WVTK Local & State News March 20, 2012

There is a good chance that Lyme Disease may be a big problem in Vermont this spring and summer. According to Tom Scanlon, the Town of Middlebury's deputy health officer with the exceptionally warm weather ticks are out actively searching for hosts and there is the potential for a large increase in the Disease this year. A disease ecologist has indicated the Northeast should prepare for a surge in Lyme disease this spring. A bumper crop of acorns in 2010 caused mouse populations to soar in 2011. With more mice came more ticks. Acorns were scarce last fall, meaning fewer mice this spring and a lot of hungry ticks. The highest disease risk is through July.

June Sargent, the principal of Proctor Jr./Sr. High School has resigned but she would not explain her reason for doing so. Sargent’s resignation is effective at the end of this school year, June 30th. Sargent said she wouldn’t comment on why she decided to leave the school and neither would Proctor School Board Chairman Lloyd Hughes. She is currently weighing options for principal at a school here in Addison County.

Teachers and administrators in the Addison-Rutland Supervisory Union are gearing up for a strike. Unless there's a contract agreement reached by Wednesday, that's the day teachers in Fair Haven, Benson, Castleton and Orwell hit the picket line. The union representing the teachers says the last contract expired June 30th, and negotiations are stalled because the school board decided to freeze salaries. Administrators say the school board has teachers on standby ready to come in if the strike happens.

Meanwhile Teachers in Castleton, Fair Haven, Benson and Orwell have opened a “strike headquarters” at 65 Main Street in Fair Haven in preparation for a strike tomorrow if an agreement isn’t reached.

Middlebury College Senior Katelyn Romanov was awarded the title of America’s Next Eco-Star, surpassing nominees from more than 100 schools in the nationwide youth energy competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Over 10,000 voters and a panel of experts in the Eco-Star contest selected her. She was awarded $1,000 to put towards Middlebury’s sustainability programs and a summer fellowship in SmartPower’s Washington, D.C. Office. Romanov is a founding member of Sprout, Middlebury College’s student group dedicated to promoting environmental education in local schools. She was also part of the college’s Solar Decathlon team.

Arson was the cause of a structure and brush fire on Patch St. in Proctor Sunday night. The home, under foreclosure and owned by BAC Inc was intentionally set on fire. The damage was estimated to be about $2,500 according to investigators. Anyone with any information regarding this fire can call Vermont State Police in Rutland at 773-9101 or the Vermont Arson Tip Award Program at 1-800-32-ARSON.

Ticonderoga Central School District employees have agreed to a pay freeze. The district’s teaching, administrative and non-instructional staff has all agreed to forego salary increases during the 2012-13 academic year to help close a budget gap. Ticonderoga was facing a nearly $2 million spending deficit for next school year, according to Superintendent John McDonald. The pay freeze along with $900,000 in other cuts has closed the budget cap to about $315,000. With the pay freeze there will be no budget-related staff cuts.

The Essex County Sheriff’s Department is getting some help from local students. The automotive tech class at Champlain Valley Education Services in Mineville is restoring a Humvee for the police agency. The 1987 Humvee is available to the Essex County Sheriff’s Department through an Army surplus program. The Humvee came from Fort Drum and can be used by the sheriff’s office as long as it’s needed. The sheriff’s department will pay for all the materials associated with the project. The students will provide free labor.

The pending plan to inspect boats for invasive species and decontaminate them if necessary moved ahead this week, as Lake George Park Commission members unveiled how they’d likely certify and seal clean boats and discussed their efforts to line up funding and boost public education. Members of the Park Commission’s Invasive Species Committee showed representatives of environmental groups a wire and plastic seal that would bind a boat to a trailer, certifying that it was inspected and clean of invasive species. Boats coming out of Lake George could receive such a seal, and if left unbroken, boats could be reintroduced to the lake without re-inspection.

Farmers whose fields were flooded by Irene have been given the green light to plant this spring. Vermont Agriculture Secretary Chuck Ross says there is no need to test soil for contaminants because the flooding happened more than 60 days ago. He said the FDA does not have any requirements that call for farmers to wait before using their fields, and there is no evidence of any contamination.

A federal judge has handed another victory to the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant that is resisting the state's efforts to close the reactor. Judge J. Garvan Murtha issued an order in January blocking the state from closing the Vernon reactor. Since then, there had been speculation the state still might prevail by preventing more storage of highly radioactive nuclear waste at the plant after its initial license expires this Wednesday. Yesterday, Murtha issued a follow-up order saying the state can't try to enforce a closure of the plant over the waste issue. He issued an injunction against that happening until appeals are heard and ruled on by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.

A new license term for the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant is expected to be greeted this week with big protests. Anti-nuclear activists say hundreds are expected for an event at midday Thursday in which protesters will march from the town common in Brattleboro to the local corporate offices of Vermont Yankee owner Entergy Corporation.

Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell says he's looking forward to highlighting his record in a primary campaign for the nomination to seek re-election in November. Sorrell made the comments yesterday after Chittenden County State's Attorney T.J. Donovan announced he would challenge Sorrell in the Democratic primary in August.

Vermont State Police are still investigating active leads in the case of a Sheldon teenager who disappeared eight years ago yesterday. It was the anniversary of the disappearance of 17-year-old Brianna Maitland, who was last when she got off work at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery. The next day her car was found about a mile away near an abandoned barn. Police believe she was a victim of foul play.

According to the State Integrity Investigation study on government accountability and integrity, Vermont, New York, and New Hampshire received a grade of "D". The State Integrity Investigation website says they provide material to help journalists and bloggers shine light on their government's openness, accountability, and corruption risk. Not a single state received an A. States receiving the highest grades were New Jersey, Connecticut, and Washington. Wyoming, South Dakota and Georgia ranked the lowest in the report.

The Vermont Labor Department helped teachers and the Bennington School District resolve a dispute. Teachers said they were owed back pay, claiming they never saw an increase after a new contract was reached. Health insurance was another sticking point. The district was requiring teachers contribute more money earlier in the year rather than the same amount out of every paycheck. The labor department says teachers have received what they're owed and that health care contributions will remain constant moving forward.

Senator Bernie Sanders says health care for Vermont military veterans is going to be getting better. Currently about 8,600 veterans receive care from the state's five community clinics in Colchester, Brattleboro, Rutland, Newport and Bennington. Sanders says the Rutland clinic will soon be moving to a new, larger location. And the Colchester facility is going to either expand or move to a larger space.

The state argues that groups suing over problems in its Adult Protective Services Division don't have the legal standing to do so, and the suit should be dismissed. But Vermont Legal Aid Lawyer Barbara Prine told a judge the division set up to investigate abuse and financial exploitation of vulnerable adults is dysfunctional and a "wholesale failure."

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed a historic bill into law that will bring a lot of new business to the states DNA databank. Starting October 1, anyone convicted of a crime must submit a DNA sample. This law will make New York the first state to collect DNA samples from every offender. California takes DNA from anyone arrested on a felony charge and from people jailed on misdemeanor convictions if they have a prior felony.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York's Legislature are planning a flurry of negotiations to adopt a budget earlier than the April 1 deadline. They've already agreed on most of the budget. Cuomo and the Senate Republican and Assembly's Democratic majorities agreed to 4% increases in school aid and health care a year ago. That was a deal to soften reaction to the cuts in the current budget that expires March 31. The governor can impose his budget in emergency spending bills if there's no agreement before the deadline.

A Vermont town devastated by Tropical Storm Irene got some good news yesterday. A historic Wilmington, Vermont restaurant has decided to rebuild. The damage to Dot's Restaurant does not look much different seven months later than it did right after the storm. Like many business owners, Patty Reagan and her husband John were left with a tough decision, to rebuild a historic structure that dates back to 1832, or to tear it down. At a celebration yesterday attended by Governor Peter Shumlin, the couple announced plans to rebuild. It is a plan that comes with a cost of $800,000.

Record warmth may mean a record ice-out on Joe's Pond in West Danville. Slush and puddles already surround the cinder block. Tickets for the contest will be on sale through April 1st, but with unseasonable temperatures in the foreseeable future, all indications are the block will not last that long. The earliest the ice ever went out on Joe's Pond was on April 5 two years ago.

Despite the warm temperatures, this weekend is Vermont's Maple Open House weekend. Vermont is the largest producer of maple syrup in the United States, and there are about 2,000 producers in the state. The event aims to give people an opportunity to visit the sugarhouses and see how the famous Vermont product is made. Though activities vary depending on the producer, they range from sampling syrup to watching the syrup get made -- as long as the weather cooperates. The Open House is on Saturday and Sunday. For a list of sugaring houses participating, click HERE.

The James Beard awards are the Oscars of the food industry. The nominations were announced yesterday and Eric Warnstedt of Hen of the Wood in Waterbury is up for a Best Chef in the Northeast award. And Eating Well magazine in Charlotte is up for 3 awards for its recipes and articles again this year. The magazine won three last year.