WVTK Local & State News September 29, 2011

The Addison County Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the new location of its newest member, Otter Creek Used Books. The used bookseller has completed the move from its former location and is now located in Middlebury’s Marble Works district. Owner Barbara Harding says she moved to be more accessible to her customers and that includes better parking and having all the books located on one floor. Just look for the blue awning between Costello’s Market and Vites & Herbs. You can visit them online anytime at www.ottercreekusedbooks.com.

A woman who tried to rob a Vergennes convenience store while displaying a knife has died. WCAX-TV says the woman went into the Champlain Farms convenience store on Main Street in Vergennes early Wednesday. The woman was injured in a struggle with the store clerk. She was taken to Porter Hospital in Middlebury where she was pronounced dead. The man working in the store was not hurt.

Another milestone this week for repairs on Route 4 in Mendon. Construction crews hope to finish replacing a damaged sewer line this week. Once that's finished, crews will be able to repave and reopen the highway's third lane.

Cities and towns in Vermont will have an extra 16 days to apply for federal disaster assistance to help repair damage caused by Tropical Storm Irene. The new deadline for communities to apply is now October 17, 2011. Communities, certain non-profits, and publicly owned utilities in the declared counties can put in claims. Your regional planning commission, the Vermont Agency of Transportation, and PA specialists from FEMA can help with the application process, but it must be completed by the deadline of October 17th. This does not affect the October 31st deadline for individuals to apply for Individual Assistance.

The Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife says people shouldn't use sections of the Poultney and Hubbardton Rivers and sections of Lake Champlain because the waterways are being treated with chemicals to kill sea lamprey. The Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Management Cooperative says the treatment began at 7AM Wednesday and will last 10 to 15 days, until all traces of the chemical have disappeared. The water use advisory for the Hubbardton River starts below the falls off River Road in West Haven. For the Poultney River, the advisory is between the Carver Falls Dam and the outlet of South Bay, near Whitehall, NY. In Lake Champlain, the advisory runs from South Bay to Cedar Mountain in Benson.

Castleton has until the first week in November to relocate the town’s municipal offices from the Old Chapel on the Castleton State College campus. This will be the offices’ second move this year. The Town Manager said the move to the campus building was a temporary one and they are looking at renting mobile trailers and offices until they have a building that is “safe, accessible, functional and, hopefully, efficient.” Meanwhile, discussion between town officials and town residents on the future of the Town Hall building began during a well-attended informational meeting Tuesday. A second informational meeting is scheduled for October 11th.

Vermont's crime lab has reopened after losing power in Tropical Storm Irene. Unlike the rest of the state office complex in Waterbury, the lab was not flooded. But officials said it was uninhabitable because it did not have power or clean water.

Another Vermont college is losing its president. According to the Burlington Free Press, Will Wooton will step down from his post at Sterling College in October of 2012. The 62-year-old has held the school's top job since 2006 and is the fourth Vermont college president to announce his or her resignation this year. Nearly 100 students attend the school. It's the state's smallest four-year college.

Opponents to the wind power project planned for the ridgeline of northern Vermont's Lowell Mountain have begun an occupation designed to halt blasting for the project. They say they've set up four tents at the invitation of neighboring property owners Don and Shirley Nelson of Albany, who have written to project developer Green Mountain Power's CEO asking the company to ensure the campers' safety. A GMP spokeswoman says the company will want to clear the area were the campers are when blasting crews approach, most likely not until late fall or early winter. As to what might happen if they're still there, the company said they would address that question when the time comes.

The State of Vermont is making a hefty investment in its downtown areas. Governor Peter Shumlin has announced $1.8 million in new tax credits to revamp more than a dozen historic buildings. The result of the tax credits isn't just improved downtowns; Governor Shumlin says the state sees a strong return. He says for every dollar Vermont invests through its tax credit program, it gets $16 back and it’s putting Vermonters back to work at a time when construction crews have been devastated.

New York is dropping its requirement for vision tests to make it easier for drivers to renew licenses online or by mail. The Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner said that the change is one of several stemming from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's call for streamlining by state agencies. Another change is a new Internet application, "MyDMV," which allows customers to set up personal online accounts to do business with DMV. New licenses and commercial licenses will still require eye tests at a DMV office or by a doctor.

The newly renovated CVPH Medical Center Emergency Department opens today with increased space and improved privacy for patients, visitors and staff. The renovations will include nine new private rooms, a three-bay triage unit and an improved registration process, which will be handled at the patient's bedside. The Medical Center received a $3.6 million grant to expand the ER and alleviate patient congestion.

Vermont's former U.S. Congressman and speaker of the state House of Representatives Richard Mallary has died. Mallary died Tuesday at his home in Brookfield. He was 82. He was first elected to the Vermont House in 1960. He became Speaker in 1966, the first speaker after legislative reapportionment. He served two terms in the U.S. House in the early 1970s. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 1974, but lost to U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy.

Immigration officials have arrested 111 undocumented immigrants across New England as part of a nationwide sweep of convicted criminals who investigators say were in the country illegally. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said the arrests were part a 7-day national enforcement operation that led to the arrest of more than 2,900 convicted criminal aliens. Officials said all of those taken into custody had criminal convictions. The operation netted arrests in every New England state including 23 in Connecticut, 16 in Rhode Island, six in New Hampshire, and two each in Maine and Vermont.

A South Burlington man will serve six months in jail for his role in a Nigerian fraud scheme. Federal prosecutors say Pierre Gravel was the U.S. middleman in the Internet scam, pretending to buy items on Craigslist but paying with counterfeit checks worth more than the selling price. The sellers would deposit the fake checks and then wire the change to the scammers.

Donations are coming in at the Salvation Army’s statewide flood recovery center. The center at the former Smith Buick GMC site on South Main Street in Rutland was established so Vermonters with significant losses in the flooding triggered by Tropical Storm Irene could replace clothes, appliances, household goods and other items. However, not much has been claimed and the center has had only 12 to 15 families per day coming in to replace goods lost to the flooding. The Salvation Army has even asked people seeking to donate clothes or furniture to hold on to their donations for the time being.

Harvest festivals will highlight the fall season in Brandon and Pittsford on Saturday. This year, Brandon Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual Harvest Fest will include apple pies, baked goods, pumpkins, hayrides and the usual “Harvest People,” which can be seen popping up around town. At the Harvest Fest, starting at 10AM at Brandon’s Central Park, people will have the opportunity to create their own “Harvest Person.” In Pittsford, the seventh annual Harvest Fest will be at the Village Green near the Congregational Church starting at 10AM. It will help benefit the Bowen-Walker Fund, an emergency safety net for people in town in need of assistance. About 30 vendors will set up shop from local artists to producers and crafts makers.

Renewable energy development will be at the forefront in the next legislative session as a key lawmaker plans to introduce a bill that would force utilities to keep wind, solar or hydroelectric power in their portfolios. But the debate over renewable energy is already heating up this fall with a leading Vermont environmental group last week questioning the Shumlin administration’s commitment to development of renewable electricity. The Vermont Public Interest Research Group issued email blasts Friday critical of parts of the Shumlin administration’s draft comprehensive energy plan.

A new survey reveals that scientists and lab technicians really "need" coffee to be productive. The survey commissioned by Dunkin' Donuts and CareerBuilder says marketing/public relations professionals and education administrators work a lot more effectively when fueled by a cup of Joe. The survey shows more than 60-percent of workers who drink coffee drink two or more cups a day at work and nearly half the people surveyed say they are less productive if they don't drink coffee. In an independent survey conducted by Bruce, Hobbes and Gale we found that drinking 2 or more pots of coffee per day quadruples our productivity and does away with the need to sleep.