Two Vermont state senators are holding a community
meeting to discuss health care reform at 7 this evening at the Sudbury Town
Meeting House. Democratic Addison
County Sen. Claire Ayer and Sen. Kevin Mullin, a Republican from Rutland
County, will be on hand to discuss Vermont’s new Universal Coverage Law. They
will give a brief overview of the law and the plans for implementation followed
by a time to answer audience questions.
The forum is organized by the Sudbury Community Club in response to the
concerns, confusion and excitement voiced by residents regarding the law. It is
free and open to the public. The Sudbury Town Meeting House is located on Route
30 at the intersection with Huff Pond Road.
Thanks to the sixth year of a unique affiliation
with a Manhattan-based professional theater company, Middlebury College drama
students were getting a real taste for the professional stage. The affiliation
is the first and only professional theater-undergraduate liberal arts program
in the United States. Middlebury College’s affiliation with the professional
theater company Potomac Theatre Project concluded its 2012 Off-Broadway
repertory season a few weeks ago. Between ten and fourteen Middlebury students
are involved in the unique program during the academic year.
The United Way of Addison County board of directors
of has announced the names of the new leaders for the organization’s 2012-13
campaign fund raising effort. United
Way board member and community volunteer Brian McDonough, and his wife Eva,
will coordinate the annual fund drive locally. The couple has been involved with the Lincoln Volunteer Fire
Company and Weathervane United, a non-profit business founded in Lincoln in
2009. A kick-off United Way campaign breakfast, also tied to the organization’s
Days of Caring annual volunteer event, will be held at the American Legion in
Middlebury on Thursday, September 20th.
Youth from Addison County were featured prominently
at the 2012 University of Vermont Extension 4-H Dairy Show held last week at
the Fair and Field Days grounds. The
4-H Club show included sixty-four 4-Hers from ages 11 to 18. Over 30
competitors will move on to the next level; they will compete in the regional
4-H dairy show at Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, MA in
September.
According to a draft study presented to the
Planning Commission on Wednesday Rutland needs fewer apartments and more houses. A representative from I-Squared
Community Development Consulting based in Rhode Island, met with the commission
to go over the draft of the city’s housing needs study. It included a number of
recommendations about how the city can undertake neighborhood revitalization
projects.
The West Rutland School District’s legal bills have
exceeded its legal budget by more than half due to attorney fees incurred
during the termination of Principal Juanita Burch-Clay. Some of the mounting costs of the
controversial firing were revealed this week in bills provided by the Rutland
Central Supervisory Union following a formal public records request. Superintendent
Debra Taylor provided five bills from attorneys, dated between April and
August, totaling $27,925.
Getting the right medical attention during the
crucial “golden hour” can be the difference between life and death when a
person has suffered a severe injury and officials say that’s when a patient’s
chance of survival is the greatest.
On Tuesday at the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff David Favro
and his counterparts from Essex and Franklin counties introduced their joint
participation in the Yellow Dot Program — an effort to encourage people to make
sure that vital information is available as quickly as possible, whether at
home or on the road. The free kits, containing the medical-information card and
a Yellow Dot decal, are available at the sheriff’s offices in Clinton, Essex
and Franklin counties or online at www.nysheriffs.org/yellowdot.
New York State Education Commissioner John King
says he has approved teacher evaluation plans for 10 New York school districts
while providing feedback to more than 100 about the measures required under
legislation passed earlier this year. King says he anticipates approving many
more in coming weeks because of the approved model plans now posted online and
technical assistance provided by the State Education Department.
A new Safe Roads to School sidewalk project in
Poultney adjacent to the high school baseball field will make it safer for
pedestrians by keeping them from walking on the road. The proposed 300-foot concrete sidewalk along the south side
of East Main Street/ Route 140 is the missing link of sidewalk between the
entire length of Main and College streets and East Poultney On-The-Green. The six-foot wide sidewalk with
curbing is expected to be constructed within the next month to month and a half.
Three investors are suing a Vermont filmmaker who has already been convicted on fraud charges this year. The plaintiffs allege Malcolm Parker collectively owes them over a million dollars for an unfinished movie project, according to a story in the "Burlington Free Press." They're pursuing a rarely-used involuntary bankruptcy process against Parker that could allow them to eventually seize his assets. Parker pleaded guilty last spring to conspiracy to fraud charges as part of a plea agreement to help the government prosecute his silent partner, Louis Soteriou, who's facing 18 counts of fraud and money laundering.
Three investors are suing a Vermont filmmaker who has already been convicted on fraud charges this year. The plaintiffs allege Malcolm Parker collectively owes them over a million dollars for an unfinished movie project, according to a story in the "Burlington Free Press." They're pursuing a rarely-used involuntary bankruptcy process against Parker that could allow them to eventually seize his assets. Parker pleaded guilty last spring to conspiracy to fraud charges as part of a plea agreement to help the government prosecute his silent partner, Louis Soteriou, who's facing 18 counts of fraud and money laundering.
Vermont's Fish and Wildlife Department is
considering new restrictions in wildlife management areas. The proposal bans activities like
mountain biking, horseback and A-T-V riding, snowmobiling and rock climbing,
while hiking, fishing and hunting would still be allowed. They say there may be exceptions, such
as permitting seasonal mountain biking.
Officials say the goal is to protect wildlife and the safety of people
visiting the areas.
A Vermont committee has been appointed to conduct a
national search for an education secretary after a Vermont law was passed that
gives the governor the authority to make that appointment. The chairman of the Vermont State Board
of Education said he and three other board members have been appointed to the
panel. They will recommend three
candidates to the full board who will then make a recommendation to the
governor. The change takes effect
on January 1, 2013.
Montpelier's city council is rejecting a biomass
powered heating district after state and federal funding was set to go for the
project. The 20-million dollar
plan called for two wood-fired boilers at the state heating plant and the
extension of a network of pipes to downtown buildings. In a four-to-two vote, council members
cited financial risks.
The Shumlin Administration has taken the first step
to design the specific health care benefit packages that will be available in
Vermont through the new marketplace exchange beginning in 2014. Consumers will have a range of options
with different deductible levels, co-payment requirements and caps on out of
pocket expenses. While some states
are still struggling with the basic details of creating a consumer exchange,
Vermont has made a lot of progress and the Green Mountain Care Board is now
ready to consider the basic outline of benefit packages that will be available
to all individuals and small businesses in January of 2014.
Vermont Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy
Brock is using the words "ignorant, offensive and insensitive" to
describe remarks made over the weekend by Missouri Republican Senate candidate
Todd Akin. Akin generated a firestorm of controversy when he said in a
televised interview regarding rape.
State education officials say New Hampshire
students who took the national college admissions ACT test scored better than
their national counterparts. Officials announced yesterday that scores from the
2012 test show New Hampshire students outperformed the national average by
nearly three points.
The New York Public Interest Research Group says
its analysis shows 2,328 campaign committees with more than $31 million
altogether have not filed their required July reports showing money collected
and spent in the previous six months.
According to NYPIRG, many have not filed reports in a year or more,
raising "the disturbing possibility" that some candidates have
pocketed campaign money. The
watchdog group says the state Board of Elections' weak oversight and modest
fines for routine violations create an impression that non-compliance carries
little risk.
Brandon Music on Country Club Road in Brandon will
present the Chronicles this Thursday at 7:30pm. The Chronicles have quickly
created a presence in the northeast music scene but have set their sights on
reaching national and international audiences. General Admission is $12. Venue
is BYOB. Brandon Music offers an Early Bird dinner special, which includes a
ticket for the jazz performance, for $22 per person. Albany's Metroland
recognized the Chronicles in their 2011 "best of capital region"
issue as the best in live hip-hop with "jazz chops out the yin yang, and
new tunes at their fingertips every time they pick up their instruments."
Friends of the Brandon Town Hall will host the
Vermont-based band “Atlantic Crossing” at 7:30 PM Saturday at the hall. Atlantic Crossing has been entertaining
audiences and contra dancers with traditional songs and acoustic music from New
England for more than 15 years. The band brings to life the music of the Helen
Hartness Flanders Collection of traditional New England songs with rich
harmonies and compelling rhythms. Advance
tickets can be purchased for $8 at Carr’s Florist in Brandon. The price at the
door is $10.
Jerry Levine is now the oldest person to hike all
of New York's 46 highest mountain peaks.
The 82-year-old from Westchester County became an Adirondack 46er after
he climbed Esther and Whiteface mountains Saturday. Jerry tells the Adirondack Daily Enterprise that it was
tough to get up the peaks - Esther is 4,239-feet high while Whiteface, the
Olympic ski mountain, is 4,867-feet high.
But he says he'd do another one if he had to. To become a "46er," a person must climb all of the
46 Adirondack Mountain peaks higher than 4,000 feet. Mount Marcy, at 5,344
feet, is the highest.
From Fox 44 and ABC 22 News – Your Voice in Vermont
& New York:
It was almost one year ago, when Tropical Storm
Irene tore through Vermont. Today, Governor Peter Shumlin visited a farm in
Middlesex to talk about the progress.
Governor Shumlin says Vermont's best agriculture days are ahead of us,
because of all of the support and money donated to the Farm Disaster Relief
Fund. 476 farmers lost crops,
livestock and more, but not one of those is out of business today. "Irene didn't discriminate when
she ripped through Vermont, ripped apart our lives and destroyed so much of our
state," Gov. Shumlin said. Farmers
have to submit their application to receive the next round of funds by August 27th.
There's less than a week until the Vermont
democratic primary election. And
the race for the white house is heating up--- but how are Vermonters feeling
about the polls? According to a
recent poll by the Castleton polling institute for president Obama tops Romney
62 to 25 percent. In the race for Vermont
governor: Shumlin holds a strong lead over republican challenger randy Brock
60- 25 %. And for states attorney
general Bill Sorrel tops Chittenden country state's attorney T.J. Donovan 44-
24 % 31 percent still undecided. Poll officials say that race will most likely
come down to voter turnout. "Turnout
for a primary is often low so the poll race really hinges around turnout. Which
candidate is able to get their voters to the polls." Clark says when it comes to the
attorney general race- Sorrel has an advantage with a prominent and well-known
name while Donovan’s strength appears to be younger voters and women.
Lake Placid police say a Lake Placid man's death is not suspicious. The body of 34-year-old Seth Kilburn was found outside a home last Friday. Police say Kilburn fell eight feet while climbing down a hill. That fall fractured his skull and left him paralyzed. Not being able to move police say he suffocated to death. Police say complete autopsy results will be known in two weeks.
Lake Placid police say a Lake Placid man's death is not suspicious. The body of 34-year-old Seth Kilburn was found outside a home last Friday. Police say Kilburn fell eight feet while climbing down a hill. That fall fractured his skull and left him paralyzed. Not being able to move police say he suffocated to death. Police say complete autopsy results will be known in two weeks.
