WVTK Local & State News September 30, 2013

Vermont's new health exchange officially opens for business tomorrow, but Vermonters won't actually be able to buy insurance for at least another month.  October 1st is the starting day for Vermont Health Connect.  That's the state's version of an online insurance marketplace being set up under the federal Affordable Care Act.  The state is providing a call center and trained navigators to help people understand their options and there is time to make choices.  Delays with the computer system mean Vermont Health Connect will not really be connected to consumers until at least November 1st.

School officials with the four Addison Northwest Supervisory Union schools say their schools will be among the 27 Vermont elementary, middle and high schools chosen to participate in field testing the Smarter Balanced Assessment System.  The new tests are a computer-based educational testing program that will replace the state’s current NECAP tests for Math and English Language Arts in the spring of 2015.

The Vermont Transportation Board will hold six public hearings at various locations around the state for the purpose of gathering public comment about transportation-related issues that face the State of Vermont. One of the hearings will be held in Addison County in Middlebury in November.  The Transportation Board each year travels around the state to meet with Vermonters and discuss important transportation issues.  At each hearing, the Board will present background information regarding a number of topics to set the stage for discussion and comment.  The public hearing in Middlebury will be held Wednesday, November 20, at 6 p.m,. at the Addison County Regional Planning Commission Offices.

Vermont State Police are inviting any Addison County resident who has been the victim of a burglary or theft since 2010 to come to VSP’s Route 7 barracks in New Haven next Monday to view a cache of stolen property recovered from an Addison home.  The viewing hours are from 10 a.m. until noon and from 5 to 7 p.m.

The Korean War, often called “the Forgotten War” is being remembered in Rutland, thanks to a new monument unveiled over the weekend.  Korean War vets spent nearly a year getting a monument put up in Main Street Park, with a five-person committee raising 17-thousand dollars for it.  The granite monument features color pictures of an eagle and a flag, and the phrase “Freedom is not Free” which is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC.