WVTK Local & State News April 23, 2015

The Vermont House voted 76-66 to support mandatory paid sick. The scaled-down bill would require employers to provide three days of earned sick time per year for the next two years, then five days after that. Full-time and part-time workers would need to earn the time, at a rate of one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked. Earlier versions of the bill and those from previous years required more sick days, and didn't have a waiting period. The House will take a final vote tomorrow before sending the bill to the Senate.

A man wanted for murder in Springfield has been arrested. Earlier today, police arrested 30-year-old Gregory Allen Smith of Springfield, at a campground in Londonderry. Investigators say Smith shot and killed 37-year-old Wesley Wing on Saturday Night. Smith was taken into custody this morning along with his girlfriend, 25-year-old Wendy Morris. It's not yet clear when Smith or Morris will appear in court.

Vermont lawmakers are considering a bill that would crack down on online dating scams. The legislation requires dating sites to notify a member if there's suspicious activity on their account or if another member has been banned for suspected fraud. The House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development is expected to vote on the measure today.

There has been a steep drop in milk prices paid to farmers. According to the USDA, in February, Vermont farmers received on average $18.30 per hundredweight. That's $7.50 less than February the previous year. Over the same time period, Vermont farmers added about 1,000 cows, but the overall milk production in the state stayed the same.

Google is getting the go-ahead to bring its newly announced cell service to Vermont. The technology giant unveiled Project Fi yesterday. The wireless plan will cost 20-dollars per month, plus ten-dollars per gigabit of data, and will use existing T-Mobile and Sprint networks. In the short-term, service will only be available on the Google Nexus Six.