WVTK Local & State News April 8, 2011

According to officials at the New York Department of Transportation, the new Lake Champlain Bridge is set to open October 9th. It will be wider than the old bridge and it will have sidewalks on both sides. The project was originally bid to cost just less than $70 million, but due to an extreme winter it will likely be at least $1 million more than that. The opening ceremony is expected to be a grand event, similar to the one in 1929 to commemorate the first bridge.

Addison residents will join Vergennes on May 17 in deciding the fate of Addison Northwest Supervisory Union unification. Petitions in both those communities triggered re-votes of Town Meeting Day results in favor of a plan. Voters in Ferrisburgh, Panton and Waltham joined Addison and Vergennes in backing the plan, but the results were not petitioned in those towns.

An ad hoc committee studying the concept of merging school governance in the Addison Central Supervisory Union will soon begin a series of forums. The forums will take place in the seven member towns that could culminate in a referendum in March of 2013.

Middlebury voters will head to the polls on Tuesday, April 12th for a second time to vote on a $3 million bond issue to finance various road improvement projects throughout town. The second Australian ballot vote, to take place at the municipal building, is needed to affirm a Town Meeting Day vote in favor of the bond. That initial vote was improperly warned and therefore must be ratified.

Rutland city residents will revote the bond funding the Giorgetti Arena on May 10th Voters approved the bond at town meeting but a petition signed by 590 of them will mean a second trip to the polls. The $3.9 million bond is intended to expand facilities at Giorgetti Park to serve as a recreation center for the city, replacing the aging facility at the Dana Center.

The Slate Valley Teen Center is in the final stages of negotiating and signing a long-term lease for space located in front of the town park on Main Street in Fair Haven. A day-care provider, who left earlier this month, had previously used it. The Director of the Slate Valley Teen Center, said the space is ideal for the center, which has been running programs from Castleton State College. They are hoping to move forward in the next couple of weeks.

Debate over gravel extraction in Bristol’s conservation district took place at the Bristol Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday. The commission disagreed over the meaning of the results of a public poll on gravel and sand extraction.
The Vermont House has passed a bill making it easier for someone denied access to public records who sues and wins to collect attorneys' fees. Final passage came yesterday after majority Democrats defeated a series of amendments that the bill's supporters said would weaken it.

The Vermont Senate has passed legislation aimed at cleaning up instances in state law where people with disabilities are described in disparaging terms. The bill would set up a study group in the Agency of Human Services to find and recommend replacements for words like idiot and lunatic in Vermont's law books. It's not the first time statutes have been changed to reflect changes in the way language is used. Legislation passed several years ago called for replacing terms like selectman with more gender-neutral terms.

The Obama administration is releasing $311 million to states to help poor families struggling to pay high home energy bills. Officials said that the latest money for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program brings the total to $4.2 billion for the fiscal year ending September 30th.

A farm advocacy group that was ordered to stop offering raw milk workshops will get to resume the classes under a bill proposed in the Vermont Legislature. Rural Vermont had taught people how to turn raw milk into butter and cheeses until it received an order to stop from the Agriculture Agency in February. The agency said the group violated the law by holding classes in which raw milk is processed and served. Last week the Senate Agriculture Committee passed a bill that changes the law to allow the limited sale of unpasteurized milk for personal consumption. It also requires a sign in the classroom explaining the potential dangers of raw milk.

The New York Attorney General has announced the dedication of $200,000 in recovered funds to assist Champlain Valley farmers in combating water pollution in Lake Champlain. The money, recovered from a 2007 case in which a major power company violated the Clean Air Act, will target phosphorous reduction from area farms, improving their operations, fighting pollution, and improving the health of Lake Champlain.

The Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife says the state's 2010 hunting seasons were the safest on record. There were two minor hunting-related shootings in 2010. The state estimates the 80,000 licensed hunters spent millions of hours in the field.

A career fair in Vermont's capital drew more than 400 people and created bumper-to-bumper traffic. Organizers of the event didn't realize just how many people would show up. Those who entered the jam-packed job fair found about 50 businesses that had positions ranging from part-time construction to full-time engineering and lots of jobs in between.

Many school districts in New York are finding innovative ways to deal with a historic cut in state aid without drastic increases in property taxes. Early action by some schools that have presented budget proposals shows some teachers and administrators agreeing to pay freezes to avoid or minimize layoffs. School boards are also carefully tapping deeper into reserves to avoid layoffs and cuts to programs and sports.

Middlebury Rotary Club members are hoping to double the success of last year’s on-line auction that netted around $5,000 for local charitable causes. Titled “Bidding for Good,” the Rotary’s third annual on-line auction has already received 175 donated items with a combined retail value of around $17,000.

The United Way of Addison County has raised 92 percent of its 2010 fund-raising goal of $775,000. This is the second year in a row that the local United Way has set a goal of $775,000 and fallen just shy of the finish line. However, the books don’t technically close on the campaign until June 30 and people still have time to donate. Last year the United Way of Addison County reached 95 percent of the goal.

Vermont Law School is planning another vigil against violence, to recognize victims and survivors of sexual assault and violence. The annual candlelight vigil, which is set for 7:30 PM on Thursday, April 14, will be held at the law school's South Royalton campus. Sponsored by Law Students for Reproductive Justice, it is free and open to the public.

A new report says more than 70 percent of Vermont schools do not meet State standards. The current system is based on a standardized test called the NECAP. The State sets a target for each school to reach based on the NECAP and every three years that target is set higher and higher to measure progress. By 2015, Vermont will have the same two assessment tests as 37 others states instead of the NECAP.

New York is getting $3.3 million in federal aid to add more tracks and rail capacity in the upstate area. A second mainline track at Ballston Spa will shorten travel time for riders on Amtrak's Adirondack, which travels through the North Country between Montreal and New York City, and the Ethan Allen Express, which runs between Rutland and New York City. Construction on the nearly $7 million project is expected to start later this spring.

A Crown Point teen has been selected as a People to People Ambassador to Australia. Duke Mildon was selected for the program, which was founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. While in Australia he will have an opportunity to meet with government officials and Australian teens. He will stay with a host family while taking part in a series of educational programs. Duke must raise $7,400 to participate in the 20-day trip. He will hold a Father's day breakfast at the Crown Point fire house to help secure the needed money.

Sherman V. Allen, the parent company of Mac's Markets, recently presented the Essex County office of High Peaks Hospice with a check for $288. During the 2010 holiday season Mac's Market in Port Henry participated again in the hospice Angel Bear program that allows customers to purchase an Angel Bear card to be inscribed with the name of a loved one being remembered during the holidays.