WVTK Local & State News January 13, 2012

Nine ski resorts, from northern Burke Mountain to southern Okemo Mountain Resort and Stratton, accumulated anywhere from 2 to 6 inches overnight Wednesday through Thursday, according to the Vermont Ski Areas Association Thursday afternoon. Killington started with 66 trails open yesterday and opened five more during the day for total of 71 trails, which is half of all the resort’s trails. For drivers, however, the snowy, icy, slushy road conditions glazed over roads and made transportation hazardous throughout the day. Roads became slick Thursday, causing 34 accidents statewide from 4AM to 4PM.

Gov. Peter Shumlin's budget for the next fiscal year calls for no increases in income or sales taxes. The spending plan relies on projections of increasing revenue due to an improving economy to spend more on higher education and in other areas. Yesterday Shumlin unveiled a budget that calls for spending to grow about 3.8% to a bit more than $3.2 billion. With federal funds added in, the budget is expected to total about $6.7 billion for the fiscal year that starts July 1st. General fund revenues are expected to grow by about 6.4%. Shumlin says he wants to use the money to help communities recover from Tropical Storm Irene, and for new innovation at the University of Vermont and state colleges.

Vermont Republican gubernatorial candidate Sen. Randy Brock says Gov. Peter Shumlin's annual budget address to lawmakers was noteworthy for what it didn't include. But other Republicans praised some of the policy proposals the Democratic governor laid out, especially those relating to education. Brock faults Shumlin for making no mention of his ambitious plan to bring a single-payer health care system to Vermont. He pointed to an announcement by the board working on that plan that it wants to hire a firm to do public relations.

The future of the massive State office complex in Waterbury is a little clearer. Governor Peter Shumlin outlined his plan Thursday in his annual budget address. That plan would impact about 1,500 workers who were displaced by Tropical Storm Irene. The plan includes putting the State's Education Department in Barre, and consolidating the Agencies of Transportation, Natural Resources, and Commerce in the National Life building in Montpelier.

The Vergennes Union High School board settled this week on an $8.97 million budget proposal to put before voters in March. The plan would increase spending at VUHS by a little less than 2 percent, which is essentially back to the school’s 2007-2008 level. The savings in salaries and benefits came to about $42,000, enough to meet the board’s target. The board’s proposed 2012-2013 budget is about $60,000 higher than the 2007-2008 VUHS budget, an overall increase in spending of about 0.7 percent over the past four budget cycles.

The UD-3 board agreed this week to present voters with a 2012-2013 budget of about $16.1 million, representing a 3.18-percent spending increase compared to this year. While school officials are awaiting firmer state aid information from Montpelier, they are estimating the budget would require a homestead education property tax rate representing a 1.4-percent increase compared to this year’s rate.

Voters on March 6th will be asked by the Addison Central Supervisory Union to approve a 20-year, $1,012,491 bond to replace the Middlebury Union Middle School roof. The UD-3 board unanimously agreed to place the bond issue on the Town Meeting Day ballot. Rutland-based Quinn Company submitted the lowest bid for a new metal roofing system for the school.

Traffic on Route 4 in Mendon yesterday was stopped for a while near Town Line Road while crews work to clear up an overturned water truck. The truck, hauling 5-gallon drinking water jugs, slowed for a vehicle at about 9:30AM and the driver lost control on the icy road, according to police. The truck overturned and blocked all three lanes of Route 4 necessitating the closure. The driver was uninjured.

A group of federal, state and Middlebury representatives met on Tuesday to discuss the future of the East Middlebury stretch of the Middlebury River. They discussed the town’s legal parameters, planning problems, funding sources and the environmental issues involved. The town’s first step in dealing with flood hazards along East Middlebury is to conduct two engineering and river studies. FEMA’s Public Assistance Program will fund the majority of repairs to the East Middlebury floodwall, just below the Grist Mill Bridge.

Rutland’s new interim police chief said yesterday he wants to change an environment and culture at the city’s police department that has detracted from its goal of serving the public and contributed to problems in the ranks. In his first meeting with the city’s Police Commission interim Chief James Baker said he spent his first two days at the department listening and assessing.

Harrison Rich wanted a place in history and on November 7th he got it. Rich, a sixth grade student at Moriah Central School, was officially the first person to cross the new Champlain Bridge when it opened. Rich methodically worked his way through the crowd until he was standing directly behind the dignitaries attending the formal ribbon cutting ceremony on the Crown Point side of the span. Rich was recognized for his accomplishment during a ceremony at Moriah Central School on Thursday. Vermont House Rep. Diane Lanpher presented Rich with a framed photo of him running across the span that day and Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward of New York gave Rich a certificate from the state Assembly marking his feat.

Vermont State Police have found a Vermont man who had been reported missing by his wife Tuesday. Police contacted Douglas Andrews of Barton around 2PM Thursday. They say he is safe and visiting family out of state. On Monday, his wife said he drove two people to Pennsylvania and planned on returning home the same day. When he didn't return home, she involved police.

2 of the 12 inmates from Vermont charged with participating in a riot at a Massachusetts county jail have pleaded guilty and been sentenced to an additional year behind bars. All 12 inmates charged are from Vermont, doing time in Massachusetts under an agreement with Vermont prison officials.

Two Vermont firefighters are trying to change a state law that covers people receiving workers compensation. Michael Richards and Jason Stech, both volunteer firefighters for Colchester, gave testimony in front of a senate committee Thursday. They are trying to eliminate the part of the law that states "in the line of duty." They feel that if you are working for the station, you should still be compensated if you are hurt. Both men hope their testimony will start the process of changing the law.

The Vermont House has quickly advanced a bill that would save money for towns hard-hit by Tropical Storm Irene. The bill allows towns to defer their education tax payments to the state until late February. Manchester Democrat Jeff Wilson said the legislation would help towns such as Jamaica and Wardsboro, whose budgets were overwhelmed by Irene-related damage. The money was due in December, but state Treasurer Beth Pearce said towns could delay the payments as long as the Legislature quickly changed the law.

Senator Patrick Leahy is the sponsor of a controversial bill that aims to prevent Internet piracy - the problem of rogue websites distributing copyrighted data that they don't own. Critics of the bill include technology entrepreneurs, services like YouTube and free-speech advocates who say the law would stifle legal online activity. Supporters say the bill goes after illegal websites and protects the intellectual property of content creators. Leahy has stated he was willing to compromise on one aspect of the so-called Protect IP Act. He said he's going to drop a provision that would require service providers to block or redirect users from accessing illegal sites. The Protect IP Act still faces a contentious closure debate later this month in the US Senate.

Vermont saw its lowest number of highway fatalities since 1944 last year, but a national group says the state could do even better if it passed more highway safety laws. Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety released its annual report card this week on how states are doing in making their roads safer. Vermont gets a "yellow light" from the association for having 8.5 of the 15 laws recommended by the group. Among requirements Vermont doesn't have are ignition interlocks for all drunk drivers and enhanced penalties for driving drunk with children in the car. The group also wants Vermont to increase the age for getting a learner's permit from 15 to 16 and add more restrictions on teen drivers.

For the next few weeks most Middlebury College students will learn about topics ranging from adventure writing to Motown. Returning from holiday break, students have begun Winter term classes, known casually as J-term. Over the next four weeks students take courses on a wide variety of topics, many of which they are not able to explore during a full semester. The classes meet for eight hours a week allowing them to explore a single topic more deeply.

The four programs that contributed student artwork, poetry, essays and photography to the Vermont Folklife Center’s “Learning with the Land” exhibit, encourages a unique style of learning. From growing vegetables to building primitive shelters, the Walden Project, Monkton Central School’s Salad Days, EarthWalk Vermont and the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps high school leadership program are all using nature-based education to structure learning.

You could say they put the “mock” in democracy. The musical, political parody group Capitol Steps returns to Rutland’s Paramount Theatre for a performance at 8PM on Saturday January 21st. The evening features the popular Washington, D.C.-based ensemble performing songs from its latest album “Liberal Shop of Horrors”, as well as new material, updated to the news of the day. Tickets may be purchased online at www.paramountlive.org or at the box office at 30 Center St. in downtown Rutland.