WVTK Local & State News April 5, 2012

An informational meeting about the South Street & Green Mountain Place Project will be held this evening at 5:00 in the MVAA Conference Room. The Town's Project Engineer and Staff will present a summary of utility work that includes; water, sewer, electricity and telecommunications, roadwork and traffic flow. A preliminary project construction schedule will also be presented.

The next Addison County Chamber Of Commerce Mixer is coming up on April 19th at Art on Main in Bristol. The Chamber will be helping to celebrate Art on Main’s 10th anniversary, along with the usual food, drink, door prizes and a chance to win the Pot of Gold. There was no winner of the pot in March. So, on April 19th there will be a drawing for $950. The mixer takes place from 5 – 7PM. For more information and to RSVP to Sue Hoxie just visit www.addisoncounty.com.

The Ticonderoga Area Chamber Of Commerce will hold their mixer on Wednesday April 25th from 5:30 – 7:00PM at Sugar and Spice Country Shoppe. The great networking opportunity will include door prizes from George Sperry Marine Survey, McDonald’s and Wagon Wheel Restaurant. For more information just visit www.ticonderogany.com.

On the first day of what’s expected to be a weeklong teacher strike in four west Rutland County towns, details of one of the area’s most recently approved teacher contracts were released. Teachers working in six schools in the Addison-Rutland Supervisory Union based in Fair Haven will not take any pay increases for working last school year. The union is made up of schools in Castleton, Fair Haven, Benson and Orwell. This school year teachers will get a 2.87 percent pay raise across the board with no step increases or decreases. Next school year, teachers will get the same. On health care contributions, the two sides agreed teachers would pay 10 percent of premiums last year and the boards, 90 percent. And, teachers won’t get any raises based on years of experience, unless a contract is in effect.

Talks between teachers and school board members in the Rutland Southwest Supervisory Union broke down Wednesday morning at about 1:30AM over a disagreement about who controls what teachers do during their 7 1/2 work hours each day. There is no timeline for schools reopening, but Vermont-NEA spokesman Darren Allen said negotiating teams won't meet again for at least a number of days and that means schools will likely be closed for the rest of the week.

Castleton State College students are busy making telephone calls as part of the college's new Castleton Polling Institute under the direction Dr. Rich Clark. The institute, just in time for the 2012 election, has quickly become a vital and respected in-state source of opinion and survey data. Using polling and focus groups, the institute involves students in research, data collection and data analysis. Students collect data and quantify public attitudes on a variety of issues both locally and nationally. The institute also provides services for outside clients including special interest groups. Dr. Clark, who is an associate professor of political science, established the Castleton Polling Institute last year.

Gasoline prices have surged past $4 a gallon at some stations around Vermont. Signs on Shelburne Road in South Burlington show the price of regular just over $4 or very close. Prices have been rising steadily, up more than 60 cents a gallon in Vermont in the past three months. Experts say the increase is tied to the rise in crude oil prices fueled by the Iran crisis and Wall Street speculation. According to VermontGasPrices.com, the average price in Vermont is now $3.95 a gallon. The highest price reported is $4.12 in South Royalton and the lowest is $3.81 in Rutland and Manchester.

Hundreds of pink T-shirts are being sold to help the two-year-old son of Melissa Jenkins. The Vermont Clothing Company says 700 of the "Vermont Cares" shirts have already been ordered from 25 states and even in Mexico. Profits go to the Melissa Jenkins Memorial Trust Fund, set up to care for her toddler son named Ty. Jenkins was a science teacher and coach at St. Johnsbury Academy.

The attorneys general from Vermont and ten other states are calling on Congress to reverse the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Citizens United campaign finance case. The decision gave a green light for corporations and labor unions to spend unlimited sums of cash on campaign ads.

A U.S.-Canadian panel created to seek ways to clean up Lake Champlain wants to get public feedback before it issues its final report. Hearings are set for next month. The bay in the lake's northernmost section has 1 of the lake's highest phosphorous pollution concentrations.

Vermont's top mental health official is promising the state will improve its methods for transporting mental health patients when they have to move. Mental Health Commissioner Patrick Flood says his department is working on the problem and hopes within the next few months to reach a standard where 60% of patients are moved in what he calls non-secure transports.

Vermont State Police say a brush fire on Interstate 89 in Waterbury started after a delivery truck lost a tire. Police say the delivery truck was just south of the Waterbury exit when the tire caught fire, came off the truck and flew across the lanes of the interstate, starting the brush fire on the north side of the highway on Wednesday afternoon. The Waterbury fire department called for mutual aid from departments in Berlin, Middlesex and Stowe.

The Vermont state agency that used to regulate banking, insurance and health care has a new, easier to remember name. The Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration is now known as, simply, the Department of Financial Regulation. The change was announced Wednesday. Financial Regulation Commissioner Steve Kimbell says the new name makes more sense since his organization is now more focused on financial oversight.

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin was on the defensive yesterday regarding the merger between Green Mountain Power and Central Vermont Public Service. As a state board wrapped up testimony, Governor Shumlin spoke out in support of the boards work. Governor Shumlin was confronted about the hearings after thousands of rate payers and politicians have criticized the merger, specifically how GMP will handle the $21-million dollars owed to CVPS customers who helped bail them out. He insists his support for this merger is because GMP has promised to save ratepayers nearly $150-million dollars over ten years.

Governor Peter Shumlin has signed into law an overhaul of the state's mental health system. Yesterday's bill signing was the culmination of a process that got underway quickly after Tropical Storm Irene in late August flooded and forced the closing of the Vermont State Hospital.

Officials from Champlain College are joining state government leaders and financial industry executives to call for better training in Vermont high schools on financial literacy. State Treasurer Beth Pearce, Champlain College President David Finney and others announced that about $270,000 had been raised so far to support the effort, beginning with a study of how effective financial education offered in high schools is now. They say students should know things like when it's wise to put something on a credit card or not and how to figure out how big a mortgage one can afford. Champlain's Center for Financial Literacy is spearheading the effort.

Vermont lawmakers are working on a bill that would allow schools to discipline students for what happens on and off school grounds. Victims of bullying are now going to have the opportunity to step up and say something. For example, printing a Facebook message or saving a text message, so the bullies can be held accountable. Lawmakers have also made changes to the definition of harassment, to include statements made in the written form.

Lawyers from the Vermont Attorney General's office are planning to meet with the state's attorney prosecuting the husband and wife charged with killing St. Johnsbury prep school teacher Melissa Jenkins. Attorney General William Sorrell said it's not unusual for his office to work with local prosecutors in the most serious cases. Last week 30-year-old Allen Prue and his 33-year-old wife Patricia Prue of Waterford were charged with second-degree murder.

Police in Barre say they've caught the teenager responsible for a rash of school bomb threats. The claims of bombs planted in school have disrupted classes and events at both Spaulding High School in Barre and U-32 high school in East Montpelier in the last two weeks. As a seventh threat was being left Wednesday morning, a suspect was caught in a Spaulding bathroom. Police say the 15-year-old boy later admitted to making the threats. He was cited into juvenile court.

New York's online store for surplus state property is up and running. The website NYSStore.com links consumers to the surplus personal property and real estate for sale. It coincides with an eBay sale of more than 450 state vehicles, which the Cuomo administration calls part of its initiative to cut the state fleet of more than 4,700 passenger vehicles.

A statewide poll finds New Yorkers think the secrecy and closed-door deals that led to last week's state budget approval are unnecessary and a serious problem. The poll finds that 55% of voters said the closed-door negotiations weren't necessary to achieve the budget. Three-quarters of voters say the lack of transparency surrounding the $132 billion budget is a very serious or somewhat serious problem. Quinnipiac pollster Maurice Carroll says that although voters don't like they process, they still like Cuomo, who drove that process. Cuomo defends the budget process as essential to adopting a spending plan and running government.

Inside Champlain College's Emergent Media Center, students are hard at work on a new iPhone application that could change the way people explore Vermont. The team of 11 is working to design and program ViewBoost. The app will use GPS technology and other tools to identify popular tourism spots and hidden Vermont gems like dairy farms and specialty shops across the state, while folks are on the move. A soft launch for ViewBoost is scheduled for this fall, just in time for foliage season. Champlain is under contract with ViewBoost. The arrangement is paying students for their work.

Brandon Music’s new Sunday Jazz series is underway, directed by Jonathan Lorentz, creator and director of the prestigious New Hampshire Jazz Center. Due to the enormous success Lorentz has had in New Hampshire, Brandon Music initiate this collaboration, which will bring many distinguished jazz artists to the area. The series, entitled Sunday Jazz at Brandon Music, will feature different musicians weekly during the 7 PM Sunday performance slot. This week you can enjoy the sounds of acclaimed Boston Pianist John Funkhouser. For advance ticket reservations and to view the entire concert series schedule just visit www.brandon-music.net/sundayjazz!