Coming up this morning at 9 the Middlebury River
Task Force will meet in the Ilsley Library Community Room. Then next Tuesday the Select Board will
hold a Public Hearing and Information Meeting on the Preliminary Proposed Town
General Fund Budget for FY14. This
includes Capital project Funds as well.
The meeting will begin at 7:15 PM in the Town Office Conference Room. The
total proposed budget is $8,943,097 with $6,366,592 to be funded by property
taxes. Your comments, suggestions
and input are important and appreciated.
Copies of the proposed budget may be obtained from the Town's website at the Town Manager's office or by calling 388-8100 ext 201.
The 14th Annual Face Off
Against Breast Cancer Charity Hockey Tournament is coming up this weekend! Proceeds
benefit the Cancer Patient Support Program's patient services and emergency
fund and are earmarked for breast cancer patients. This year's tournament brings eleven women's hockey teams
from all over Vermont. In addition to hockey games; the Face Off Against Breast
Cancer also includes several other associated activities on the weekend. A
benefit concert with The Horse Traders will rock Two Brothers Tavern in
Middlebury on Saturday from 9 PM to 1 AM. The band's cover charge and 10
percent of all sales during the event will be donated to the Face Off Against
Breast Cancer. Ongoing hospitality
and refreshments will be served in the Warming Hut. Game schedules available at
www.faceoffagainstbreastcancer.org.
The Compass Music and Arts Center is a new
organization, situated in the former Building K of the Brandon Training School
in Park Village, Brandon. As part of its community-based and educational
programs, CMAC plans to develop a small, permanent exhibit about the history of
the Training School and especially the history of Building K. However, this
won’t be possible without the personal stories, memories, and artifacts of
those who were connected with the site. They are looking for former employees,
students and residents, Brandon community members, and anyone else who would like
to contribute, to contact them so that they may portray the school accurately
with first-hand accounts. CMAC is
being developed by the nonprofit organization Compass Music and Arts Foundation
Inc. and Diversions LLC, which operates the Brandon Music Café on Country Club
Road. To share your memories,
photographs, and artifacts, please contact Kathryn Marshall at 802-247-4295 or kathryn@cmacvt.org.
Thomas Brooks of Vergennes was recently elected as
president of Button Systems, Inc. Brooks
is a 1998 graduate of Castleton State College and has been with Button Systems
since they opened operations in Vermont in 1996. Button Systems creates custom computer programming and
website design for businesses. The firm has served customers throughout Rutland
County including Rutland Marble and Granite. The company’s current focus is the healthcare industry. It
is developing web-based chronic disease registries, closed social networks, and
medical home applications.
The Addison County-based dance and rock band
BandAnna will be performing Saturday, January 26th at ND’s on Main
Street in Bristol from 8:30-10:30 PM. This is a free concert. BandAnna plays out of the box
renditions of everything from Patsy Cline, Chaka Chan, Bonnie Raitt,
rock-a-billy, R&B, blues, rock, jazz, swing and surfer music.
The Vergennes Union High School Commodore Booster
Club recognized Vergennes business owner Brett Ward during half time of the boy’s
varsity basketball game on January 3rd.
During 2012, Ward and his City Limits Night Club contributed $13,000 to
the Commodore Booster Club. Since
2001, his business has contributed a total of $215,000 to the booster club, and
athletic programs. Members of the
Commodore Booster Club presented Brett with a plaque in appreciation for his
efforts.
The Town of Pittsford is moving forward with a new
sidewalk project that will provide a more cohesive walkway system in the
village center. At a Select Board
meeting Wednesday night, the project engineer said they are working on several
design alternatives for the sidewalks and expect to present them to the public
within several weeks. The new
sidewalk will continue from the already existing sidewalk on Arch Street near
the post office before traveling south toward the intersection with Pleasant
Street. A crosswalk will connect both streets and the sidewalk will continue to
the parking lot of the Lothrop Elementary School.
Rutland police say they are searching for a man who
reportedly tried to steal a bag of prescription drugs from a man walking with
crutches outside a city pharmacy. Police
were called to Walgreens Pharmacy on Woodstock Avenue at 11:30 Tuesday morning.
The victim told police he was approached outside the store by a man, roughly 60
year’s old, who grabbed his prescription bag and tried to wrench it out of his
hand. Police were told that the
unidentified man fled the scene in an orange or rust colored SUV. Anyone with information about the
incident is asked to call city police at 802-773-1816.
A new article in the upcoming March ballot will
allow the Town of Castleton to create a new reserve fund for the restoration
and preservation of town records.
The Town Clerk asked town officials this week to include the
article on the ballot. She said it would allow the town to expand the fund for
future land record preservation projects, including digitizing them and putting
them online.
Stating that the process could take too long if it
had to go through committee, Essex County Sheriff Richard Cutting sought and
received a preliminary exemption from the Essex County hiring freeze policy. Cutting asked that his office be
considered in the same class as the Horace Nye Nursing Home when it came to
hiring, meaning he would not have to go through committee review before seeking
to fill a position. As part of the 2013 budget talks, supervisors resolved to
have all hiring requests come through committee to be approved. Cutting said his request had to do with
the fact that many of his positions in corrections are under state mandate to
be filled.
The Ticonderoga Montcalm Street Partnership is
pleased to announce that they will host the 4th Annual Ticonderoga WinterFest
on Saturday, February 9th from 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM at the Ticonderoga
Recreational Fields, Ice Skating Rink and surrounding areas. Activities for this year’s WinterFest
will include snowshoeing, ice skating, sledding, Snowman Fun Run/Walk,
broomball, snowmobile rides, wagon rides as well as a Cooks Mountain lower loop
snowshoe hike. Penelope the Clown will also be in the lobby of the Ticonderoga
Community Building. For more information in WinterFest contact the Ticonderoga
Area Chamber of Commerce at 518-585- 6619, chamberinfo@ticonderogany.com or
visit www.ticonderogany.com.
A $400,000 State Community Development Block Grant
will help rehabilitate about 13 homes damaged by Tropical Storm Irene in the
Town of Jay. This funding will be
utilized for owner-occupied housing rehabilitation with specific goals: solving
code violations, repairing situations where there are health and safety
deficiencies and correcting severe energy-efficiency issues. The funds are provided as a
deferred-payment loan, as long as the owner remains in the home for five years.
To be eligible, income must be below 80 percent of the area's median household
income, which is $47,450 for a family of four.
Organizers of a gun show in South Burlington say
people who sell firearms from their private collections will be required to do
background checks on potential buyers. The Green Mountain Gun Show will be held
this weekend. Organizers tell the Burlington Free Press they will require all
private vendors to do background checks on all buyers following concerns about
mass shootings in recent years.
Republicans in the Vermont House and Senate are
trying to get out in front on the issue of super-PACs, and the influence
they're having on political campaigns. GOP lawmakers have outlined legislation
that they say will bring greater transparency to funding for political
campaigns.
Officials at Vermont Technical College say an
unofficial all-school competition and a grant from IBM helped reduce the
school's electric bill by more than $40,000 in one year. IBM also worked with
the Howard Center, Vermont's largest health and human services organization, to
help community members understand and establish procedures for managing the
use, cost and conservation of energy.
Vermont police are investigating a bank robbery in
White River Junction. Authorities
say a man robbed the People's United Bank at 2:10 yesterday afternoon and made
off with an undisclosed amount of cash.
No weapon was displayed. It's
believed that the man was traveling in a blue standard cab pickup truck and
wearing some type of disguise. Anyone
with information about the crime is asked to call the Hartford Police Department.
The owner of a car dealership wants to be sure
potential customers can find his shop and other businesses when a nearby bridge
is closed for repairs. Thomas
LaVictory met with the Clarendon's Select Board this week regarding state
transportation officials’ plans to close a 1927 single-span concrete bridge on
Walker Mountain Road during the work.
He said several businesses could be impacted if clearly marked detours
were not in place. The board approved a motion to enter into an agreement for
the bridge closure in 2015 for about a month. The motion included language
requesting adequate detour and business location signage.
There's currently a shortfall when it comes to new
transportation revenue for the state of Vermont. Next week, Governor Peter Shumlin will unveil his plan in
his budget speech on how to increase the money. Vermont needs to raise roughly thirty million dollars in new
revenue in order to pull down the maximum amount of federal funds. The problems are federal stimulus money
for infrastructure projects is no longer there, people are driving more fuel
efficient cars which cuts down on the amount collected through the gasoline
tax, and there's a significant rise in construction costs.
Gov. Peter Shumlin and Attorney General William
Sorrell appear to be at odds over a Shumlin proposal to grant more public
access to police records. Shumlin
has said recently that access to records of police investigations is too
restricted under current law. He wants a system of access to police records
used by the federal government. They would be presumed open, except when a
private citizen's privacy might be invaded or police investigative techniques
might be compromised. Sorrell told
the state Senate's Judiciary Committee on Thursday he does not see a need for
change in the current state law, which he sees as superior to the federal
government's.
A Vermonter who was a cycling teammate of Lance
Armstrong says he's not surprised by Armstrong's admission of using performance-enhancing
drugs. The confession happened
during a TV interview with Oprah Winfrey, which aired last night and concludes
tonight. Andy Bishop of Williston
was a teammate and roommate with Armstrong from 1991 to 1993.
Governor Andrew Cuomo is getting ready to unveil
his budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
The governor says New Yorkers shouldn't expect any major surprises in
his budget plan, which will be announced during a presentation next
Tuesday. Cuomo continues to refuse
discussions about whether his budget plan will feature any mention of the
possibility of hydrofracking, which remains a hot topic around the state.
State Police officials are trying to educate the
public about what weapons are now restricted to buy under New York State's new
gun laws. The organization has
released a list on its website of weapons that are classified as "assault
weapons." The new SAFE Act
places restrictions of the ability to purchase such weapons or transfer
ownership of one.
The New York State unemployment rate dropped to
8.2% last month from 8.3% in November. The unemployment rate stood at 7.8%
upstate compared with 7.9% in November. Nationally, the unemployment rate in
December of 2012 was 7.8%.
Vermont health leaders are trying to figure out
ways to tackle the state's growing obesity problem. In a recent study, it shows 23% of Vermont's high school
aged kids are either overweight or obese.
In adults, that number jumps to nearly 60%. Leaders say it's tough to compare this information from
years past, because they've changed the way they get their samples. But in any case, they say those numbers
are too high. Health experts say
the best way to beat obesity is the obvious way, eating healthy and exercising. If left untreated, they say it can lead
to diseases, including diabetes and heart problems.
Mad River Glen Ski Resort - The warm temperatures
earlier this week seem like a distant memory now but for some ski resorts it's
causing problems. It was anything
but warm Thursday at Mad River Glen.
But even with the recent cold temperatures there's still not enough snow
here on the slopes. "Unfortunately
with this warm spell here it's forced us to suspend operations," Mad River
Glen President and GM Jamey Wimble said.
Wimble says the lifts have been shut down since Monday. This slowdown comes off the heels of
one jolly holiday season for the ski resort. "The holiday week was absolutely fantastic,"
Wimble said "We had some
record revenue breaking days."
But before that mad river couldn't catch a break with the snow. "We got off to a slow start we
didn't open til Christmas Eve," Wimble said. After an amazing holiday season many ski resorts across
Vermont are experiencing the same thing.
But many of them can make their own snow and get by. Mad River still
relies on the natural stuff. Though
the ticket window is closed right now they're hoping it will be open again by
Saturday along with some of the trails. This holiday weekend is looking to
shape up worse than last year's. "We
can't see anything big right now all they're saying is we should continue to
see these clippers coming through and a lot of time we can pick up a lot of
snow from those," Wimble said.
And with a holiday on the horizon mad river hopes that will be just
enough to keep the slopes open for good.
Check on the conditions of all Vermont's Ski Resorts HERE.
