New protections for the lakeshores of Vermont are laid out
in a bill now before the House committee.
The bill calls for the Agency of Natural Resources to come up with new
rules restricting what can be built on lakeshores, and also requiring a buffer
of vegetation between the shoreline and buildings. Testimony Thursday from opponents said
there's concern about the state getting involved in regulation normally left up
to towns. Environmentalists spoke in
favor of it, saying Vermont is behind neighboring states when it comes to
protecting its lakes.
If the sequestration cuts go through today, hundreds of
civilian defense employees in the Vermont National Guard will be affected. More than 500 could face furloughs of at
least one day a week, with their paychecks cut by 20-percent. That could begin as early as April, with
Governor Peter Shumlin calling this "the unthinkable." Incoming Adjutant General Steven Cray says the
Guard will still continue to recruit and prepare for natural disasters and
foreign wars, no matter what.
Cumberland Farms will pay $150,000 in civil penalties for
multiple violations of Vermont
laws. The violations have to do with
underground storage tanks at ten of its convenience stores at which it sells
gasoline. Most of the 39 violations
relate to Cumberland Farms’ failure to conduct and maintain documentation of
release detection monitoring of tanks and associated piping
The U.S. Department of Defense says the grounded F-35
fighter jets can take flight once again.
Officials say after finding a cracked engine blade. The fighter jets have been thoroughly
inspected and are cleared for take off.
Officials are still deciding on where to place the F-35 fighter jets. A
preliminary report on the environmental impact of the F-35 in Vermont
says the plane would have a greater noise presence than the F-16s. A final draft of that report is expect to
come sometime in late April or early May.
The Secretary of the Air Force will make the decision of where to place
F-35s 30 days later.
The Vermont Transportation Agency is warning people that
trains will be moving faster between the Massachusetts
border and St. Albans .
On March 11, train speeds are being increased to up to 79 mph south of
White River Junction and up to 59 mph to the north. The speed increases follow upgrades to the
tracks. The upgrades included
improvements to 46 road crossings, but there are still a number of non-gated
crossings. People are also being
reminded to stop, look and listen when approaching a rail crossing.
A new poll conducted by the Castleton Polling Institute
shows that the majority of Vermonters favor banning the use of cellphones while
behind the wheel. According to the poll,
released yesterday, about 68 percent of Vermonters polled said they would
support “making it illegal to talk on a cellphone while driving in Vermont .” This is down 12 points from a previous poll
the institute conducted back in May. The
poll also showed as the respondents got older, more of them supported banning
cellphone use while driving.
