WVTK Local & State News March 23, 2011

Vergennes Mayor Michael Daniels will join Gov. Peter Shumlin, and mayors from Burlington, Winooski, and St. Albans to deliver Meals on Wheels to homebound seniors as part of the annual March for Meals Campaign to end senior hunger. Daniels, Shumlin and the group will deliver hot, nutritious meals to seniors who can no longer safely prepare their own food. The governor plans to celebrate his 55th birthday on March 24 by giving back to seniors in need.

Middlebury College has four students currently studying at its school in Japan, located at partner university ICU in Tokyo. All of the students are safe and accounted for. Some of the students are still in Japan and others have left the country. As a precautionary measure, Middlebury has made the decision to bring those students who are still in Japan back to the United States, at least temporarily, until more is known about radiation exposure and risks in Japan.

Four youth teams, two from Vergennes Union Middle and High Schools, one from Mount Abraham Union Middle and High School and one from Burlington High School traveled to Boston harbor last weekend as part of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum's Champlain Longboats program to participate in the Snow Row. The Vergennes team placed first in the youth pro six-oared division and were the fourth boat over the finish line. Vergennes second crew finished 3rd in the youth amateur six-oared division. Mt. Abraham Union School finished fourth in the youth amateur four-oared division.

Folks digging into their family background will want to visit the Ilsley Public Library. The library just unveiled a new database called the Ancestry Library Edition. The new library tool is free to residents of Addison County and there is no other well-organized database like it in the area. The resource is especially good for beginners just starting out in family tree research. Ilsley staff members will offer two free workshops on the genealogical databases: Friday, April 8th, at 3 PM and Saturday, April 9th, at 10:30 AM. No registration is required.

The Vermont House has voted to advance a bill raising about $24 million in new taxes, mainly on health care services and cigarettes. Increases include a boost in the state tax on net patient revenues for hospitals from 5.5 to 6%. That raises more than $$7 million, but hospitals will get some of that money back in increased reimbursements under the state's Medicaid program. The cigarette tax would go up 27 cents, to $2.51 a pack.

The Vermont House has passed a bill making wildlife a public trust in the state after assurances from the Shumlin administration that a famous captive moose will be spared. The bill calls for killing wild animals on an Irasburg game preserve within five years, but a moose known as Pete is expected to be spared.

Calling bottled water a waste of taxpayer dollars, Vermont officials say they're signing on to a program aimed at reducing the purchase and use of it in favor of tap water. State Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Deb Markowitz said the administration of Gov. Peter Shumlin has committed to phasing out bottled water in state buildings. The state spends more than $200,000 a year on bottled water, though Markowitz concedes that it won't be eliminated entirely.

Following the nuclear crisis in Japan some Vermont lawmakers want federal regulators to review Vermont Yankee's safety again. They want the NRC to suspend the license extension until regulators take another look at safety at the Vernon plant. They also want as much radioactive material as possible removed from the water in the spent fuel pool and instead put into dry cask storage.

Essex County lawmakers gave preliminary OK to its first blue-ribbon ethics panel Monday. The County Board of Ethics will consist of five regular members and an alternate who will hear complaints submitted under the county's new ethics law. County Board of Supervisors Chair Randy Douglas said 27 applications were submitted for the panel, and a selection subcommittee held interviews and recommended the six names. Ethics members appointed included Phyllis Klein of Willsboro, Alexander Shmulsky of Ticonderoga and Putnam and the alternate is James Herrmann of Westport.

Castleton State College has named a new dean of administration for the college. Scott Dikeman, director of the Spartan Arena, will replace Bill Allen, who left the post after 11 years with the college. The 47-year-old Rutland native graduated with a degree in business administration from Saint Michael's College in Colchester in 1985 and began a successful 25-year career in banking.

A former administrative assistant at Proctor High School is poised to plead guilty to federal charges of embezzling $106,000 and tax fraud. Deborah Clough, who worked at the school for three years, is charged with stealing the money over the course of several years. She said she took money from the student activity fund to fuel a compulsion to buy things. She is facing up to 13 years in jail on two charges, but the terms of a plea agreement with prosecutors calls for a lesser penalty.

What began as a police standoff yesterday morning ended with a suicide. Police say Robert Berard broke the conditions of his latest release from prison, and were looking for him. His sister called to say her 29-year-old brother was alone in his ex-girlfriend's home, threatening to take his own life. That touched off the standoff, with tactical teams, officers and police dogs swarming the trailer park. It lasted for seven hours, and when they finally went in, officers found Berard had taken his own life.

A police chase in Northern New York ended in an apparent suicide. Police would not say why or where the man was wanted. State troopers, sheriff's deputies and border patrol agents with the aid of a helicopter, chased the vehicle for 25 miles, including on the Adirondack Northway. Police say at some points the chase reached high rates of speed. They say the pursuit ended on Route 3 in Plattsburgh when the driver allegedly tried to make a u-turn and was boxed in by a Clinton County Sheriff's Deputy. More details are expected today.

Vermont contractors were hit hard when the economy took a nosedive, but now things are turning around in part because of energy efficiency projects. Money savings and government tax incentives are luring people to the idea of small scale solar and wind projects in their own back yard. Experts say this technology, and other energy efficiency work is leading to new jobs for Vermont contractors.

The Rutland Board of Aldermen unanimously re-elected Alderman David Allaire as the board’s president Monday. Allaire was the only candidate. Alderwoman Sharon Davis nominated him and then promptly made a motion to close nominations. He has held the position since 2006, when he took over from Davis.

Despite a protest from Killington Resort, the town board did away with an advisory commission to the municipal Economic Development and Tourism Department by a 2-1 vote. Voters will have the final say on the commission May 9th, which is the tentative date for Killington’s second town meeting of the year.

Rutland Area Farm and Food Link celebrated its sixth annual Farmers’ Gathering and Resource Fair yesterday, with workshops on food safety, hiring farm employees and expanding markets. The event consisted of workshops to provide local farmers an opportunity to talk about agricultural issues. A community celebration dinner closed the afternoon with a meal prepared from local foods.

Sen. Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter Welch are in Haiti checking in on the relief effort following last year's earthquake. It's part of a delegation of U.S. politicians who are being shown around by actor Sean Penn. The Hollywood star is active in the relief efforts in Haiti. Both Welch and Leahy will also travel to the Dominican Republic to meet with Peace Corps groups working within that country. Leahy and Welch return to the United States today.