WVTK Local & State News August 14, 2012

The high-traffic Moriah Center Bridge closed for repairs yesterday, forcing drivers to detour on local roads.  The shutdown of the 5,000-vehicle-a-day span means a car detour on Titus Road.  The truck detour is on Route 9N/22 and Pelfershire Road.  The bridge was closed for emergency repairs after a State Department of Transportation inspection earlier this month reduced its weight limit to 5 tons, which barred school buses, fire engines and heavy trucks from crossing it.  The Moriah Town Supervisor said the closure is to replace the wooden deck and some support girders to bring the weight limit back up. The car detour only takes motorists a couple of miles out of their way, but the alternate truck route is about 10 miles longer.

The Middlebury Select Board will be holding its regular meeting this evening at the Russ Sholes Senior Center at 7PM.  Items on tonight’s agenda include Appointments to the Recreation Committee, reception of the Town Plan from the Planning Commission & Setting the Schedule for the Board's review & adoption of the Town Plan as well as bids awarded for the Painter Hills Water Main Project and the Riverfront Project.  Other items include reports from various committees and the Approval of the Bonding Certificate for Refunding of the 2004 Police Department Bond.  You can find more information by visiting the Select Board page at the Town’s Website. 

This week the Addison County Chamber of Commerce will be holding their August after hours business mixer.  The event takes place on Thursday from 5 – 7 PM at Cacklin' Hens: A Vermont Yarn, Beads & Gift Emporium in Middlebury. There will be plenty of great door prizes plus a chance to win the Pot of Gold, which is valued at $650!  For more information or to RSVP to Sue, click HERE!

According to the Office of Vermont Attorney General a Ferrisburgh man has been sentenced for possession of child pornography.  Robert Gingras pleaded guilty to four counts of possession of child pornography in Vermont Supreme Court last week.  The charges were the result of a combined investigation by Vermont State Police, the Hinesburg Police Department, and other law enforcement agencies.  He was sentenced to a suspended three to eight-year prison sentence, and was placed on probation for a year.  The court required Gingras to complete a sex offender treatment program.

The last carillon concert in the Middlebury College Summer Carillon Concert Series will be held this Friday at Mead Chapel. Musician George Matthew Jr. will perform at 7 PM. Visitors attending the concert can enjoy the bells from Adirondack chairs on the surrounding lawns.  The twenty-seventh annual carillon concert season concludes with Matthew's performance at the Language Schools Commencement event.  The concert is free to the public. 

Addison County’s new Natural Resources Pavilion opened in time for this year’s Addison County Fair and Field Days.  According the Addison County Forester Chris Olson of Middlebury, the new all-native wood pavilion building took two months to build. Olson is an employee of the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.  He said the local wood product industry is proudest of the hand-hewn timbers used in the pavilion; they represent 19 vital tree species growing right here in Addison County. 

Vermont’s largest agricultural fair marked another milestone year in 2012. Hot temperatures, sunshine, and intermittent downpours marked the early August week of the Addison County Fair and Field Days.  For many farming families, Field Days is an annual social event that brings the agricultural community of Addison County together for a few days. For others, the event is a time for fair food, amusement rides and animal shows. This year’s fair was no exception.  While attendance figures are still being tallied, there is every indication that Field Days equaled or surpassed last year’s attendance.

The man accused of taking the life of his brother recently entered a plea of not guilty at his arraignment.  70-year-old David Lang of Crown Point was arraigned in Essex County Court on August 13 on an indictment charging him with second-degree murder and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.  Lang, represented by a public defender, entered a plea of not guilty for both charges.  Essex County District Attorney Kristy Sprague requested bail to be set in the amount of $1 million cash or $2 million bond.  Judge Richard Meyer set bail as requested and scheduled for motions and a future appearance date of November 15 at 2 PM.

The Penfield Museum will host its 49th annual Heritage Day this Sunday.  Activities will get under way with a church service at 9:30 AM at the Ironville Church.  The annual Heritage 10K road race will begin at 10.  A craft and artisan fair will be held from 10 AM to 3:30 PM. And the traditional chicken barbecue will begin at 1. Tickets are $10 each. The ninth annual Heritage 10K road race, a 6.2-mile run, will start and finish near the museum.  For more information on that visit www.lachute.us.

The Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce is urging local residents to welcome the community’s newest business.  Peebles will open in Ticonderoga Thursday, August 23rd. A ribbon cutting has been scheduled for 8:45 AM that day in the former Grand Union building at the intersection of Routes 9N and 74. There will also be a series of sales and promotional events throughout the store’s opening weekend.  Our very own Amanda Leigh will be there on Friday the 24^th from 11AM – 1PM.  Get the scoop HERE!

An agreement to resolve an Act 250 traffic issue over the proposed $133 million Killington ski village has yet to materialize.  SP Land Company, the ski village developer, and three regional planning commissions have not been able to come together on a memorandum of agreement related to the need for future traffic studies.   The proposed studies would analyze traffic impacts the ski village in its different phases over the years would have on a number of regional intersections. 

With the price of gasoline on the rise, Vermont authorities are reporting several reports of gas theft.   One report came Sunday from a resident in Tunbridge who said someone took two cans of gasoline from a landscape trailer parked in front of his home.  Police also are investigating a similar incident that happened in Brookfield on July 30, in which three, 5-gallon gas cans were taken from a barn.  In another incident, a gas station in New Haven reported a pickup truck driver left without paying $40 for gas.

The Vermont State Police at the Rutland barracks will be working with local and county law enforcement agencies to conduct checkpoints to screen for impaired drivers at various locations in Rutland County.   The checkpoints are part of the Labor Day enforcement period with will run from August 15 through September 3.  Through August, there have been 48 fatalities resulting from 43 crashes in Vermont in 2012, twice as many fatalities than at the same time in 2011. In addition to the checkpoints, troopers will be aggressively patrolling and enforcing motor vehicle laws with specific regard to aggressive driving, speeding and seat belt use in high crash areas.

Yesterday new Rutland Police Chief James Baker laid out some of his plans for fighting crime in the city and addressing a personnel shortage in his department. He talked about ongoing work to fill a number of vacancies that have sapped the department’s strength and a collaborative approach being fleshed out to combat drugs in the community.

This is the week state officials are anticipating a decision from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, about just what will be covered in regards to Tropical Storm Irene costs.  It's nearly been a year since the storm devastated areas of Vermont, with reconstruction of the State Office Complex in Waterbury alone expected to cost millions.  The concern is FEMA's contribution to that may not be as high as state officials once thought.  Governor Peter Shumlin signed a bill into law earlier this year to rebuild, expecting FEMA to cover much of the nearly 100-million-dollar project.

The people living now in Bradford had the opportunity to see over the weekend what people living 100 years ago in Bradford put in a time capsule.  The container was sealed up in 1912, shoved back in the basement rafters of a chapel in the Upper Plain Cemetery and was opened up by the Bradford Historical Society.  Inside were dozens of artifacts, such as newspapers, pictures, books and even a fashion poster.  Also next to it was a bottle of Pickwick Ale, which is guessed to have probably helped in the "burying" of the capsule.

The two Democrats vying for their party's nomination for Vermont attorney general are voicing disagreement over whether a tax on soft drinks is a good idea.  Attorney General William Sorrell has supported such a tax, saying obesity is starting to vie with tobacco among preventable threats to Vermonters' health.  Chittenden County State's Attorney T.J. Donovan says he opposes a soda tax, arguing that it would fall disproportionately on working-class Vermonters. The two also disagree about corrections with Sorrell suggesting the state might need more beds for minimum-security inmates. Donovan said he'd rather spend the money on community-based programs designed to keep potential minor offenders out of trouble.

A new federal government survey shows New York has a relatively low level of obesity among adults.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures for 2011 released Monday reports more than a third of adults nationwide were obese.  The rate in New York stood at 24.5%.  That compares with 12 states where at least 30% were obese.  Colorado was lowest, at just under 21%, and Mississippi was highest at nearly 35%.  Vermont stands at 25.4% in this survey.

Like the people who hike it, the Appalachian Trail is always moving.  Although today marks the 75th anniversary of its completion, the nearly 2,200-mile path from Georgia to Maine is never really finished.  In the decades since the original path was built, 99% has been relocated or rebuilt, and transferred to public ownership. That means the trail and some 250,000 contiguous acres are better protected from development. ATC: www.appalachiantrail.org

From Fox 44 and ABC 22 News Your Voice in Vermont & New York:

With scrap metal thefts on the rise, a new law in Vermont is designed to make it more difficult for thieves. Scrap metal yards will be required to collect more information from people who are trying to sell copper and other precious metals, and if they aren't an electrician, contractor, or other authorized scrap seller, the metal must be held for more than a week.  Copper is an abundant metal, but it can also come with a pretty price tag. "$2.40 to $2.80 a pound" Chris Burnett of Burnett Scrap Metal said.  So it's often stolen and re-sold to scrap metal yards. "We've dealt with several cases," Burnett said.  Burnett says his company works closely with law enforcement, but even when he's sure the copper is hot, police don't have evidence to make an arrest... until now.  "I think this law is very good that it will to record who's bringing in what," Chittenden County Sheriff Kevin McLaughlin said.  That's what the new law aims to do, create a database that keeps track of missing metal, and where metal is sold, which makes it easier to catch the crooks.  "If it is stolen, then there's a place to find it," Sheriff McLaughlin said.  Also under the new law, scrap metal processors must collect more information from the seller, name, address, date of birth, a license plate number and proof that they actually own the metal. If the seller can't provide documentation, it must be reported to police and held onto for ten days.  "I don't think holding onto it for ten days is the answer," Burnett said.  He says the cost of copper can change drastically each day, so hanging onto it for ten days seems almost impossible.  "The market's done on a minute basis, just like the stock market," Burnett added.  Not only is the law tougher on criminals, but if scrap metal processors don't follow it, they could be facing a $1,000 fine for the first offense. The fines get steeper by the second offense. That could cost the dealer $25,000.

These are challenging times for the Red Cross in Vermont.  For example, a fire over the weekend on Brooklyn Street in Barre,  proved taxing to volunteers.  12 people were displaced and the Red Cross helped them find food, clothing and temporary shelter.  In just the last year, the Red Cross of Vermont and New Hampshire Valley has responded to 130 calls like this.  "This past year we have had more responses than in recent years and in part because of Irene it's raised our profile for events of large scale. We want people to know that when they call we are prepared to respond," Doug Bishop, Director of Communications, said.  To respond to every emergency, the Red Cross needs both money and volunteers.  For more information, click HERE. 

Thanksgiving dinner could cost more this year... especially dessert!  There's a shortage of apples. The wacky weather all across the country killed crops.  New York is the number two-apple producer and it may only produce half the normal amount this year. For one orchard in Williston, Vermont, better news, the warm March followed by a late frost only eliminated 20% of their fruit.  "15 years ago we actually lost an entire crop to a cold night, so we know what that feels like," John Adams of Adams Apple Orchard said.  Adams apples don't end up on the shelves, but they usually open around Labor Day for families to come and pick their own, but because of the heat-spell, they're about a week ahead of schedule.