WVTK Local & State News February 21, 2011

Police are investigating the theft of a floor safe from Rutland's public library that contained overdue library fines and other money. Police say library employees reported the theft Thursday morning, with somebody gaining entry through a side window sometime in the overnight hours. The floor safe was kept in the library's main office, where money and miscellaneous keys were kept for safekeeping.

Electric company officials restored power over the weekend to more than 21,000 customers after high winds damaged power lines and caused outages in central and southern Vermont including Addison & Rutland Counties. Trees and limbs brought down by the wind took down many sections of power line. Forecasters reported gusts of 71 mph on Mount Mansfield and 49 mph at the Rutland airport.

While it was a windy and cold weekend, it was also a welcomed one, as far as ski resorts were concerned. Thousands of skiers headed to the slopes for Presidents Day Weekend; with Stowe Mountain Resort saying they had at least ten thousand people on the mountain Sunday alone. Ski officials say this was the busiest weekend so far this year.

Firefighters say the pressure in fire hydrants around Crown Point is so high it can snap couplings and whip hoses. Some parts of the system, installed several years ago, may not have been put in correctly. Fire officials said hose lines can become unmanageable during a fire call. The department wants the Crown Point Supervisor and the Town Council to treat the water pressure issue as a top priority.

The Rutland Public Safety committee met last week to discuss a recent report by AARP recommending, among other things, slightly longer crossing times at certain city intersections. The committee voted to forward copies of the report to the mayor, Department of Public Works, Committee for Accessibility Improvement, Traffic Committee and Rutland Redevelopment Authority.

The Burlington police are looking for leads into a mugging that happened early Saturday morning. They say a woman was accosted at the corner of North Winooski Avenue and Grant Street at 2:30 in the morning. The suspect is another woman. They are asking anyone with information about the mugging to call the Burlington Police Department or call Champlain Valley Crimestoppers.

On Saturday, the House of Representatives passed a bill that cuts funding for federal programs by about $60 billion. One of those big cuts could come to Planned Parenthood. In fact, all funding, both direct and through Medicaid would be cut under the bill the House passed. Last year, 19,000 Vermonters used their services, mainly for things such as cancer and STD screening.

A recent report released by the New York State Education Department claims 75 percent of the school districts outside New York City have enough money to pay for historic cuts to education funding. In the North Country, however, education leaders admit cuts are necessary, but the cuts may be too deep. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to cut state aid to schools by more than 7 percent as he tries to close the state's $10 billion deficit.

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer is making sure North Country families know about a tax credit that could help them save on college costs. Under the program, for every $1 a middle class family spends on college tuition they get $1 off on their taxes, up to $2,500 a year. The U.S. Treasury says less than 50 percent of New York families took advantage of that on last year's taxes, leaving up to $38 million left unclaimed in the North Country. However, families that didn't use the credit can still get that refund.

As an algae invades trout streams across the U.S., Maryland is taking the lead in enforcing a ban on some footgear that the organism uses to hitchhike from stream to stream: felt-soled fishing boots. On March 21, the state Department of Natural Resources plans to begin prohibiting felt-soled wading boots. Similar bans will take effect April 1 in Vermont and next year in Alaska, though a proposal in Oregon appears to be doomed.

New Englanders like to talk sports, weather - and "wicked." The term, so affectionately used throughout the region, has become part of popular culture, whether it's shown up in L.L. Bean advertising its "Wicked Good" slippers to the "Boston Teens" sketch on "Saturday Night Live." One woman, Erin Alix-Crowdes of Rochester, NH, created "Wicked New England" last year, a T-shirt business that pays tribute to the word. Her enterprise is among the newest additions to New England businesses that have adopted "wicked," labeling everything from auto care shops to software firms.

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department is reminding ice fishermen that the state's restrictions on the use of baitfish are still in effect to protect the state's fish from disease. Anglers may harvest approved baitfish species, provided they are used in the same water where they were captured and may fish with live bait in connecting streams and rivers as long as they don't pass a barrier such as a dam or waterfall.

A local organization got a national boost for its efforts to make Rutland County healthier. The Rutland Area Physical Activity Coalition announced last week that it had received a $64,000 grant from the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors. The Coalition wants to increase after-hours adult access to school gymnasiums, convince more towns to ban smoking in public parks as Rutland recently did, promote the Safe Routes to School program and strengthen school wellness policies.