WVTK Local & State News November 4, 2011

WVTK was informed late yesterday that the Lake Champlain Bridge will re-open on Monday, November 7th! A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at 2:30PM. Sources indicate that Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin is slated to attend the ceremony. New York's Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy is also expected to attend the event along with WVTK!

Teachers in the Addison Northeast Supervisory Union, who threatened to strike last February before accepting a short-term contract imposed by the school board, have taken contract negotiations to the next level. The Addison Northeast Education Association teachers union has called for an impasse in the negotiations. This means the union feels a third-party mediator is necessary. Since June 30, 2010, teachers have been working without a negotiated contract. In February the teachers accepted an imposed contract. The two sides are currently looking for a third party to moderate negotiations and their next meeting hasn’t been scheduled.

Rutland City Police Chief Anthony Bossi announced yesterday that he would be retiring in January after more than three decades with the department. Bossi, who has been a part of the force for 35 years with the last 13 as chief, will retire on January 3rd. Who will replace the chief on an interim or permanent basis is unclear at this time. The city's five-member Police Commission has the authority to appoint an acting police chief but it would take the approval of a broader search committee to hire a permanent chief.

A couple in Vermont has been arrested in connection with a bank robbery, and police say they may be behind others. Police said a woman walked into Citizen's Bank in Poultney on Wednesday afternoon and handed the teller a note saying she had a gun and was demanding cash. Police caught her and a man who was with her a short time later in Castleton. The woman has been identified as 30-year-old Jill Ludwig of Castleton. The man's name hasn't been released yet. Police also are investigating the couple in connection with a robbery last week at a TD Bank branch in Granville, NY as well as recent ones in Rutland and West Rutland.

The Addison County Regional Planning Commission board will vote on an updated regional plan that includes a complete re-write of the natural resources section next Wednesday. The county’s regional plan maps out transportation, housing, natural resources, economic, land use and utilities/facilities priorities. By state statute, the document must be revised every eight years.

Panton’s Town Clerk is leaving her post. Over the past 17 years Sue Torrey has served as Panton’s Town Clerk and has greet residents and visitors in the Town Office. She has been there through town debates regarding needed work on the Town Hall, how to word new town plans and zoning laws and even how to get a handle on rising taxes.

Salisbury residents have given their municipal planners some ideas as they prepare revisions to the community’s town plan. The Salisbury Planning Commission is currently interpreting the results of a town-wide survey that sought residents’ opinions on issues ranging from the future of the municipal landfill to the health of Lake Dunmore.

It looks like Middlebury’s hydro plan will finally advance. A family seeking to install a small-scale hydroelectric project at Middlebury’s Otter Creek falls has won permission to take advantage of a streamlined federal review of the plan. They are currently looking for investors to help finance eventual construction.

More than 200 area residents participated in what was a record-setting Addison County Crop Hunger Walk on October 2nd. The event raised $24,705 for programs to feed the hungry. The 34th annual Crop Hunger Walk was organized by Addison County clergy and culminated in a 2.2-mile route through Middlebury.

Town officials in Benson voted to adopt proposed changes to the town’s zoning ordinance following an unattended public hearing Monday. The Select Board unanimously voted to adopt the changes to the zoning bylaws. The changes take effect in 21 days. During Monday’s meeting, the board also unanimously approved increasing the town’s sewer rate incrementally by $25 per period for the next three years. The approved sewer rate this year is $150. Additionally, the board discussed the possibility of creating a path from the Benson Village School to the town, through private properties.

The pending sale of Central Vermont Public Service Corp. drew little interest earlier this week as the Public Service Board held a statewide hearing to gauge public sentiment on the proposed $702 million sale to Gaz Metro of Montreal. Backers of the sale of Central Vermont Public Service Corp. to Gaz Metro told the Public Service Board that the deal would help keep electric rates in the state competitive and ensure that the merged company would retain a significant presence in Rutland. If the sale is approved, CVPS would merge with GMP.

Burlington International Airport is having bird problems that seem to be getting worse. Now, airport officials have the okay from the city of South Burlington to do something about birds in the flight line outside of airport boundaries. Corn left in a field near the airport, which flooded earlier, is attracting the birds. The airport is arranging for pyrotechnics, with noises and flashes designed to scare the birds. The farmer owning the field is concerned his other animals will be scared as well, but those details are still being worked out with him.

A Poultney man is dead after his tractor rolled on top of him. State police say Gary Miller was widening his driveway off of Lewis Farm Road when the tractor slipped on an embankment and rolled. The 69-year-old was home alone at the time. Miller's wife found him she arrived home. He died at the scene.

Vermont wildlife officials say the hunting preserve where a popular moose named Pete lived and died is to close. State Fish and Wildlife Board member Walt Driscoll said that preserve owner Doug Nelson has decided to close the preserve and convert it to cornfields.

The Vermont Transportation Agency has received national recognition for the way it monitors weather conditions on highways. VTrans uses remote cameras at 24 locations around the state to keep an eye on the roads and better judge when to dispatch plow and salt trucks. As part of the system, VTrans can also activate a series of electronic roadside message boards that alert motorists about the changing road conditions. A national transportation technology organization has awarded Vermont a second place award for Best New Innovative Practices.

The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant is back on line after a 25-day outage for refueling and maintenance. The plant returned to service shortly before midnight Tuesday and officials say it will be slowly brought up to full power over the next few days. Plant spokesman Larry Smith says 850 workers were brought in to supplement the plant's normal staff of about 600 during the outage. One third of the fuel rods in the reactor core were replaced, and other maintenance tasks were undertaken.

Community leaders in the town of Lowell are voicing their support for a wind-energy project under construction on a Vermont mountaintop that has been the focus of opposition from a group of determined protesters. The chairman of the town select board held a rally with other officials and local residents in Lowell to express that support. On Town Meeting Day 2010, the Kingdom Community Wind project in Lowell was supported by 75% of town voters.

David Clark, director of Middlebury’s Ilsley Public Library, has returned to Vermont from a recent visit to South Africa. He is a member of the Middlebury Rotary Club and traveled to Africa as part of the Rotary Group Study Exchange program. The purpose of the group study exchange is to provide four people between 25-40 years old and who are not members of Rotary an opportunity to visit another culture, meet people who do similar work, and to see projects undertaken by local Rotary clubs. Clark will speak about his South African experiences as part of two public presentations at the library on Friday, November 11th at 10:30AM and again Wednesday, November 30th at 7PM.

Fort Ticonderoga and Champlain College are entering the second year of a growing collaboration, utilizing the needs of a non-profit institution while providing students at the Vermont institution with real-world experience as they prepare to enter the workforce. Some senior-level students are currently working on a public relations project for Fort Ticonderoga. The students are working with Brawn Media on developing a viral social media campaign for the fort. A final product from the group of students is due in December.

North Country Community College will host an education fair this coming Monday from 4-6PM at the NCCC campus in Ticonderoga. It is open to the community and is co-sponsored by the Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce. There will be a variety of representatives from NCCC at the education fair for community members and potential students to speak to as well and gather information from. For more information regarding the education fair contact the Ti Chamber (at 585-6619) or North Country Community College (at 585-4454).

The curtain at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Rutland will rise for the 16th annual Really Big Show on Saturday. Twenty amateur talents in the area will display a variety of acts from singing, dancing, Broadway skits and more to benefit the United Way of Rutland County. The show starts at 7PM at the Paramount Theatre. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the Paramount Ticket Box Office or ONLINE.