WVTK Local & State News June 24, 2014

Four Vermont high schools are awarded grants from the Vermont Agency of Education (AOE) to help raise awareness of ACT 77 legislation. A press release says Act 77 encourages Vermont schools to offer "flexible pathways" to high graduation with both traditional and non-traditional learning. The four schools selected for the grants include Otter Valley Union High School in Brandon; Twinfield Union School in Plainfield; Champlain Valley Union High School in Hinesburg; and Colchester High School in Colchester. The four schools will gather several times over the next academic year to learn a host of skills related to building public understanding of educational redesign and deep engagement.

Buss drivers at ACTR will not be unionizing. Driver earlier this month voted 9 to 8 against joining the Teamsters Local 597. Officials at Addison County Transit Resources say they are confident that they can work together with drivers to resolve any issues they may arise.

A teen driver says his food caused him to flip over and smash into a tree. Police say Gunnar Sonwaldt, 16, was also speeding on Fuller Mountain Road in Ferrisburgh when he lost control Monday, went off the road, flipped and hit a tree. He was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police say the teen told them he was eating and not paying attention to driving in the moments before the crash.

The U.S. Coast Guard says it's had two rescues in Lake Champlain in the past two weeks. Both were kayakers who capsized. Although the Coast Guard says there has not been an increase in water rescues, anytime they need to help someone in need is one time too many. The Coast Guard says federal law requires life jackets on board every boat and enough of them for every passenger. A violation can cost up to a $100 fine in New York State and Vermont State Police say fines for the same violation range from $70 to $105.

The U.S. Senate has approved the nomination of Vermont Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Crawford to become the state's next federal court judge by a vote of 95-0. Crawford was nominated by President Barack Obama May 19. 59-year-old Crawford has served for more than a decade as a superior court judge before being nominated last year to the state Supreme Court. He will replace Judge William Sessions III, who has taken senior status, a kind of semi-retirement.