WVTK Local & State News May 6, 2011

The Charlotte Essex Ferry is currently closed due to severe flooding. The boarding lanes are nearly completely under water. The Plattsburgh- Grand Isle Ferry is running, however ferry workers are busy piling stone to prevent rising water from sweeping over the ferry dock. The Crown Point Ferry is also still running on a normal schedule. Updates can be found HERE.

VTrans sent out an updated list of state road closures and trouble spots yesterday afternoon. In our area Route 73 between Route 7 and 30 has reopened. Meanwhile Route 125 near Chimney Point is still closed. Route 17 remains open following VTrans' action to add fill to flooded areas.

On Monday (May 9th) a portion of Happy Valley Road north of Ellen Drive and south of House #636 on Happy Valley Road will be closed to through traffic for water main improvements. Middlebury School Bus routes will not be impacted by this closure. This closure is expected to continue through May 27th. We will provide with any changes or updates regarding this maintenance work.

Rutland City police are searching for a smash and grab thief. Police say the thief did about $1,000 in damage and swiped the same amount of loot from four cars in the Northwest area of the city early Thursday morning. Residents say the crook stole satellite radios and iPods. Police say they have no reason to believe this is linked to the car theft that took place at Carey's Auto Saturday.

This weeks Bristol Planning Commission meeting drew a large crowd of residents looking for clarity from commissioners on several parts of the draft 120-page town plan update. Especially when it came to specifics on the Conservation Zone. Bristol residents on both sides of the extraction debate raised issues about the clarity of language used in the draft plan. Some even said the town plan lacks clear language to prevent future disputes and improve public participation.

Thanks to a generous donation Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater was able to hire an education director. Executive Director Doug Anderson announced the hiring of Westport resident Lindsay Pontius to a part-time educator’s position. She will focus on new youth programming for the next generation of aspiring actors and theatergoers.

Progress continues towards a new hydroelectric project in Middlebury. The project slated for the Otter Creek Falls has taken two steps forward in recent weeks. The Middlebury select-board issued a conditional letter of support and the Holm family submitted their plan for review by federal regulators.

Gov. Peter Shumlin declared a state of emergency Thursday in response to flooding around Lake Champlain where the water has reached historic levels. Shumlin said the declaration will allow the state to access emergency equipment from the Vermont National Guard. He made it clear that evacuations are not happening in communities around Lake Champlain, and he hopes it won’t come to that.

Moriah has been granted permission to fight Mother Nature in its effort to save Bulwagga Bay beach and campground. The Adirondack Park Agency has given the town a variance that will allow work to stabilize the waterfront, which is being lost to erosion. The plan to stabilize and "re-nourish" Bulwagga Bay cost the town $35,000. A grant from the Department of State paid for $25,000 of that expense.

The Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York has discontinued its Extra Helpings Program. The program served families in Crown Point and Moriah. In the past it was offered in Ticonderoga. The food bank will try to offset the impact of the Extra Helpings demise by working with local food pantries.

Ticonderoga has agreed to purchase a $17,774 closed circuit TV system to monitor Montcalm Street and Bicentennial Park in an effort to curb vandalism and crime. There will be two cameras that continuously rotate 360 degrees filming activity in the area. The cameras will be monitored by the Ticonderoga Police Department.

Local objections over plans to move the state Division of Fire Safety out of Rutland County have convinced the state’s commissioner of public safety to keep it where it is. The state had planned to consolidate the downtown Rutland office and another Fire Safety office in Springfield into a new space in Ludlow. The office handles the inspection and licensing of commercial properties in the region.

Vermont lawmakers continued the fast pace at the Statehouse yesterday, giving final approval to a health care reform bill that eventually moves the state toward a single-payer system. Lawmakers also passed a bill to set up medical marijuana dispensaries. Vermont legalized marijuana for medical use seven years ago. This bill allows patients who don't want to grow the drug to get it at four nonprofit dispensaries. In the push to adjourn there will be bills left behind.

A Colonial-era dispute over where one Vermont town ends and the neighboring town begins is about to be settled, once and for all. Gov. Peter Shumlin will sign a bill today that establishes the boundary line between the towns of Shelburne and St. George. The discrepancy, which dates to 1763, came to light most recently in 2007 after a house was built on land that both towns thought was theirs.

Lawmakers in Montpelier have agreed to make changes to Vermont's public records law. A bill passed by both the House and the Senate requires judges to award attorney's fees to anyone wrongfully denied public records. Currently it's up to a judge to decide whether those fees will be awarded. The bill now heads to Governor Shumlin's desk for his signature.

New Vermont State Police troopers are going to be getting big raises if a new labor contract with the state is ratified. Gov. Peter Shumlin and Michael O'Neil, the president of the Vermont Troopers' Association, announced Thursday the two sides had reached a new contract designed to address problems in recruiting and keeping troopers. A study found that pay for Vermont troopers is not competitive with other law enforcement agencies in the state and northeastern states.

A court case over whether Vermont has the authority to close down the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant next year is off to a secretive start. The first hearing for Entergy Corp.'s suit against state officials was held behind closed doors Thursday in federal court in Brattleboro. Attorneys for Entergy and the state met in chambers with a U.S. District Judge. Neither side would reveal afterward what was discussed.

A Vermont judge has granted preliminary approval to a settlement that would require dairy processor Dean Foods Co. to pay Northeast farmers and their attorneys $30 million to settle antitrust allegations. The Dallas-based company and the plaintiffs removed part of the proposed deal that would have required Dean to temporarily change its milk-buying practices in the region, because the company said it had already started to buy from independent farmers.

A White River Junction teen was reported missing Wednesday after she failed to return to her high school classroom. 14-Year-Old Mykaela Simond was last seen between 1:30 and 1:45 at Hartford High School when she was excused from class to go to the restroom where her sweatshirt was seen. Simond’s is a white female standing around 5-foot-7-inches tall, weighs approximately 140 pounds. She has long red hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing purple skinny jeans, a gray t-shirt and black and silver flip-flops. Hartford Police are asking anyone with information or questions regarding her whereabouts to contact Hartford Police Department.

Amtrak is resuming passenger service between Albany and Montreal, a day after trains were halted because of flooding along a stretch of tracks in the eastern Adirondacks. Track owners CP Rail closed the tracks Wednesday just north of Whitehall after flooding inundated them. Amtrak says train service between the two cities resumed Thursday morning.

Three jobs were eliminated through attrition to balance the new Schroon Lake Central School budget. The amount to be raised by taxes in the proposed 2011-12 spending plan went from $5.73 million to $5.86 million, up 2.28 percent. The full budget totals $7.35 million, from $7.28 million last time. The district had to make up for a 12-percent state-aid cut. The budget vote is from noon to 8PM Tuesday, May 17, at the school.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer wants a pilot program to be created at a New York veteran’s hospital that will provide childcare for women veterans as they receive medical care. Schumer said the growing number of women veterans demands childcare be provided at or near veterans hospitals. Schumer is asking the federal Veterans Affairs to test the plan at a New York veteran’s hospital, and then expand it nationwide.

Late-night host and comedian Conan O'Brien will be the keynote speaker at Dartmouth College's commencement ceremony next month. O'Brien, who launched his late-night talk show "Conan" on TBS last year, will address graduates June 12 in Hanover, NH.

This weekend the Middlebury Bach Festival seeks to further the appreciation of the music, life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach. It will provide the College and community with three days of performances and interest sessions that kick off tonight and culminate in an exciting Festival Concert in Mead Chapel at Middlebury College tomorrow evening at 8. For more information just click HERE.

Rain didn’t stop rockets from launching or students from learning through Rutland’s Starbase program. About 40 students from Neshobe School in Brandon gathered Wednesday inside the Civil Air Patrol building at the Rutland Southern Vermont Regional Airport in North Clarendon all day to learn what gives an airplane its lift. The Department of Defense funded program was intended to get kids excited about STEM — science, technology, engineering and math.