WVTK Local & State News July 26, 2011

A portion of Route 7 (North Pleasant Street) here in Middlebury will be closed today to all southbound traffic. The southbound traffic will be rerouted via Exchange & Seymour Streets. Northbound traffic will be permitted. This is due to the Stewart Lane Infrastructure Project.

State Police will continue to search for the body of Rene Viau using two cadaver dogs today. Police cut the search short Monday after rain caused poor visibility for State Police divers. Police said he fell off of a boat on Lake Champlain near Ferrisburgh, Saturday, and did not resurface. They believe that the wakes made by two passing boats may have caused his boat to pitch, sending him overboard.

The Addison County Chamber Of Commerce is reminding you that individual and family disaster aid is available to Vermont residents who experienced damage from the flooding that occurred from April 23rd to May 9th in Addison, Chittenden, Essex, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille and Orleans counties. The final date to apply for both FEMA grants and U.S. Small Business Administration loans is August 15th. You can register online or over the phone. Just visit www.DisasterAssistance.gov or call 800-621-FEMA. (3362)

There was a bit of a jolt for bank employees in Middlebury yesterday afternoon. A car drove across the parking lot at the People's United Bank and went the wrong way through the drive in, crashing into the side of the bank. Police described the driver as an elderly man who may have suffered a medical event just before the crash. People working inside the bank said the crash sounded like a large chunk of snow or ice falling off the roof. And they were shocked to see the car wedged between the flagpole and the bank.

Construction of the Lake Champlain Bridge connecting West Addison, and Crown Point has been moving forward this summer. The bridge's signature archway is now assembled and appears ready to be moved to the site of the new bridge. The 1.8 million pound arch will be floated down the lake to the bridge site where it will be raised. All of the steel at the bridge site is up and waiting. The bridge contractor, Flatiron, has begun pouring the concrete decks. Meanwhile a huge Grand Reopening Celebration continues to be planned for October 15th & 16th. Learn how you can be part of history at www.champlainbridgecommunity.org.

The Vermont State Police are currently investigating multiple Unlawful Mischief complainants from the Orwell area that occurred sometime between the night of July 24th and the morning of the 25th. Witnesses state that a small vehicle had been travelling around destroying mailboxes and planters by the roadside. Anyone with any information is asked to call the Vermont State Police New Haven Barracks. (802) 388-4919

Two Rutland teens have been charged with breaking into the Vermont Marble Museum in Proctor and making off with $10,000 worth of sculptures and a flat-screen television on May 18th. 18-year-old Michael E. Farrell and his 17-year-old friend were charged recently with felony counts of burglary and receiving stolen property. They are scheduled to appear in Rutland criminal court for arraignment on September 19th.

The Willsboro Central School Board will meet at 6 this evening in the conference room. Agenda items include personnel and business and finance. The meeting is open to all.

The next regular meeting of the Moriah Central School Board is at 6PM Wednesday, August 3rd, in the High-School library. This session had originally been scheduled for August 16th but is taking place earlier because of the need to hire staff for the upcoming school year. Regular business will be on the agenda, as well, along with an update on the capital project. Following the meeting, an executive session will be called for personnel discussions and hiring.

Seven months after a fire struck Hubbard Hall in Elizabethtown, the building is being demolished. It was one of Elizabethtown’s oldest and best known structures, having served at one time as a hospital and later as a college, but was severely damaged in a fire last January that displaced a number of local businesses. The cause of the fire has still not been determined.

Implementing New York State's new 2-percent property-tax cap could cost Essex County most of its projected $13 million fund balance next year. Under the tax cap, Essex County is allowed to raise only $147,000 more in taxes next year. The current tax levy barely covers the cost of state-mandated programs. And contractual increases in wages, health insurance and State Retirement Fund contributions already on the table total $3.4 million for 2012.

Bulwagga Books and Gallery in Whiting is closing its doors after 15 years in business. However it won’t be the end of Bulwagga Books as the owners will relocate to a new house in Middlebury and reopen as a smaller, appointment-only shop. But the closing marks the end of a long run that established Bulwagga Books as both a destination for book collectors and a unique stopping point on Route 30 in Whiting.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved public assistance for three Vermont counties hard-hit by spring flooding. Washington, Orange and Essex counties will get flood relief under the announcement made Monday by Gov. Peter Shumlin and the state's three-member congressional delegation. Barre Mayor Thomas Lauzon says the inclusion of Orange County in the declaration is key to covering damage to the reservoir that serves the city's water system.

The owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant says it will refuel the plant this fall despite uncertainty about whether it will be able to operate beyond March, when its current operating license expires. Entergy and the state of Vermont are fighting over whether the plant will operate beyond March. Vermont Yankee officials had said they were unsure if they would order $60 million worth of nuclear fuel unless they knew the plant would continue operating.

Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell says he wasn't surprised that the owners of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power decided to spend $60 million to refuel without knowing if the plant will be able to operate past March. Sorrell says New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. has annual revenues of about $11 billion. Vermont Law School Professor Cheryl Hannah says Entergy made a business decision.

A Burlington man charged with killing a man whose body was found under a railroad bridge will be held without bail while a competency evaluation is done at the Vermont State Hospital. Daniel Whalon, did not enter a plea when he appeared in court yesterday to answer a second-degree murder charge in the killing of Ralph Bell of Burlington.

A long-time faculty member of the University of Vermont who spent the last four years leading a Vermont foundation is going to become UVM's interim president. On August 1st John Bramley will become interim president, taking the reins from Dan Fogel who is leaving office 11 months earlier than he had planned. The UVM board of trustees is planning to choose a permanent president by next spring. From 2007 to 2011 Bramley was the president and CEO of the Windham Foundation, the largest private foundation registered in Vermont.

State utility regulators want to give low-income Vermonters a break on their electric bills. The Public Service Board says customers of the state's two largest utilities should help subsidize a new program. With the Public Service Board order, Vermont joins other states in the Northeast in establishing a special low-income electricity support program. The PSB said there was a clear need. The board noted that in 2009, about 11,900 customers had their power shut off because they couldn't pay their bills. All other ratepayers, including residential and commercial customers, would fund the program.

Vermont's attorney general says the state will be getting $10,000 as part of a settlement of complaints against a Salt Lake City-based company that imported drinking glasses that had high levels of lead in them. The settlement is with Vandor, LLC and covers drinking glasses that carried illustrations of Elvis Presley and the movie "Gone With the Wind."

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority has expanded funding for programs for small businesses and nonprofit organizations. In accordance with the New York State Legislature's passage of the Green Jobs-Green New York Act, they will make funding available to help those entities save energy and reduce energy expenses. The move is also expected to create green jobs in the state.

The Second annual Ferrisburgh Day is coming up this Saturday. Events run from 9AM – 5PM. From 10 – 4 Rokeby will open its walking trails to Ferrisburgh residents, and offer free admission to town residents to its 11AM, 12:30 and 2PM house tours. At the same time the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum will offer free admission to town residents. From 10 – 2 the central school will offer tours of its student gardens and composting programs, with lunch served from Noon to 1. Other events include slide presentations at the Grange Hall, Fire Department displays with Children’s activities and even the Historical Society will host an open house offering samples from recipes based on the 1912 Ferrisburgh Social Club Cookbook. For a complete list of events just click HERE.