WVTK Local & State News January 17, 2011

Middlebury police are asking the community to help solve two break-ins that happened on the same street just a few days apart. The most recent was a robbery on Seminary St. Friday. Police say after 1 PM, three masked men broke into a woman's apartment and stole her medicine box, which had methadone. The major concern is this happened about a block away from a home burglary earlier last week. If you have any information, please call Crimestoppers or Middlebury Police.

Mark Hulett will soon be released. The convicted child rapist has completed his sentence and found state-approved housing in the Addison County town of Waltham. But under a quirk in his sentence, he had to jump through one final hoop, asking the court to okay his release. Lawyers remarked the move is highly unusual. Since Hulett finished his sentence, and has housing in Waltham far away from kids, he's cleared for release.

Police said they are looking for whoever stole the license plates off a car parked at the Price Chopper in West Rutland. The Rutland County Sheriff’s Department said someone took both license plates off the Subaru Outback of someone working at Price Chopper. It happened between 7 AM and 10:30 AM Saturday. The license plate number is EXS 358.

While Diamond Run Mall is finally paying its water bill, it still isn’t paying its impact fees to the city. Treasurer Wendy Wilton said last week the mall had failed to pay its $100,000 in impact fees, due December 31, for the second year in a row. However, she did say she got the first $20,000 payment on the mall’s delinquent water bill last week. City Attorney Andrew Costello said he had put the issue on the Board of Alderman’s agenda for this week and civil litigation will be discussed in executive session.

Sixty-four towns across Vermont will celebrate their 250th birthday this year. All the towns in the East are the oldest in the nation, but still relatively new compared to the towns in Massachusetts. In 1749, Benning Wentworth, the first royal governor of New Hampshire, issued a charter that established the town of Bennington. Over the next 14 years, Wentworth issued 128 more town charters covering 3 million acres, or half of present-day Vermont. Nearby towns celebrating the 250 anniversary of their charter are Addison, Brandon, Bridport, Castleton, Cornwall, Killington, Leicester, Middlebury, New Haven, Panton, Pittsford, Poultney, Rutland, Salisbury, Sherburne, Shoreham, Shrewsbury, Tinmouth, Wallingford and Weybridge.

The latest way to read a book has reached Vermont libraries, which recently began offering e-books that can be borrowed for use on an electronic reading device. The Green Mountain Library Consortium has purchased the rights to about 500 electronic books so far. Readers can borrow them through the Listen Up! Vermont website to read on an electronic reader, computer or smart phone. Some libraries have even purchased e-readers to lend out so their patrons can experience e-reading.

The state’s ski areas are reveling in last week’s storm that brought more than two feet of snow in many parts of Vermont. And while that’s always welcome news for the state’s downhill ski areas, it’s absolutely essential for Vermont’s 30 cross-country areas that are almost entirely dependent on natural snow. Of the 30 Nordic ski areas in Vermont, 20 are standalone ski touring centers while the remaining 10 are part of downhill ski areas.

Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy has saved an entire program for the F-35 fighter that will benefit the General Electric plant in Rutland. The Pentagon wanted to kill funding for an alternate engine being designed for the next generation fighter jet. But Leahy got the funding restored in a budget bill passed last month and the Pentagon has reinitiated the program.

Ask Vermont lawmakers what they want to accomplish this year and they'll give you a list: Reduce energy consumption in state buildings by 20%. Put Vermont on a path to universal health care. Pass a law allowing terminally ill patients to end their own lives. Streamline the state's tax code and make it fairer. It's a big and difficult agenda, and Gov. Peter Shumlin says he wants to accomplish it without raising any of the state's broad-based taxes.

Vermont State Police say a man faces drunk driving and other charges after his car crashed into a bus carrying a high school hockey team. Police say a Jeep Cherokee driven by 66-year-old John Billard of Vergennes crashed into a bus carrying 16 members of the Mount Mansfield Union High School boy's hockey team Saturday night on Route 7 in Ferrisburgh. Billard and a female passenger were rescued from the Jeep and hospitalized. Two students on the bus were treated at the scene.

About 30 people attended Rep. Peter Welch's Congress in Your Community event Saturday at Mac's Market in Essex Jct. Some constituents stopped to listen and others arrived with specific questions and suggestions. Welch began by paying tribute to Arizona Rep. Garbrielle Giffords. Welch explained that he and Giffords were part of the same Congressional class in 2006 and learned the ropes together.

The Green Mountain National Forest is seeking public input as part of its deliberations to decide whether to approve plans for a mountaintop wind energy project in the southern Vermont towns of Readsboro and Searsburg. The Forest Service has scheduled two public meetings to gather comments. They are scheduled for Thursday at the Howe Center in Rutland and Tuesday at Readsboro Central School. Both meetings will be held at 6 PM.

Vermont's North Country Hospital in Newport now has a certified cardiac rehabilitation program. The hospital says the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation recognized it with the certification. The program was recognized for its commitment to improving the quality of life of patients by improving standards of care for people suffering from cardiovascular problems such as heart attacks and those who have undergone coronary artery bypass procedures.

The American Red Cross says it's seeking blood donors after a blizzard along the eastern seaboard caused a shortfall of more than 8,000 donations. Officials say the northeast region alone lost more than 2,200 blood donations. Red Cross official’s say they're seeking to reschedule hundreds of blood drives canceled by the storm, and they're asking eligible donors to make an appointment to donate blood.

It looks like it's going to be health care week around the Vermont Statehouse. On Tuesday, Vermont's two U.S. senators and congressman will make a rare, if not unprecedented joint appearance with Gov. Peter Shumlin to talk about Shumlin's push for a single-payer health care system for Vermont. On Wednesday, a consultant hired by the Legislature to craft three different health care plans for the state releases his report to lawmakers.

Vermont U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy and the regional commander of the U.S. Coast Guard are going to tell the public about safety on the ice. Leahy and Rear Adm. Daniel Neptun will also witness an ice rescue demonstration Tuesday outside the Coast Guard headquarters on the Lake Champlain waterfront in Burlington.

While today is the federal holiday, many celebrated the birth of civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Junior on Sunday in church. Reverend Al Sharpton was in Burlington Sunday, and gave a sermon at the Unitarian Universalist Church, talking about the legacy of the slain civil rights leader. He said Doctor King's fight was still ongoing.