WVTK Local & State News April 1, 2011

We are expecting some Snow & Rain mixed here in Western Addison County Today with up to 3 Inches possible. A Winter Storm Warning Remains in effect for Eastern Addison & Rutland Counties through tonight with anywhere from 4 – 8 Inches is possible. High in the 30’s.

U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy is calling on Syrian authorities to free a Vermont student detained while he shot photographs at a demonstration. Middlebury College student Tik Root from Ripton, who was studying Arabic in Damascus, has been missing since March 18. Leahy said he is being held in a Syrian jail and that Syrian authorities won't let anyone from the American consulate in to see him. The Vermont Democrat says Root is an innocent U.S. citizen who poses no threat to the Syrian government and should be released.

Vermonters are going to be getting an update on the progress of construction on the Lake Champlain Bridge. On April 7th, officials from the Vermont Agency of Transportation are going to be attending a meeting at the Addison Central School to update the progress of the $70 million bridge from West Addison to Crown Point. In addition to a construction update, topics to be discussed include plans to restore the site where a temporary ferry is now running and commemorate the original bridge. Despite the contractor being give 65 extra days to finish the bridge, officials still hope to open the new bridge to traffic as scheduled on Oct. 9th.

Students at three Addison Northeast Supervisory Union schools are eating healthier in the cafeteria. The new Food Service Cooperative changed recipes to include healthier ingredients, and instituted a tighter fiscal monitoring system. Participating Addison Northeast schools include Mount Abraham Union High School, Monkton Central School and Bristol Elementary School. The primary goals of the cooperative are to maintain fiscal responsibility and financial sustainability in the schools’ food service programs also increase student access to healthy, highly nutritious meals that promote their ability to learn, and to expand students’ food knowledge by integrating the community into the food service program.

Addison residents will be joining Vergennes in voting for a second time this year on proposed one-board governance for the Addison Northwest Supervisory Union. Residents in both those communities on Town Meeting Day backed the proposal for one board. If the Unified Union proposal survives both upcoming re-votes, it would be the first significant consolidation move in Vermont.

A Chittenden County-based utility is working on a $60 million to $70 million plan to extend natural gas pipeline through Vergennes and Middlebury within the next five years. Proponents contend the project would offer a cheaper, cleaner heating fuel source for area businesses and homes. There are some critics saying that environmental and cost claims not be taken at face value.

The owners of the Waterhouses Campground off West Shore Road in Salisbury are seeking town permission to open a 30-seat restaurant in their recently renovated marina on Lake Dunmore. The proposal is one in a series of recent and ongoing improvements to a property that the members of Dunmore Group LLC want to make more financially self-sustaining.

You may have noticed that work is now in full swing on Eastview at Middlebury’s first 11 cottages. The developers are anticipating the entire 99-unit retirement community will be completed by May of 2012.

Marble Valley Regional Transit has reopened its office in the Rutland downtown transit center. The office reopened Monday. The Marble Valley business manager said it closed after sustaining damage in the downtown flooding. The move back was triggered in part by public feedback. The office is open from 7:30AM to 4:30PM.

The Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce is growing. The local chamber now has 175 members with the addition of 17 new businesses since Matthew Courtright became executive director in September. The chamber will host a membership open house this spring. No date has been set. The Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce serves Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Hague, Moriah, Putnam and surrounding areas. It is also part of the Lake Champlain Region Visitors Center.

Sen. Bernie Sanders is questioning why the U.S. Federal Reserve provided more than $26 billion in credit to an Arab intermediary for the Central Bank of Libya. The total includes at least $3.2 billion in loans that the Fed was forced to make public in addition to earlier revelations under a provision Sanders got included in a Wall Street reform law.

New York is bringing back its sales tax exemption on clothes and shoes. Starting today, clothes and shoes costing less than $55 per item will be exempt from the state's 4 percent sales tax. Lawmakers amended the clothing tax exemption to cover only less-expensive clothes in October to help close the state's budget gap.

New test results show more Vermont schools are not meeting the goals required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The Education Department says 72 percent of schools did not meet targets this year, based on tests given last year. Officials say that's because targets increase every three years with the goal of 100 percent proficiency by 2014. Last year saw a substantial jump in those targets. Get the full report HERE.

A small group of people who oppose a health care bill making its way through the state Legislature took their cause to the capital yesterday, denouncing the measure as ill-conceived and rushed. About 20 people representing a coalition of groups including Green Mountain Patriots and other tea party organizations gathered at the Statehouse to lobby lawmakers and show "Sick and Sicker," a film that makes a case against health care administered by the government.

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin is visiting Rhode Island to support a push to legalize gay marriage in the Ocean State. Shumlin, a Democrat, spoke with independent Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee and legislative leaders yesterday. Shumlin says he came to Rhode Island to tell state lawmakers that they won't suffer politically if they support gay marriage legislation now pending in the General Assembly.

Vermont State Police say they have identified the man who died in a weekend fire that destroyed a general store and storage building in West Pawlet. The body of 59-year-old Gary Cary was found Saturday in the storage building next to Dutchie's General Store. Two people who lived above the store suffered minor burns and injuries escaping the fire.

A Vermont company that makes parts for some Japanese cars is laying off some workers and reducing the hours of others because of disruptions caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The NSK Steering Systems America plant in Bennington makes steering columns for several Japanese automakers including Honda and Toyota. The company will first reduce temporary workers. It's unclear how many jobs will be affected.

Whole Foods Market is no longer pursuing a location in South Burlington. The good news, however, is the organic food supermarket chain is still very interested in opening a store in the Burlington area. The Developer admits there are challenges to the 40-acre site which was being considered, due to access, but hopes to re-start talks with Whole Foods and South Burlington again soon.

Middle and high school students from the North Country won top prizes at North Country History Day at Ticonderoga's Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center March 12th. Winners will advance to compete at New York State History Day in Cooperstown on April 29. National History Day is the nation's leading program for history education in the schools. Fort Ticonderoga hosts teacher workshops about History Day each fall.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northeast New York has set a new record. 

According to a news release, the Adopt An Angel fundraising campaign has raised $221,000. The 2011 campaign began on November 18, 2010 and concluded January. The previous record was $217,000 in 2007. The amount raised will allow the chapter to grant at least 22 wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions in the 518 area code. The Northeast New York chapter grants nearly 100 wishes each year. Since 1986, it has granted more than 1,150 wishes.