WVTK Local & State News February 10, 2011

Here’s another reminder that barn owners need to check the snow load on their roofs. The barn at Old Nash Farm Nursery and Landscaping on Pond Road in Hinesburg caved in Tuesday night. A pickup truck parked nearby sustained a few dents and a number of nursery stock shrubs such as lilacs were buried beneath the wreckage. Luckily, no one was injured.

Vermont State Police say a Vergennes man was drunk when he caused a four-car crash involving a school bus that also killed his passenger. Investigators say 66-year-old John Billard's blood alcohol content at the time of the crash was .119. He was driving on Route 7 in Ferrisburgh last month, when police say his car went out of control on the snow covered roads and collided with a bus carrying the Mount Mansfield Union High School boys' hockey team. Police say charges are pending against Billard.

After a month-long training mission Korea, 165 Vermont Air National Guard members returned home last night. The group had been working alongside members of the Alabama National Guard since January 10. A small group remained in Korea to assist the Alabama National Guard with the rest of their mission and will return home in March.

The Department Of Education released statewide test results yesterday. Overall, in grades three through eight in Vermont, 73% were proficient in reading, 65% in math and 57 in writing in the New England Common Assessment Program exams. In eleventh grade, 72 reached the standard in reading, 38% in math and 50% in writing. The highest-achieving local high schools were in reading and included Middlebury Union High School with 85 percent proficient or better and Champlain Valley Union High School with 84 percent.

Vermont ranks 12th nationwide for the most high school seniors mastering college-level coursework. Sixty-four percent of Vermont exam takers scored a three or higher on AP exams, compared to 56 percent nationally. A score of three or higher indicates college-level mastery of content.

Teachers in South Burlington have rejected the latest contract offer from the school board. After four hours of negotiations Tuesday, the board proposed a 2-year contact with a 2.8% salary increase retroactive to the beginning of the school year and a 2.2% increase next year. School Board Chairman Richard Cassidy says the offer included a 15% contribution by teachers to health insurance costs. He says the union made no counter offer.

The jury returned a guilty verdict yesterday in the case of Shane Casey of Marshfield. Jurors agreed he repeatedly used a child in his wife's care as a "sexual slave" for the couple. Casey's wife, who had also been charged along with her husband, suddenly pleaded no contest last week, and is expected to be deported back to her native England.

A former Vermont State Police trooper is disputing a drunk driving charge against him. Joshua Lemieux was arrested in Rutland in October of 2010, after he was allegedly caught driving drunk. Lemieux was off duty at the time. He has now filed a motion to suppress the charge, saying the arresting officer lacked probable cause.

Gov. Peter Shumlin's team is proposing to do away with Catamount Health and consolidate it with a completely state-run program VHAP-- the Vermont Health Access Program for low-income Vermonters. The new plan dubbed VHAP Expanded does away with private insurers. It's projected to save $6-8 million. Under the proposal people on VHAP would not see any changes. Catamount patients would see their deductible rise from $500 to $1,200. The governor's team says it's a step toward moving the state toward a single-payer system.

Flames destroyed a home on Timberline Drive Extension in Killington yesterday afternoon. No one was hurt in the blaze but the two-story home and attached garage were almost leveled by the time firefighters got the blaze under control. Attempts to fight the fire were complicated by water shortages on the hillside where crews hauled water in tankers to the scene.

The mayor of Burlington has tapped a veteran firefighter to be the department's new chief. Deputy Chief Seth Lasker, who joined the department in 1989 and rose through the ranks, will succeed Chief Michael O'Neil, who was recently appointed director of Vermont Emergency Management by Gov. Peter Shumlin.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered a study of New York's minimum- and medium-security prisons to identify those that should close following a decade-long decline in crime rates and inmate populations and the diversion of more drug offenders to treatment programs. The task force will go to work 10 days after the Legislature approves corrections appropriations for the fiscal year that starts April 1.

A New York state Education Department report indicates as many as 74 percent of school districts outside New York City appear to have enough funds in reserve to pay for the historic aid cuts proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The Governor proposes to cut about $1.5 billion from the state's annual school aid of about $21 billion, among the highest per capita school aid in the nation.

Rutland Creative Economy meets at 5 PM today to discuss the concept of opening a children’s museum in Rutland. The meeting in the Downtown Rutland Partnership conference room at 107 Wales St. is open to the public.

The Vermont Department of Health is offering nearly 1,500 free radon test kits so people can test their homes for the colorless, odorless gas, which can cause lung cancer. Health officials say prolonged exposure to radon is the leading cause of lung cancer for Americans that don't smoke. They add that about one out of every eight Vermont homes has elevated radon levels. To get a free kit click HERE.

Nan O'Brien calls herself an intuitive counselor and a medium. She uses intuition to help people with their problems and says she can communicate with people who have passed away. Nan’s next appearance on her SUNRise Listener Appreciation Tour, Co-Sponsored by WVTK and WCAX-TV Channel 3, is tomorrow night from 7 PM to 10 PM here in Middlebury at the Town Hall Theater. For more click HERE.