WVTK Local & State News August 12, 2011

Addison County Fair & Fields Days continues today. Remember you can ride the ACTR bus “fare-free” to the fair. Tomorrow the full Tri-Town Shuttle Route will run “fare-free” all day from Middlebury, Bristol, New Haven and Vergennes. The first bus departs Middlebury at 11AM and will run continuously every 2 hours until the final returns to Middlebury at 7PM. For a complete shuttle schedule visit www.actr-vt.org. Amada Leigh takes her show on the road this afternoon from 3 – 7 live from Field Days where you can register to win tickets to the Great Escape and more!

Rep. Peter Welch will hold another dairy roundtable in New Haven Today to hear from Vermont dairy farmers about their priorities as the House Agriculture Committee takes up legislation that will set the nation’s dairy policy for years to come. Welch, who is a member of the House Agriculture Committee, is convening these roundtables to hear from Vermont’s dairy farmers after the Committee released a draft dairy reform proposal. At the roundtable today he will outline the proposal and get input from Vermont dairy farmers that he can bring back to Washington to strengthen the dairy reform legislation. The New Haven dairy roundtable is scheduled to take place at Noon in the Grandstand at Addison County Fair & Field Days.

Police in Rutland are searching for an arsonist. They say someone set fire to shed on Hubbard Place Lane Wednesday afternoon. The blaze destroyed everything in the shed, although the building itself suffered only minor damage. Anyone with information is asked to call the Vermont Arson Tip Line at 1-800-32-ARSON.

State Police posed as potential customers of stolen goods to lure two men accused in a home invasion and burglary on Sangamon Road in Pittsford this week. Police on Wednesday arrested Michael J. Seagren and Brenden Fisk when the two men allegedly responded to a text message sent by the police who posed as interested buyers of a stolen computer. The two appeared in Rutland criminal court yesterday where they both pleaded innocent to felony charges of burglary of an occupied dwelling, grand larceny and possessing and selling stolen goods. Fisk also pleaded innocent to a felony charge of unlawful restraint and misdemeanor charges of simple assault and operating a vehicle without owner consent.

Mobile home maker Skyline Corp. is closing its Fair Haven plant. The closing was confirmed late yesterday. The 40-year-old plant is located on South Main Street in Fair Haven.

A feasibility study for a pedestrian path between Bristol’s downtown district and Lincoln Gap Road is coming to a close. Some residents have been hoping to make the route safer for walkers, joggers and bike riders however the cost involved appear to be high. Three different options have been presented and would cost anywhere between 3 and 4.5 million dollars. Funding for projects like this is usually through the Vermont Agency of Transportation enhancement program, which only provides $300,000 per project.

Even with some recent cuts some Addison County towns may see taxes increase. Leaders of the seven towns that make up the Addison Central Supervisory Union have set new 2011-2012 property tax rates that range from a 4.5-cent decrease in Middlebury to a 12-cent increase in Bridport.

Last weekend the first Midd Summer Festival drew around 1,700 people. With live music, wine, beer and cheese samples, people turned out in droves on Saturday to attend the inaugural Midd Summer Festival. According to event organizers, the celebration of Vermont products was a smashing success.

The Monkton select-board has announced that the bond taken out in 2002 to fund the 2003 fire station addition was refinanced by the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank at a lower interest rate. This reduction in future interest payments will save the town money. According to the Town Treasurer interest rate reductions don’t kick in until 2015 so the refinancing will only affect the last two years of bond payments. It will only translate into a savings of anywhere between $700 and $1,000.

One week after Addison County Fair & Field Days wraps up, the New Haven fairgrounds will again be host to rides, games, food and more, as the first annual Grand Master’s Fair is set to take place on Sunday, August 21st. The event will be free to the public. The Freemasons of Vermont, as well as other Masonic fraternities are organizing this fair.

Vermont Sun Sports and Fitness will soon provide a home base for the next generation of workout enthusiasts. Steve Hare said the business would sign a five-year lease with a new tenant, Middlebury Family Center. Kathleen and Katey Lafayette had been seeking town approval back in June to open a new childcare center on Court St. that could accommodate up to 45 children and employ up to 10 caregivers.

The Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium will be delivering a free Department of Homeland Security certified course August 19th from 8AM to 5PM at the Vermont Police Academy in Pittsford. The course will give participants a foundation of knowledge and skills to progressively establish a school-based emergency response plan and crisis management team through information sharing and training. For further information, contact Jarrod Withers at 606-677-6092, or email the Consortium at info@ruraltraining.org.

Four towns in Essex County will hold primary races September 13th ahead of the November election. Primaries in the towns of Keene and Schroon will choose Republicans for supervisor slots on the November ballot. Two towns will host GOP primaries in Essex County to set candidates for Town Council. In Crown Point, four Republican candidates are running for two seats in the general election. The Town of Newcomb will host a Democratic primary race for highway superintendent. The window for filing petitions for independent candidates looking to run in the November elections is August 16th to 23rd.

The head of the state Department of Environmental Conservation says he has appointed a new manager for the state's ecosystem restoration program. Kari Dolan, who now manages flood response for the DEC, is a former National Wildlife Federation employee who's worked for the state since 2006. The ecosystem restoration program, formerly known as "Clean and Clear", focuses on pollution in Vermont's three major waterways - Lake Champlain, Lake Memphremagog and the Connecticut River.

Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell doesn't like the way Burlington city officials handled the finances of Burlington Telcom, but he says he won't intervene in a prosecutor's decision not to press criminal charges. The municipality-owned telcom improperly spent $17 million in city taxpayers' money, but Chittenden County prosecutor T.J. Donovan, who investigated it, said no one, would be prosecuted criminally.

The owners of a Vermont inn have been granted an extension for replying to a lawsuit filed by a lesbian couple that said the inn refused to host their wedding reception. Ming Linsley and Kate Baker were told the Wildflower Inn's owners' Catholic beliefs made it impossible for them to host the reception. Inn owners Jim and Mary O'Reilly have said they never refused service to gays or lesbians but that they won't host a same-sex event because marriage should be between a man and a woman. They have until August 22nd to respond to the suit.

New Hampshire investigators hope to have lab results from toxicology tests within two weeks, potentially shedding light on how a missing 11-year-old died. Lead prosecutor Jane Young said Thursday she anticipates no developments in the Celina Cass case in the immediate future.

A top Internet search engine is helping more Vermont businesses get online. Yesterday, Google experts took over downtown Burlington to set up hundreds of businesses with personalized web pages. Only 37 percent of small businesses in the U.S. are online. Bill Maris, head of Google Ventures, says that number is probably even lower in Vermont. Vermont is one of two states selected to kick off the Google workshops. The hope is for more small businesses to get on the map by getting online.

North Ferrisburgh United Methodist Church members transported nine Addison County teens to Connecticut to work on a mission project July 27th. The Vermont missionaries were part of the United Methodist Action Reach-Out Mission by Youth, which included 90 teens and 50 adults working with elderly and low-income residents of Hartford, Connecticut. United Methodist Action Reach-Out Mission by Youth will be hosting its regional service week in Vermont next summer.

Vergennes Day celebrates its 30th year on Saturday, August 27th. On the Friday evening before, the event kicks off with a street dance featuring the music of "The Hitmen", from 7-11PM. Vergennes Day, hosted by the Addison County Chamber of Commerce, is a celebration of city and community and can be enjoyed by all ages. Full details of the event and a schedule of activities are available at www.Vergennesday.com.

With no official fan fare the 1874 Alexandria Avenue train trestle in Ticonderoga completed its three-month make over recently and is open for foot and bike traffic. A fall grand opening will be scheduled once school is in session. The train trestle was a part of the Ticonderoga Branch of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad.

Battles will once again be fought on the grounds of the Crown Point State Historic Site during a British, French and Indian War encampment on Saturday and Sunday. Between 250 and 450 re-enactors are expected to converge on the site where the French and English once occupied a fortress on a picturesque plateau jutting into Lake Champlain. These "battles" will take place between 1:30 and 2PM on both Saturday and Sunday. The re-enactors plan to break camp at 3PM Sunday afternoon.