WVTK Local & State News July 21, 2014

While the final vote tally isn't finished, union officials say a clear majority of FairPoint workers have already voted to authorize a strike. Contracts for two unions, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine expire August 2nd. The unions say the two sides are far apart from a settlement, and while workers in Vermont and Maine have already voted, those in New Hampshire have been delayed due to recent storms. The Vermont IBEW spokesperson says he believes all votes should be tallied by tomorrow.

There was another bear sighting in Bristol. Police received reports of a bear going through a dumpster behind 31 Main Street near Darcy's Salon. The resident who spotted the bear says this isn't the first time the bear has been in the area and says he tried to scare the bear away. Police advise residents to never take matters into their own hands when they see a wild animal, they say just call local officials.

Authorities have identified the three victims in a single-engine plane crash in the Adirondacks as a West Virginia man, his 24-year-old daughter and a 25-year-old Michigan man. State police announce today that 63-year-old Fred Kafka of Vienna, West Virginia, was piloting the Mooney M20 when it crashed Saturday morning after attempting to land at the Lake Placid Municipal Airport in the town of North Elba. Investigators say he took off from the Potsdam airport for a sightseeing tour of the Adirondacks. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Prepare for some delays in crossing the Vermont/Canadian border for the next couple of weeks. U-S Customs say a two-week construction holiday means traffic delays. They say travelers should plan on using the crossings during lighter traffic periods, or other ports of entry if possible between now and August 2nd.

An extensive search for a plane which crashed in Lake Champlain 43 years ago ended Sunday. The joint effort by Vermont and New York authorities over the week-end used high-tech equipment to search 15 square miles of the lake bottom near Shelburne. While no definitive evidence of the missing jet with five people on board was recovered, authorities did receive new tips from the public which could help in solving the mystery. The plane took off from Burlington in a snowstorm in January, 1971 bound for Providence before disappearing over the lake.

This Saturday, it the 6th Annual StreetFest in Downtown Ticonderoga from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. StreetFest is an annual celebration with shopping, sidewalk sales, non-stop live entertainment, arts and crafts, variety of vendors, food, farmers’ market, fun, cars and boat displays, as well as family and youth activities including professional full face art, caricatures, face painting, and a Kids Bike Rally and Rodeo to attract people to Ticonderoga’s historic Montcalm Street district. Admission to the event is free and open to the public.