WVTK Local & State News April 20, 2012

You can soon get aboard the cable ferry to cross Lake Champlain. The ferry links Ticonderoga and Shoreham. It takes seven minutes to cross and costs $9 per car. The ferry closes in the winter. It's set to open tomorrow for the summer and will run seven days a week.

Vermont State Police are investigating a theft of a white 1999 Dodge Passenger Van from Sanford Road in Orwell. The owner believes this van was stolen between April 11th and 18th. This van is currently registered in Vermont. The van has tinted windows. Also stolen from the property were 6 industrial size batteries. Anyone with information in regards to this incident is encouraged to call the State Police in New Haven. (802-388-4919)

Middlebury College has sent a slam poetry team of their top five poets to compete in the national competition in La Verne, CA this week. Forty schools from around the country are competing, including giant state schools, community colleges, and of course small liberal arts schools like Middlebury. The team is called Poor Form Poetry.

The Counseling Service of Addison County is proud to announce the receipt of a gold level worksite wellness award from the Vermont Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. These awards recognize the employer’s efforts to encourage employee wellness. They were presented at the 2012 Worksite Wellness Conference, which took place in Burlington on March 28th. CSAC’s achievements in wellness included innovative employee competitions that encouraged individual goal setting in exercise, eating healthy, and stress management. The agency also opened a 24-7 employee fitness center in 2011.

CVPS Cow Power™ will be a topic of discussion on a new PBS series, ‘America Revealed.” The Blue Spruce Farm, the first CVPS Cow Power™ farm producer, will be featured during the series’ third episode, which is scheduled to air on PBS/Vermont Public Television next Wednesday April 25 at 10PM. The show is titled “Electric Nation.” PBS host Yul Kwon visited the Blue Spruce Farm in Bridport, where co-owner Marie Audet showed him how Cow Power supplements energy on their farm and at local residences. The ‘American Revealed’ series aims to help “viewers discover and appreciate the vast infrastructure that makes our modern lives possible.”

Residents in Pittsford have urged the town’s elected officials to do their research on the proposed wind project and make sure they protect the interests of the taxpayers throughout the proceedings. Several Pittsford and Florence residents voiced their concerns to the Select Board this week regarding the proposed 20-turbine wind farm on Grandpa’s Knob ridgeline. Residents are asking town officials to protect the rights of landowners in the area and make sure they bring a property value agreement to the table at every point of the proceedings. A petition is being circulated that would make sure town officials present the property value guarantee to the developer.

College students and recent post grads looking for valuable experience working with sports and recreation, people with disabilities and/or non-profit management may wish to apply to one of the many internships that Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports has available this summer. The internships are important to successfully run the largest year-round disabled sports non-profit organization in the state, and Vermont Adaptive's staff is seeking individuals with a diverse talent background. Interested students should visit www.vermontadaptive.org.

Brandon Music on Country Club Road in Brandon will present Vermont pianist Chris Bakriges with vibraphonist Mark van Gulden this Sunday at 7PM. Chris has been admired as an “adventurous pianist” by jazz legend Anthony Braxton. The concert is a part of the year-round weekly “Sunday Jazz” series hosted in the intimate Brandon Music Café. Tickets are $15 in advance, and $18 at the door. Doors open at 6:15. For more information and to pre-register visit www.brandon-music.net.

A Proctor man lost his life after crashing his car into a Rutland church. It happened just after 11PM Wednesday. Police say 22-year-old Christopher Loso drove north on Cottage Street, crossed Williams Street, and then slammed into the front steps of the United Methodist Church. Loso was not breathing when rescue crews arrived and was pronounced dead at the hospital. The cause of the accident is under investigation, but police say they found no evidence of braking or an attempt to avoid the crash.

A Vermont jury has convicted a woman of selling 10 bags heroin to someone who was co-operating with the Vermont Drug Task Force. Tiffanie Felix, formerly of Rutland, was convicted following a 2-day trial. Police said she sold the heroin for $150. Police from Rutland and Springfield joined Law enforcement officers from the state in the investigation. Felix awaits sentencing. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The Vermont Department of Labor says that unemployment checks are being delayed this week. Labor Commissioner Annie Noonan says the checks were supposed to be in the mail by 3:30 Thursday afternoon, but a "significant error" was discovered and the checks had to be reissued. Most recipients of unemployment insurance checks should now receive them on Saturday, although some could be delayed until Monday. People who receive unemployment payments electronically are not affected by the problem. Officials did not describe the problem.

A helicopter has been hovering over several communities in Rutland County. According to the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce, the chopper is looking for Bigfoot. The Animal Planet program "Finding Bigfoot" is filming an episode in the area and has been trying to gather aerial footage of the area. There's no word yet on when it’s set to air.

FEMA is pitching in to help pay for repairs to a heavily used railroad bridge in White River Junction. VTrans bridge number 501 almost collapsed during Irene after it support beams washed away in the flooding. Underwater welding teams and multiple construction crews fixed the bridge in September, and the project ended up costing almost $15 million. Now FEMA has announced it will pitch in $11 million to help defray the costs.

It's back to the old rulebook when it comes to working on rivers and streams in Vermont. Since Irene hit last August, emergency rules allowed the state to eliminate the comment period when reviewing a permit to alter a waterway. The state was still approving projects, but those decisions were made quickly, often over the phone. Now that the emergency is over the state is reinstituting the old rules. If you received verbal approval from a river engineer after September 3rd but have not started the work you must re-apply for a permit.

The Senate has endorsed its reapportionment map. But the proposal could face tough opposition in the House because the bill makes changes to the map that the House adopted for itself. Every ten years both the House and Senate redraw some of their district boundaries to reflect changes in population. Bennington Senator Dick Sears defended the Senate's action. But Rutland Senator Peg Flory warned that making changes to the House map could have severe consequences. The measure is scheduled to come up for final approval in the Senate today.

The Vermont House and Senate are disagreeing on whether to remove the philosophical exemption used by some parents who don't want their kids to have immunizations required to attend school, and Gov. Peter Shumlin says he's siding with the House. A bill passed by the Senate would eliminate the philosophical exemption, while the House and the governor want to maintain it. Shumlin's position runs counter to the one pushed by his health commissioner, Dr. Harry Chen, earlier in the legislative session. Chen argued that vaccines are an important public health measure and that he would like to see the philosophical exemption eliminated. On Wednesday, Shumlin reiterated that he does not want to force parents to vaccinate their kids. He says he has disagreed with Chen on the issue.

The Vermont House is set to debate a resolution calling for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to reverse the U.S. Supreme Court's hotly debated Citizens United decision of 2 years ago. The amendment being considered Thursday adds a twist to the House debate. It targets the U.S. subsidiaries of foreign-owned corporations and says they should be barred from making political campaign contributions or helping to pay for things like governors' inaugural balls. It's aimed at Green Mountain Power and its Canadian parent company, Gaz Metro.

Here’s another reason to be extremely careful around dry vegetation right now. Firefighters say a hot chainsaw on a dry field started a five-acre brush fire in St. Johnsbury. The four-alarm fire broke out in a field yesterday as a homeowner set the chainsaw down for a moment. Firefighters tell the Caledonian-Record the fire was driven by wind up a steep hill.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a comprehensive NY-Sun initiative to expand solar development in New York yesterday. According to a press release, the initiative is expected to double the amount of customer-sited solar power installed annually in New York, and quadruple that amount by 2013. The program is offering $30 million and is accepting applications.

St. Mary’s School students received a sweet treat recently. The world’s largest chocolate bar visited the Ticonderoga school. Weighing 12,190 pounds the bar was produced by World’s Finest Chocolate. It is 4 feet wide, 3 feet tall and 21 feet long. It contains a whopping 1,200 pounds of almonds, 5,500 pounds of sugar, 2,000 pounds of milk powder, 1,700 pounds of cocoa butter and 1,400 pounds of chocolate liquor. It has been certified by Guinness World Records as the “World’s Largest Chocolate Bar.” Even though the students were tempted, no one got a bite. In fact, they were given a lesson in moderation. The gigantic chocolate bar is part of the “Think Big, Eat Smart” educational program that teaches students about portion control.

Spirit Airlines will add a third round-trip flight each week between Plattsburgh and Myrtle Beach starting June 14th. The company was already scheduled to start offering two weekly trips in May. The North Country Chamber of Commerce, which serves as the marketing and development organization for Plattsburgh International Airport, welcomed the announcement.