encephalitis, one in each county. The meeting is scheduled for 7 this evening at the Brandon
Town Hall. The virus, as well as
the West Nile Virus, has also been detected in mosquito pools in the two
counties. The spraying could begin
as early as Wednesday evening and will be centered near Brandon and Whiting. The Brandon-Leicester-Salisbury-Goshen
Mosquito District is already conducting ground spraying. Learn more right now
at http://townofbrandon.com.
The road improvement project on Route 4A from West
Rutland to Castleton is complete. The
state Agency of Transportation and project contractor Peckham Road Corporation
announced that the paving project was finished last week. Paving began about a
mile east of the Route 4A intersection with Route 30, heading towards Castleton
Village. The project continued east of the village for about six miles to the
West Rutland border.
A special town meeting has been scheduled this
month so residents can weigh in on the issue of commercial wind development. The town-wide vote is a continued
effort by the town to solidify its stance against large wind projects on the
town’s ridgelines, such as the project proposed by Reunion Power. Voters will be asked September 26 if
they approve of any commercial wind developer building turbines on the Grandpa’s
Knob ridgeline on the eastern part of town. A simple majority is needed for the
article to pass. The special town meeting is scheduled for 7PM on Wednesday,
September 26th at the Hubbardton town offices.
The Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce and the Ticonderoga
Historical Society are pleased to announce their joint event to benefit both organizations
the 2nd Annual “Night At The Museum” – USS Ticonderoga Sets Sail. “Night at The Museum” will be held on
Thursday, September 27th starting at 6:00 PM at the Hancock House in
historic Ticonderoga. The Hancock house is located at 6 Moses Circle. An
enormous variety of inordinately tasty hor d’oeuvres, sweet treats, wine, and
song will be available throughout the night. Admission is $20.00 per person or
$30.00 for a couple. The event will feature music, a scavenger hunt, games of
chance, small silent auction, history lessons, special exhibit of the USS
Ticonderoga and more. Please make your reservation today. For more information
or to RSVP please contact the Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce or the
Hancock House. www.ticonderogany.com
The Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce will host
the next OneWorkSource and the InternetXpress @ Your Library services Open
House at the Chamber office on Wednesday, September 19th from 10:00
AM to 3:00 PM. The Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce, OneWorkSource, ACAP,
Inc. and the Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Library System continue to create a
strong partnership to better serve the Ticonderoga Area by offering One Work
Source Open Houses on a monthly basis. The Open Houses are available to
employers, employees, and community members in the Ticonderoga area. Learn more right now at www.ticonderogany.com.
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer toured the International
Paper facility last Friday and revealed his plan to prioritize the extension of
The Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors Tax Credit. This program is a proven success in incentivizing companies
to hire veterans and is set to expire at the end of this year. Schumer applauds International Paper’s
goal to hire more veterans and urges other North Country businesses to
similarly seek to hire these highly skilled workers that often fall through the
cracks when returning home to civilian employment. The Returning Heroes and
Wounded Warriors Tax Credit provides tax credits to businesses of up to $9,600
depending on the length of time a veteran has been unemployed, and if that
veteran has a service-connected disability.
Officials are concerned that low water in Lake
Champlain tributaries may impact this year’s sea-lamprey treatment program. But they still hope to complete the
scheduled treatments in several rivers and deltas. The effort is slated to begin with the Saranac River delta
September 10th, where weather conditions will be the deciding factor. The Lake
Champlain Fish and Wildlife Management Cooperative, which includes the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation and the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, treats the Saranac
delta once every four years.
There is a housing project progressing at the old
Willsboro School. If all goes
according to plan, the approximately 70-room Champlain Valley Senior Community
assisted-living facility will open in March 2013. The property includes the
42,000-square-foot building and 9 acres in two parcels. The name and number
plates from the classrooms have been saved and will be placed back on the doors
to serve as reference to times past. For additional information, call the Champlain
Valley Senior Community at 1-888-963-1110.
This year, there are Republican primaries in only
two towns in Essex County. The
biggest race is in Moriah, where three people want to be town justice to
replace Jeff Farnsworth, who resigned. The other Republican primary is for tax
collector in Jay, where Tina Fenton and Jessie McDonald are running to replace
June Taylor, who lost her life in an automobile crash earlier this year. The primary election is Thursday,
September 13th. Polls are open from noon to 9 p.m.
Essex County needs to do a tax sale this year
because $1.5 million in proceeds is already anticipated in the county budget. According to the Town Supervisor time
is running out for the sale of about 130 tax-seized properties. County Attorney
Daniel Manning III said he isn’t sure the sale will raise that much, but
they’re almost ready for it. In
the meantime some properties are being redeemed before the sale, so that is
revenue coming into county coffers, and includes interest and penalties.
Several New York State politicians continue to
express opposition to a $2.2 billion privately funded system to bring
electricity from Canada to the New York City area. Transmission Developers Inc. is seeking state and federal
approval for the Champlain Hudson Power Express project. The 333-mile,
1,000-megawatt direct-transmission system would involve cables buried under
Lake Champlain, the Hudson River and in railroad and highway right-of-ways near
the Capital District. The
electricity would mainly come from Hydro-Quebec. Officials say the North Country is not likely to see lower
electricity costs as a result of the project as those benefits grow smaller the
farther you are from New York City and end around the Albany area.
The Williston-based Chittenden Solid Waste District
expects to pay up to $1 million for costs associated with selling compost that
turned out to be contaminated with herbicides. The contamination was discovered
in June. The Burlington Free Press reports officials are still trying to figure
out where the herbicide came from.
The former town clerk in the Vermont border town of
Holland is donating $350,000 and part of the farm she and her husband worked
for 67 years to help build housing for the community's senior citizens. The
Caledonian Record reports the project is planned for land donated by 92-old
Evelyn Page.
Hunters have until tomorrow to apply for Vermont's
muzzleloader season for antlerless deer. The permits are for December 1st-9th.
The applications are available on the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department's
website at www.vtfishandwildlife.com.
The annual Labor Day parade in Northfield was indeed a welcomed sight, drawing in thousands of spectators. The people weren't just celebrating the annual Northfield event; they were also celebrating the central Vermont town's comeback following Tropical Storm Irene. They kept the same parade theme as last year's, which was cancelled at the last minute due to the storm. Ironically, that theme was "Under the Sea" and money raised from selling buttons at the event this year went to flood relief for the town of Northfield.
The annual Labor Day parade in Northfield was indeed a welcomed sight, drawing in thousands of spectators. The people weren't just celebrating the annual Northfield event; they were also celebrating the central Vermont town's comeback following Tropical Storm Irene. They kept the same parade theme as last year's, which was cancelled at the last minute due to the storm. Ironically, that theme was "Under the Sea" and money raised from selling buttons at the event this year went to flood relief for the town of Northfield.
Directors of the Brattleboro Retreat are trying to
shore up the future of the psychiatric hospital by setting up an endowment
fund. With the amount of state and
federal dollars dropping each year, the 178-year-old center nearly lost Medicare
funding as well earlier this year after an investigation triggered by patient
deaths. The Brattleboro Reformer
is reporting directors have a goal of setting up a 200-thousand dollar
endowment by the end of the year.
So far, 155-thousand dollars is already committed to the fund.
Children, teens and adults led an array of cattle
at the Vermont State Fair Open Dairy competition yesterday. It was the second
day of competition and farms from across Vermont and New York showed off their
Jersey, Ayrshire and Milking Shorthorn cattle. Kelli Jerome was 6 when she started showing. At 16, it’s her
fifth event of the year and she won Sunday’s Supreme Championship in the 4-H
Club group showing a cow from Ethier Acres farm.
The Ethan Allen Homestead Museum in Burlington is
holding a heritage celebration this coming weekend. The event will feature
colonial music and historic craft demonstrations. Ethan Allen made a name for
himself by helping to take Fort Ticonderoga from the British in the early days
of the Revolutionary War.
From Fox 44 and ABC 22 News – Your Voice In Vermont
& New York:
The Sheffield Field Day offers people the chance to
come together to enjoy a nice meal, play games or do some shopping. But it wasn't just about having a good
time. Dressed in street clothes, 2
Vermont state police investigators used the event to speak with people about
Pat O'Hagan. Neighbors like the
idea. "Anything that we can
do to help, it should be done," said Ila Albright. Nearly two years ago the Caledonia
County grandmother went missing. "Oh
she was great. She was the nicest lady that I ever met," said Mabel
Whitcomb. O'Hagan's body was found about a month later. State police have provided little
information and they've made no arrests.
Some people here are worried.
"You must be kidding, I double lock my doors now," said
Albright. State police say this is
a terrific opportunities to get tips because there are so many locals at the
event. "This case is a priority
of ours and we want to remind people that we work on the case essentially every
day since September 10th, 2010," said Vermont State Police Detective
Sergeant Jason Letourneau. During
Monday's event state police say they were able to collect some new information. "We've had a few people approach
us," said Letourneau. But as
for what new information they collected, state police wouldn't say. Some people say they understand why
police are tight lipped. "I
figured they're working on it and going to keep quiet," said Whitcomb. O'Hagan went missing two years ago next
Monday. In a statement her family
says: "On the two year memorial of the death of our mother, sister,
grandmother and aunt, it is still impossible to comprehend why someone would
harm her. She was a wonderful person who was loved by many." If you have any information into
O'Hagan's death you can call state police at 802-748-3111.
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will
soon visit Vermont. He's expected
to spend three days in West Windsor to prepare for the fall debates and has
chosen to stay at the remote estate of Former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor
Kerry Healey. "We're very
excited," says Joel Schreibman, who lives near the Healey home. Schreibman and other neighbors just
found out Romney will spend Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in West Windsor. "I was quite surprised because
presidential candidates hardly ever make it to Vermont, much less to Rush
Meadow Road," says Anne Babbott, who also lives nearby. In the upscale neighborhood, there are
no signs the republican presidential nominee will be here this week and even
neighbors say they don't expect to see him. That's because Romney will be busy preparing for upcoming
debates and chose to do it at Healey's secluded home. "That's a great place to do it and I don't think he'll
be disturbed," says Jan Schreibman, who lives nearby. The Schreibman's, who are originally
from Massachusetts, are already convinced Romney is the best choice for
president. Other neighbors say,
while Romney is welcome here, his visit is not changing their vote. "I stand firmly with Barack Obama
at this point," says Babbott.
Romney has not announced any planned public appearances in Vermont. He did not campaign in the state before
the primary and it's unknown if he would now, considering President Obama is
expected to win Vermont.
Someone is intentionally setting fires in Northwest
Vermont. We first told you about five fires that were set Friday - and now, one
more structure burned to the ground.
The smell of smoke was still prevalent Monday afternoon, as embers
continued to burn from Friday's fires.
"First reaction was Oh My God," Richard Ouelledte said, who
lives close by. The Enosburgh fire
chief says a sixth fire was set Sunday, meaning another unoccupied structure
burned to the ground. "It's
real close to home, so it does make it scary," Ouelledte said. The Vermont State Police are looking at
whether the owners know each other; they're following leads, and have used a
dog capable of sniffing out accelerants.
"We found three other places in that garage where they had started
fires," Chief LaRose said. As
calls rang in Friday morning, the number of fires continued to rise. Three
barns, two homes and one old schoolhouse are gone. Enosburgh, Fairfield and
Birkshire were all hit. The chief thinks they're related. The fact that there were multiple fires
all at once automatically makes it suspicious. One of the homes that was lit on
fire is just across the street from a barn that was also ignited and then about
a quarter mile down the road is another piece of property that was completely
engulfed in flames. "The barn
was completely engulfed to the point that you could see right through one end
to another," Chief LaRose said.
Anyone with information about the serial arsonist is asked to call
1-800-32-ARSON. There's a $5,000 reward.
"I hope they catch whoever did it," the Chief said. So far the fires have caused more than $200,000 in damage.
The Vermont National Guard will be training at the Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho during the month of September. Guard members will be training with small arms and machine guns throughout the month. The first live firing training will take place on Friday and Saturday, followed by September 10-14. Officials say during the training days, firing will start after 7:30AM and end by 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. On Sundays, trainings will start at 10AM and run no later than 4PM. The Ethan Allen Firing Range is closed to the public.
The Vermont National Guard will be training at the Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho during the month of September. Guard members will be training with small arms and machine guns throughout the month. The first live firing training will take place on Friday and Saturday, followed by September 10-14. Officials say during the training days, firing will start after 7:30AM and end by 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. On Sundays, trainings will start at 10AM and run no later than 4PM. The Ethan Allen Firing Range is closed to the public.
