WVTK Local & State News January 7, 2011

National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory that will be in effect from 10 AM this morning (Friday) to 7 PM Saturday. The Weather Channel Says: Snow is likely today – accumulating anywhere from a dusting to 2 inches – High In The 20’s.

The Mount Abraham Union High School board is cutting an additional $174,000 from its 2011-2012 educational spending plan after receiving word this week that the Bristol school will post a projected $111,000 deficit this year. A recently completed audit revealed a significant drop in Mount Abe’s projected revenues for next year that forced them to make more spending cuts on top of what was already eliminated earlier in the budget planning process. The Mount Abe board is scheduled to finalize the spending plan on January 18th and be ready for a vote on Town Meeting Day.

The first of five forums on Addison Northwest Supervisory Union’s unification will be held on Tuesday at Vergennes Union High School. The meeting will begin at 6:30 PM and run for 90 minutes. The five Addison Northwest Supervisory Union towns will vote on unification on Town Meeting Day. All five towns must vote yes if the change is to be adopted.

The Lake Champlain Bridge Coalition has announced the formation of a new group to help plan the public celebrations for the reopening of the Lake Champlain Bridge. The newly formed Lake Champlain Bridge Community will be made up of residents and businesses interested and affected by the demolition of the bridge. The LCB Community will hold a public meeting on January 24 at the Crown Point Historic Site Museum in Crown Point, N.Y., for anyone interested. No official date has been set for the opening of the bridge, although the tentative target date is October 8.

Coming up on January 18th Middlebury residents will get a chance to weigh in on a draft 2011-2012 town spending plan. The plan would require a 2.13-cent increase to a municipal property tax rate that has remained level the past two years.

Bristol’s Lawrence Memorial Library’s turns 100 this year. To celebrate, the library will be having parties all year long. In 1911, local businessman and Addison County Sheriff William Lawrence gave the building to the town for just one dollar. Lawrence dedicated the library to his two deceased wives.

On Tuesday Middlebury College employees began harvesting the first batch of wood chips from its willow test plot. The two fields where the testing is taking place are located west of the campus off Route 125. This now brings the school’s biomass plant one step closer to processing its own wood fuel.

A state police detective investigating a West Rutland shooting that injured a woman said the gunshot might have been accidental. Twenty-two-year-old Tiffanie Felix was shot in the back while driving on Route 4 near West Rutland at about 1:45 AM Saturday. Police attempts to unravel what happened in the car have been hampered by a lack of cooperation from Felix’s passengers, who have either refused to talk to police or have given contradictory information. Even if the shooting was an accident charges could be brought against the shooter for criminal negligence or other reasons.

January 12th marks the anniversary of the magnitude 7 earthquake that devastated the capital city of Port-au-Prince and surrounding communities in Haiti. Members of the Memorial Baptist Church of Middlebury are planning a trip to Haiti with aspirations of making the earthquake anniversary more about hope than about somber reflection.

Vermont's new governor, Peter Shumlin, says he wants to move the state toward a single-payer health care system, expand broadband Internet access to every corner of the state and avoid increases in broad-based taxes, at least for right now. Shumlin delivered an inaugural address of about 35 minutes yesterday afternoon.

The state's new Lt. Gov. Phil Scott is encouraging Vermonters to get involved to help make the state a better place in which to live. Scott, a Republican, made those comments yesterday after he was sworn in to office at the Statehouse in Montpelier.

Former Governor Howard Dean was at the inauguration of Gov. Peter Shumlin yesterday. Dean brought universal coverage to Vermont kids while in office with the Doctor Dynasaur program. He says even in this tough economic climate achieving Shumlin's goal of universal coverage for all Vermonters is doable. And he says the Obama health care bill creates an easier way for Vermont to do it.

A day after being sworn in as Vermont's 81st governor, Gov. Peter Shumlin will hold his inaugural ball tonight at Sugarbush Resort in Warren. Tickets are limited to 1,100 and go for $53 with higher priced tickets of $103 or $253 that include a voluntary additional contribution to a foundation. Proceeds will benefit the Vermont National Guard Charitable Foundation.

A hospital official says 11 students and one adult from Vermont's Putney Central School who were being treated for suspected carbon monoxide poisoning have been released from the hospital. The Putney Fire Chief says the gas leak was caused by a furnace problem. The school was evacuated and students taken to the gymnasium after the problem was reported at about 11:30 AM Thursday. By 1 PM the gas had been cleared from the building and students were allowed to return.

A Hancock man will spend the next year behind bars for a violent home invasion. Twenty-one-year-old Mikel Brady broke into a South Royalton home in 2008, assaulted two residents with a bat, tied them up and stole everything in a safe. On Wednesday a judge sentenced him to 28 months in prison as part of a plea deal, but Brady could be released as early as March of 2012. That's because he's already serving a two-year sentence for stealing dynamite from the Rock of Ages granite quarry in Bethel and will receive credit for time already served.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo nominated a man from the Adirondacks to be the state's environmental chief. Joe Martens would replace Peter Grannis as commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation. Grannis was fired over a leaked memo blasting the Paterson administration's layoff plans. Martens is chairman of the Olympic Regional Development Authority Board of Directors. His appointment still needs approval from the state Senate.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority is offering $3.2 million in grants to help farmers reduce energy use, cut greenhouse gas emissions and save money. The program, announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, will provide financial incentives to support 75% of the cost of electricity and gas efficiency investments. Farms eligible for the grants include: orchards, dairies, vineyards, maple producers, egg and poultry farms, grain, specialty crops, and others.

A new art exhibit in downtown Burlington will leave you laughing. The Flynn Center for the Performing Arts is showing work by South Burlington cartoonist Harry Bliss. His comics appear in newspapers, magazines, and books nationwide, but this is his first one-man art show in Vermont. The exhibit will be unveiled Friday night and is at the Flynn until March. It's open to the public free on Saturdays from 1:00-4:00 and to Flynn ticket holders on nights of performances.