WVTK Local & State News October 17, 2013

Middlebury College has suspended a student who took part in the desecration of a 9/11 memorial on campus.  A photo from the campus newspaper showed protesters removing nearly 3,000 small American flags from the lawn outside Mead Chapel.  Only one of the protesters was a Middlebury student.  She was brought before a college disciplinary board, which found she violated the school's "respect for persons and respect for property" policy.  She's been suspended for one year.

Police say a pedestrian was killed this morning when he was struck and killed by a train in Waterbury.  It happened at about 9:45 a.m.  Police say the man was struck by an Amtrak passenger train just north of the Amtrak stop in Waterbury, under a bridge.  Investigators are still trying to determine why the man was on the tracks.

The Bristol Health Center has earned a federal designation.  Mountain Health Center has been officially designated a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike by the U.S. Government.  Mountain Health Center provides access to primary and preventative health care services, and includes medical, dental, and behavioral health care for residents.  The Look-Alike designation makes it possible for Mountain Health Center to offer a sliding fee scale to uninsured and underinsured patients meeting federal guidelines based on income.

Williston Police are looking to identify a woman accused of shoplifting clothing from Old Navy.  Police say the woman, with 3 children, was concealing clothing in her belongings.  When the woman was approached by a store employee and asked what she was doing, the woman said "This is what shoplifting looks like."  The woman then continued to conceal clothing.  She left the store once police were called.  Anyone with information is asked to contact the Williston Police Department at (802)-878-6611.

Officials at the Ferrisburgh Central School are considering wood heating for the school as a way to save money.  During a school board meeting last week, a representative from Renewable Energy Resources said a wood chip boiler could pay for itself in as few as four years and a wood pellet unit in as few as nine years, depending upon among other things the price of fuel oil.

Vermont State Police are conducting a Drug Take Back Day on October 26.  The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 57 locations throughout the state of Vermont.  Police say Drug Take Back Day is a law enforcement effort to assist with the proper disposal of medicines.  Pills should not be flushed or thrown away, but instead brought to a proper disposal.  Police say no identification or questions are asked at these sites.  In 2012, Vermont law enforcement hosted 2 separate Drug Take Back Days where a total of 3,405 pounds of drugs were taken back.  The last Drug Take Back Day, held in April, collected 2,393 pounds.