WVTK Local & State News March 11, 2011

With rain, warm temperatures and melting snow in the forecast, communities around Vermont are being warned to watch their rivers for ice jams and flooding. The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for the state through Saturday night. The forecast calls for an inch and a half of rain in southern Vermont and a half-inch in northern Vermont today with temperatures reaching into the 40s on Friday and rising river levels. The Weather Channel Says: Rainy Today – High In The 40’s.

The 3rd Annual Middlebury Winter Carnival and Chili Festival will be held tomorrow. To accommodate the festival, parking will be restricted in the festival area all day. There will be no parking on Main Street, from Seymour Street to Cross Street; no parking on Merchants Row between Main Street and the driveway to the Battell Block; no parking on Park Street. The Municipal Lot on Mill Street is reserved for chili vendor parking, but will be available to general public parking until 1 PM tomorrow. Vehicles left in the lot after that time can still be moved using Mill Street to Weybridge Street. Public parking is still available on Seymour Street, in the lot behind the Congregational Church, upper Merchants Row, South Pleasant Street, College Street, Main Street and South Main Street south of Cross Street; the Municipal Building, the municipal lots on Academy Street and Bakery Lane, and Weybridge Street. Main Street will be closed to traffic from 1 PM to 5 PM on Saturday. Access to Porter Hospital, Middlebury College, and points west can be made using the Cross Street bridge from Court Street (Rte 7), or for light passenger vehicles, Seymour Street to the Pulp Mill bridge.

The Town of Middlebury Department of Public Works will continue snow removal operations in downtown Middlebury tonight starting at 11 PM and work through the night. The Town’s winter parking ban prohibits parking on town streets and in town lots between midnight and 6 AM.

According to data from the Burlington office of the National Weather Service, up to two feet of snow fell here in Addison County in the storm earlier this week. That was more than six to 10 inches forecasters had initially expected. Amounts ranged from 21.7 inches in South Lincoln to 24 inches in both Bridport and the north end of Lincoln. Elsewhere in the county, 23.8 inches fell in Salisbury and 22 in Cornwall.

Beeman Elementary School kicked off its annual community service projects a week ago Friday. Kindergarten through sixth-grade students collaborated on eight projects that will span the course of March under the theme “Kids Helping Kids, Seniors and Beeman.” Teachers, community members and a group of Middlebury College mentors all volunteered their time to help with the projects.

The next new business boosting the Vermont brand nationwide is focused on curbing obesity. Vtrim Online Solutions is connected with the University of Vermont, is based in Middlebury and is directed and managed by Middlebury resident Krista Conley Lincoln. Vtrim Online Solutions opened in early February in Middlebury’s industrial park off Exchange Street. It markets to businesses a weight management program developed by UVM.

Proponents of two proposed wood-fueled electricity-generating plants and wood-pellet manufacturing facilities said this year they will focus only on the application process for the facility in Fair Haven, instead of both projects, because of overwhelming support from the town. Beaver Wood Energy is proposing to build two 29-megawatt facilities in Fair Haven and Pownal. Each is expected to cost $250 million to build. In support of the project, more than 240 people in Fair Haven signed a petition that was sent to members of the Public Service Board.

Former Ira treasurer Donald Hewitt has been charged federally with taking more than $300,000 from the town and the 58-year-old is poised to accept a plea deal that could send him to jail for up to 20 years. He served as treasurer in Ira from 1977 until the end of 2009 and was charged with embezzlement last year by the state. That charge was dismissed in January amid speculation that federal prosecutors were eyeing the case.

Rutland will see two forums on health care Monday. The first is a legislative breakfast sponsored by the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce and Rutland Economic Development Corp. at 7:30 AM at the Franklin Conference Center. The $8 admission includes a breakfast buffet. Then at 6 PM, Sen. Peg Flory moderates another panel taking place at College of St. Joseph.

A rare species of elm tree and two species of grass are the newest addition to Vermont's Endangered and Threatened Species list. The cork, or rock, elm, which is susceptible to Dutch elm disease, is known to be at five sites in Vermont. The largest population of the tree is on Snake Mountain in Addison County. The other two additions to the list are the bog arrow-grass and Pickering's bent-grass. The arrow-grass is known in Vermont only in a boggy area along the Clyde River in the Northeast Kingdom.

Students taking a business communications class at Westport Central School are getting a chance to learn from the community that may eventually employ them. The Westport Chamber of Commerce is partnering with Westport Central School to add real-world experience to high school business classes thanks to local business and community leaders. The goal of the program is to prepare the students for the workforce, connect them to businesses with openings, and give the students a competitive edge for future employment and college applications. Westport businesses are also offering internships through the program.

The Essex County Ethics Board is one step closer to reality. At a recent ways and means committee meeting of the Essex County Board of Supervisors, chairman Randy Douglas of Jay said the committee will interview candidates for the five-member board and would have its recommendations soon.

Extra parking in downtown Ticonderoga could end unless town officials take action. The owners of the former Family Dollar Store parking lot on Montcalm Street will be blocking it off to cut insurance costs. Ticonderoga Supervisor Debra Malaney said the owner of the property has expressed concern about the $4,000 annual liability insurance cost for the lot. She said some merchants would like the town to assume the cost to keep the lot open for public parking. She said the Ticonderoga Town Council might take up the issue at a later meeting.

The Vermont House of Representatives passed an Internet Sales Tax Bill. The bill would require online retailers who have a store or affiliate in Vermont to charge their Vermont customers the State's six percent sales tax. Now, some big retailers are reconsidering their business in Vermont. According to a Vermont State representative, Amazon has threatened to drop all of its affiliates in the state. The bill now goes to the Vermont Senate. If it passes, the Internet Sales Tax would begin in July 2012.

The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission has decided to grant the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant a license to run for 20 years beyond its originally scheduled shutdown date in 2012, but state opposition continues to make its future uncertain. The plant also needs a state certificate for public good, and last year, the state Senate voted to block the Vermont Public Service Board from issuing one.

Vermont's unemployment rate dropped to 5.7% in January, down one-tenth of 1% in from the December figure and it's a full percentage point below the 2010 rate. The state Department of Labor says the drop resumes a downward trend that held for much of 2010.

Vermont is looking to crack down on criminals stealing cash at work. Vermont State Auditor Tom Salmon says he is concerned about the growing number of people stealing from towns, schools and other groups that receive taxpayer money. He says they are easy targets because they are run by boards with sometimes little financial experience. Salmon will present his plan next week at the statehouse because it would require the okay from lawmakers.

The state of Vermont will receive $1.4 million as part of a major settlement with a pharmaceutical company. The attorney general says AstraZeneca was promoting its anti-psychotic drug for unapproved uses. AstraZeneca has agreed to pay a total of $68 million to 37 states. It's the largest payment ever for a consumer protection settlement involving a drug company.

Starbucks Corp. and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. say they have reached a deal that will bring single-cup Starbucks coffee and Tazo tea pods to Keurig users. Terms were not disclosed. The companies plan to make the K-Cup portion packs available in the U.S. and Canada starting in the fall. Bruce, Hobbes and Gale plan on camping out the night before they go on sale at the nearest local retailer to purchase the first truckload.

Vermont may have had a record snowfall recently, but there was a true sign of spring on yesterday. That's when Governor Peter Shumlin marked the beginning of the sugaring season by tapping a maple tree. The governor says he's got plenty of experience doing that, as he used to sugar as a kid. He went on to say how important the maple syrup industry is to Vermont.