Wednesday, October 2, 2013

WVTK Local & State News October 2, 2013

GE Aviation announced Wednesday it will invest another $20 million in its Rutland facility next year, bringing total investment since 2010 to nearly $100 million.  Over the last three years, the GE Rutland plant has increased employment from 950 to 1,250 workers.  At the same time, the plants on Windcrest Road and Columbian Avenue have completed $75 million in capital improvements.
GE said the growth is driven by a record backlog and rising production rates.

The Middlebury Selectboard held a special meeting last night about the Main Street and Merchants Row Bridge Replacements.  During the meeting, an engineering firm presented conceptual plans for the Tunnel Option.  The presentation, which included a summary of the overall schedule and project development process, was a lead-in to the Selectboard's formal consideration and unanimous approval of the Tunnel Option as the Town's Preferred Alternative for the Bridge Replacements project.  Construction is slated to begin next spring.

State police want to make sure people living in Rutland are aware of some training coming up Friday on city streets.  During daylight hours October 4th, the training will happen in the area of Merchants Row and Evelyn Street in Rutland City, with state police swarming over the area.  The exercises will primarily be inside the building next to the Chamber of Commerce, as well as an old C-C-V building on Evelyn Street

On the first day of the Vermont marketplace for health insurance, the website was up and running, but not without problems.  By late afternoon yesterday, 85-hundred people had logged on to vermont-health-connect-dot-gov and some had problems with it running very slow at times.  The Vermont Health Access Commissioner, Mark Larson, says with a new system that size they knew there would be some issues and were disappointed it was as slow as it was, but doesn’t see that as a long-term thing.  He says while the contractor handling the site has missed some milestones, he’s confident the work will get done.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has signed legislation to improve safety for boaters in New York’s waterways by requiring safety classes for all boat operators.  The new law (A.3471-A/S.1639-A) requires all boat operators to obtain a boating safety certificate by completing an eight hour safe boating course.  The requirement will be put into effect over a period of years, beginning next year with all 18-year-old boaters.  The previous law only required the operator of a personal watercraft to obtain a boating safety certificate or be accompanied on the vessel by a person over 18 years of age who is the holder of a safety certificate.  The new law extends the requirement to all motorized water vessels.

Burlington Police are investigating a hit and run involving a pedestrian that happened just before 8 p.m. last night on Main Street near St. Paul Street.  Officers say the victim, a 55 year old man, suffered substantial injuries.  The car that hit him then took off.  Police are looking for a blue or black hatch-back type.  The vehicle did not have Vermont plates and had a white license plate with dark letters.  Anyone with information is asked to contact the Burlington Police Department.