WVTK Local & State News February 15, 2012

Coming up tomorrow evening the Addison County Chamber of Commerce will be holding its After Hours Business Mixer at Countryside Carpet & Paint on Creek Road here in Middlebury. As always you’ll experience great networking opportunities, tasty food, beverages, super door prizes, and the Pot of Gold drawing! The mixer takes place from 5 – 7PM. Please visit www.addisoncounty.com to RSVP to Sue Hoxie and get more information. We’ll see you there!

Organizers of the fourth annual “Middlebury Maple Run — The Sweetest Half” have made improvements this year to the 13.1-mile racecourse. The race kicks off at 9AM on Sunday, May 6th. Due to the increase in annual participants, the starting line of the USATF-certified course is now on South Street in front of the Porter Medical Center, providing a wider and safer starting area. With the closure of the Pulp Mill Covered Bridge, the first two miles of the course have been rerouted. They will also be using B-Tag ChronoTrack timing, a technology that uses an RFID tag that attached to each runner’s bib number, providing more accurate timing. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Addison County Humane Society, H.O.P.E. and Girls on the Run. For more information or to register, visit www.middleburymaplerun.com.

Brandon Town officials approved a contract with local engineers on Monday that will help move forward the reconstruction of Route 7 in the village. The new contract will allow the town to move forward with preliminary construction work, including completing right of way acquisition, and the re-routing of the village’s waterline through the downtown. The project includes a full-depth reconstruction of the roadway, reconstruction of side roads, sidewalks, parking areas, grading, drainage and utilities relocation and is expected to begin next year.

Omya Inc. said it would make a partial switch to liquefied natural gas to operate its Florence calcium carbonate plant. Omya said its goal was to control energy costs and improve the environmental performance of its Vermont operations. The company said it would begin the permitting process to utilize liquefied natural gas in addition to No. 2 fuel oil. Since there is no natural gas pipeline that serves the area, liquefied natural gas would be trucked in as an alternative.

The final of three homes built by Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity in Charlotte is completed and leaders say the ultra-energy efficient model is already catching on. The passive home follows a model created in Europe and gaining momentum in the U.S. It uses building techniques, insulation and a state-of-the-art ventilation system to save up to 90 percent in energy. That translates to about 75 percent savings in energy bills. Habitat for Humanity and Efficiency Vermont teamed up for the initiative. The team built three homes using the model, each for a family that needed affordable housing. The family chosen for this house will move in this weekend.

Some flooded out homeowners in northern New York hope the government will now buy them out. So far, 60 Essex County residents have submitted application forms. 45 of the homes are located within the town of Jay. The town will host an informational meeting this Thursday night for homeowners considering a buyout. It will begin at seven o'clock at the Jay Community center in Ausable Forks.

Vermont's town leaders are heading to Montpelier for the annual Local Government Day held by the Vermont League of Cities and Towns. The League's Karen Horn says today’s events will aimed at having local officials share their views with lawmakers and learn about the Legislature's plans for help with recovery from Tropical Storm Irene, school funding and health care. There will be policy discussions on those topics at the Capitol Plaza Hotel and then the local leaders will head to the Statehouse to sit in on meetings of legislative committees.

A top Vermont health care official is resisting calls to reduce the number of Vermont businesses that will have to get health care coverage from the health care marketplace or exchange. Governor Peter Shumlin last week agreed with demands from Vermont business groups that employers with between 50 and 100 people don't have to get their coverage from the exchange.

The Vermont House passed a bill yesterday inspired by an eighth-grader from Williston. Last year, Tommy Watson saw an elderly man collapse and die from a heart attack. Now he wants every high school student in the state to know CPR. Watson got one of his state senators to draft the bill. It's passed the House. Now the "CPR In Schools" bill is on its way to the Senate.

Expanding Vermont's bottle redemption law could be a moneymaker for the state. That's the latest argument from activists who are again pushing legislation in Montpelier. They want to include non-carbonated beverage containers like water bottles and sports drink bottles. The current law covers carbonated beverages like soda and beer, and advocates say 85 percent of the bottles and cans are recycled, greatly reducing litter and landfill waste. Along with expanding to more containers, the bill also calls for the state to claim the nickel deposit for every can and bottle that is not redeemed. Supporters say that would generate $3 million in revenue for the state each year. Beverage makers and retailers oppose the bill.

People in Vermont are sounding off on Governor Peter Shumlin's proposed budget for 2013. The state no longer has federal stimulus money to depend on and lawmakers are still waiting to find out how much money FEMA will provide for Irene-related costs. That combination is making organizations, as well as state agencies, extremely anxious about the upcoming year. The state is facing a nearly $50 million budget gap, significantly less than the last few years. However, some lawmakers say it will be more difficult to fill because there are very few areas left to cut. Some agencies are expected to ask for slight increases in their funding but it all depends on how much federal funding the state receives, post Irene.

Vermonters who drive electric vehicles now have another location where they can charge their cars and it's free for the first year. Green Mountain Power and the city of Montpelier have opened an electric vehicle charging station behind City Hall. The Montpelier spot is the third electric vehicle charging station in Vermont.

The Vermont attorney general is asking the court for more time to respond to a motion filed by Vermont Yankee's owners over legal fees. Entergy Corp. wants more than $4.6 million to cover what it says were its costs in fighting off Vermont's effort to close the nuclear plant. The state has until next week to respond to Entergy's motion about the fees. Attorney General Bill Sorrell has asked for an extension until March 9.

The Republican Governor's Association and the losing candidate in the 2010 gubernatorial campaign are asking a court to dismiss a state lawsuit alleging they illegally coordinated their efforts. The RGA and Brian Dubie's campaign say the state's lawsuit violates their free speech rights.

Prosecutors are asking a judge to reconsider his decision to hold a new sentencing hearing for a Milton man serving a 40 to 60-year prison term for setting a fire that killed four people in 1999. Eric Williams claimed his attorney failed to present a meaningful argument on his behalf.

Opponents of wireless smart meters are taking their fight to Town Meeting. The new technology allows customers to save electricity, and gives utilities the ability to respond quickly to power outages. But the wireless meters have also raised health and privacy concerns. And now voters in several southern Vermont towns will get a chance to weigh in at next month's town meetings. Smart meters are on town meeting warnings in Manchester, Sandgate and Dorset. Organizers are hoping to get enough signatures to put the issue before at least three other towns. Many of the communities are in Central Vermont Public Service Corporation territory. Spokesman Steve Costello says CVPS plans to begin installing the meters by the end of the month and says the potential benefits are huge.

While many Vermont college students are faced with tuition hikes full time students at Burlington College this fall will not have to. The Board of Trustees voted to freeze tuition for the next four years at its current rate just over 22-thousand dollars. It is a time of change for Burlington College. It just moved to a bigger campus at the former Catholic diocese headquarters. Also, the school is looking for a new President after Jane Sanders stepped down last year.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he's confident a deal will be struck to create tougher teacher evaluations before his Thursday deadline. If no deal on a "template" for evaluations for teachers and principals is set by then, he'll impose his own in his budget amendments, which give the governor extraordinary power. Hanging in the balance is about $1 billion in federal aid that the state committed to in 2010, when it won competitive grants based on school reform. School districts will have a year to agree to specific evaluations or lose state aid.

New York officials say about 7,500 motorists around the state have gotten tickets since a tougher law against texting while driving kicked in last July. They say another 111,000 tickets were written for violating laws against using handheld devices behind the wheel. The new law made using handheld devices a primary offense, meaning police could begin stopping people for using them, rather ticketing them only when there was another reason for the stop. Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the stepped up enforcement should send a message to motorists about the danger of distracted driving.

Ticonderoga High School’s bowling coach, Donna Fleury, has been named Champlain Valley Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. She led the Sentinel girls to a 48-16 record this season, just missing the CVAC championship. She coaches both the boys and girls teams. This is the first time Fleury has been CVAC Coach of the Year, but it’s not the first time she’s been honored for her bowling accomplishments. She has been named Bowler of the Year by the Glens Falls Bowling Association several times.

The Valentine's Day phantom has struck again. On February 14th of every year the phantom wakes up early to plaster Montpelier with hearts. Even after years of this annual display, no one knows how many cupids the tradition takes. As usual, police are turning a blind eye to the mischief, calling it a crime of love.

The lack of snow this winter will not stop Brandon’s Art in the Snow Wine and Arts Festival this weekend. The festival will play host to open art studios, workshops, cooking classes and a wine tasting trail. Hosted by the Brandon Area Chamber of Commerce and the Brandon Artists’ Guild, the two-day event is slated to kick off at 11 a.m. Saturday with more than 20 local artists and craft makers opening their studio spaces, while five local wineries host a wine trail. For the weekend, the Brandon Chamber of Commerce is also offering a package promotion for visitors that includes $50 in Brandon Bucks to the first 20-two night room reservations booked at participating inns and bed and breakfasts in town. Get more information at www.artinthesnow.com!