WVTK Local & State News February 17, 2011

A foot chase in the woods lining Route 7 in Clarendon ended with Vermont State Police arresting a man in the snow behind Clarendon's Meadowcrest Drive yesterday afternoon. State and city police converged on a portion of Route 7 at about 12:30 PM after the man, who remains unidentified, drove a rental car into the median a short distance before the intersection of Route 103. The man is being held by police and charges pending include attempting to elude a police officer, possession of marijuana and careless and negligent operation of a motor vehicle.

A record five candidates are vying for two open seats on the Port Henry Village Board of Trustees. That's in sharp contrast to recent village elections, when nominees ran unopposed for the position. There will be a public candidates forum at 7 PM Monday, February 28, at the Port Henry firehouse, sponsored by the community group called pH7. The election is from Noon to 9 PM Tuesday, March 15, at the village firehouse.

The Crown Point Town Council heard from experts on what it can do to fix its broken water system. About 40 people came to the Crown Point firehouse recently to listen to a briefing from consultants and engineers on what's wrong with the system and what could be done to mend it. The town's public-water system is full of leaks, has low pressure, and many water meters are missing or broken.

Residents of Westport have met the anonymous potential buyer of the Treadwell estate, which has been on the market for just over a year. David Mann, a former marketing executive from Westchester County, introduced himself to the community and presented his plans for the estate. He described the proposed project as a private club centered on a full-scale working farm. It’s would be a retreat where members could leave behind their cell phones and laptops and immerse themselves in the simplicity of an earlier era.

Supporters of legislation allowing terminally ill patients to end their own lives plan to gather at the Vermont Statehouse to unveil legislation that would make Vermont the third state to allow the practice. Its fate in the Legislature is less than clear, however. Opponents, including religious groups and advocates for the disabled, are also well organized and have been running television commercials against allowing what they call assisted suicide.

Just one week after the introduction of Gov. Peter Shumlin’s health-care bill, some of the state’s largest employers are signaling their opposition to any reforms that would require companies to participate financially in a single-payer system. Representatives of companies including IBM, Wal-Mart, Home Depot and others have warned against efforts to force self-insured companies into a publicly financed health-care system.

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin is back from his trip to Canada and says he's hoping to see high-speed passenger rail linking New York and Montreal through Vermont and a pipeline bringing natural gas form Canada as far south as Rutland in the coming years. Shumlin said that he wants to expand the existing Vermont Gas system, which now serves northwestern Vermont, south into Addison and Rutland counties. He says the high-speed rail route would include a spur from Springfield, MA to Boston.

Another school district is one step closer to a possible teachers' strike. After 12 months of negotiations the South Burlington school board says it has reached a stalemate with its teachers' union and will exercise its legal right to impose a contract for the remaining four months of this school year. It wants to focus on negotiating a contract for next year. Once the school board imposes working conditions, the teachers have the legal right to strike. The teachers' union will hold that vote on March 2.

New York State Police are warning you of a phone scam. The callers have been indicating that they are from the Bureau of Criminal Investigations or the Cyber Crime Unit of the New York State Police and requesting money for a bad debt or an unpaid loan. If you have been a victim or recipient of this scam, call your local police station or e-mail the New York State Police Tip Line.

Vermont tax collections fell slightly below target last month, but the state's overall revenue picture is improving. General fund taxes for the first seven months of the fiscal year total $687 million. That's 9 percent ahead of the $628 million that had been collected by this same time last year.

Sen. Bernie Sanders is challenging the Obama administration over proposed changes in Social Security. The president's debt commission recommended fixing Social Security by increasing the retirement age and reducing future increases in benefits. Sanders is fighting those changes and has formed a small Senate caucus to help him.

Sen. Patrick Leahy is going after polluters. He has reintroduced legislation that would increase penalties for environmental crimes. Along with stiffer fines and criminal sentences, Leahy wants polluters to pay mandatory compensation to victims of the environmental degradation. The Judiciary Committee approved the legislation last year, but it was not acted on by the full Senate.

A radioactive steam leak forced Entergy Nuclear to evacuate its reactor building at Vermont Yankee yesterday morning. The workers were evacuated in order to minimize exposure to radioactivity. The leak was in the high-pressure coolant injection system and did not force the shutdown of Vermont Yankee.

North Country Congressman Bill Owens announced last week a new section of his website dedicated to promoting free tax filing services for upstate New Yorkers. AARP offers free services, run by certified tax preparers, for low-to-moderate income taxpayers of all ages every year. Upstate New Yorkers can find the nearest tax aide site by visiting Owens' website.

Burlington and University of Vermont Police are telling women to me mindful of their surroundings, after at least nine reports since December of someone groping women then running away. The most recent attack was Sunday night. The man is said to be in his 20's with short, brown hair, wearing either a maroon or white coat, with a hood, and standing from five-foot-seven to six feet tall.

Vermont lawmakers are mulling whether to ask for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to clarify that corporations aren't people. The issue stems from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that said that when it comes to campaign contributions, corporations enjoy the same First Amendment free speech rights that people do.

Vermont's Roman Catholic Diocese, which agreed last year to pay $17.6 million to settle more than two dozen priest sex abuse suits, is now facing five new ones. 4 of the suits involve claims against now-defrocked priest Edward Paquette and one names former Rev. Alfred Willis. They were filed last year but not posted on the public docket of Chittenden Superior Court until Monday, after inquiries by the Burlington Free Press. The church's lawyer, Thomas McCormick, declined comment on the suits.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the number of farms in New York declined by 300 last year, bringing the total from 36,600 farms in 2009 to 36,300 in 2010. The number of large farms decreased, while smaller farms increased. The USDA says it's the first time in four years that the number of farms in New York decreased.

Put down the cell phone and drive. That's the message from town leaders in Rockingham who have adopted a policy banning town employees from using cell phones while driving in town-owned vehicles, under threat of dismissal. Selectboard members passed the measure unanimously Tuesday. They say drivers who talk on cell phones while they're behind the wheel are dangerous.

The New York state Department of Environmental Conservation announced this week a new state law that allows for the one-time transfer of lifetime hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses under certain circumstances. Under the new law, lifetime sporting licenses may be transferred to a qualifying relative if the lifetime license holder passes away within one year of purchase of the license or if the license holder passes away while in active United States military duty during a time of war.