State officials say Vermont filmmaker Malcolm
"Mac" Parker has agreed in civil court that he defrauded hundreds of
people who thought they were investing in a movie out of a total of $28
million. Parker, of Addison, this
spring had pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges of conspiring to commit
wire fraud and filing a false tax document. He's awaiting sentencing.
Meanwhile, he has admitted to the allegations made in a civil suit brought by
the state Department of Financial Regulation, which oversees the securities
industry. Authorities say a
substantial amount of investors' money went not for the movie project, but to
pay off earlier investors or to a silent partner of Parker's, Louis Soteriou. Soteriou is facing federal criminal
charges for his involvement in the alleged fraud.
The Vermont State Police in New Haven are
investigating the theft of an inspection sticker from a dump truck owned by the
Town of Salisbury. At the time of the
theft, earlier this month, the dump truck was parked at the Salisbury landfill
located on Upper Plains Road. Police
estimated that the theft occurred between July 4 and July 17. Anyone with information is encouraged
to contact the Vermont State Police in New Haven at 802-388-4919. Information
can also be submitted online at www.vtips.info or text "CRIMES"
(274637) to keyword: VTIPS
Officials at a newly revamped VA clinic in Rutland
are hoping the new look will bring in more patients. The 5,300-square-foot Veterans Affairs outpatient facility
on West Street is much bigger than the former clinic. Health care workers hope that convenience will make it
easier for veterans to tend to their health care needs without having to
travel. There are 1,400 veterans
assigned to the clinic, but doctors estimate that there are a few hundred more
in the area who have not yet set up any primary health care services.
Green Mountain Power Corp. is cutting a break for
its commercial customers in Proctor who were hit with a mammoth rate increase
last year. Green Mountain Power is
working on a proposal to phase in rates for Proctor’s 62 commercial customers. Officials say their goal is to phase in
the new rates over three years to reduce the cost impact on local business. The
Public Service Board will hold a workshop in Proctor on Monday, at which time
GMP will provide details of its proposal.
The New York State Police in Lewis arrested two
Moriah residents after an altercation in front of their Witherbee Road
residence on Sunday. At about 5PM
Jessica Crane of Moriah was involved in a verbal dispute with Robert N. Brown when
she was assaulted several times by Sara Nunez-Mendez. Brown was charged with
second-degree robbery, second-degree menacing and third-degree assault and
arraigned in Elizabethtown Town Court. He was committed to the Essex County
Jail. Nunez-Mendez was charged
with third-degree assault, issued an appearance ticket and released.
For the third consecutive year, Ticonderoga Federal
Credit Union will host its back-to-school supply drive for area students. From July 30th through August 31st the
credit union will collect donations of school supplies through collection bins
in all branches and ATM locations to benefit students in these areas. All
supplies will be distributed by the credit union to the schools, which will be
able to direct the resources where they are needed most. Visit TFCU’s website, www.tfcunow.com
or contact any branch at 585-6725 for more information.
Homeless and at-risk veterans will be offered a
helping hand through almost $2 million in grant monies to help them get back on
their feet. Through a Soldier On
grant, homeless and at-risk veterans in upstate Eastern and Central New York
will be provided $1,976,402 in grants awarded to Soldier On by the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs. Over the past year, SO grants have helped 12
veterans and their households in Clinton County, six in Essex County, 11 in
Franklin County and 68 in a grouped district of Warren, Saratoga, Washington,
and Hamilton county.
The ProAct Prescription Discount Card Program is
saving users 10 to 20 percent on brand names and 20 to 70 percent on generic
medications. It has been available
to Essex County residents for just under one year now. Clinton and Franklin
counties also make the card available to their residents. The discount card was introduced to
ensure that local residents with little or no prescription coverage can obtain
their medications at an affordable price. The Essex County program covers every
medication, including some pet medications. Cards are accepted at most
pharmacies within Essex County and at more than 60,000 pharmacies nationwide.
A new poll shows New Yorkers still love Gov. Andrew
Cuomo. But as president? Not so much. The Quinnipiac University poll finds 73%
of New Yorkers approve of the job the Democrat is doing in Albany. But just 36%
of those polled want Cuomo to run for president in 2016.
With the first sighting of a new aquatic species in
the Lake Champlain water basin, officials are moving into action in hopes of
preventing the creature from entering the lake. Scientists studying the invasion by the spiny water flea
believe action should take place immediately. The tiny animal, originally from Eurasia, feeds off plankton
and can severely impact the food chain in a body of water it invades; it was
identified earlier this month in the Champlain Canal.
There's a lot of celebrating going on for users of
the Internet in Lamoille County.
That's because the first-ever high-speed Internet service kicked in to
about eight-hundred addresses in Cambridge, Waterville, Jeffersonville and
parts of Fletcher. Governor Peter
Shumlin checked out the service at the Jeffersonville town library, and thanked
FairPoint Communications for its work.
A grant of 778-thousand dollars from the Vermont Telecommunications
Authority paid the bulk of the 950-thousand needed for the hookup.
Construction finally starts Monday to a key section
of the bike path and pedestrian walkway linking Burlington to the Lake
Champlain islands. The Colchester
Causeway still needs repairs after the devastating spring flooding last
year. It's this section, which
usually brings in millions of dollars' worth of spending into the area. Most of the three-and-a-half mile path
is in disrepair with washouts in some areas as deep as three feet. Reconstruction starting next week is
due to wrap up the first week of November, with federal funds covering
75-percent of the costs.
Vermont schools, towns, cities and nonprofit groups
will get another chance at surplus office equipment that's being removed from
the Waterbury State Office Complex before it's rebuilt. The so-called tag sale takes place tomorrow
in Waterbury starting at 8AM. The
state has replenished its supply of furnishings after a sale to nonprofit
organizations last week. State
officials expect all the surplus inventory to be out of the complex by the end
of August so that work can start on buildings that were flooded by Tropical
Storm Irene last August.
Residents of Rutland have a unique opportunity to
learn about how their water is treated and the options that are available to
meet EPA’s more stringent regulations.
This evening at 7 at the Rutland Intermediate School on Library Avenue the
chief environmental investigator for Erin Brockovich, Bob Bowcock who is a
drinking water expert, will be speaking about national water disinfection
problems and solutions.
The state says the release of more than half a
million gallons of chlorinated water from a water treatment facility into Lake
Champlain is not a threat. The St.
Albans City Water Treatment Facility says a chlorine pump malfunctioned
Tuesday, causing the bleach water to release prematurely into Stevens Brook.
The water missed the final step in the dechlorination process. Officials say
water levels were high in the brook because of storms during the discharge.
The private company that operates Vermont's
electric transmission network will soon get new board members appointed to
represent the public. The change
is happening as a result of the merger between Vermont's two largest utilities.
The Shumlin Administration insisted - and the utilities agreed - that the new merged
company would not hold a majority interest in the Vermont Electric Power
Company. So a new non-profit
corporation was created to ensure more public involvement in the operation of
Vermont's electric grid. The other
job for the new non-profit corporation is to disperse an estimated $1 million
annually for low-income energy projects. The money will come from the
non-profit's share of VELCO's stock dividends.
Vermont's U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy has cast his
14,000th roll call vote. Leahy's
office says just six other senators in history have reached that milestone. And no other sitting senator, except
for one in Hawaii, has cast so many votes. The vote came Wednesday afternoon on a bill about extending
tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of the year. Leahy joined the Senate in 1975.
Jazz returns to the Brandon Music Café this evening
on Country Club Road in Brandon!
This week they present bassist John Menegon at 7:30PM. John Menegon
started his career as a bassist in Montreal. After working for several years on
the Canadian jazz scene he went on to hone his skills in New York City in the
mid-80s. General Admission is $12.
Brandon Music offers an Early Bird dinner special, which includes a ticket for
the jazz performance, for $22 per person.
Get details HERE!
The 20th Annual Ticonderoga Area Car Show will be
held Sunday, August 5th in Ticonderoga’s Bicentennial Park from 9:00 AM – 4:00
PM. There will be 27 classes with awards in each class. The show is a judged
show and a “SuperWheels Showdown” Qualifier. The first 150 People registered will receive a goody bag
& dash plaque! During the Car Show there will be food, vendors, a 50/50
Raffle, silent auction raffle tent, Car Show Raffle and music by Jerry’s Juke Box
as well as the Kiwanis Duck Race, a Piston Toss, Muffler Wrap and a Hoola Hoop
Contest. Visit www.ticonderogany.com
for full details.
Excellent weather, fresh Vermont air, and non-stop
musical sets described the 2012 Vermont SolarFest, which was held in Tinmouth last
weekend. This annual “Sun-Powered
Woodstock Event” also included camping, environmental and energy workshops, a
musical-petting zoo, daily yoga sessions, and an abundance of local foods. While attendees enjoyed the music, Dark
Star Lighting and Production, a Hinesburg-based business, illuminated the
solar-energy powered festival. Dark
Star is also known for its high-end event lighting design and professional
audio production services.
The ninth annual Heritage 10K road race will take
place on Sunday August 19th. The
6.2-mile run will be held in conjunction with the Penfield Homestead Museum’s
annual Heritage Day celebration. Starting
and finishing near the museum, the course covers country roads, about half of
them dirt. The first four miles are up and down with a very fast two-mile
downhill finish. Late registration
will be 8:30-9:45 a.m. race day on the museum porch. Runners can pre-register
by mailing a check made out to the LaChute Road Runners to Dave Burrows at PO
Box 454, Castleton, VT 05735. Entry fee is $10.
From Fox 44 and ABC 22 News – Your Voice in Vermont
& New York:
Burlington parks staff members hope to again allow
swimming at two city beaches after being shut down for two days because of E.
coli concerns. New test results
could allow the water to reopen Thursday.
Tests found E. coli above safe levels in the water near North and Leddy
Beaches in Burlington. That forced
swimmers out of the water on Tuesday and Wednesday. "We're very cautious and take very seriously high
counts with E. coli," says Maggie Leugers, Parks & Recreation
superintendent. Leugers blames
recent storm water runoff for spiking the E. coli levels in parts of Lake
Champlain. She says it's rare for
the water to be closed because of E. coli. "We want to make sure people have a good, safe time. It
affects our revenue too. We want to have it open a lot of reasons," says
Leugers. But she says keeping the
water closed for now is the safe bet to make sure no one gets sick from the
bacteria. While there were few
people on the sand at North Beach Wednesday, those who were there agreed
staying out of the water was the best idea. "I'd rather not risk any poisoning to my body,"
says Dan Dailey, a beach goer. Though
some were not in a rush to go back into the water, even if allowed. "I don't know probably not. I
would probably give it a week or two before I really trusted it," says
Kenny John, a beach goer. The
results of the new tests are expected Thursday morning. That's when Parks and Rec will announce
whether the water at both North and Leddy will reopen.
