Tuesday, November 20, 2012

WVTK Local & State News November 20, 2012


The Ilsley Library Board of Trustees will meet this evening at 6:30 in the Community Meeting Room.  And the Middlebury Town Offices will be closed for Thanksgiving and Black Friday this week.  The Town Clerk’s Office will close at noon on Wednesday.

The Vermont State Police in New Haven are investigating two daytime burglaries at the residences located along Route 125 in Bridport.  The first burglary occurred at the residence of Isaac Larocque on Route 125 in Bridport. This burglary took place last Thursday sometime between 6:30 AM and 12:20 PM.  The second burglary occurred at the residence of Mary Duclos on Route 125 in Bridport.  Someone forced entry at the residence through a rear door gaining access to the residence. A separate window was also broken where those involved unsuccessfully attempted to make entry. Approximately $1,000 in jewelry was stolen from the home. The estimated damage to the residence is approximately $500.  Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Vermont State Police in New Haven at 802-388-4919.  Information can also be submitted online at www.vtips.info or text CRIMES (274637) to keyword VTIPS.

Otter Creek Brewing Co. of Middlebury took home gold, silver and two bronze medals at the 16th annual Great International Beer Festival earlier this month in Providence, RI.  A panel of 83 judges selected winners in 44 categories after blind tasting 470 beers and ciders from around the globe.  Included in the medal count were Otter Creek’s flagship Copper Ale, which took a silver medal in one category. The newly released Hop Session Ale scored a bronze in the American Pale Ale category.   Also, Stovepipe Porter scored a bronze medal in the Brown Porter category.

Aman with Crown Point ties is the newest member of the sales team at Foster Motors in Middlebury.  Joe Bodette, who owned Frenchman’s Restaurant in Crown Point along with his wife Cindy, now works for the Middlebury auto dealership.  The Bodette’s owned Frenchman’s nearly nine years before selling it this past summer. Joe is hopeful he will see many of his New York area friends visit Foster Motors on Route 7 South in Middlebury.

A well-known defense attorney from Rutland died on Monday.  Fifty-four-year-old Mathew Harnett, who represented some of the most high profile criminal cases in Rutland County, battled cancer.   Matthew Harnett was born in New York City and got his legal training at the Vermont Law School.   He served as a public Defender in Rutland at the start of his career but went on to private practice, becoming one of the state's best-known criminal defense attorneys. Besides his passion for the law, friends say Harnett loved to be outdoors skiing and hiking and loved spending time with his family.  He leaves behind his wife Lori and daughter Cassie.


The lawyer for the former Weybridge town clerk and treasurer says a guilty conscience drove his client to resign and admit to embezzling tens of thousands of dollars.  An independent audit will determine just how much was taken, but Karen Brisson is suspected of embezzling an estimated 150-thousand dollars from 2007 until 2011.  She was the clerk and treasurer for twenty years, but her lawyer says debt led her to take the money, adding she's offering up the deed to her house to help the town recoup some of the funds.  So far Brisson is not charged, and selectmen say thanks to the repayment and insurance taxpayers will not have to cover the loss.

Rutland Town and West Rutland are combining efforts with the goal of saving money this winter.  The neighboring towns will be using homemade salt brine, a mixture of water and rock salt which is dissolved and concentrated, on some of the roads this winter.  The hope is in the long run it will save money on road salt costs.  While West Rutland had already signed the agreement, members of the Rutland Town Select Board will put their signatures on the deal tonight.  It expires April 15th.

The administration of Gov. Peter Shumlin is hoping to get the first shovel in the ground later this month on a new 25-bed psychiatric facility in Berlin that's to help replace the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury.  That facility was forced to close by flooding from Tropical Storm Irene and is to be replaced by the Berlin hospital and a series of smaller psychiatric units around the state.  An unusually fast, emergency certificate of need process was completed Monday, with approval granted by the state Department of Financial Regulation.

At least one Albany lawmaker believes a special session of the state Legislature could be held in the coming weeks.  The Senate Deputy Majority Leader says while Governor Cuomo and others are downplaying such an event, the idea that a special session could take place before 2013 remains a reality.  Several issues such as lawmaker pay raises and raising the state's minimum wage were expected to be brought up in any special session that was being hinted about, but Governor Cuomo has signaled such a session is now unlikely as cleanup efforts from Hurricane Sandy become the main focus for the state.

The Cuomo administration is in the midst of talks with gambling interests around New York State about ways to raise revenues following Hurricane Sandy.  Officials with the New York Gaming Association have met with senior-level Cuomo administration officials to discuss ways gambling operations might be able to quickly increase revenues to help pay for the huge Sandy cleanup cost.  That news has led gambling critics to criticize the Cuomo administration for trying to take advantage of the Sandy situation to bring more casinos into operation in the Empire State.

Protect the Adirondacks has called for creation of a new 39,000-acre Upper Hudson River Wilderness Area.  This area would be centered on 22 miles of the Upper Hudson River that stretches from the Town of Newcomb to North River. It would include more than 5 miles of the Cedar River and 4 miles of the Indian River, as well as dozens of lakes and ponds.  The new wilderness area would be created from roughly 19,000 acres of former Finch Paper lands to be purchased by the state of New York from the Nature Conservancy. As well, the state will buy 20,000 acres of existing Forest Preserve lands in the Hudson Gorge Primitive Area and in the Blue Mountain and Vanderwhacker Wild Forest Areas.

The Schroon Lake Chamber of Commerce is seeking suggestions for its annual Old Tyme Christmas celebration.  The event will be held Saturday, December 8th. As part of the Christmas celebration the chamber will again have its holiday basket raffle. The raffle, which benefits local Christmas charities, will be held 10 AM to 8 PM at the chamber office on Main Street December 8th during the Old Tyme Christmas celebration.

A key green light has been given for the 25-bed Vermont state psychiatric hospital planned for Berlin.  The Department of Financial Regulation has approved the plan for the hospital drafted by the Department of Mental Health.  CFR Commissioner Steve Kimbell announced his department's approval of a certificate of need for the Berlin hospital.  That and a series of smaller psychiatric units around the state are being developed to replace the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury. That facility was forced to close by flooding from Tropical Storm Irene in August of 2011, with the state scrambling since then to find enough places for people with mental illness.

Vermont State Police say they are investigating the theft of a public address system from church. Police said the equipment was taken from the Mountain View Baptist Church in Danby. Police said Deacon David Aubrey told them the theft happened sometime between November 11th and Sunday. It's described as a black Radio Shack Realistic, 20-watt system.

Ski areas across New England have made big investments in low-energy, high-efficiency snowmaking to ensure the slopes are snow-covered earlier and longer than last season. At this time last year, Stowe Mountain Resort had six trails open. This year the resort opened Saturday - a week earlier than in 2011 - with nearly double the number of trails, thanks to $4.7 million in snowmaking improvements.

Advocates for the working poor want New York's government leaders to raise the minimum wage during a possible special session of the Legislature that could include a salary boost for lawmakers and top government administrators. The groups used their annual Thanksgiving appeal to push for the wage hike during a march and rally held in downtown Albany yesterday.

The New York pension fund for state and local government workers is reporting a 4% return on investment for its last quarter with an estimated fund value of $150.1 billion at the end of September, up more than $3 billion. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, fund trustee, cites "reasonable gains" amid a slow economy and market uncertainty about the U.S. elections.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says thousands of New York homeowners have gotten an estimated $625 million in loan relief from five U.S. banks. It's part of the national mortgage settlement negotiated earlier this year over foreclosure abuses.  In Monday's report, monitor Joseph Smith says more $26 billion in home loan relief was extended to some 309,000 borrowers between March 1 and Sept. 30. About half was in "short sales" where lenders agree to accept less than what the seller owes on the mortgage.  New Yorkers' settlement share so far has helped 7,223 homeowners with an average of $86,000 in principal write-downs and other relief, according to the attorney general's office.

The Boys and Girls Club of Rutland County will host a Thanksgiving Dinner for its youth and volunteer members at 5 PM today, with an awards ceremony held at 4:45 before the feast.  The Club’s mission is to inspire and enable all young people to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens. It also provides a safe place to learn and grow, ongoing relationships with caring, adult professionals, life-enhancing programs, and character development experiences, as well as hope and opportunity.  The Club is located in downtown Rutland at 71-77 Merchants Row.


There's good and bad news for people flying for Thanksgiving.  AAA predicts fewer people will fly compared to last year.  But there are strict security rules that could put a damper on Thanksgiving dinner if you don't plan ahead.  With thoughts of family and Thanksgiving, Vermont federal security director Bruce McDonald wants you to also remember TSA rules.  "The reason we have these liquids, aerosols, and gels rules are any of one of which can easily be disguised as an explosive," says McDonald.  Your carry on bag is ready to go if the liquids, aerosols, and gels are 3.4 ounces or less and in a clear plastic bag.  The rules might be easy most of the time.  But think twice before bringing a Thanksgiving side dish.  From wine to cranberry sauce to jams, they have to be less than 3.4 ounces to be carried on-board.  "It's better off to package it well and put it in your checked baggage," says McDonald.  If you're picking up a last minute gift be careful how you pack it because it might not get to your final destination.  That's because Vermont's signature product maple syrup also falls under the liquids rules.  TSA says pies and cakes can be carried on-board.  But they might require additional screening.

Potatoes and prisoners, an award winning combination?  Well stay with us, potatoes that might have ended up unused are being cleaned and bagged by inmates at the Southeast State Correctional Facility in Windsor.  It's nice to be able to share some good news about the men and women who haven't been outstanding members of society, but now it's their turn to give back.  All of the potatoes they bag will go to food shelves across the state.  Many of them say this experience has changed them forever.  Down a road, behind a barbed wire fence, criminals are serving time, "I did an original sentence for car theft," Inmate Matthew Williams said. "I'm in here for DUI's," Inmate Matt Mabe said.  But there's something unique going on, designed to put food on the table for thousands of Vermonters. Governor Shumlin toured the "pilot potato project" Monday.  "We're paying for them every single day; they ought to be working for us," Gov. Shumlin said.  The Southeast State Correctional Facility partnered with the nonprofit Salvation Farms, it works with agricultural surplus, in this case, potatoes.   "So we approached our friends at Tuberville who grow food for donation," Theresa Snow of Salvation Farms said.  And that's how the well-oiled machine got started.  "This is food that would otherwise be wasted. This is a good experience for them to see, I can do something good, it feels good, it gets recognized and there's value and I think that's a really good lesson for them," Andy Pallito of the Dept. of Corrections said.  The potatoes will eventually make their way to the Food Bank in Brattleboro where they will feed thousands of families.  And the inmates, like Matt Williams and Matt Mabe have packed close to six tons in under three days, but they're getting far more than they bargained for.  "Coming from a criminal background, it's good to give back and share the time that I have and make it worthwhile," Williams said.  Both men say having found what it means to give back will change them once they're out.  "I think it's good to have a purpose and I think that's one thing that's lacked throughout my life is just having any sort of purpose."  Governor Shumlin says he'd like to see more projects like this one, in prisons all across the state.

As a federal lawsuit to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant winds through the courts, the Vermont Public Service Board is considering the plant's future.  On Monday, the board held a public hearing by videoconference with sites all across Vermont.  The board wanted to hear from people about if VY should be allowed to operate for another 20 years.  "I see no public good in its license extension and operation going forward and instead see a wide range of serious problems that will harm the good people of Vermont," says Wally Jenkins, a plant opponent.  "The opposition to Vermont Yankee can only be described as not supported by history and facts. Nuclear power in general has been widely accepted," says Bret Powell, a plant supporter.  The board expects to make its decision about Yankee next fall.