WVTK Local & State News April 22, 2011

Vermont health officials are warning consumers about a recall of alfalfa sprouts. The maker of Jonathan's Sprouts announced Tuesday that some of the sprouts sold in four-ounce and eight-ounce containers, with an April 23 sell-by date, may be contaminated with Salmonella bacteria.

Test results are in, and they came back negative for harmful bacteria at a Burlington Water Treatment Facility. These tests come in the wake of a major sewage spill into Lake Champlain. Concern over harmful bacteria being leaked into Lake Champlain surrounds the water treatment plant in Burlington. Officials at the plant say an operator error caused 2.5 million gallons of wastewater to dump into Lake Champlain.

After two years of rock bottom prices, business is looking up for many Vermont dairy farmers. Cornwall dairy farmer John Roberts, who milks 200 cows at Butterwick Farm, said that this week his milk pulled in more than double what it was fetching just two years ago. According to the Vermont Agency Of Agriculture Vermont now has 1,005 dairy farms, nearly 100 fewer than in early 2008.

The Bristol Town Planning Commission held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the issue of gravel extraction in the proposed town plan. If gravel extraction were not allowed on the proposed site, it would be open for use as a residential development. Jim Lathrop made the accusation that developing his piece of land for residential use would bear more cost than benefit. A resource study has been proposed.

The Town of Lincoln will hold a crucial transportation meeting next Tuesday (April 26th) at 6:30 PM in Burnham Hall. The meeting will serve two purposes. First, to act as a local concerns meeting for community members and officials to discuss details surrounding the upcoming “Truchon Bridge” replacement project. Secondly, to serve as a platform to discuss a pedestrian feasibility study from the school to the village center that is being coordinated by the Addison County Regional Planning Commission.

Rep. Peter Welch heard a lot of concerns yesterday from Rutland area physicians and medical administrators who have reservations about a congressional budget proposal that would cut and change the delivery of Medicare services. Last week, federal lawmakers passed the 2012 budget out of the House with cuts to Medicare, which would be transformed, into a voucher system in which recipients would buy health insurance from private insurance companies.

Vermont lawmakers have snuffed out a proposed $1-a-pack boost in the state tax on cigarettes. After giving preliminary approval Thursday to a state budget that relies partly on revenue from it, the Vermont Senate voted 16-14 to defeat the tax, which supporters say would have raised $9 million annually.

The Vermont Senate is expected to discuss and vote on an historic health care bill today that would effectively create the path towards a single-payer system. All Vermonters would be eligible under the taxpayer-funded plan. Supporters also say it will be cheaper than the current system because it is more efficient. The total cost of the bill is still unclear since financing decisions won't be made until 2012. That has some small businesses and corporations like IBM concerned.

Your tax dollars will pay for a potentially long drawn out court case. Tuesday, Entergy, the company that owns the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant filed a lawsuit against the State of Vermont. The Vermont Attorney General's office will defend the State in this case, but the State's Auditor has some concerns about the cost. Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell said that the case could be a long one.

Two Vermont teenagers have been arrested and charged with robbing a store clerk as she was making a night deposit at a South Royalton bank. Seventeen-year-old Robert Williams of South Royalton and 19-year-old Samuel L. Robins of Norwich are charged with assault and robbery. The Vermont State Police say tips from the public helped to solve the case.

A 38-mile section of Route 100 will become the Scenic Route 100 Byway after being officially designated the state’s eighth scenic byway by the state’s Transportation Board this week. Earlier this year, a 50-mile stretch of Route 4 from West Rutland to Hartford received approval as the “Crossroads of Vermont” scenic byway. The Route 100 byway includes the towns of Andover, Ludlow, Plymouth, Bridgewater, Killington and Pittsfield.

Students at the University of Vermont could be paying more for their education soon to make up for the school's budget shortfall. The school says the shortfall is mainly because of the increasing amounts of financial aid grants that students do not have to pay back. Budget officials at the school say large salaries aren't to blame for the shortfall. UVM says they're going to fix the situation by reducing the operating budget by $3 million, freezing salaries next year and the 5.8 tuition increase. They also say layoffs could be another option.

North Country Congressman Bill Owens wants the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to remove Social Security Numbers from identification cards for senior citizens. A constituent told congressional staff that scammers often target senior citizens enrolled in Medicare because their Social Security Numbers appear on the program's ID cards. Now, Owens is urging CMS to remove the numbers in order to protect seniors from identity theft.

The Moriah Historical Society is seeking volunteers to help man the Iron Center museum this summer. The Iron Center museum will open for the season on Saturday, June 18. The museum will be open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 3PM throughout the summer. The Iron Center Museum in Port Henry brings the industrial history of Moriah to life.

Some 75 administrators, teachers, foodservice workers and students gathered at Middlebury Union High School earlier in the month to discuss the movement that is bringing local foods into schools across the county. The second annual Stone Soup Summit aimed to spread information, ideas and experiences on all angles of the farm-to-school effort from composting to funding to incorporating local food education into the curriculum.

Mickey Heinecken has been awarded a Bonnie and John McCardell Citizen’s Award by Middlebury College this year for his outstanding service to the community. After coaching Middlebury College’s football team for 28 years, he founded the Vermont Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. He has also co-chaired both the United Way of Addison County and the Middlebury Volunteer Ambulance Association with his wife Carol. And has spent countless hours volunteering for a wide range of other causes.

The Chaffee Art Center in Rutland is currently offering several classes throughout the spring, with a variety of new classes also coming this summer. To learn about these and other upcoming events visit the Chaffee Art Center Web Site at or by calling 802-775-0356.

On Saturday, April 30, you can join a daylong tour exploring woody biomass energy from harvest to processing to use. The tour starts in Bristol at 8:30 AM with a discussion of woody biomass supply and demand and an introduction to the Forest Guild's new biomass retention guidelines. The day will conclude with a tour of Mt. Abraham High School's wood chip heating facility and a group discussion. For more information and to register for the field tour or the symposium, Click HERE.

Fort Ticonderoga is the site of some of America's most significant history. Easter Sunday it will mark one of mankind's most important events. The fort will host the annual community ecumenical Easter sunrise service at 6AM April 24. The service is sponsored and conducted by the Greater Ticonderoga Clergy Association. Following the service, people are invited to a time of fellowship and food at the Ticonderoga United Methodist Church on Wicker Street. There will be a free will offering.

A 1.5-mile recreation path is moving forward in St. Johnsbury after 19 years of planning. The town is taking construction bids for the project, called Three Rivers Transportation Path. Proposals are due by May 18. It will run along a former rail bed and connect to the proposed Lamoille Valley Rail Trail between St. Johnsbury to Swanton.

Spring turkey hunting starts this weekend in Vermont. Kids age 15 and under can bag one bearded turkey on Saturday or Sunday as long as they have a hunting license, a turkey hunting license and a youth turkey hunting tag. They also need to complete a hunter education course and be with a licensed hunter who's over 18. The season for adults starts May 1 and lasts until May 31.