WVTK Local & State News March 7, 2011

ROAD UPDATE AS OF 12PM:

There are critical disruptions on VT 17, VT 22A, VT 125
 
VT 17: Route impassable.
Between VT 125 and VT 22A. The route is impassable due to deep snow on the roadway.
  
VT 22A: Route impassable.
Between VT 17 (5 miles south of the Vergennes area) and US 7 (near Vergennes). The route is impassable due to deep snow on the roadway.

VT 125: Route impassable.
Between VT 17 and VT 22A (7 to 14 miles south of Middlebury). The route is impassable due to deep snow on the roadway.

Town of Shoreham – Most roadways are impassable.

UPDATED 1:30PM - The National Weather Service continues its Winter Storm Warning for Addison & Essex Counties through 7PM. Expect anywhere from 1 – 2 Feet Of Snow with locally higher amounts possible. The Winter Storm Warning for Rutland County continues through 4PM with 7 – 14 Inches possible.

From Central Vermont Public Service:

RUTLAND – An historic snow storm that began working its way across the Northeast last night and has dumped close to two feet of snow in northern Vermont and mix of sleet and ice elsewhere knocked out power to more than 10,000 CVPS customers this morning. As of 8 a.m., 6,600 customers are without power, mainly in Windsor and Bennington counties, with scattered outages in Windham, Rutland and Addison counties. The towns of Springfield and Chester have been particularly hard hit. There are numerous lines down and trees and limbs on lines. “While this storm stalled a bit Sunday, the heavy snow and ice really began to pick up early this morning, and outages started ramping around 3 a.m.,” said CVPS spokeswoman Christine Rivers. “The winter storm warning is in affect until 1 p.m., so we expect additional outages today. Crews are reporting ice accumulations in central and southern Vermont, and we may see ice accumulations in Caledonia County later today. Crews report it is still raining in the Brattleboro area. Our full compliment of crews, assisted by outside contractors, is making progress this morning, but it may get worse before it gets better. “We will work as quickly as we safely can to restore power to customers,” Rivers said. “But we have a lot of rural, off-road damage already, with the possibility of more to come, and the poor road conditions will also slow efforts.”

CHECK OUTAGE UPDATES: Up-to-date outage numbers (by town) can be found by clicking HERE

CVPS offered several safety tips for coping with the outages:

* STAY AWAY FROM DOWNED POWER LINES. Don't touch or even go near downed wires! These wires can be energized and can cause serious injuries or death. If the line is blocking the road or in contact with a vehicle with people inside, call you local police or fire emergency number first. Then call CVPS. Instruct others to keep at least 50 feet away, and keep pets and livestock away as well.
* Assume all objects touching the power line are also energized. Never attempt to remove trees or limbs from any utility lines! Notify CVPS of the situation.
* If using a generator, read and follow the owner's manual before starting the generator. Never operate a generator inside any structure or near a structure. Use a transfer switch to ensure electricity is not accidentally fed onto a line where line crews must work.
* Keep freezers and refrigerators closed as much as possible to prevent food spoilage.
* If power goes out, turn off all electrical appliances except one light so you'll know when service returns. Then, turn equipment back on slowly.

Additional safety tips can be found by clicking HERE.

While this storm may be remembered by most for the snow totals, residents of Au Sable Forks, NY will remember the ice jam flooding. Thirty homes in total had to be evacuated because of rising waters caused by ice jams. Crews were forced to rescue a number of people from their homes because the water rose so quickly. An emergency shelter was set up, but most people were back in their homes. The Mad River in Vermont also crested its bank near Moretown causing a road closures throughout the area. Vermont Emergency Management warns ice jam flooding could continue, and to find an alternate route if you come across a flooded roadway.

Phil Stannard says a plan to build two wood-burning power plants was going well until it got bogged down in a Vermont legislative committee. The company, Beaver Wood Energy of Massachusetts, wants to build a 29-megawatt plant on privately owned land in Fair Haven and a second plant just like it north of the old Green Mountain race track in Pownal. The total output would be roughly equivalent to the McNeil woodchip plant in Burlington. A speedy permit process under Act 248 at the Public Service Board has been stymied in the Natural Resources and Energy committee in the Vermont House. The Biomass project is expected to go to a vote in committee this week.

A teachers' strike is planned for Wednesday in South Burlington, but now the school board is planning on new talks with union representatives today. The board says it will return to the bargaining table with new talks in an effort to avoid the strike. Nearly 300 teachers are threatening to walk out of classrooms on Wednesday if contract negotiations are not finalized. The board had earlier voted to impose a contract for the rest of this school year.

Beginning in the fall, Castleton State College will be offering a new graduate program in accounting. The state of Vermont will be joining other states in requiring students to complete 150 credit hours to become certified public accountants. The new curriculum for the graduate accounting program was designed to help students receive the required amount of credit hours and to successfully compete with students from other colleges.

Nearly a quarter of American students are the victims of bullying. Crown Point Central School Principal Elaine Dixon, a member of the North Country Coalition of Safe Schools, recently returned from a national conference on bullying in Orlando, Florida. Crown Point is now implementing a Bullying Prevention Program that is being used in more than 7,000 schools nationwide. The program is designed to ensure every student is treated with dignity and respect and when bullying takes place a school has an obligation to intervene.

Ticonderoga will install a closed circuit TV system this spring to monitor Montcalm Street and Bicentennial Park in an effort to curb vandalism. The town has requested proposals for a system expected to cost up to $15,000. Ticonderoga hopes this will help police make arrests and serve as a deterrent.

The Ticonderoga town board has made a commitment to spruce up dilapidated buildings, clean up garbage, eliminate junk and make the community more attractive this summer. The town will lead a voluntary town-wide clean up effort. Ticonderoga has many properties in violation of town codes. The town board hopes residents will voluntarily clean up properties, but are preparing to deal with "nuisance" properties through law enforcement. A public hearing on a proposed "nuisance" property law will be held this Thursday at 6 PM at the Community Building.

Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell says consumers need to be aware of increasing instances of fraud and attempted fraud in the State. Sorrell says his office has been getting a growing number of complaints about people getting calls from someone claiming to be a family member in distress. The person often claims to have just been arrested or mugged, to have lost all his or her money and to be in need of a wire transfer of funds. Another common ruse is for consumers to be sent fake checks, then asked to deposit them and return some of the money. Still another targets people looking for apartments, asking them to send an application fee or security deposit on property that doesn't exist.

It's maple-sugaring season in New England, and producers are tinkering with a new gadget they say could boost the amount of sap they get out of maple trees. The device, which is called a Check Valve Adaptor, was developed by maple researchers at the University of Vermont as a means of extending the six-week sugaring season. It limits the amount of naturally occurring bacteria that gets back into the tree, causing the tap hole to close.

A U.S. Senate panel is holding a hearing in Vermont examining ways to protect and promote the state's brand. The field hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear testimony from Vermont Wood Manufacturers Association president Mike Rainville, Cabot Creamery executive Roberta McDonald, Vermont Secretary of Commerce Lawrence Miller and others. The event starts at 10 this morning in the Ross Gymnasium, on the St. Michael's campus in Colchester.

Vermont Attorney William Sorrell says the state is getting a lot of support in its efforts to get the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a Vermont law that restricts drug companies' use of information about the drugs prescribed by doctors. At issue is a Vermont law that restricts what pharmacies can do with information collected about the drugs prescribed by doctors. Vermont officials say drug companies were using the information as a "covert marketing tool." A federal appeals court ruled the Vermont law unconstitutional.

The University of Vermont has hired a new dean to lead its School of Business Administration. Sanjay Sharma will assume the post July 1. He is now the dean at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University in Montreal. Sharma replaces Rocki-Lee Dewitt, who remains a professor at the school.

Green Mountain Power Corp. is teaming with Efficiency Vermont on a program aimed at helping every town in the utility's territory change over to energy-efficient streetlights. The power company plans to offer financial assistance to towns so they change out their streetlights to light-emitting diode streetlights, or LEDs.

Magic Hat's Mardi Gras celebration in Burlington took place over the weekend and although soggy skies threatened this year's festivities, the worst weather held off until after the parade and other festivities were finished. The parade took a new route this year, heading down Main Street towards Lake Champlain instead of going up Church Street like it had in the years past. Proceeds from the event went to benefit the Women's Rape Crisis Center.

Ticonderoga High School French and Spanish class students will celebrate National Foreign Language Week this week. Many special events have been planned that include an international cultural trivia contest, a foreign language poster contest and a tee shirt decorating class. Posters will include this year's theme, "Explore foreign languages; join the revolution."