WVTK Local & State News March 1, 2012

Candidates for the two contested races on the town of Brandon’s ballot this year will participate in a candidates forum starting tonight at 7:30 at the Brandon Senior Citizens Center. The candidates include Select Board incumbent Kellie Martin who is being challenged by David Atherton for a three-year seat, while Lou Faivre is being challenged by Maria Ammatuna for a listers seat. The candidates’ forum is sponsored by the Brandon Area Chamber of Commerce and will be moderated by Charlie Jakiela.

Addison County’s Premiere music quartet, Zephyr, will perform on March 17th at 7:00 PM in the Music Café at Brandon Music. This Americana music quartet brings together influences of folk, bluegrass, blues, gospel, country and the singer-songwriter tradition. Members of the band include Matthew Dickerson, Susan Nop, Kathleen Smith, and Dutton Smith. Zephyr has been performing together for two years. Tickets are $15 per person, and the concert is a benefit for the new non-profit Compass Music and Arts Center in Brandon. For more information on the concert and CMAC visit www.brandon-music.net.

Come meet with your Addison County legislators on Monday morning during the next Legislative Breakfast. It takes place at the American Legion in Vergennes. Breakfasts start at 7AM and the program runs from 7:30 - 8:45. Purchase of breakfast not required to attend but helps to defray the cost of opening facility for this event. Get details HERE.

The Rutland School Board approved the $100,000 sale of the Watkins School to the Housing Trust of Rutland County on Tuesday. All that’s left to complete the sale is the approval of the Board of Alderman mid-March. Superintendent Mary Moran said she expects it all to go smoothly with no hang-ups. The money will flow back into the school district’s budget for capital improvements like windows or other infrastructure.

The Rutland Department of Public Works has established an initial five-year plan for seven bridges and major culverts in the city. The plan includes extensive repairs or replacements of the bridges on West Street, Ripley Road, River Street, Church Street, Crescent Street, and Forest Street. Three of the projects are being run by the state, and the city’s role is primarily limited to information gathering. To date, they have secured nearly $8 million of grant money for the seven projects. The city will need to raise $2 million through the bridge bond as a local share to take advantage of this grant money. The bridge bond will be voted on during Town Meeting Day this year.

Faced with a lack of availability, Moriah Town Justice Jeff Farnsworth resigned yesterday. He said he will preside over court for one last time but isn't accepting any new cases. He was first elected to the bench in 2006, taking office January 1, 2007, for a four-year term. Farnsworth was re-elected to a second four years and is leaving two years into that term. Farnsworth said that serving as town justice in Moriah is a lot of work and at times requires close to a full-time commitment and he no longer has the 25 to 30 hours to put in anymore. However he will miss it. Meanwhile the Moriah Supervisor said the town has no plans to appoint someone to replace Farnsworth. The post will be on the fall election ballot.

The Westport Central School District is seeking candidates interested in a five-year term vacancy on the School Board. The seat is currently held by Dwayne Stevens. Any candidate seeking this position must be a qualified voter of the district who is able to read and write, a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years of age and a resident of the district for at least one year before the election. Petitions are available in the District Office from 8AM to 4PM Monday through Friday until April 16th. Potential candidates must submit a petition to the district clerk signed by at least 25 qualified voters of the district by 4PM April 16th.

Green Mountain College has received a $10,000 grant from the Windham Foundation to provide new food processing equipment for the College's Solar Harvest Center commercial kitchen. The purchase of small appliances and wares will allow the kitchen to offer services to farmers, producers and community groups that are not available elsewhere in Rutland County. Renovation of the kitchen, which included a ten-burner, two-oven Garland range, a commercial dishwasher, a three-bay sink, and a commercial-scale refrigerator, was completed last February.

The volunteer firefighters in Rochester hope voters will grant them their wish. Their 50-year-old firehouse no longer fits their needs, and they’d like to build a new one just a few yards away on Route 100. A new building would also allow the department to train and certify volunteers on site. Currently, most of the training happens outside of Rochester because of the lack of space. Voters will decide later this year if they want to move forward with the project. The committee has raised about $90,000 for the project.

The state of Vermont has once again received high ratings from the three major investor services. Moody's Investor Services, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's have reaffirmed their previous assessments, giving Vermont the highest general obligation bond ratings of all the New England States. The agencies cited Vermont's strong financial management and conservative debt management among the reasons for the state's ranking. State Treasurer Beth Pearce says this bodes well for the future financial stability of Vermont.

The attorney general's office has rejected a complaint against an advocacy group that advertised about education funding. Democrats complained that the Campaign for Vermont should file as a political committee, because it spent more than $500 in an ad critical of Governor Peter Shumlin. But the attorney general's office says the group is required to file as a political committee only if it were advocating for or against a particular candidate. The attorney general says the ad in question was a message on an issue, not a political commercial.

Gov. Peter Shumlin issued an executive order Wednesday that protects 80 state hospital workers set to lose their jobs. President Pro Tem John Campbell said the news of layoffs disturbed so many members of the Legislature; they went to the administration in protest. The executive order forces the state to offer any open position within the Agency of Human Services to Vermont state hospital workers who lost their jobs. It also gives employees the opportunity to return to their job when the new state hospital opens.

A Vermonter who had been carrying around an old coin for decades as a good luck piece found out it's also a valuable good luck piece. Gary Cucci bought the coin more than 40 years ago at a flea market for a dollar. He recently learned it's now worth a little over a hundred thousand dollars, and plans to sell it to a collector or dealer with the best bid. The coin was minted in 1776, and was one of the first ones made by the Continental Congress. While Cucci knew it was old, he thought the "Continental Congress" thing on the coin was fake.

The Vermont Senate has given final approval to a bill revamping Vermont's mental health system, an effort set in motion when the state hospital in Waterbury was closed by flooding from Tropical Storm Irene. Both House and Senate versions of the bill call for smaller facilities around the state to replace the 54-bed Waterbury hospital. But the two chambers disagree on the size of a new hospital to be built in Berlin, just south of Montpelier. The Senate supported a 16-bed hospital after backers of that size said anything larger wouldn't be eligible for federal funding. They said building a larger hospital - like the 25 beds sought by the House would cost the state between $8 million and $10 million a year in federal funding.

Sen. Bernie Sanders is trying to highlight the need for better access to dental care in the United States. The Vermont independent held a hearing of his Senate subcommittee on Wednesday at which he heard testimony that many Americans forego needed dental care because they lack insurance and can't afford it. Sanders’ says Vermont has seen progress, with 25 thousand people being served with dental care at community health centers. The subcommittee also heard evidence that more and more Americans are turning to expensive hospital emergency room care for routine dental problems.

Former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu is urging Vermonters to support Mitt Romney when they go to the polls in next week's Republican primary. Sununu joined Republican legislative leaders and other party activists from around the state at a Statehouse event yesterday to drum up support for the former Massachusetts governor.

A Vermont police department is investigating the killing of 2 Holstein cows on a St. Albans dairy farm. Police were called to the Ladd Farm on Saturday and determined that 1 of the cows had been killed while tied in barn. The second animal was killed in an adjacent pasture. Police are asking anyone with information on this incident to contact them.

A new report is decrying the physical conditions in Vermont's only prison used to hold women inmates. The report by a group of women's advocates found worms in the showers at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington. It also says there are too few toilets and there is frequently too little heat or too much. State officials acknowledged the deficiencies and say there are plans to correct them.

Dorothy’s not in Kansas anymore she’s in Ticonderoga. Dorothy and a host of other beloved characters will take the stage at Ticonderoga Elementary School as students present “The Wizard of Oz” Tuesday, March 13th, at 7PM. Thanks to the 1939 MGM movie, it is one of the best-known stories in American popular culture. Organizers have noted the contributions of many parents, Walmart of Ticonderoga and Fabian’s Costumes of Rutland in making the production a reality.

If you enjoy model trains then Essex Junction is the place to be this weekend! Northwestern Vermont Model Railroad Club's goal is to pass the art of model railroading on to the next generation. They're hoping people will hop on board the hobby at the Model Railroad Show. Experts say one part of that is making sure people know how much the technology has advanced, such as the ability to now run multiple trains at once on the same tracks. The event is Saturday from 10AM – 4PM at the Champlain Expo in Essex Junction and is the largest one in the state. They expect more than 1,000 people to turn out this year.

Hundreds of people witnessed an unexplained bright flash in the sky Tuesday night. There is speculation it could have been a meteorite. The flash was so big and so bright there were reports extending into Canada and Nova Scotia. On Tuesday night around 10 hundreds of people reported seeing a bright flash in the sky. There is even a photo out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire that captured what was believed to be a meteorite. Many people sounded off on various social networks soon after it happened, describing a bright flash of light with green and blue colors.

A big honor has been placed on a longtime Vermont official. Con Hogan is one of the recipients of the 2012 New England Higher Education Excellence Awards. Hogan is currently the board of trustees chair for the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Hogan is also a member of the Green Mountain Care Board. Before that he was a director at Fletcher Allen and the secretary of Vermont's Agency of Human Services.