WVTK Local & State News July 19, 2011

Central Vermont Public Service Corp. repaired power lines knocked down off East Ridge Acres Road in Mendon on Monday morning after a thunderstorm passed through the area. CVPS reported small, scattered outages throughout Rutland and Addison counties, which were quickly repaired.

Middlebury College faculty member Kateri Carmola pleaded “no contest” to an embezzlement charge in Addison County District Court last week for allegedly taking $4,500 from the Salisbury Historical Society over a three-month period last year. Court records indicate she allegedly made 11 transfers ranging from $200 to $1,000 between July 6th and September 8th, 2010. Addison County District Court Judge Nancy Corsones agreed to the proposed 18-month deferred sentence.

Bristol resident Brian Simmons is heading to Louisiana to compete in the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association World Championships. He is looking to regain a world title he won twice early in the decade. Brian can be seen often in the summer throwing at the Sodbusters Horseshoe Pitching Club in Middlebury. He has won seven Maine State Championship titles, two New Hampshire titles, four Rhode Island titles and two Vermont State Championships. Simmons has been inducted into the National Horseshoe Pitchers Hall of Fame, has his own horseshoe line and holds numerous professional records.

A Vermont Agency of Transportation employee is facing charges for allegedly flashing a woman while on the job. Twenty-three-year-old Riley Bockus pleaded not guilty to a charge of lewd and lascivious conduct. He was driving an AOT work truck on Squier Road in Clarendon and exposed himself to a woman who was fixing a flat tire. The Agency of Transportation is also conducting an internal investigation.

The New York-based Nathan Childers Band returns to the Castleton concert series night. Show time is 7PM. Nathan Childers, a graduate of Otter Valley Union High School, brings his saxophone and band from New York. He has played with many of the world’s finest performers and ensembles. The concert is free and open to the public. The rain site is the Castleton State College Casella Fine Arts Center.

Fort Ticonderoga is looking to relaunch itself using a planning grant it just got from a national endowment. Fort Ticonderoga Executive Director Beth Hill said the $85,000 grant from the Perkin Fund will support Phase One of the organization's new comprehensive plan. The planning initiative will begin later this month.

A former school in Rutland on Watkins Avenue is on the market for close to its assessed value. The Watkins school turned maintenance garage, vacated by the city school district last year, is listed for $209,500. As of April of this year, the last assessed value on the property was $197,400. The Rutland public school district listed the property on the market last week after months of contemplation on what to do with the property.

Vermont is making more in tax revenues. The state closed out the fiscal year 11 percent ahead of last year. Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding says he's pleased to see revenues improving but expects the state will see slower growth moving forward. General fund revenue is still 4 percent lower than in fiscal year 2008. Spaulding says the better-than-expected tax collections will likely be used to help offset federal cuts.

A federal judge says he won't order that Vermont's only nuclear plant remain open while a lawsuit to determine its long-term future plays out. Vermont is moving to shut down Vermont Yankee. Both the governor and the state Senate are on record as wanting it to close when its initial 40-year license expires in March. The plant's owner got a 20-year license extension from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It argues in a lawsuit that the federal action pre-empts the State’s.

Police investigating the mysterious disappearance of a Vermont couple now say they suspect foul play. William and Lorraine Currier, of Essex, have been missing since June 8th. Their car was found several days later, and police have gathered forensic evidence from it and from their home.

The Vermont attorney general's office says a Fair Haven man has pleaded guilty to home improvement fraud for taking a deposit to replace a roof but never doing the work. Court documents say John Burgart of Burgart Roofing, Inc., entered into a contract with an Underhill couple to replace the roof on their home for nearly $14,800 for which he required a down payment of $8,500 to buy the materials. But the attorney general's office said Monday that Burgart took the money but never bought the materials or performed the work. Court papers say he also failed to return the down payment. As part of his probation, Burgart must pay back the down payment.

A church in Burlington has been burglarized, causing thousands of dollars' worth of damage. Sometime Sunday night or early Monday, an unknown suspect or suspects made their way into St. Joseph's Church on Allen Street, forced their way into the tabernacle and stole a vessel used to contain Holy Communion hosts. A three-inch cross was taken from the top of the tabernacle, too. Police are offering a cash reward for information leading to the thieves and the safe return of the items.

The city of Burlington is planning a public meeting this week as it seeks citizens' involvement in a new effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At a session set for 6PM Wednesday at the Fletcher Free Library, city officials will unveil a 36-point plan designed to reduce the city's role as a contributor to climate change.

Twelve inmates from Vermont are facing charges in connection with a riot at the Franklin County jail in Massachusetts that caused an estimated $250,000 in damage. The Greenfield Recorder reports the inmates were identified as alleged participants in the July 7th disturbance at the Greenfield jail through video surveillance.

The Vermont Telecommunications Authority says it has chosen two companies for incentive discounts to provide "last mile" broadband connections. VTA officials said Monday that Southern Vermont Broadband Cooperative and Cloud Alliance, LLC, have been chosen for the discounted commercial broadband connections on the Vermont FiberConnect network. More awards are expected in the coming weeks.

St. Michael's College campus felt the ground shake after a boiler exploded in one of the dorm buildings late Monday morning. Authorities say college workers were replacing the boiler when it blew up. The building suffered significant roof damage. No one was hurt during the explosion.

Tourists visited Vermont in June despite the rainy, flood-filled spring. The state pulled in 7.5 million dollars in rooms and meals taxes, a 23-percent jump over the same period last year. And revenue is also up year to year by 6.5 percent. State leaders say an improving economy and new efforts to market Vermont using social media are fueling the spending.

Military retirees from throughout New England are being invited to an event in Vermont that offers legal assistance, health care information and details on benefits they may be eligible for. The 14th annual Northern New England Military Retiree Activity Day is scheduled for Saturday at Camp Johnson, in Colchester. Organizers say retirees from all branches can attend and get updates on military retirement benefits they've earned while serving in the armed forces. The event gets under way at 8AM. It's being held at the Vermont National Guard's regional training institute.

Last week, about 500 students gathered at the Davis Center at the University of Vermont to celebrate what many of them thought was unattainable: the goal of going to college. The students were from Vermont and Upstate New York Upward Bound programs. It's a federal program that mentors teenagers from low-income and immigrant families, and students who would be the first in their families to attend college. They get one-on-one support with schoolwork, standardized tests, help with navigating financial aid and guidance in applying to college. And during the summer, they study on college campuses.

Killington Resort will host a stop on the Winter Dew Tour next January. Resort officials announced Monday that Killington will be the second stop of the 2011-12 Winter Dew Tour, the largest snow sports event in the East. The tour will start at Breckenridge Ski Resort, in Colorado, go to Killington, then to the Dew Tour Championships at Snowbasin Resort in Utah. The 4-day event at Killington, which is set for January 19-22, will feature ski and snowboard athletes competing in slope-style and super-pipe.