WVTK Local & State News January 23, 2012

The Town of Middlebury will hold its regular Select Board Meeting tomorrow at 7PM in the Town Offices Conference Room. There will be a Public Hearing on the Amendment of Ordinance for the Regulation of Speed and for the Regulation of Traffic Lights and Traffic Signs on Exchange Street. Also the Oath of Office will be administered for two new Police Officers. Members will also finalize the Town General Fund Budget for FY13 and make Board Assignments for Presentation of the Budget at Town Meeting. For more information and the complete agenda just visit the Town’s Website.

A Vergennes man may face criminal charges after crashing a car and leaving two children inside. It happened Saturday night on Route 7 in Ferrisburgh. Police say 23-year-old Korey Koch lost control of the car he was driving and rolled it. When police arrived on scene they found two young children who had been left inside the car. Koch was later found at a nearby home getting help. All three were hospitalized with minor injuries and police say criminal charges are pending in the case.

It's still too early to tell just how many people flocked to Killington Thursday through Sunday for the Dew Tour skiing and snowboarding competition. Last year's stop brought in nearly 30-thousand spectators and even more were expected this time. Killington is the only East Coast stop on the tour with the season ending in a few weeks in Snow Basin, Utah. Killington is hoping to bring the Dew Tour back again next year.

Mark your calendars because the fourth annual Middlebury Chili Festival and Contest is scheduled to for Saturday, March 10. Public tasting begins at 1:30PM and festivities last well into the evening. Last year's chili event attracted over 3,000 people to the downtown area. Town officials project that this year’s event is likely to attract a greater number of hungry locals and out-of-towners. The festivities will include live music, giveaways, and a beer tent that includes local brews and a performance by the Horse Traders at 5PM. The Better Middlebury Partnership bills the event as “family friendly”, so there will be something for everyone. For more information visit www.vermontchilifestival.com.

Hinesburg voters will decide on the town’s $2.9 million Public Safety Building Project plan bond at Town Meeting Day in March. The article facing voters will include a facility totaling 14,993 square feet in the central part of the village. Reflecting a trend in several progressive communities in Vermont in recent years, the plan proposes to expand the fire station and bring the police department under one roof. A public meeting will be held on Feb. 9th at 7PM in the Hinesburg Town Hall to explain the project.

A man from Port Henry New York has been charged with setting a string of fires in that area. More that 500- thousand dollars in damage has been done to buildings and vehicles in the northern New York Village. Last week, 43-year-old Joseph King of Port Henry was charged with arson, burglary and criminal mischief. Troopers arrested King late on January 1st after a series of fires broke out in Port Henry.

Rutland City police believe a man found dead in a warehouse on West Street on Thursday may have been died from a medical condition for which he was hospitalized recently. The man was identified Friday as 51-year-old Mark Robinson, who grew up in the city but has lived as a transient in recent years. Foul play isn’t suspected in Robinson’s death.

The Town of Benson’s school budget going up more than 7 percent because of mandatory special education costs. The school’s budget is going up 7.4 percent for next school year. The majority of that increase is due to the education of four special needs students in the district. The cost is about $38,000 per student for all the students to attend Rutland’s Vermont Achievement Center. The public votes on the Benson school budget this March at Town Meeting Day.

A state report offers a possible future for Flory's Plaza. The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources has released the “corrective action plan” for the much-discussed Center Rutland property. The plan, developed with the Rutland Regional Planning Commission, outlines the steps necessary to get the plaza off ANR's list of contaminated properties. Matthew Becker, an environmental analyst with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, said there could be federal money available for a cleanup that follows the plan.

Ticonderoga and Crown Point school districts are seeking a grant that would recommend whether they should consolidate. The $45,000 State Local Government Efficiency Grant would fund a merger feasibility study for the two districts. Both schools face declining enrollments. Crown Point has 280 students, while Ticonderoga has 900. Ten years ago, Crown Point was at about 350 and Ticonderoga at 1,100. Ticonderoga and Crown Point school boards had to jointly approve the grant application, which is due March 31st.

Essex County's new ad hoc committee is about to get started on its goal of ensuring that county employees live in the county. County Board of Supervisors Chair Randy Douglas named eight people to the Residency Committee, which will hold its first meeting at 9AM Thursday in the Old County Courthouse at Elizabethtown.

A regional tourism group has recognized Fort Ticonderoga and the Champlain Bridge project. The Lake Placid CVB/Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism awarded Fort Ticonderoga the 2011 Tourism Marketing Award. The 2011 Destination Product Award was presented to the New York State Department of Transportation and the Vermont Agency of Transportation, the team responsible for the new Champlain Bridge. The Tourism Marketing Award is given to a group or individual who has produced or launched an innovative tourism-marketing product or initiative.

Two committees of the Vermont Legislature will take testimony at a public hearing on the future of the state's mental health system, now that the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury is closed. Residents had to be evacuated from the Waterbury facility because of flooding during Tropical Storm Irene, and Governor Peter Shumlin says he doesn't want to reopen the antiquated hospital.

New York and Vermont have made substantial progress in complying with the national health care law, which would extend coverage to the uninsured by 2014, but New Hampshire has made no significant progress. An analysis by The Associated Press shows 13 states have adopted a plan to comply with the law. New York is among 17 states making headway. States must have their plans ready for federal approval by January 1, 2013, or risk having federal oversight of their health care.

Vermont's annual Farm Show will open at its new location at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex Junction. Organizers say it will be the largest Farm Show in the state's history, with 266 booths, representing 168 vendors. The Farm Show this year moved from Barre to Essex Junction to accommodate the growing number of vendors and visitors. The 3-day event kicks off on Tuesday and runs through Thursday afternoon.

Maine and Vermont are moving forward with plans to comply with the national health care law, but New Hampshire has made no significant progress. States are expected to be partners with the federal government in implementing a plan to extend coverage to the uninsured by 2014. An important part of the law calls for health insurance exchanges, new one-stop supermarkets with online and landline capabilities for those who buy coverage individually.

Lake Champlain is freezing over less frequently and less extensively than it did decades ago. The Burlington Free Press says the lake froze over in just half the years in the 1980s and 2000s. In the 1990s, the lake froze completely in just three winters. From the 1820s through the 1920s, Champlain froze every year, or stayed open just once in each 10-year period. The lack of complete ice cover is raising questions about the impact on the lake.

A change in regulations has raised hopes that New England is a step closer to unlocking the power in its renewable energy resources. The federal government released an order this fall to make it easier to build electricity transmission. Every New England state has set goals to increase the amount of renewable power it uses. To date, grid managers have focused on whether transmission projects would help keep power flowing. After the new order, they must plan projects that help a state reach such goals as increasing renewable power. And they must devise a way to pay for it.

The Vermont Air National Guard will continue its night flying training in South Burlington. Pilots will be practicing night missions from Tuesday through Friday, taking off and landing in F-16s after dark. During the trainings, multiple F-16s will take off twice a night. They are all expected to land no later than midnight.

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York Inc. will be accepting applications from qualified new farmers to participate in its two-year support program, known as the NOFA-NY Journeyperson Program. The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture support the program. The application deadline is February 8th with notification regarding the next step of the process occurring on or around Feb. 24th. Details can be found at www.nofany.org.

School officials in Burlington are considering providing portable computers or iPads to all 1,900 middle and high school students in the Burlington district. The Burlington Free Press said the proposed school budget for next year includes funding for the first year of a four-year phase-in that would make the computers available. Burlington is one of a growing number of school districts that are moving beyond shared computers in classrooms and libraries and exploring programs in which schools assign a portable computing device to each student.

Actor and activist Danny Glover will be putting on a performance at the University of Vermont. Glover along with actor and director Felix Justice will present "An Evening with Martin and Langston" tomorrow. Justice will portray Martin Luther King, Jr., in some of his most powerful speeches and Glover will read words and poetry of Langston Hughes about the African American experience. Following the performance, the audience will get to ask the actors questions. Tickets are free but limited. They have been available to UVM students and as of today will be available to the public.

Twelve teams battled for the puck in Middlebury Saturday at the 13th annual 'Face-off Against Breast Cancer’ event. The American Cancer Society estimates one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime. In the first year, the tournament raised a couple thousand dollars as well as awareness and camaraderie. Now in the 13th year, organizers said they hope to raise $72,000, which would break the $60,000 mark set last year. The funds will be used to assist survivors in their on-going fight against the disease.