WVTK Local & State News August 23, 2011

The Town of Middlebury will be doing 4 - Cross Culverts and Ditching on South St. beginning today thru the end of August. South St. will be closed to thru traffic between East View and the Horse Farm. Work will begin at 6AM. During this time there will be no through traffic allowed in the work zone. They expect to be done daily by 5PM. Ditching will begin once the culvert work is done along with some ledge removal to the South of the College composting area.

The National 9/11 flag made its 47th stop at the VFW in Middlebury yesterday. It is a giant American flag recovered from the wreckage of the Twin Towers nearly a decade ago. The remnants were sent to Greensburg, Kansas where senior citizens replaced close to half of it. Since then, the 9/11 flag has toured the nation, slowly being pieced together by patches of retired flags from every State. The flag has three States to travel to before making its final stop on September 11, 2011. It will be on display at the National September 11th Memorial Museum.

On September 13th Weybridge residents will gather for the first of several upcoming community forums to share their views on how the local elementary school should be governed and managed in the future as the school enrollment continues to decline. The meeting will be the first in a series of discussions in all seven Addison Central Supervisory Union towns on whether the district should consider consolidating its governance structure and or more effectively share resources due to growing expenses and fewer students.

J.P. Carrara & Sons has indefinitely postponed a previously planned expansion of its East Middlebury gravel pit. According to the company the sluggish economy is the primary reason for the decision.

Ferrisburgh selectmen and Eastern Development Corp. have struck a deal for the sale of the town’s 34.9-acre parcel at the junction of Routes 7 and 22A. The company has not disclosed the exact nature of its plans, but the select-board is optimistic based on discussions with Eastern Development, that the town and neighboring Vergennes will be happy. Selectmen hope to use sale proceeds to complete a $150,000 purchase of a home and 2 acres next to the Grange Hall.

The Shoreham select-board has selected longtime resident and former orchardist Sanford Witherell to join its ranks until the March elections. He will be filling a recently vacated spot on the board. Witherell and his family owned and operated the Noggin Orchard in Shoreham until Champlain Orchards acquired the property about two years ago.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied a State of New York request to extend the period of the disaster declaration for spring flooding. FEMA earlier declared a major disaster declaration for the period April 28th through May 9th to allow municipalities to apply for funding to cover damage caused by storms and flooding in 21 counties, including Clinton, Essex and Franklin. The state later requested that period be extended to April 3rd through May 30th, but FEMA has notified the state that the request has been denied.

Vermonters heading to their local fair this summer and fall will find something new in addition to animals, carnival rides and fried dough. Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be on hand to offer residents information about rebuilding homes damaged by this spring's flooding. FEMA officials will be on hand at the Caledonia County Fair, the Champlain Fair, the Vermont State Fair and the Tunbridge Word's Fair. They will also be attending a number of Farmer's Markets around the state.

A motion to dismiss an attempted second-degree murder charge against John Walters will be argued in Rutland criminal court next week. The almost three-year-old case against the former Proctor man went to trial last summer. But after a week of testimony, the jury was unable to return a unanimous verdict, which resulted in the judge declaring a mistrial. Prosecutors have said they plan to retry the case, but in a motion filed earlier this year, Walters’ defense attorney said the court should dismiss the charge outright because important forensic evidence in the case had either been lost or destroyed.

Senator Bernie Sanders is playing a prominent national role to encourage liberal and progressive voters to be more actively involved in the budget decisions that will be made by Congress this fall. There's no question that Sanders believes that President Obama and Congressional Democratic leaders have failed to stand up to conservative Republicans in Washington. For instance, he was very disappointed that they supported legislation extending the nation's debt ceiling without including new taxes on the wealthy in the package. Sanders says his goal is to mobilize voters to send a clear message to the Congressional super committee on debt reduction that new tax revenue must be part of any final deal.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney will pay a visit to New Hampshire this week. Romney will hold town hall meetings in Keene and Lebanon on Wednesday. The former Massachusetts governor will also hold a business roundtable in Claremont. Romney last paid a visit to the area in 2007 when he was seeking the Republican nomination, ultimately losing to Arizona senator John McCain.

A Whitehall, NY man was arrested Monday and charged with setting a car on fire almost a year ago in Fair Haven. Police in Fair Haven arrested Daryn P. Lowell and charged him with third-degree arson for allegedly setting fire to a car that was completely destroyed on Grape Street during the early morning hours of September 4, 2010.

A legislative committee has begun to review the long list of exemptions that currently exists to the state's public records laws. Secretary of State Jim Condos says the goal is to reduce the number of exemptions to open records, which now stands at 240, and make government more transparent. The study committee grew out of a bill that passed this year, which Condos calls the first major re-write of public records laws since 1976.

Gearing up for elections next year, Vermont Democrats say they've hired a new field director to help the party prepare for 2012. Ryan McLaren, a lifelong Vermonter and former aide to Gov. Peter Shumlin, will oversee the party reorganization process this fall. Party Executive Director Jesse Bragg says McLaren's field experience will be key for Democratic campaigns next year.

Vermont's efforts to strengthen management of court records are getting a big boost from the federal government. The Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, a division of the secretary of state's office, has received a grant of more than $118,000 to preserve records from three county courthouses dating from 1794 through 1945. Officials say they hope eventually to spread the effort beyond court records for Orleans, Lamoille and Caledonia counties to include courthouses statewide.

A spokesman for former New York Gov. George Pataki says the Republican is taking a harder look at running for president, saying Democratic President Obama is faltering and the Republican field is thin. Several factors are in play and among them are what Pataki considers Obama's lack of a serious plan to deal with the nation's debt, and Pataki's own moderate views that could attract independent voters in the important New Hampshire primary.

Scientists at the Dartmouth College Medical School are going to use an $11 million grant to work with their colleagues throughout northern New England, including the University Of Vermont, to study the way genetics and the environment work together to trigger and prevent disease. The grant from the National Institutes of health will help Dartmouth establish a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence. The center will recruit and train young biologists who will do the research into the interaction between genes and the environment in causing or preventing diseases.

The Depot Theatre in Westport is proud to present the outrageously funny one-man comedy smash hit "Fully Committed", a theatrical tour de force that pits one versatile actor against 90 pages of text. Fully Committed opens the Friday and runs through Sunday, September 4th. Evening performances are at 8PM with matinees on August 28th and September 3rd at 2PM. The Sunday, September 4th performance is at 5PM. All tickets are $25, and reservations are recommended.