WVTK Local & State News February 8, 2011

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 AM THIS MORNING (2-8-2011) From The National Weather Service. Anywhere from 3 -6 Inches of snow is possible.

Tomorrow is a big day for our very own Hobbes, as he becomes Middlebury's Honorary Police K-9. Middlebury Police Chief Tom Hanley and Jackie Rose from the Addison County Humane Society will make it official tomorrow morning. You’ll hear the ceremony live at 7:35 on The Wake Up Crew. Hobbie will get a badge, and uniform and join the ranks of MPD!

It appears that teachers in the Addison Northeast Supervisory Union will not walk off the job this week. A teacher's strike was set for Wednesday but that the strike has been averted. Teachers have agreed to let the imposed set of working conditions stand. Teachers will negotiate a new contract for next year. No date has been set for those talks to begin.

According to police a Chevrolet Blazer stolen from a Rutland car lot was left at the scene of another car theft and a man who robbed a convenience store at gunpoint may have used the vehicle. They suspect the person who stole the Blazer is the same suspect who threatened to kill a clerk during a holdup at the JD Quik Stop in Hancock. No arrests have been made in the robbery or the car thefts. Anyone with information about the robbery or the car thefts can call Vermont State Police or Rutland Police.

Police in Addison are blaming lightning for starting a fire at a seasonal camp. It happened Saturday night. Fire investigators from the Vermont State Police, as well as from the Division of Fire Safety, were requested shortly thereafter for an origin and cause investigation. The investigation revealed the fire was caused by a lightning strike.

Vermont Emergency Management and other area agencies are reminding homeowners that heavy snow on roofs can present a real danger. Recent snow and ice has created perfect conditions for roof collapses. If you have a significant concern about a potential roof collapse, call a professional to inspect your roof, or you can keep an eye and ear out for some of the following signs: Strange noises, cracking or visible movement of rafters.

The third annual Middlebury Maple Run — the Sweetest Half — is looking at changes for this summer’s half marathon race scheduled on May 1. The most significant improvement is vehicle access at the finish line in front of the Middlebury Ambulance Volunteer Association, behind the Porter Medical Center. To limit the number of cars in the area, parking will no longer be available in the area and now will be behind the Center for the Arts at Middlebury College. The last five miles of the course, from South Street Extension to Collins Drive, will also be completely closed off to traffic, except for residents and emergency vehicles. As of February 1st More than 200 runners have signed up for the race.

John Moyers will be running for a two-year seat on the Bristol select-board along with incumbent John Heffernan. Both will be on the Town Meeting Day ballot in Bristol. Moyers has long been eyeing a spot on Bristol’s zoning board and planning commission, but after failing to get appointed to either, opted to try for the select-board seat. He has two key issues on his agenda Promoting increased civic engagement and preserving Bristol’s historic downtown and village neighborhoods.

Sam Cutting IV, president of Dakin Farm, recently received the “2010 Maple Person of the Year Award” from the Vermont Maple Industry Council. They’re a group formed to promote and protect the branding of Vermont maple syrup. He’s following in the footsteps of his father who won the same award 25 years ago.

Last Thursday, Sen. Patrick Leahy met with Lara Getz who was one of 22 students evacuated earlier that week from Middlebury College’s study abroad program in Alexandria, Egypt. Getz, who is a student at Tulane University, thanked him in person for his help in getting the students transportation out of the country in the face of an escalating public uprising.

A man who died when his van caught fire following a collision on Route 4 on February 1st has been identified by Vermont State Police. Troopers from the State Police Rutland barracks said the Medical Examiner's office verified dental records and identified the man as 35-year-old Patrick James Halloran of Minneapolis.

New York Sen. Charles Schumer wants the Federal Trade Commission to investigate possible collusion and price gouging in the road salt market. He says towns and counties throughout New York State have had to set aside larger portions of their budgets for road salting and snow removal in response to record snowfall and skyrocketing prices.

Massachusetts’s insurance regulator, Susan Donegan, is set to become the deputy commissioner of Vermont's Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration. She is a graduate of the Vermont Law School in South Royalton and served as a clerk to the Vermont department's general council while in law school. She then went on to serve as a special investigator in Vermont and then as director of securities regulation. She will start her new job on Feb. 14.

The Environmental Protection Agency says a Vermont wire coating company has been fined $123,000 for an emissions violation. Harbour Industries of Shelburne makes high performance wire and cable emitting volatile organic compounds in the process. The EPA says the company violated a permit issued by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation in the last three years by failing to show it was complying with the 50-tons-a-year limit on volatile organic compounds and not developing and submitting an operation and maintenance plan for its oxidizer. Harbour Industries is correcting the violation.

Opponents of a wind farm in the Northeast Kingdom are taking their fight to the Vermont Supreme Court. UPC Wind has state approval to put up 16 towers in Sheffield. Opponents say building the roads to the tower sites will cause storm water pollution that will damage fragile headwaters. That claim was rejected by the Vermont Environmental Court but the opponents are appealing, saying the environmental court misinterpreted and misapplied the state's water quality laws.

Central Vermont Public Service met all of its service quality standards in 2010. It’s the seventh straight year the company achieved that goal which is the best record in Vermont. Employees make a tremendous effort to provide customers with high-quality service, and they measure that effort every day through their SERVE standards. SERVE stands for Serving Everyone with Reliability, Value and Excellence. CVPS has 17 SERVE standards. The company measures and reports to state regulators on everything from how quickly customer care representatives answer phones to bill accuracy, customer service, outage numbers and duration, and safety.

The official Vermont tree is sugar maple, the state beverage is milk, and the official animal is the Morgan horse. But there is no official state sport, at least not yet. The Vermont legislature has a lot to deal with this session, but among bills about budget and healthcare care is one that would declare snowboarding the official sport of Vermont. Though some feel an important sport is being left out. A representative of Ski Vermont wants to make sure skiing is also part of it.