WVTK Local & State News June 11, 2014

Vermont Route 125 (College Street) in Middlebury will be closed to all traffic starting next Tuesday at 6 AM to Wednesday at 7 PM due to construction. Middlebury College is replacing a section of steam pipe crossing under the road and both lanes must be trenched across at the same time, completely shutting off the road. Traffic control will be on hand to assist with directing traffic around the construction.

A Rutland jury is defending its decision to acquit Jennifer Berube of attempted murder, even though a security camera caught the woman sneaking up on the victim with a knife. The jury foreman said that although she certainly assaulted the officer, and there was a fight for the knife, at no time did she attempt to stab him or slice at him. Berube was in the police station with her husband. The couple had been accused of attempting to use a stolen credit card. Berube said her only object was to get the keys from the officer, who was not hurt.

According to U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, a new FDA mandate would change artisanal cheese production methods. The FDA issued a mandate that would prevent cheese-makers from using wooden boards to age their cheese. Sen. Schumer says cheese-makers will be forced to use new material for cheese-aging which will be costly and could alter the taste of cheese. Schumer is calling the FDA to reverse its opinion.

Bloomberg Business News is reporting that IBM is close to a deal that will sell its entire chipmaking division, including the Essex Junction plant to another chipmaking company, GlobalFoundries. The future of the Essex Junction plant could have a big impact on Vermont. A recent report by the Greater Burlington Industrial Development Corporation found IBM pumps $1 billion into Vermont's economy. IBM employs about 4,000 people in Vermont 10,000 families are directly or indirectly supported by IBM.

Governor Peter Shumlin signed a bill into law earlier today promoting clean heating technologies. A press release says the law promotes incentives for homes using clean-heating technologies like cold-climate heat and geothermal pumps. The legislation will start a process at the Public Service Board to determine how efficiency providers like Efficiency Vermont can use their resources to help Vermonters install technologies like cold-climate heat pumps or geothermal heat pumps. More information about heat pump technology can be found on Efficiency Vermont’s website.