WVTK Local & State News February 10, 2012

Sate Police from New Haven responded to a report of vandalized mailboxes on Ferson Rd in the Town of Leicester late Wednesday night. The initial investigation revealed that 2 mailboxes had been struck and broken with a rounded object. This is one of several reports of vandalism in the area in the last 2 months. Meanwhile police responded to a report of vandalism at the Park & Ride off of Route 7 at the junction of 22A in the town of Ferrisburgh. 6 of the parking lights had been shattered. It is suspected that a firearm was used to shoot-out the protective glass and light bulbs. Please contact Trooper Armstrong at the New Haven State Police Barracks with any reports of suspicious activity or information on either of these incidents.

Glenn Garvey of Brandon and Nathan Jones of Washington were supposed to be splitting wood on a work crew just a few hundred yards from Northeast Regional Correctional Facility where the two men were serving time. But at 10:30 yesterday morning police say the two inmates snuck away, escaping into the woods. Corrections officers’ notified VT State police when they realized the duo had disappeared. Border patrol took to the air and State police launched a ground search. The two men are now facing felony escape charges. They were processed at the St. Johnsbury barracks and will be arraigned today.

A teenager is recovering from a severe attack at the Northlands Job Corps in Vergennes. Police say 22-year-old Frederick Teal of Brooklyn, NY and his girlfriend 17-year-old Eleanor Wilcox of Providence, RI are both charged with aggravated assault. Police aren't naming the victim because he's a minor. Police say the incident occurred on Tuesday. The teenager is being treated at the hospital for a broken neck.

A Leicester man answered Monday to two felony charges of drunken driving. Robert J. Munger pleaded innocent in Rutland criminal court to two counts of drunken driving, fourth offense. He was released on conditions that included a 7PM to 6:30AM curfew. He was arrested last month after state police stopped him on Route 7 in Brandon. If convicted of both charges, Munger faces up to 20 years in jail.

Planning for this year’s “Middlebury Maple Run – The Sweetest Half” is well underway. Now in its fourth year, the half marathon and two-person relay race will take place on Sunday, May 6th with a start time of 9:00AM. Registration has been open since early November and entrants are 50% ahead compared to this time last year. The race has grown steadily since its founding in 2009. This year race organizers are planning on a field of approximately 1,000 participants with 800 runners completing the half marathon course and 200 two-person relay teams. Runners can register online or download and mail a paper entry form. Prices increase again on April 22nd and t-shirts are guaranteed to every person who registers before then. For details and entry forms just visit www.middleburymaplerun.com.

From now until the bidding begins on March 9th, more and more items will be added to the Middlebury Rotary Club Online Auction site. In addition to bidding on merchandise, you may donate items to the auction by clicking on the “donate item” box on the left hand side of the club’s home page on the website. Residents may bid on items online March 9th through the 23rd. All of the proceeds from the auction will go to Vermont Special Olympics, Vermont Make-A-Wish, Camp Ta-Kum-Ta, Dolly Parton Literacy Foundation as well as several Addison County charities. To bid online just visit: www.biddingforgood.com/middleburyrotary

Vermont State Police are currently investigating an attempted burglary at a private residence in Bristol. Someone attempted to force entry through a rear sliding door at a private residence. During the incident the door handle and screen were damaged. There was approximately $100.00 in estimated damages. Anyone with information is asked to contact VSP in New Haven. (802-388-4919)

Crown Point Town officials have learned they will receive money from the federal and state governments to reimburse local taxpayers for much of the cost of Hurricane Irene repairs. The town spent $191,000 to make road and bridge repairs following the storm and $136,464 of that money is eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency and New York State funding. Crown Point officials have been informed FEMA will reimburse the town the maximum 75 percent allowed while the state will pay for 12.5 percent of the damage. That means $119,406 for the town.

The Ticonderoga Emergency Squad is settling into its new home. The ambulance service has moved into its new building at 118 Champlain Avenue, located between Champlain Avenue and The Portage. The Ticonderoga Emergency Squad had been located in a small garage behind the Community Building since 1963. The new building is on the site of the old Ticonderoga Civic Center and was sold to the ambulance squad in 2009 by the town of Ticonderoga.

The Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce is working hard every day to better serve the Ticonderoga area in an array of ways including expanding their current partnerships and creating new ones to assist members and the business community. The chamber is currently working with the North Country Small Business Development Center. Services provided by the North Country SBDC will be available at the chamber office on the second Tuesday of each month from 9AM to 3PM unless otherwise advertised. They are encouraging chamber members and area business to take advantage of the free services available to them through the North Country Small Business Development Center. To learn more about the Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce visit www.ticonderogany.com or visit their office on Montcalm Street in downtown Ti.

Despite concerns of some Essex County lawmakers, the county will pay for an environmental evaluation of Horace Nye Nursing Home prior to a sale. The County Board of Supervisors has authorized the county purchasing agent to seek proposals for an environmental report on Horace Nye. The review has a $3,000 estimated cost. The board voted this week to do the evaluation, plus solicit quotes for title work at the Nursing Home.

Vermont lawmakers are taking testimony on a bill that would elevate the office of the state's chief education official from a commissioner to a cabinet-level secretary. Supporters say the move would strengthen the state's education policy, but critics fear it will mean a loss of local control over education decisions.

A bill cosponsored by Vermont Congressman Peter Welch that would give the president a line item budget veto has been approved by the U.S. House. The bill would allow the president to remove spending items from large appropriations bills and send them back to Congress, where the line item would face a separate override vote. Welch says this is a practical tool that every president should have to check unnecessary federal spending. The bill now moves to the Senate.

Police in Milton have busted about a dozen people involved in the sale of illegal drugs. The investigation began back in October and ended with an arrest yesterday. Police executed search warrants and confiscated prescription drugs, cocaine and marijuana, along with 17-thousand dollars in cash and several vehicles. The suspects are expected to be arraigned March 1st in Vermont Superior Court in Burlington.

A Burlington bank manager is convicted of fraud for stealing 165-thousand dollars for personal use. Brian Bouchard of Burlington pleaded guilty to one charge of bank fraud for stealing money from the Chittenden Bank/Peoples United Bank. A bank customer noticed funds missing from an account and notified bank officials. Bouchard admitted to the bank and FBI agents he had stolen the money.

The University of Vermont has pledged 13-million-dollars toward green energy initiatives. The money will be placed into a revolving fund to finance on campus energy efficiency improvements. Vermont is the 34th college in the country to commit to the Sustainable Endowment Institute's Billion Dollar Green Challenge. The school's pledge so far is the largest in the country, surpassing the 12-million-dollars pledged by Harvard.

Vermont State Police are continuing to investigate reports from senior citizens of phone scam attempts being made. Some of these individuals making the calls have strong accents possibly indicating the calls are originating from other countries. Vermont State Police are urging citizens to not provide their personal information such as Bank Account Numbers or Social Security numbers to anyone they do not know.

Police are warning contractors to beware of copper thieves. Authorities say metal thefts are on the rise. In the most recent case, St. Albans police arrested a 44-year-old man after he allegedly swiped about 760 feet of copper pipe from a construction site in Enosburg.

The Vermont House has advanced legislation that would raise the statewide education property tax rates by 1 cent per $100 of value. There are lots of factors that go into calculating school taxes, including local spending beyond what the state accounts for, but a penny on the tax rate equals $20 on a $200,000 house. Preliminary approval of the bill came Thursday afternoon on a 101-42 roll call vote after the House defeated an amendment that would have moved $27 million from the state's general fund into its education fund.

Vermont is receiving $6.7 million in a settlement between states and the nation's biggest mortgage lenders over foreclosure abuses. Attorney General William Sorrell says the settlement provides $3.1 million to Vermont residents and $3.6 million to state funds that may be used for housing-related or other purposes.

Governor Peter Shumlin has signed legislation allowing people to attach the new "I am Vermont Strong" license plate to the front of their vehicles. The signing occurred yesterday amid fanfare at the Statehouse, where Shumlin bought the first plate and presented it as a gift to the Corliss family of Berlin, who were flooded out of their mobile home by Tropical Storm Irene.

A Peterborough, NH man was killed yesterday afternoon when the plane he was piloting crashed during an emergency landing at Lebanon Municipal Airport. Paul Schlieben was unable to make the take off, attempted an emergency landing and crashed just off the runway. The crash happened around 2PM He was the only person on board the single-engine Cessna 182. National Transportation Safety Board investigators will be on site this morning.

Remember the pig hidden within the decal on the doors of some Vermont State Police cruisers? There's now a movement under way to keep it there. The white pig hidden within the red cows was first noticed last week years after a prison inmate who designed the 16-inch decals added it. Cid Sinclair, of Barre, has created a "Save the Pigs" Facebook page seeking to keep the pigs on the cruisers. He says times are tough and the pigs are an opportunity for Vermonters "to laugh together as one." The page has more than 500 supporters.

Even with a lack of snow in Ti, The third annual Ticonderoga WinterFest will take place tomorrow. WinterFest activities will kick-off at 10:45 in the morning with a one-mile Snowman Fun Run, which is sponsored by LaChute Road Runners Club. WinterFest will continue from 11AM to 2PM People are asked to sign in at the registration desk in the public parking lot next to the Elks Building and sign up for prizes donated by supporters. Complete event details can be found at www.ticonderogany.com.