WVTK Local & State News January 20, 2015

Students at CVU were sent home early today due to a situation at the school. Hinesburg police and Vermont state police were on the scene. Principal Jeff Evans said the students were dismissed at 12:40 p.m due to a bomb threat. School officials say police searched the school and nothing was found. After-school activities were back on this afternoon and there will be school as usual on tomorrow.

A coalition of Vermont hospitals and other groups is calling for a stiff new tax on sugary beverages. The Alliance for a Healthier Vermont, which also includes businesses, the statewide teachers' union and the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, wants an excise tax on sugary beverages of 2 cents per ounce. They say the funds generated could be used to offset health care costs and for food programs for low-income Vermont residents. But Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell said earlier today that the tax is not the way to encourage healthy behavior. He says it will hurt businesses and put parts of Vermont near bordering states at a competitive disadvantage.

The pipeline vote in Cornwall has been cancelled. A special referendum vote was scheduled for February 12, in which resident would decide whether the town should or should sign a compensation agreement with Vermont Gas in exchange for the town backing Phase II of the Natural Gas Pipeline Project. The selectboard cancelled the vote citing a recent decision by Vermont Gas to suspend its permitting efforts for Phase II.

Governor Peter Shumlin is offering his plan for improving water quality of Lake Champlain and other locations around Vermont. Shumlin has presented a 59-page draft bill to lawmakers that imposes strict new pollution control rules on developers and farmers. The measure also includes a certification process for small farms to make sure they comply with accepted agricultural practices. The draft bill does not explain how it would be funded or enforced.

The deadline is near if you’d like to run for local office. If you’d like to service on the Middlebury Selectboard UD-3 School Board, you have until next Monday, January 26th at 5 pm, to have all the necessary paperwork, including 30 signatures from local residents, to the town clerk’s office.