WVTK Local & State News May 9, 2012

You are invited to join the Addison County Chamber Of Commerce next 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 Vergennes Select Board has agreed to continue the city's farmers' market on the City Green from June through September of this year. Town officials say they won't continue to pay for advertisement in the future, but thought it necessary at this time until the event is established.

The groundwater in the town of Brandon is the best in the state of Vermont, according to a designation recently awarded to the town’s water district. Brandon’s Fire District #1 is now classified as a Class II water system by the state Agency of Natural Resources, the first and highest water-quality protection designation given to a water district in the state. The state of Vermont classifies drinkable groundwater under four classes ranging from Class IV (the lowest) to Class I (the highest), under the Groundwater Protection Rule and Strategies.

Ninety-nine homes destroyed in last year's flooding have been approved for buyouts by the state. The approval is one step in the federal hazard mitigation program. Now FEMA will review the applications. That process is expected to be completed next month. Some of the nearby towns where the ninety-nine homes are located include Brandon, Burlington, Clarendon, Granville, Richmond and Rochester.

Five creative summer camps for kids ages 7 to 18 will take place this summer at the Willowell Foundation. Willowell is hosting experienced educators to lead 8 weeks of camp, starting June 11. After the popularity of Coyote Clan Wilderness Adventure Camp increased steadily over several years, Willowell decided to expand its camp offerings in 2012. The combination of art, education, and environment is central to Willowell’s mission to build healthy community in Addison County. For more information and to register, visit www.willowell.org to download and print registration forms.

On Monday afternoon the Vermont State Police responded to a motor vehicle and bicycle accident, which occurred on Route 30 at the intersection of Hortonia Road in Hubbardton. Castleton and Fair Haven Police assisted with the investigation that is still on going. The operator of the motor vehicle, Rose Harve of Orwell was not injured during the crash. The cyclist, Matthew Currie of Benson, suffered head and shoulders injuries.

A proposed solar power project is heading back to the Community and Economic Development Committee. Last week, the committee unanimously recommended that the Rutland Board of Aldermen authorize the mayor to sign a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with AllEarth Renewables, which would allow them to pursue financing for the project before coming back to the city with a proposed contract. On Monday, the full board voted to send the proposal back to committee after a number of aldermen raised objections that had not come up during the two meetings during which the committee discussed the proposal.

The assessment battle in Crown Point continues. The latest move in the on-going fight is a lawsuit filed by two members of the Crown Point Board of Assessment Review whose appointments were rescinded after the new town board took office in January. The suit, filed in State Supreme Court of Essex County, asks that Glenn Russell and Ronald Clarke be restored to the board of assessment review and that the appointments of two new members who took their places be nullified.

Beer will not be sold at the Essex County Fair after all. Allowing beer sales at the annual fair in Westport was defeated, 11 to 6, by the County Board of Supervisors on Monday. The request was downed by increasing opposition from some supervisors, along with the Substance Abuse Prevention Team of Essex County, County Sheriff Richard Cutting and District Attorney Kristy Sprague. It had passed two committee votes, but too much backlash had built up by the time the full board voted Monday morning.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. says it has removed its chairman and another board member from their leadership roles after a drop in the company's stock price forced them to sell shares in violation of internal policies. The coffee company's stock price has plunged in the past week. That triggered a margin call for Green Mountain's founder and chairman Robert Stiller and its lead director, William Davis, and forced the pair to sell a total of more than 5.5 million shares. Some of those sales occurred in a time period that violated company policy and Green Mountain said Tuesday that it has forced both Stiller and Davis to relinquish their leadership positions. The company also has mandated that Stiller and Davis settle all outstanding margin loans by the end of 2012.

State Police say the driver killed along with his girlfriend and infant son in a head-on collision Monday should not have even been behind the wheel. Jason Potvin, who was 29 and from Williamstown, had a suspended license, plus he was driving with a cast on his right foot according to police. Investigators are trying to determine what caused him to veer across the median of Interstate 89 Monday morning, right into the path of an oncoming pickup truck. Potvin was killed, along with April Otis and the couple's seven-month-old son. Neither adult in the car was wearing a seat belt, nor was the baby's car seat installed improperly.

A newly released report compiled by US News & World Report revealed Vermont has one of the highest graduation rates in the nation, at roughly 90-percent. The Best High Schools report also compared the nearly 22-thousand public high schools across the country, looking at how well students performed on state assessments and then college readiness. Over all, Stowe High School was the highest ranked Vermont school in the national report, ranking 285th nationally. Within the state, Stowe placed first, while Essex was second, South Burlington, Mount Mansfield Union High School in Jericho and Colchester High School rounded out the top five.

One in seven Vermonters doesn't know how they will pay for their next meal. According to the Vermont Foodbank, there's a 15% increase in demand, while supply is on the decline. At the annual Hunger Conference in Burlington, a room full of people joined the conversation geared toward tackling the growing problem of hunger. Out of the 280 food shelves in the state, 40% of the people who rely on them for their source of food, have jobs, but just aren't making ends meet. Meanwhile 97,000 Vermonters rely on the 3SquaresVT program, formerly known as food stamps.

A top Vermont utility regulator is heading to Washington to argue in a court hearing that the license renewal given last year by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant was issued improperly. Elizabeth Miller, commissioner of the Department of Public Service, says she'll tell a federal court that Vermont Yankee lacked the renewed water quality certificate it needed before the NRC could issue its new license.

Police are looking for a suspect in an early morning stabbing and assault in Burlington. Police say a man was stabbed and a woman assaulted at the Red Maple Lane apartment complex around 4 Tuesday morning. Authorities are looking for 26-year-old Anthony Davis, who was last seen wearing a red sweatshirt and dark pants. Police say the man and woman were treated at the hospital and released. Two children who were in the apartment at the time were uninjured.

The Founders Memorial School in the Vermont town of Essex is closed because of a leaky roof. The school's website says the Essex Town fire chief pronounced the school unsafe and the students were transferred yesterday afternoon to the middle school where they were either bused home or picked up by their parents. The Founders School includes grades 3, 4 and 5 and has about 400 students. Officials say the school will be closed Wednesday so state and local fire officials can assess the situation. Parents will be notified today if the school will reopen on Thursday. All other Essex schools will be operating normally.

Hydroelectric advocates are touting a bill that was approved by the Legislature and is now heading to the governor's desk. The measure would expedite permitting for small-scale hydroelectric projects. Hydroelectric projects are regulated under the federal Clean Water Act because they involve damming U.S. waters. Skeptics of the renewable energy say it's still too costly for cities and towns and will only leave them in the red. The bill, which Governor Shumlin is expected to sign in the coming weeks, would require the commissioner of public service to enter into an agreement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It's modeled after similar legislation in Colorado, where lawmakers have simplified the authorization of small-scale hydropower projects.

A new index ranks Vermont number one in its commitment to raising and eating locally grown food. The ranking is based on the number of farmers' markets and community-supported agriculture programs per resident. According to the Strolling of the Heifers Locavore Index, Vermont has 99 farmers' markets and 164 CSAs. The other top states on the list are Iowa, Montana, Maine and Hawaii. Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, Arizona and Florida ranked at the bottom.

Metal thieves hit two Vermont businesses in the last few days. Police say $3,000 worth of copper cable was stolen from FairPoint Communications in Milton. In Williston, roughly $8,000 worth of copper wire was taken from a construction company. Vermont's Commissioner of Public Safety, Keith Flynn, says it all links back to drug addiction. "Taking these non-ferrous metals and converting them into cash, it becomes one avenue of coming up with a financing tool that continue to support that habit," Flynn said. However, there is a new bill, which just passed the Vermont legislature that cracks down on scrap metal processors. "If someone comes in with a non-ferrous metal such as copper for instance, they're going to have to get identification from this person. And they're going to have to get a source as to where this person got the scrap metal from," Flynn said. The bill will take effect starting July 1. If metal processors do not report people who sell metal without an ID, they could face a $1,000 fine.

A 60-year-old Shelburne man is facing charges in a crash that killed a pedestrian in Burlington. Michael Sears of Shelburne has been charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle. He was also given a $214 civil ticket for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk. Burlington police say Sears hit 60-year-old Bruce "Sam" Lapointe of Winooski with his pickup truck as he was turning left off Colchester Avenue. Lapointe died nine days later of injuries from the crash. Authorities have said Sears was not speeding or intoxicated. Sears is due in court on Thursday.

Brandon Music will present Gerry Beaudoin with special guest Rich Lataille this Sunday at 7pm. The concert is a part of the year-round weekly Sunday Jazz series. Tickets are $15 in advance, and $18 at the door. Brandon Music offers an Early Bird dinner special, which includes a ticket for the jazz performance, for $25 per person. Enjoy the chef’s award-winning chili and cornbread as well as dessert before listening to world-class jazz. Reservations are required for dinner. For Tickets and Dinner Reservations just visit www.brandon-music.net/sundayjazz.

Next Tuesday at 7:30PM, “Vermont Public Television's Outdoor Journal” will feature fishing at Burr Pond in Sudbury. Another story in the program looks at how fisheries biologists for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, work in Vermont and New York year-round to control sea lampreys on Lake Champlain. The program will also air May 19th at 10AM and be available on demand on www.vpt.org.

People in the town of Barnard, Vermont will no longer be able to go somewhere that has been around for 180 years. That's the town's general store. Its owners decided to close the historic store but not without a big send off. Hundreds of people crammed into the Barnard General Store Tuesday one last time after 180 years of business. "Everybody knows we put our heart in this and this outpouring of love is the best possible way we could have left," said part owner Kim Furlong. She was overwhelmed by the support she and her business partner Carolyn DiCicco received. "The love we've felt in the past four days has been the most remarkable experience for a lifetime," said Furlong. Francis Bean has been a customer since the late 1960's. It's not easy for him to see it go, "It feels like a piece has been ripped out." Established in 1832, the Barnard General Store has been a gathering place for news, food and connections. It was last year’s unusual weather took a toll on their bottom-line, DiCicco says, "No foliage business after the hurricane and with no snow this winter it just left us in a really bad spot, and we said enough." Tuesday night, the store went out with a bang. A burger night so successful hundreds of people wanted to see a piece of history, become history.