WVTK Local & State News May 3, 2011

A Flood Watch is in effect from 2PM Today through Late Wednesday Night from the National Weather Service.

The Weather Channel Says: Rain Today – High In The 50’s

The record water levels in Lake Champlain have delayed the opening of the Ticonderoga Ferry. The ferry between Charlotte and Essex is still closed as of yesterday due to the high water.

The torrential rains and snowmelt from April have now pushed flood damage to more than three million dollars, and that's just to state and municipal properties, according to Governor Peter Shumlin. That also means Vermont is now qualified to apply for federal emergency aid. He says damage estimates from lake flooding are likely to go up over the next several days.

Supervisors in Essex County have their fingers crossed, hoping that President Barack Obama will declare the region a disaster area. The preliminary numbers show that there could be $10 to $12 million in damages in Essex County. Randy Douglas said that the governor and federal representatives would continue to monitor the situation. If the county reaches the $25 million plateau in terms of damages, then the area could be declared a federal emergency zone.

The future Bristol-based clinic for the under-insured could face a substantial delay in light of federal budget cutting in Washington. At issue is a Federally Qualified Health Center that Sen. Bernie Sanders and members of the Five-Town Health Alliance have been seeking to establish in Bristol. The model offers primary care, dental, behavioral health, and preventative healthcare services to everyone, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. Sanders said that the cuts mean it is going to be harder, but not impossible to start the new health center.

According to a recent report on Vermont agriculture Addison County plays a pivotal role in the local food economy. Those involved in local food production are being encouraged to keep at it. With 773 farms Addison County leads the state in the percentage of agricultural land and in per-capita spending on locally produced foods. With every 5 percent increase in local food sales here in Vermont it’s estimated that we would see 1,500 new food-related jobs and $135 million in new economic activity within the state all together.

The Bristol Planning Commission will discuss the Land Use portion of the updated town plan known as section 12 at tonight’s meeting which will take place in Holley Hall at 7 PM. Section 12 is the most heavily scrutinized section of the town plan and it will set the visionary guidelines for future gravel extraction in Bristol. You can view the draft version of the updated town plan at www.bristolvt.net.

The Addison Central Supervisory Union board and teachers have agreed on a new four-year contract. The terms will be made public after ratification by all the school boards in the school district. The new contract retroactively covers the past two years and the next two. For the first time ever, this single contract will cover all of the elementary and secondary school teachers in the seven-town Union.

It looks like recycling fees will decrease for Addison Northwest Towns. Expenses for operating the Vergennes recycling center are dropping and costs will be lower for not only the city, but for surrounding towns as well. Casella Inc. has dropped fees for accepting recycled material, allowing the city to lower charges at the West Street recycling center. Aldermen have approved the lower rates.

The Vergennes Farmers’ Market will start back up for the season on Thursday at the city’s downtown green. It will feature an expanded variety of local fresh produce, flowers and even crafts. The market will open earlier this year than in the past and will run from 3:30 to 6PM on Thursdays through the fall.

Addison County resident Jeanne Montross is organizing an effort to acquire the movie inventory from Waterfront Video’s Middlebury store. Waterfront Video announced it was closing its store in the Marble Works. She hopes to pull off a bulk purchase of the store’s more than 16,000 titles and eventually make them available for loan to the community.

Advocates for the single-payer system are trying to work out a bill both the House and Senate can agree on. There are efforts to have undocumented workers included in the coverage as well. There are an estimated two-thousand such workers in Vermont, many on dairy farms. The Governor's team is now involved in working on a compromise, with the goal of wrapping everything up, including the legislative session probably by Saturday.

The Vermont National Guard leader says a new chapter in the war now begins after the killing of Osama bin Laden. Major General Michael Dubie says he was instructed Sunday to increase security at the Colchester guard headquarters. But he didn't know why until he woke up Monday morning to the news bin Laden had been killed. Dubie says bin Laden was finally held accountable for terror attacks including the one on September 11th. Right now there are 94 Vermont guardsmen deployed.

Despite widespread fears of retaliation over the U.S.' killing of Osama bin Laden, Vermont's homeland security boss says no credible threats have been received that authorities are acting on here. Vermont State Police Capt. Chris Reinfurt, commander of Vermont Homeland Security, says there are no plans to step up security at would-be targets.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has told lawmakers returning from a two-week vacation that if they fail to enact a tax cap or pass an ethics law, they just aren't listening to their constituents. He said failure to make law of both issues before the end of the legislative session in June would show a "breathtaking" disconnect from voters. Cuomo also said the Senate and Assembly will be failing their constituents if they each pass different one-house bills that result in no new law.

As Lake Champlain continues to flood homes and roads around it, a shelter is being set up in St. Albans Town to help those displaced by the high water. Town officials estimate that about 50 residents could be displaced by flooding on Monday and more rain is on the way.

A former University of Vermont student was sentenced to time served for allegedly swindling classmates out of thousands of dollars. Thirty year-old Hector Betiku pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges. Prosecutors say in the Fall of 2008 he used other peoples names and account information to steal more than 40-thousand dollars. His sentence covers the 13 months he spent in jail since his arrest. He was also ordered to pay 37-thousand dollars in restitution.

The owner of Vermont's Mount Snow ski resort wants to take the company public. Peak Resorts of St. Louis has told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission it wants to conduct a $40 million initial public offering of common stock for the Dover resort. The company says proceeds from the stock offering will help pay off money borrowed for improvements at Mount Snow.

The 3rd Annual Middlebury Maple Run – The Sweetest half took place this past Sunday. Under beautiful Sunny skies and comfortable temperatures, 616 individual runners including myself took on the picturesque 13.1-mile half marathon course. 88 relays teams participated with 176 runners. Top overall finisher was Richie Spitsberg of Burlington at 1:15:45. The top Relay Team was Sandbagger T-C, where Joe Shaw and Neal Graves finished in 1:16:26. You can get full race results right now by visiting www.middleburymaplerun.com. A huge THANK YOU goes out to all of the sponsors and the hardworking volunteers and organizers that made this event another Addison County success! It was an honor to run in this race and it’s a must do for yours truly next year!

Vermont leaders want you join up for green up, one of the state's longstanding commitments to the environment. Green Up Day is this Saturday May 7th. Thousands of volunteers, with Green bags in hand, will clean up trash left over from the harsh winter. Even Governor Peter Shumlin will pitch in along Interstate 89. Ski Vermont is also sponsoring a Green Up day contest. It wants to know, who can find the most unique piece of trash.