The Merry Mulch program gets underway in Middlebury
tomorrow. Members of the Rotary
Club of Middlebury will pick Christmas trees placed on the side of the road.
Remember - please remove all decorations, especially metal objects. The trees
will be taken to the Addison County Solid Waste Management District for
composting.
The Middlebury Highway Department snow clean up in the downtown continues this evening starting at 9 PM. Sidewalk clearing is on going. Please remember the Winter Parking Ban
is in effect from 12:00 AM - 6:00 AM. Any vehicles parked on town roads or parking
lots, except where permitted, will be ticketed and towed. Contact the Public Works Department,
388-4045, for additional information about Town snow removal operations.
The Addison County
Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a meeting open to both members and the
public entitled “Embezzlement, Fraud & Theft: It Can (and does) Happen Here.”
The meeting will be held on Monday from 6:00 to 7:30 PM in the Ilsley Library
Community Room in Middlebury. Holden Insurance is sponsoring the meeting. The featured speaker is Tom Hughes, a
one-time banker, accountant, business manager, and small business CFO. With
multiple felony convictions for fraud and deceit, he is now a disgraced
ex-accountant with a story to tell. Tom will share some of the things he’s
learned. This event is open to the
public and is free of charge. An
RSVP is appreciated to Sue Hoxie (sue@addisoncounty.com) or 388-7951 x2.
The Vermont Governor’s
Council on Physical Fitness and Sports is urging Vermonters to try free Nordic skiing
and snowshoeing next Saturday the 12th, and to maintain healthful amounts of
physical activities throughout the winter season. Dubbed “Winter Trails Day,” Vermonters will have the
opportunity to Nordic ski or snowshoe for free at a half-dozen locations across
Vermont. Most participating areas
will offer free trail passes and rentals in the afternoon. Winter Trails Day is a national program
endorsed by the council that encourages children and adults to discover the
great fitness and social benefits of these fun, easy-to-learn winter
sports. Vermonters can participate
in Winter Trails Day events locally at Blueberry Hill in Goshen and the Rikert
Nordic Center in Ripton. Interested
participants are urged to contact participating ski areas to verify details and
availability. For more information on Winter Trails Day and contact information
for participating ski areas, visit http://www.snowlink.com/wintertrails.aspx.
The Addison County
Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a trip to China in October! You can find information on the trip by
visiting the Chamber’s Website.
The Chamber will be hosting an informational meeting about the trip on
Wednesday, February 20th, from 5:30-7:00 PM at the Middlebury Inn. There is no
cost to attend this meeting but they just ask that you RSVP so they know that
you're coming.
Yesterday Vermont State
Police responded to a report of a vehicle on a house porch on Adams Ferry Road
in Panton. The investigation
revealed that operator, Amanda Burlock of Vergennes was attempting to enter a
residence when she lost control of her vehicle and slid in to the front porch
of the residence. Police say alcohol
was not a factor in the collision but slippery road conditions were a factor in
the accident. No criminal action
is pending.
Coming up next Tuesday at the Sheldon Museum art
teacher Sarah Flinn and 5th and 6th grade teacher Catharine
Canavan from Weybridge Elementary School will present a talk on their
collaborative student project detailing the history and development of the town
of Weybridge. The exhibit was
inspired by the 250th anniversary celebrations for the town of Weybridge and
the Henry Sheldon Museum outreach program Maps to the Past. The exhibit is
currently on display at the Henry Sheldon Museum through January 12th. Bring a brown bag lunch at Noon and
beverages and dessert will be provided. Museum members may visit free, others
pay a minimum donation of $2. For
information call 388-2117 or visit www.henrysheldonmuseum.org.
A two-story home on Lake Dunmore sustained
significant damage in a blaze that started in the kitchen Thursday morning. Jeff and Cheryl McDonough had left the
house two days earlier to go on vacation when firefighters were called by a
neighbor who saw smoke and flames next door at about 10:10 AM Thursday. Firefighters
from Brandon and Pittsford, and eventually Salisbury as well, were called to
the scene. The cause of the fire is unknown, although the Brandon Fire Chief
said there was nothing suspicious about it.
Zamias Services CEO Joe Anthony says his company
can once again fill the Diamond Run Mall.
The 400,000-square-foot mall was at near capacity when Zamias sold it to
Gemini Real Estate Advisors in 2007. Gemini is surrendering the mall to its
creditor and Zamias is being brought in to manage the mall once again. Anthony
noted that occupancy was just shy of 100 percent occupied when Zamias sold the
mall and its 52 store spaces. This week, only 30 stores were operating.
The office of Sen. Patrick Leahy announced yesterday
that GE Aviation in Rutland was awarded an $8 million contract to build engines
for the Navy’s EA-18-G aircraft. The
total contract of $67 million is being divided among several GE plants.
Rutland’s share is 12 percent of the total award. The Rutland plant has added 200 jobs over the last three
years, bringing total employment at the two plants to 1,100.
The 2013 Ticonderoga High School yearbook is
currently on sale for $40. Students
who order their yearbook on or before Jan. 25 will receive free name stamping. Yearbooks can be ordered at school with
cash or a check made out to “THS Yearbook” or online with a credit card. A link
can be found under the high school tab on the district website, www.ticonderogak12.org. The forms for the Class of 2013 grad
ads were mailed out to senior families before the holiday break. They are due
back by the 18th of this month. Each ad costs $25 and will include a
photo and message of your choice.
Elected officials, department heads and
management-confidential employees in Essex County have been given 2 percent pay
hikes for 2013. County Manager
Daniel Palmer said the County Board of Supervisors exempted itself from the
raises. Unionized workers at the
county are not in the budget for raises in 2013. A new Civil Service Employees
Association contract is being negotiated now to replace one that expired in
2012. Members have worked under the provisions of that agreement since then.
The Kiwanis Club of Ticonderoga donated $300 to the
Tiny Tim Christmas Wish fund again this year. The Tiny Tim fund provides
Christmas presents to needy children and families who otherwise might not have
a merry holiday season. For 2012, Tiny Tim provided for 200 Ticonderoga-area
children, which was a record number. The Tiny Tim fund has been in operation
for 25 years. Tiny Tim relies on
support from community members and organizations to be able to complete its
mission of helping children in need.
The 26th-annual Stewart’s Shops Holiday Match
program once again topped the $1 million mark in contributions for local
children’s charities. The company announced that Stewart’s customers donated a
total $672,000 at the 324 store locations in upstate New York and western
Vermont between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and Stewart’s Shops is matching
that amount, with a total of $1,344,000 to be distributed in March. After this
year’s funds are distributed, more than $17 million will have been allocated
since the program’s inception in 1986. Children’s charities can still apply for
funding from the Holiday Match Program, with applications available in all
Stewart’s Shops or online at www.stewartsshops.com.
Applications must be submitted or postmarked by January 31st.
The states of Vermont and New York are calling on
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to do a more thorough study of the impacts of
storing spent nuclear fuel on the grounds of nuclear power plants. The Wednesday federal court filing from
the two states is part of a process by the NRC that is soliciting comments on
nuclear waste storage. Vermont is
home to one nuclear power plant. New York hosts six reactors at four locations. Last June, a federal appeals court said
the NRC should complete a detailed environmental review of on-site storage or
explain why one is not needed. In
their filing, the states argue the NRC should consider whether licensing and
relicensing reactors makes sense in light of the long-term effect of onsite
spent fuel storage.
Governor Peter Shumlin has appointed the man who
had been the state's commissioner of education to the new elevated position of
secretary of education. Armando Vilaseca will serve one year in the newly
created cabinet-level post, and Shumlin says a national search will be launched
at midyear for someone to take the job on a more permanent basis.
The New York State Bar Association says it will ask
lawmakers for more state aid for low-income legal services. The state lawyers
group outlined its legislative agenda yesterday, six days before New York's
Legislature begins its 2013 regular session.
Starbucks rolled out a new deal yesterday. You can now get a $1 re-usable plastic
cup at cafes across the country. The company already gives customers a dime discount
each time they bring in reusable cups for refills. Now it's hoping the new cups will increase the habit. In 2008, Starbucks said it wanted to
serve 25% of all drinks in re-usable cups by 2015. They've since reduced that
goal to 5%.
Nearly a year ago Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin
laid out his 2013 fiscal budget. "This
is a balanced budget," said Governor Shumlin last January. That budget took effect July 1st and
now that we're nearly halfway through the fiscal year, we know Shumlin's
calculations were off. This week
he presented a budget adjustment bill that shows the state paid nearly
$4-million dollars more than expected.
"It's um, pretty miniscule," said Vermont Representative
Martha Heath. Heath says that's
not bad when you consider the overall budget is more than $5-billion dollars. She says the majority of increases come
from the Agency of Human Services, where program cost for putting homeless in
hotels has doubled to $4 million dollars.
"That seems on the face of it really wasteful to us," said
Heath. We wanted to know how
they'll make up the gap. Lawmakers
say not by touching your money, but shifting it around from others programs
that didn't use as much, programs like Medicaid. And as they work on next year's budget, Governor Shumlin
says he wants to remain out of your wallet. "You'll see us come forth with a budget later this
month that will also be balanced, without raising broad based taxes," said
Shumlin. Whether that will happen
though, is unclear because Heath says there are still a lot of unknowns about
how new healthcare programs will be paid for. "We are going to have to pay the ongoing costs for the
exchange for example and how is that going to be financed," said Heath. Lawmakers will continue to take
testimony on the budget bill until next week, before they vote on it.
Experts say just a few minutes outside in these
temperatures could lead to frostbite and the even bigger concern is
hypothermia. Every winter there
are always people who end up spending a lot more time outside than they
planned, getting lost skiing or hiking maybe. Doctors say hypothermia can set in and be deadly. The early signs are shivering,
difficulty moving and thinking clearly.
That's why doctors say there are things you should do if you end up
caught in the cold. "If you
have the ability to get into shelter that's number one. If you can build a fire
that's a good thing. You want to keep your clothing dry if you can and then
other people for body heat. So hug the people you are with is a good thing to
do," says Dr. Stephen Leffler, Fletcher Allen Health Care. Doctors say frostbite is more common
and can happen in just minutes in these temps.
Make-A-Wish Vermont needs your help. The group wants to raise $1
million frequent flier miles by the end of the month. That's because 60% of the wishes
by sick Vermonters involve travel. If you want to help by donating your frequent flier
miles call (802)-864-9393 or visit www.wishesinflightvt.org.
All donated miles will go to
Vermont kids.
