WVTK Local & State News March 18, 2011

Vermont State Police say a 22-year-old Sudbury woman is facing charges she hit her boyfriend with a car after a fight and then drove off. Police say Cassandra Keyes had been arguing with her boyfriend on Sunday when he got out of her car and started walking along Stevens Road in Pittsford. Another driver witnessed the incident. The victim suffered a cut on his head and a possible injury to his ankle. She is currently being held at the Marble Valley Correctional Center.

Two motorists hurt in a two-car crash at the Essex-Warren county line yesterday morning were listed in serious but stable conditions later in the day. Jennifer Mattison of Ticonderoga and Todd Porter of Hague were trapped in their vehicles and were extracted by Ticonderoga Fire Department personnel, with assistance from Hague Fire Department rescuers. The crash occurred just before 9 a.m. on Route 9N, near New Hague Road, at the Ticonderoga-Hague town line. Route 9N was closed for two hours while Ticonderoga Police investigated.

An icon in the world of organic foods, Gary Hirshberg shed light on food and agriculture issues that hit close to home for Addison County residents in two appearances at Middlebury College this week. The president of organic yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm gave a positive forecast for the future of organically certified milk and also offered his take on how genetically engineered crops fit into the food landscape. His milk comes from the Organic Valley dairy cooperative, which buys from a number of Addison County dairy farmers.

Plans for the repair of two key bridges in Bristol are coming together. However residents should be aware that the projects will take some time to complete. A highway official has explained the state’s multi-year plans for repairing the one-lane bridge on Route 116 that crosses the New Haven River in the southern part of town. Town officials have also signed an agreement that will lead to repair of the closed bridge at the base of South Street just below the village.

It's the second busiest airport in the state, but is it big enough to stay in business? Rutland-Southern Vermont Regional Airport is funded by a government subsidy called Essential Air Services. As Congress looks to balance its budget, funding for EAS is targeted for cuts and possibly elimination. The House plans to phase out EAS in the next three years. There is no word on when the House will make this decision. Rutland business leaders have already contacted rep. Peter Welch to help keep the airport's subsidy.

Gov. Peter Shumlin appointed former Rutland Northeast Superintendent Bill Mathis last week to complete four years of a six-year position on the Vermont State Board of Education, vacated by John Hall. The Goshen resident retired from his post as superintendent of the Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union in June 2009 after 27 years on the job. He is the managing director of the National Education Policy Center, based at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

An idea that started as a blog post by two students may become the newest field of study at Middlebury College. Amanda Warren and Ben Blackshear currently head up the Middlebury College Organic Garden. Last summer they sat down to develop an unofficial program in Food and Agriculture Studies using courses already offered at the college. You can check at the plan in their blog at middfood.com.

The Vermont Supreme Court is taking its show on the road. In what has become an annual ritual, the high court justices will visit Vermont Law School in South Royalton next week, hearing oral arguments on seven cases that are currently pending. Among them: A case about whether documents related to a child pornography investigation at the Rutland Police Department are subject to the state's Public Records Act.

Route 4 from Rutland to Hartford is now officially a Vermont scenic byway. Nine municipalities got together to form a 50-mile stretch along Route 4. Its name is the Crossroad of Vermont Byway. It's the seventh scenic byway in the state and it received no opposition. The Economic Development and Tourism Commission in Killington led the project.

The future of the Essex County Retired & Senior Volunteer Program is in doubt. The Corporation for National and Community Service, which includes federal funding for RSVP, will be eliminated if proposed legislation is approved. During the 2009-10 RSVP fiscal year, 371 volunteers worked at 83 stations, logging more than 55,500 hours in Essex County. RSVP is especially important in Essex County, which is the state's second-largest county and one of its least populated.

Corporal Ian Muller is back here in his home state. Six Marines escorted his casket back to Danville. The 22-year-old Marine died last week in Afghanistan during a combat mission. As it passed through Montpelier, lawmakers lined up in front of the Statehouse, while hundreds of citizens lined the streets in other towns before finally reaching Danville. The funeral is set for Saturday.

Vermont lawmakers advanced a jobs bill yesterday with enhanced incentives for businesses that create new jobs, a new statewide internship program, grants for fruit and vegetable farmers trying to upgrade their operations and a host of other provisions. Some of the sections of the bill are aimed at making it easier for businesses to get state job development help when they're located in parts of Vermont with unemployment higher than the statewide average.

The Vermont House has given preliminary approval to toughening penalties for repeat drunken drivers, and creating a new crime of letting someone use a car when the person granting permission knows the driver will be impaired. The House gave preliminary approval yesterday to the bill, which would increase the penalty for a third drunken driving offense from one year in jail to five years in prison, if the drunken driver caused death or serious bodily injury.

A legislative committee has recommended that a Vermont judge be fired for his demeanor on the bench that is inappropriate and that he can come off as insulting. In a 6-2 vote, the panel said Superior Court Judge Mark Keller should be removed from the bench. Keller is now assigned to the court in Franklin County. The recommendation is not binding. The full House and Senate vote on Keller's fate March 30th.

The federal government says the price of some veggies has jumped almost 50% from a year ago, some dairy items cost 20% more, and beef is 10% more expensive than last March. Rising fuel prices are making it more expensive to transport food to the stores and experts say extreme weather in other countries is also to blame, damaging crops intended for export. Food prices are expected to continue to rise.

The Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce will host a Business seminar series. The complimentary seminars will be provided by the North Country Small Business Development Center. Refreshments will be provided and sponsored by Stewarts Shops of Ticonderoga. All three Business seminars will be held at the Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce office on Montcalm St. at 8AM. Financial Finesse will be presented Wednesday, April 6th, increasing Your Bottom Line Wednesday, April 10th and Shout It Out Marketing will be presented Wednesday, May 4th. For more information contact the Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Vermont Drama Festival takes place over the next two weekends. Otter Valley Union High School will host a regional one-act festival this Saturday from 1 to 8 PM along with participating schools Green Mountain Union High School, West Rutland School, Fair Haven Union High School and Mount Abraham. Mill River Union High School will do the same March 26th, hosting Rutland’s Mount St. Joseph Academy, Rutland High School, Stowe High School, BFA St. Albans and Twin Valley High School. The regional festival winners will converge at the state festival, hosted by Springfield High School on April 8th and 9th.

A Middlebury 11-year-old who clinched the Vermont Individual Spelling Bee title Wednesday said the key to her success lay between the pages of a book. Meigan Clark, a sixth-grader at Mary Hogan School, studied words off the state’s study list for months, three times over. Then, to her surprise, she started seeing nearly all the terms in Harry Potter books she was reading and on a television show she was watching. She said the key to her win was repetition, studying the often-obscure words over and over again and staying calm during competition.

Moriah Central School will be a bit crazier than usual Saturday, March 26. That's when the school Parent-Teacher Organization will host its annual Moriah Madness from 11AM – 2PM. For more than a decade, Moriah Madness has featured games and prizes, Penelope the Clown, face painting, arts and crafts, a book fair, a basket raffle, bake sale, and concession. It's a popular event, attracting hundreds of people. Admission is $3 a child, grade 6 and younger, with a $10 cap for a family of four or more children. Adults are admitted free and all children must be accompanied by an adult.

The North American Snowsports Journalists Association honored Rutland’s Peggy Shinn this month as one of the country’s best feature ski writers. She won one of the Hirsch awards for feature writing in Vermont Life, Stratton Times and other publications. She received a trophy and a pair of Salomon skis. Hannah Kearney of Norwich won the Paul Robbins Outstanding Competitor Award.

The Burlington-metro area was ranked among the happiest cities in the country by a recent Gallup poll. The survey considered the health, lifestyle choices and optimism of residents. Huntington, WV. was ranked the saddest place to live, while Boulder, CO. ranked as the happiest large city in the nation. Burlington topped the charts among cities with less than 300,000 people. Burlington ranked high in exercise and healthy eating, while having a very low number of people with diabetes and obesity.