WVTK Local & State News May 14, 2012

On Friday afternoon Vermont State Police were notified of a missing 5-year-old boy who had been on a hiking excursion with his mother along with other friends and family members. He was separated from the rest of the hiking party at the top of the Silver Lake trail near the lake and dam area. Members from The Salisbury Fire Department, Middlebury Fire Department/Technical Rescue Team, Brandon Rescue Squad, Middlebury Rescue Squad, U.S. Forest Service, and VT Fish and Wildlife Department were called in to assist Police. K9 teams were also called in from Vergennes Police Department as well as The Shelburne Police Department. The boy was located approximately forty-five minutes to an hour after the time of the initial call. The young boy was tired but did not require medical attention.

Work will continue this week on the Castleton – West Rutland Improvement Project. Milling will continue on Route 4A from West Rutland heading west to Castleton and will begin on Route 30 from the intersection of Route 4A and Route 30 heading north for 1 mile. Work on the drainage structures in the Village of Castleton and ditch excavation on Route 4A east of the Village of Castleton will resume. Rail-work excavation at intersection of VT Route 4A and E. Hubbardton Road will begin and Paving of Route 4A will begin in West Rutland heading west to Castleton.

You are invited to join the Way to Go Commuter Challenge this week by walking, biking, carpooling and riding the bus instead of driving. In addition to saving money and gas, when participants register for the challenge on-line, you'll be entered to win great prizes, including a Burton snowboard, an iPod or the Grand Prize, the prestigious Carbon Cup. Many local events are planned. Look for posters with dates, times and details hanging around town.

You are invited to join the Addison County Chamber Of Commerce this Thursday for the after hours business mixer which is being held at Bristol Financial Services in Bristol. Plenty of great door prizes plus a chance to win the Pot of Gold, which is back to its starting value of $500! The mixer takes place from 5 – 7PM. For more information or to RSVP to Sue Hoxie just visit www.addioncounty.com.

The Lake Champlain Bridge Community Auction closes tomorrow night at 11:59. If you've got your heart set on a special item you still have time to win! You can still bid on any of the special items in the auction right up to the final seconds of this exciting event. This may be your last chance to win that special item or to grab a great bargain. So don't miss out, BID NOW! Proceeds will help underwrite the cost of this weekend’s celebration activities! Get the scoop by clicking HERE!

The Vergennes American Legion Auxiliary has selected three junior girls from Vergennes Union High School to attend Green Mountain Girls’ State this year. The auxiliary will sponsor Marissa Jochum, Casey Jones, and Mary Langworthy, as they spend the week of June 17th at Vermont Technical College in Randolph. The purpose of Girls’ State is to provide citizenship training for girls of high school age. This also gives them an opportunity to live together as self-governing citizens and to inform them about the duties, privileges, rights and responsibilities of American citizenship so that they may understand and participate in the functioning of government.

Fort Ticonderoga recently received a grant from Stewart’s Foundation supporting a new King’s Garden program in 2012. The new program will encourage young visitors to learn about different vegetables, flowers and insects. The funds will specifically support the development of four new themed areas within the Children’s Garden. The King’s Garden is open June 1st through October 8th and offers a wide variety of horticulture programs throughout the season. To learn more about Fort Ticonderoga’s King’s Garden and its programs in 2012 visit www.fortticonderoga.org or call 518-585-2821.

Residents to be disconnected from Proctor’s public water supply in Pittsford at the end of the year will be able to tap into a new revolving loan fund set up to help them build personal wells. Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a bill into law last Tuesday that will loan up to $200,000 to municipalities for the design and construction of private wells for homes that have been involuntarily disconnected from a public water supply system.

Rutland Central Supervisory Union Superintendent Debra Taylor and members of the Rutland Town School Board recently announced Sarah Tetzlaff has been appointed as assistant principal of Rutland Town School, beginning July 1. She will join the staff at Rutland Town School, including Aaron Boynton, who will transition from assistant principal to principal on July 1. Tetzlaff grew up in Middlebury and graduated from the University of Vermont with a Bachelor of Science degree in Family and Consumer Sciences Education and a minor in Nutrition and Food Science. She earned a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Castleton State College-Woodruff Institute.

The Rutland Farmers’ Market kicked off the 2012 season Saturday with farmers from all over the area displaying their produce, foods, pottery and artwork, and colorful flowers on Mother’s Day weekend. According to organizers and farmers, the new outdoor season looks promising and things are off to a great start. The Rutland Farmers’ Market is open Saturdays from 9 to 2 at Depot Park in downtown Rutland. The outdoor farmers’ market will run until October 26th.

The New York Farm Viability Institute is accepting proposals for grant funding for projects that assist New York farmers in improving profitability. They may represent various production sectors, farm sizes, production practices and geographic locations. Farmer groups, researchers, educators, nonprofit groups and privately owned businesses may apply for funds. The requests for proposals for grant programs are available at www.nyfvi.org.

Officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be in Vermont later this month to talk about their annual safety assessment of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. NRC officials will be on hand to talk with members of the public one-on-one in what they're calling an open house beginning at 5:30PM on May 23rd at Brattleboro Union High School.

The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department will hold two public hearings on deer management. The topics will include the 2011 hunting results and recommendations for an antlerless permitting and youth season this year. The first hearing will be held today at the St. Albans Town Educational Center. The other will be tomorrow in Springfield at the Riverside Junior High School cafeteria. Both run from 7-8:30 PM.

One person lost their life and another person is hospitalized following a single-vehicle accident on Interstate 89 in Vermont. State police say the northbound car crashed in Royalton early Saturday afternoon. The 21-year-old driver, whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead at the crash site. The passenger, 29-year-old Steven Pierre of Manchester, NH was taken to Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. Police say the crash is under investigation, but that witnesses reported that the car was traveling at high rate of speed before the accident.

Worries about health effects, privacy and cost are fueling growing opposition to wireless, digital "smart meters" that utilities around the country are installing on homes and businesses and touting as key energy conservation and grid reliability tools. Vermont appears poised to take an unusually aggressive stance. While several states have allowed utilities to charge a fee to customers who want to opt out of smart meters, Vermont's governor is expected soon to sign legislation that would allow customers to say no without paying anything extra.

One of Vermont's leading tourist destinations opened for the season over the weekend. Shelburne Farms is a 1,400-acre working farm on the shores of Lake Champlain that uses its historic landscape and buildings to teach the stewardship of natural and agricultural resources. It offers activities ranging from wagon and walking tours of the property to meals and lodging at its inn.

Vermonters wishing to get their high school diploma credential by passing the battery of GED tests now will have the option of taking the tests on computer. Online registration and scheduling for computerized GED testing will began today, and the tests begin being administered tomorrow in Newport. Test takers can register online, but still must travel to the test center to take the test. Northeast Kingdom Learning Services in Newport is the first making the switch from paper to computerized GED administration. Officials say they hope to expand the service to other locations in the state later. Those wanting to learn more can go to www.GEDtestingservice.com or education.vermont.gov.

Rutland's Chaffee Art Center will exhibit the Vermont Doodle-4-Google 2012 finalists. Entries were submitted from all across Vermont and these finalists represent the top submissions in each age group. The exhibit finalists will coincide with the Summer Members' Exhibit and the Vermont Pastel Society's Annual Juried Show taking place May 25th through July 7th. There will be an opening reception on Saturday, June 2nd from 4-7PM with music by John Lyons. Doodle-4-Google encourages creativity of young people by asking students to create their own Google doodle.

The Town Of Lincoln's 23rd Annual Town Wide Lawn Sale will be held in town on Saturday, May 26th from 9AM to 3PM. The event takes place rain or shine and is sponsored by Weathervane United Elderly Housing. Maps will be available to guide you to sales all over town. There will be food for sale by the Lincoln Volunteer Fire Company. The Lincoln Library will have a plant, and book sale as well. For information call 453-4280.

The Town of New Haven will host a town-wide lawn and garage sale during the weekend of May 26th and 27th. The New Haven Annual Lawn and Garage Sales will be held throughout town from 9AM to 4PM. Maps of various sale stands will be available at the New Haven Town Office, public library, Village Green Market, and Jiffy Mart beginning May 21st. For details or copies of maps, call Suzy Roorda at 453-5978.

A lot of people turned out over the weekend all for the sake of a toddler from St. Johnsbury. Two-year-old Ty Jenkins lost his mom earlier this year when Melissa Jenkins life was taken. All thoughts were positive Saturday with about 200 golfers showing up for a charity tournament in New Hampshire. The tourney was called "Tee it Up for Ty," and that's just what they did. Many are strangers, never knowing Melissa Jenkins or her son but still wanting to help. There was also a silent auction as well with donations from celebrities. While the money is still being totaled up it's anticipated to be in the thousands of dollars.