WVTK Local & State News April 1, 2015

Rumors have been circulating for some time now but it is official, Greg’s Meat Market in Middlebury is closing. They are closing their doors for good at the end of business today. A store official said revenues were unable to service the business's debt, thus forcing a transaction. However, there is a potential sale under negotiation. Mac's of Rutland is rumored to be interested in the Middlebury store, but that information is unconfirmed.

Vermont state employees are officially banned from taking state funded trips to Indiana. Governor Peter Shumlin yesterday issued an executive order imposing the immediate ban on non-essential trips to Indiana. The move is over Indiana's recent enactment of a religious freedom law Shumlin says promotes anti-gay discrimination. Indiana's governor says he's working with legislative leaders to fix the law.

The Republican Governors Association is being fined 40-thousand-dollars for violations of Vermont campaign finance laws. Officials say the RGA failed to report around 290-thousand dollars spent supporting Brian Dube in the 2010 governor's race. Dube ended up losing to Governor Peter Shumlin. The governors organization also failed to register as a political action committee and accepted contributions over the legal limit.

A new report out entitled “When is Small Too Small? Efficiency, Equity & the Organization of Vermont Public Schools” says the state’s smaller school districts are expensive. The new report found that Vermont's very small school districts experience a combination of higher spending and higher taxes and less comprehensive academic program than could be provided at scale. The report was released yesterday, today, legislators in Montpelier are debating school district consolidation.

Now that a busted water pipe in Rutland is repaired, the issue is, who should pay for it. The broken pipe leaked out around 600,000 gallons of water before being repaired this past weekend. The pipe broke between a Kia Dealership and the Main Water Valve. The City says anything beyond the Valve is the property owners responsibility. The owner of the dealership acknowledges that but says the pipe comes off the main valve, then passes under a state right of way and has a fire hydrant on it before it reaches his property.