WVTK Local & State News April 17, 2015

A gun possession bill has cleared the Vermont Legislature. S.141 passed the House 80-62 earlier today. IIt got preliminary approval yesterday after more than four hours of debate on the House floor. It previously passed the Senate 20-8. The bill would ban certain violent felons and drug traffickers from possessing a gun in Vermont. These people are already banned from having a gun under federal law. A Vermont law would allow local law enforcement and prosecutors to file charges. 49 other states have a law of this type. The bill also requires the state to report names of people deemed dangerous to themselves or others by a court to the Federal background check database, called NICS. Those people are also prohibited from having a gun under federal law, but Vermont does not currently report their names to the database.

Vermont State Police make another arrest in connection to Tuesday's fatal crash. Police say 52-year-old Tracy Yandow was arrested for violating the conditions of his release. He was previously arrested for DUI and was not supposed to be drinking alcohol. Yandow was a passenger in the car that hit and killed Kelly Boe, 55, on Tuesday. Boe later died at Porter Medical Center.

The teacher believed responsible for spreading tuberculosis in Charlotte is headed back to school. Laura Hall, a Spanish teacher at Charlotte Central School, was diagnosed with TB back in January. She had the active form of the respiratory illness and is believed to have spread the bacteria to others at the school. At last report, the state health department reported that 19 children and two adults had tested positive for TB, but none of them have actually gotten sick with the disease. The school says Hall has completed her treatment and has been cleared by the health department to return to work. They say she poses no further risk of infecting other people.

Vermont State Police say they will be patrolling the parks this year. It's an effort to discourage people from breaking into vehicles and stealing valuables. Last year, thefts were widespread. So this season, police are reminding hikers to take extra steps to secure valuables left behind in vehicles. Police also say they will have a greater presence this season by routinely patrolling the parking lots.