WVTK Local & State News January 13, 2011

There is a lot of cleaning up going on around southern Vermont after this snowstorm spent the whole day dumping up to 30 inches in some areas. Virtually every area of the state got snow. Chris Bouchard, a meteorologist at the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, said the southern counties of Vermont received the heaviest blanket of snow. With the Martin Luther King holiday this weekend, the midweek storm is more welcome news for the state’s ski areas. Police dispatchers around were reporting cars stuck along roadways yesterday afternoon but no serious injuries were reported.

A special commission that has been studying Vermont's tax system for nearly two years is about to recommend some changes. The Vermont Blue Ribbon Tax Structure Commission is expected to issue a report at the Statehouse on Thursday. One idea the panel has considered is to lower Vermont's sales tax - currently set at 6% - and to apply it to services, rather than just goods.

A Hinesburg man has pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge stemming from a collision in downtown Burlington while he was fleeing police. Fifty-2-year-old Timothy Dowd of Hinesburg entered the plea yesterday. He was also charged with driving under the influence with death resulting and aggravated operation without the owner's consent. Dowd is being held without bail.

A Hinesburg police officer charged with assaulting his girlfriend has resigned from the force. Robert Barrows was arrested Monday night and charged with domestic assault. The department immediately placed Barrows on paid leave. However, the police chief for Hinesburg says Barrows later resigned from the local department.

On January 18, Lincoln residents will be asked to vote on a $2 million, 20-year bond to pay for improvements to the Lincoln Community School building. The final plan is limited to repairs and upgrades necessary to ensure the safety, structural integrity and cost-effective maintenance of the building. The Education Commissioner has approved the revised plan in its entirety.

The barn of 1 of Vermont's largest providers of vegetables has burned down. The fire at Pete's Greens in Craftsbury was discovered just after 4 a.m. yesterday. The farm's main barn was destroyed, including all of their storage crops and their vegetable washing and processing equipment. State police say there were no injuries. The cause of the fire is undetermined, but it is not considered suspicious. Pete's Greens is a year-round operation that supplies organic vegetables to Vermonters.

A crash on Business Route 4 yesterday morning damaged two vehicles but didn’t injure either driver. Police said 88-year-old Cecelia Capen of Proctor didn’t see a vehicle driven by Margaret Blanchard of Pittsford when she pulled onto Route 4 from West Proctor Road. Both vehicles were damaged but the drivers, who police said were both wearing seatbelts, were able to drive them away.

A new report says 1,500 jobs could be created in Vermont over the next decade if Vermonters double their consumption of locally produced food. The 10-year Farm to Plate plan released Wednesday outlines 60 strategies for boosting the state's food and farm economy and improving access to healthy local food. The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund says the strategies could increase total economic output by at least $135 million per year. Gov. Peter Shumlin and legislative leaders say they will work to put in place the plan's recommendations to boost agriculture and jobs in Vermont.

Vermont continues to see modest increases in tax revenues, which is a hopeful sign for the administration of new governor Peter Shumlin. So far, tax collections for the current fiscal year are 3.76 percent above target and 7.25 percent ahead of where they were last year.

Vermont is better off than most of the country when it comes to jobs. Most recent data puts Vermont's unemployment rate at 5.7 percent-- lower than the national average of nearly 10-percent. But the state wants to lower the number of jobless Vermonters even more.

Vermont lawmakers want to get big rigs out of downtowns and back on the interstate. The heavy trucks were allowed on the interstate for just one year as part of a pilot program passed by Sen. Patrick Leahy. But the program expired last month. Truckers say that takes longer and uses more gas. Residents worry about increased noise and safety. Lawmakers also want big rigs on the interstate and they hope to pressure Congress to act.

The head of the Vermont National Guard says 30% of the state's soldiers who just returned from Afghanistan don't have a job. Maj. Gen. Michael Dubie made the comments Tuesday during his annual report to the Legislature. Dubie says the reasons the veterans are jobless are varied. He says some people gave up their jobs before they were sent overseas or their pre-deployment employer went out of business.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he was "shocked" to learn 28 top officers in the state police got raises of more than $20,000 last month as some 900 state workers were facing layoffs. The new governor says he'll review the increases, which were requested by the police agency after a union agreement bumped some majors to $170,756 salaries, topping executive staff pay.

The New York state Department of Environmental Conservation has put its stamp of approval on a proposal that would allow Essex County to sell surplus fish from its fish hatchery. While hashing out the 2011 county budget late last year, county officials openly discussed closing the facility, which annually costs $280,000 to operate and is in need of another $100,000 in renovations. The DEC has approved the change, provided that the bulk of county fish continue to go to publicly accessible waters.

The Pfizer manufacturing facility in Rouses Point appears poised to hold steady for the near future. However the company's Plattsburgh and Chazy facilities are now closed. There are 369 people working at the Rouses Point plant and the lease has been extended to the end of 2011. Pfizer would need to decide by July if it will extend its lease into 2012.

Keeping New York's state parks open last year despite massive money issues is a move that paid off. Officials say 57 million people visited the parks in 2010, a million more than 2009. For a while it looked like the parks wouldn't be open. After outcry, $11 million was restored to keep all parks open. However the state parks budget has been slashed by $35 million and officials say this has left parks understaffed and in need of repair.

The Vermont Wood Manufacturers Association has announced its 2011 Vermont Fine Furniture and Wood Products Design Competition. The competition is open to woodworkers with all different skill levels in Vermont and is divided into three sections. The competition will be held at the Union Arena in Rutland, in conjunction with the 8th Annual Fine Furniture and Woodworking Festival on September 24 and 25. For more information and to enter download the entry form available at Vermontwooddesigns.org.

Leaders of cultural groups in New York, Vermont and Quebec are joining forces to commemorate the upcoming 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 and its impact on the Lake Champlain region. Dozens of people from the two states and the Canadian province gathered earlier this week at Clinton Community College in Plattsburgh to kick off formal planning for next year's bicentennial celebration.

It was in the early 1940's when the classic song "Moonlight in Vermont" first became a big hit. That was recorded by a young Hollywood singer named Margaret Whiting, who brought images of a rustic Vermont to young GI's around the world when Armed Forces Radio played the song. Margaret Whiting died Tuesday at the Lillian Booth Actors' home in Englewood, New Jersey at the age of 86. She had a long career in films and records, including a duet "Baby It's Cold Outside" with the song's writer, Johnny Mercer, who also was her godfather.