WVTK Local & State News May 3, 2012

Mary Hogan School will be hosting a Bike Fair this afternoon from 3:15 – 5. Stop by to test your bike skills and knowledge of current rules of the road through their obstacle course. Give away your old bike gear including locks, reflectors, racks and more! There are also some free helmets and others at reduced cost available. Get the details now by visiting www.maryhoganschool.org.

Westport Central School Board will hold a budget hearing and regular meeting starting at 5:50PM today in the cafeteria. The agenda will also include Committee on Special Education recommendations and tenure appointments. Board meetings are open to the public.

Vermont State Police are currently investigating another Shoreham Burglary. This one took place on Shacksboro Road yesterday. Suspects entered the unoccupied residence and only stole jewelry and it appears they were in the home for a very brief time. If you have information regarding this incident or any of the recent Addison County break-ins please call the Vermont State Police – New Haven Barraks. (802-388-4919)

The Official Event Program marking the Grand Celebration of the new Lake Champlain Bridge is coming! Available at the event and for sale in advance at selected businesses the official event program includes a full schedule of events and performers, site maps, and listings of all the food and craft vendors. The cost is $3 and a portion of the proceeds goes to help fund the celebration. The program is loaded with photos and feature articles about the new bridge. Learn more about this incredible weekend of celebration coming up May 19th & 20th by clicking HERE!

If you love show tunes, you’ll love “Scenes and Songs: A Sampling of Musical Theatre from Opera to Broadway” at Middlebury College. The student-produced showboat of hits will be held Saturday, May 12th at 8PM in the Mahaney Center for the Arts Concert Hall. Talented music students will present a lively evening of musical theater from opera to Broadway. The event is free to the public and sponsored by the Department of Music.

Speaking during Monday’s Ways and Means Committee meeting, Westport Supervisor Daniel Connell said that he did not expect a request from the Agricultural Society to bring back a beer tent at the Essex County Fair for a one-year trial would be “so controversial.” Supervisors voted 11-5 to move the request for a beer tent to the full board meeting May 7, where it will be brought to a weighted vote. He said that the tent and the liquor license had already been purchased for the beer tent, adding that the county had previously adopted a policy for alcohol use, which the fair would fall under.

Protesters gathered on Strongs Ave. near downtown Rutland on Tuesday to advocate against a wind farm project proposed for Rutland County. About 28 people wearing T-shirts that read, “Don’t flat line our Green Mountains,” gathered at the Howe Center. They were referring to Manchester-based wind developer Reunion Power that has proposed a 20-turbine wind farm on the Grandpa Knob ridgeline. The project, which is expected to cost more than $100 million, would be able to produce up to 50 megawatts and touches West Rutland, Castleton, Hubbardton and Pittsford.

A woman at the forefront of efforts to restore endangered peregrine falcons in Vermont was honored Wednesday with an award named for one of the state’s most famous bird lovers. Margaret Fowle was presented with the 2012 CVPS-Zetterstrom Environmental Award for years of work to repatriate peregrine falcons, which grace Vermont’s conservation license plates and represent one of the state’s most successful conservation efforts. The award was accompanied by a $2,500 donation to Audubon Vermont to help continue its avian programs. The award is named for Meeri Zetterstrom, a CVPS customer known as Grandma Osprey, who instigated a recovery effort to restore ospreys in Vermont.

Vermont Senate and House conferees are continuing to disagree on whether police should be able to search a Health Department database on Vermonters' drug prescriptions without a warrant. House conferees on Wednesday stuck to their position that a search warrant should be required for drug investigators to search the database for signs of doctor shopping or other abuses. Senators are pushing for four specially trained drug investigators to have access to the information. Conferees met Wednesday afternoon, agreeing on parts of the bill but not the warrant issue. A Health Department official meanwhile says Vermont is facing an epidemic of prescription drug abuse. Reports on the department's website show prescription drug abuse steady or declining in the state in recent years, with drug related deaths down since 2006.

A legislative conference committee has agreed to make Vermont the first state to ban a hotly debated method for drilling natural gas. Geologists say there appears to be little if any natural gas under Vermont, but lawmakers have been pushing to get a handle on a technique called hydraulic fracturing anyway. The Senate passed a ban on the practice, in which water and chemicals are injected into the ground at high pressure to split layers of rock apart and release gas. The House voted for a 3-year moratorium. But now conferees from the two bodies on Wednesday agreed to an outright prohibition on hydraulic fracturing, and a study by the state's environmental agency. The measure still needs final votes in the House and Senate before going to Gov. Peter Shumlin.

Vermont's governor has allowed a ban on the use of tanning beds by young people to become law without his signature. Governor Peter Shumlin said Wednesday that he did not approve of the legislation because of concerns about how it would be enforced. Owners of establishments with tanning beds who are caught allowing people younger than 18 to use them would face fines.

Federal authorities say a New York City man who recruited people to come to Vermont and sell crack-cocaine and heroin has been sentenced to over 18 years in prison as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. The U.S. Attorney's office says 40-year-old Todd Jarvis of the Bronx, NY pleaded guilty last fall to conspiring to distribute crack-cocaine. Court records say he ran a large-scale crack and heroin distribution ring in central Vermont from 2006 through 2009.

A project to help heat Vermont state offices and a number of private buildings in downtown Montpelier with a new biomass system is getting a $1.75 million boost with a federal grant and loan. The nearly $20 million project is being funded with a variety of funding from the state, city and federal governments.

The New York State Senate's Republican majority provided almost $10 million more in school aid Tuesday night, but only to school districts represented by Republican senators this election year. In one of the most heated floor fights in recent years in the sharply partisan chamber, Senate Democrats called the unexpected extra school aid nothing more than pork-barrel spending, which was supposed to be eliminated in the budget adopted in March. The debate also ignited an upstate versus downstate fight in the chamber where Republicans have a 32-30 majority.

Brandon Music will present the Jonathan Lorentz Trio, this Sunday at 7PM. The concert is a part of the year-round weekly "Sunday Jazz" series and is a benefit for the new Compass Music and Arts Center. Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door. Lorentz will perform at Brandon Music with bassist Anthony Santor and drummer Gabe Jarrett. Get more information on CMAC and reserve tickets today by visiting www.brandon-music.net!

Rutland's 43rd annual Loyalty Day Parade will be held downtown at 2PM this Sunday. The annual event is Vermont's largest parade and is sponsored by the Rutland Veterans of Foreign Wars. Rutland's parade began in 1959 although the first Loyalty Day was celebrated in 1921 as a response to the communist's International Workers Day. It is officially observed on May 1st. It was made a legal holiday by the U.S. Congress on July 18, 1958. Vermont National Guard Maj. Gen. Michael Dubie will be the Marshall of this year's downtown parade.

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and Parks & Trails New York are teaming up for I Love My Park Day, a statewide event to improve parks and historic sites. Online registration is now available for volunteers to sign up for improvement projects taking place at more than 30 parks and historic sites Saturday. To find an event or sign up to volunteer, visit www.ptny.org/ilovemypark.

A few clicks could help land a Vermont student's artwork on the front page of Google. Milton 4th grader Kaziah Vaughn will represent Vermont in the "Doodle 4 Google" competition. "I was proud and shocked at the same time," says Kaziah. As hundreds of students shuffled into the Milton Elementary School gym Wednesday, only one was headed to a national competition. Google says about 114,000 students across the United States entered this competition. Students across the country designed a new logo for Google's homepage. Kaziah says she spent about two-weeks on the watercolor. The competition's theme was “where would you like to travel to.” Kaziah picked a trip to the 14th century. "I have always wanted to see knights, jousters, see castles towering in the sky," says Kaziah. Cricket Cobler is Kaziah's art teacher and has watched her develop since kindergarten. "She's always coloring. She's always doodling," says Cobler. "If you give her something, she always takes it two or three steps further." Kaziah's design is up against the artwork of students from every state. Later this month Kaziah will find out if her medieval watercolor won a spot on Google's homepage. "I'd be busting in air like a rocket," says Kaziah. Now Kaziah still has to get to the final round. To do that, she needs you to vote for her design. CLICK HERE TO VOTE! Google will then pick the winner from the top five.