WVTK Local & State News January 11, 2012

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary Tuesday night, adding to a first-place finish in last week’s Iowa caucuses and establishing himself as the man to beat for the Republican presidential nomination. Texas Rep. Ron Paul led former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman for second place, with Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum trailing.

The Vermont Tax Department is scrambling to protect personal information after it says a computer problem left Social Security numbers for more than 1,300 people exposed on the department's website Monday. Federal Employee ID numbers for 245 businesses were also involved. The department says the information was accessible for about two hours. It is sending letters to people impacted by the breach. It is encouraging taxpayers with questions to call or email the department. The department says it will post updates on its website. (866-348-4038 or Tax.DataProtection@state.vt.us) -- www.state.vt.us/tax/DataProtection.shtml.

Vermont State Police in New Haven have located the body of 19-year-old Levi G. Duclos of New Haven. He had been reported by his family to Vermont State Police as an overdue hiker last evening and was noted to have been an experienced hiker. Troopers found him just before noon yesterday along the Emily Proctor Trail in Ripton. His death is believed to have been accidental, with no indication of foul play at this time.

The Vermont State Police in New Haven are investigating the theft of 350 feet of copper wire stolen from the Pulp Mill Bridge restoration project. The theft occurred between 5:00PM on Monday and 7:00AM on Tuesday of this week. Anyone with any information is urged to contact the State Police in New Haven. (388-4919)

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for Acorn Energy Solar One was held last week behind the Middlebury Police Station. Representatives of the three main partners, Co-operative Insurance Companies of Middlebury, the Town of Middlebury and the Acorn Energy Co-op along with others, attended the ceremony. The project received its final inspections and began producing electricity during the last week of December. The ground mounted solar array is expected to generate 172,500-kilowatt hours of electricity each year, which is enough to provide electricity for around 30 average homes. The Acorn Energy Co-op is actively considering a follow-up solar project for 2012.

On November 27th at approximately 11PM Vermont State Police were called to a reported burglary located on Woodland Drive in Bristol. The investigation revealed that an individual broke into the residence while the owners were home. Numerous items were broken and vandalized inside the residence. Anyone with any information about the incident is asked to call the Vermont State Police New Haven Barracks. (802-388-4919)

Last night the School Board adopted the Rutland school district spending plan for next year, which is up 1.7 percent. State representative and board member Peter Fagan cast the only “no” vote Tuesday for a budget he said was too much for taxpayers to handle. The majority of Board members were in favor of the new, slightly-increased spending plan after 18 teaching and staff positions were cut this year. Voters will have the final say on the budget Town Meeting Day this March.

Essex County Social Services Commissioner John O'Neill won preliminary appointment to a new five-year term Monday. He will receive no increase in his annual salary, since the county has frozen the pay of management-level workers. O’Neill was unanimously reappointed by the County Board of Supervisors Human Services Committee but will need a final vote at the board's regular February meeting.

There will not be a Fred LaPann Memorial Road Race in 2012. The 5-mile race had been held for more than a decade as part of the annual Hague Winter Weekend. Other events will be held the weekend of Feb. 18 and 19 in Hague, although the schedule is not yet finalized. Organizers say many members of the local running community are now older and spend their winters in the south, depleting the race field. For information on the Hague Winter Weekend call the Hague Chamber of Commerce. (543-6441)

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin's statements that he plans to move some state workers displaced by flooding from Waterbury to Barre is drawing fire from some lawmakers. Sen. Robert Hartwell, who chairs the Senate committee that oversees state buildings, says lawmakers are awaiting the recommendations in a report from an architectural firm, which aren't due until early March. He says lawmakers then have to vet the proposals. He says the governor is getting ahead of the process.

For those renting apartments in Vermont, the state could be putting more money in your pocket. Senator Vince Illuzzi is working to get a bill passed that would get renters their annual tax rebates, sooner. Right now, a person has to rent for a full year before they're eligible and Illuzzi says they shouldn't have to wait that long. The legislation is still in its early stages and a Senate committee is discussing the potential changes.

Vermont towns devastated by Tropical Storm Irene could soon get some much-needed support from the state. Many people have applied for property tax reductions since Irene, leaving municipalities to make up the difference. However, there may be a plan that Republicans and Democrats can agree on to solve the problem. Lawmakers are working on a new proposal that would keep everyone from paying higher taxes to make up the difference. Lawmakers are only one week into the session and the House has already approved the bill. The bill is expected to make its way to the Senate floor by the end of this week.

Officials with Vermont's only nuclear power plant aren't commenting on a new lawsuit filed by the state's two largest electric utilities over failures in the plant's cooling towers that required the utilities to buy expensive replacement power. Green Mountain Power and the Central Vermont Public Service Corp. are seeking $6.6 million. The utilities say the owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon didn't live up to its obligation to use "good utility practice" prior to the failures of the towers in 2007 and 2008.

Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos announced last week that records relating to the first hundred years of the Vermont Constitution, including proposals of amendments, are now available online. Condos said, “The records of the Vermont Council of Censors, 1777-1870 provide unique insights not only into the evolution of our state constitution but also on persisting issues such as the nature of representation, constitutions, and citizenship.” The records can be found by visiting http://vermont-archives.org/publications/publicat/pdf/Council_of_Censors.pdf.

Some Vermont farmers are struggling to get through the winter after Tropical Storm Irene swamped the state in August, damaging corn and hay they were growing to feed their livestock. The timing of the destruction couldn't be worse. Feed prices have risen nationwide amid a hay shortage caused by drought in the Southwest. Flooding from Irene damaged only about 6,000 of the 92,000 acres of corn grown for feed in Vermont. But the water was concentrated in certain areas, hitting some farmers hard.

A total of 6 Vermont schools have received waivers for administering this year's statewide assessment exam. That's thanks, in part, to Tropical Storm Irene, which forced the displacement of students in the weeks following devastating flooding. In central Vermont, Moretown Elementary held classes outside of school for nearly three weeks because of flood damage to their building. Five schools in the Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union have also received waivers. Those schools started late because of Irene, and then were closed in October during the Bennington teachers strike.

Repair work has started on a covered bridge that crosses the Connecticut River between New Hampshire and Vermont. The work on the Mt. Orne Covered Bridge connects Lancaster, New Hampshire, with Lunenburg, Vermont. It's expected to take three months to complete and will allow for the opening of the 100-year-old wooden bridge, which has been closed to traffic since May 2010.

Vermont Public Safety officials say the number of people who died on the state's roadways last year was the smallest since 1944. The figures follow national numbers that showed fatalities and injuries at their lowest level since 1949.

While attending Mount Abraham Union High School Rory Jackson signed up to be a member of a Vermont Global Village Project student trip to Ghana. After graduation, Jackson had an opportunity to visit Ghana again. The return visit inspired him to place deeper roots there and he eventually made a significant personal investment by purchasing 10 acres of seaside land in the village of Cape Three Points. On January 19th, from 7-8:30PM, Jackson will meet the public at the Lawrence Memorial Library in Bristol as part the library’s stellar One World Library Project series of events. You can learn more at www.oneworldlibraryproject.org.

The Schroon Lake Fish & Game Club will host its 20th annual ice fishing derby. The event is slated for Saturday and Sunday, March 3rd and 4th. Fishing will start at daylight on Saturday and end at 4 p.m. on Sunday. All fish must be weighed in at the clubhouse by 4 p.m. Sunday. All fish must be caught in the designated waters of Schroon Lake. Tickets must be purchased prior to fishing to be eligible for any prizes. This includes children who have tip-ups out.

There is a Vermont man running for President. There is nothing conventional about Democratic presidential candidate Ed Cowan. The 73-year old Democrat says he's driven from his home in Moretown to New Hampshire every day to campaign since registering to run in the in state's democratic primary in October. Cowan says he's running on a 5 question platform that includes what he calls the nuclear tipped arms race, population growth, the corporate market economy, the disparity between the rich and the poor, and the environment. Cowan says military spending is out of control. With just $300 in campaign contributions and no political experience, the author and teacher knows his chances of unseating president Barack Obama are slim at best.