WVTK Local & State News October 12, 2012

Middlebury College has unveiled it new multi-million dollar research vessel. The 48'-long vessel is named after a veteran geology professor David Folger. This state-of-the-art scientific vessel includes a modified hydrofoil for stability and fuel efficiency, onboard student computers with HD displays, a cozy galley, sleeping bunks, a sea crane, sonar and scuba gear, electronic underwater charting equipment, and room for 18 students studying maritime science and hydrogeology.  The ship's main port is Point Bay Marina in Charlotte, but she is wintered over at Shelburne Point Marina.  The college is excited to be able to offer better lake access to faculty and students in the biological, chemical, and environmental sciences.

Mayor Michael Daniels of Vergennes, the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and the State of Vermont invite you to celebrate Vermont's history and the return of 1862-class sailing canal boat Lois McClure from a successful summer journey educating and entertaining our friends in New York and Canada.  Come join the Chamber’s partners and sponsors as we welcome home the hard-working crew from their four-month journey to more than 40 communities in New York and Canada. Free of charge. The celebration will happen today at Vergennes Falls Park. Meet some of the people who made the journey possible, enjoy music and refreshments, followed by public boarding of the schooner from 4 to 6pm.  Parking for the event will be at Town and Country Self Storage in Vergennes, located at 107 Panton Road. There will be a free shuttle in the parking lot to take you to the event site.  Public boarding will also take place Saturday and Sunday from 4 – 6 PM.

A garage at Giddings' Kubota tractor dealership on Route 7 in Pittsford was destroyed by fire yesterday.  No one was injured in the fire, which started in a building at the back of the property just south of town.  But the yellow-sided, tin-roofed garage, which housed a number of tractors and snowmobiles, was completely destroyed before firefighters from four towns were able to bring the conflagration under control.  Pittsford Assistant Fire Chief Butch Shaw said the cause of the fire was not immediately known.

The woman who created a petition calling for in-state bug testing in the wake of two deaths from eastern equine encephalitis this summer is holding another fund-raiser for the family of one of the victims.  A “Jamboree for Scott,” in honor of the family of Scott Sgorbati, who died from EEE early September, will be held at the Brandon American Legion Post 55 on Sunday, October 21st from 3 to 8 PM.   The music jamboree features the Footloose and Jokers Wild bands. The groups Scott supported will be present, including the Friends of Sudbury School, the Brandon Food Shelf and area Scouts.  The EEE petition will be there for attendees to sign.

Not at lot of interest has been expressed so far in the former Dana School in Rutland, with the exception of the director of the Housing Trust of Rutland County.  They are interested in the building but haven’t made any decisions yet to move forward with a purchase.   A report by the Rutland School Board’s building committee this week also revealed that the property, located in the city’s northeast neighborhood, would be listed on the real estate market until January. The old school, located at 41 East Center St., was most recently the home of the city’s Recreation Department but was vacated last year due to safety hazards.

The cost of state mandates for local fire companies has the tentative 2013 Ticonderoga budget about 3 percent over the current spending plan. According to Supervisor Deb Malaney the tentative budget for 2013 in Ticonderoga totals $8,890,163. That’s an increase of less than 3 percent from the 2012 spending plan.  That means cuts will have to be made if the town is to meet the state’s 2 percent property tax increase limit.  Malaney said a new county emergency services radio system, required by the state, means the Ticonderoga and Chilson fire companies must upgrade equipment. That means an 8 percent increase in the Ti fire budget and a 27 percent hike in Chilson fire spending.  The remainder of the town budget is at the 2 percent tax cap.  The supervisor stressed the 2013 budget plan is tentative and is still subject to changes.

Repairs to an environmentally crucial wastewater pipe in Ticonderoga will cost less than initially expected.  Supervisor Deb Malaney said repairs to the sewage transmission line that spans the LaChute River would cost about $70,000 not the $300,000 town officials feared.  The large pipe is on a trestle that crosses the LaChute River, carrying waste from the town sewer system to the wastewater treatment plant on Montcalm Street. Emergency repairs totaling $14,000 have already been made, but permanent repairs are still needed. The work will be done this fall.

If you want to hike in the Adirondacks, Crown Point Town Supervisor Charles Harrington thinks you should pay for the privilege. He wants to explore charging a fee for use of public hiking trails. He said fees could generate a lot of revenue for the state.  Meanwhile the Moriah Town Supervisor said hikers spend money in the areas around the trails, and fees would likely decrease hiking. Ticonderoga Supervisor Debra Malaney said that selling trailhead parking-permits, as the National Park Service does in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, might work better.

Literacy Volunteers of Essex - Franklin Counties will host a tutor training for prospective volunteers from 1 to 4 PM on October 18th, 23rd, 25th and 30th at its main office in Port Henry. The 12-hour basic literacy training will give the tools, tips, and strategies needed to help a student learn how to read, improve literacy skills or obtain a high school equivalency diploma.  There is no fee to participate, and all materials are included. For more information call 546-3008 or email director@literacyef.com.

Vermont Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Brock is criticizing incumbent Gov. Peter Shumlin for what Brock says is too much time away from the office.  A Shumlin aide confirms Brock's assertion that Shumlin was out of state and turned the reins of government over to Lt. Gov. Phil Scott for 119 days during his first 21 months in office.  The lieutenant governor becomes acting governor any time the governor is outside Vermont's borders.  Shumlin campaign manager Alexandra MacLean says on 44 of those 119 days, Shumlin was on official state business, mainly meeting with corporate officials in a bid to get them to bring more jobs to Vermont. The other 75 days were devoted to campaign activities, those involving the Democratic Governors Association, and personal time off.

A political action committee has taken down two online ads after learning that it is illegal to use the Vermont state seal in an advertisement.  The Burlington Free Press reports that the state elections director notified the Vermonters First PAC on Wednesday that violating the state law carries a penalty of up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine. The ads in question promoted Republican candidates Vince Illuzzi and Wendy Wilton, who are running for state auditor and treasurer, and showed images of the Vermont state flag, which carries the seal.  Tayt Brooks of Vermonters First said he had not been aware of the law regarding use of the state seal.

A group that provides emergency shelter and homelessness prevention programs in Burlington is temporarily moving its daytime shelter to a church while it works to secure a permanent location.  The Committee on Temporary Shelter, or COTS, has been operating its Daystation out of temporary sites since July when a flood destroyed its facility. Yesterday officials announced that First United Methodist Church of Burlington has offered its parsonage for use this winter.

The Vermont Air National Guard will be examining a stash of World War II ammunition found on a Bellows Falls basement.  The Brattleboro Reformer reports that a homeowner, whose father brought home some wartime souvenirs found the collection in a box in her basement, photographed it and took it to police Wednesday. Neighbors were asked to temporarily leave their homes while the State Police bomb squad removed the items, which included two grenades, high-explosive mortar rounds and anti-aircraft rounds.  State Police Capt. Ray Keefe praised the homeowner for doing the right thing by not touching the items.

Amtrak as well as its Downeaster passenger service between Maine and Boston have set new ridership records.  The national high-speed rail operator says its trains carried more than 31 million passengers in the fiscal year ending September 30. That marks the highest annual ridership total since Amtrak started operations in 1971.  Records were also set in other regions of the country, including New England. Downeaster ridership rose 4.3 percent to more than 541,000 passengers. Ethan Allen ridership between New York and Rutland was up 10 percent to more than 54,000 and the Vermonter from Washington to St. Albans had 5.5 percent more passengers at 82,000.

There's a plea deal in the case of the 19-year-old woman from Colchester accused of texting when her car struck a woman walking her dog.  Late yesterday afternoon, Emma Vieira pleaded guilty to two of the charges related to the crash 14 months ago.  The deal came after the only defense witness testified about details he wasn't supposed to talk about, and the defense thought it was too harmful to their case to proceed.  The plea bargain calls for Vieira to serve a five-year deferred sentence on a charge of gross negligence and up to six months in jail on the negligent operation charge.

The tradition continues in Bellows Falls this Sunday with the 126th annual Fire Prevention Parade.  Expect lots of fire trucks from neighboring towns along with marching bands as the parade steps off at one p-m.  It begins at the Bellows Falls Fire Station, and goes about a mile into The Bellows Falls Square.  Trophies will be handed out afterwards to the entrants, such as the fire department which traveled the farthest and the one with the oldest fire truck.

Today is the deadline for New Yorkers to register to vote if they want to cast a ballot in the November election.  Elections officials say applications to register by mail must be postmarked no later than today.  Several communities around the state are holding voter registration events today in an effort to get folks signed up.

State parks around New York are getting facelifts thanks to an infusion of capital improvement funds.  Construction in a variety of parks is now underway following a 143-million dollar investment to pay for repairs and maintenance.  Park advocates say the new financing will improve many pressing health and safety problems in New York's 213 parks and historic sites. 

The first snowfall of the season beautifully complements the foliage change as it steadily moves throughout the Green Mountain State.  Click HERE for the latest Fall Foliage Report!

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

A recent "Rolling Stone" magazine article ranks Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin as one of the top 10 politicians in the country on marijuana reform.  It puts governor in the company of Barney Frank, Ron Paul and seven other politicians so we asked the governor if he believes he falls in that category.  "I would only say this as governor as you know I tend to say what I think," Gov. Shumlin said.  "And I tend to be willing to say things and do things that other governors aren't willing to do."  That has landed Governor Shumlin among the top 10 politicians on pot reform according to Rolling Stone magazine. Instead of a pot problem, he believes Vermont is suffering the effects of other drugs like Oxycodone and crack-cocaine.  "This is a total waste of resources to be spending the scarce dollars that we have in Vermont prosecuting small amounts of marijuana when we're losing the drug battle against Oxycodone, opiates, crack-cocaine and other drugs that are driving crime and making Vermont less safe," Gov. Shumlin said.  The governor says he's working with the state legislature to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana in the upcoming term. By 2013 there could be up to four medical marijuana dispensaries across the state.  "It seemed kind of silly to me that we would tell Vermonters you can use marijuana for medical reasons but you can't buy it,” The state just started issuing permits for medical marijuana dispensaries; two in Burlington and two in Waterbury. But in the City of Rutland the Board of Alderman voted against allowing dispensaries in the area.  "I'm a big believer in local control so if some community doesn't want a dispensary in its town that's fine with me," Gov. Shumlin said.  And there was just one final question to ask a Governor who ranks in the top 10 on pot reform across the country. Do you smoke marijuana?  "You know when I was young I can't deny I didn't make the best judgments in the world but no I do not smoke marijuana," Gov. Shumlin said.

Vermont HIV experts are concerned about an HIV test now being sold at drug stores.  While the test itself is very accurate, staff at Vermont Cares worry about people finding out results of a life changing test by yourself.  "That counseling piece is critical especially as you first learn your diagnosis and you first begin to understand what it's like to have HIV and live with HIV for the rest of you life," says Peter Jacobsen, Vermont Cares executive director.  Jacobsen says the issue is complicated because he supports expanding HIV testing.  The test, called the Ora-Quick In-Home HIV Test, will be sold at pharmacies for $40.  While many stores in the Burlington area are expected to stock it, most reported it wasn't for sale yet.  Vermont Cares says it uses the same test during its free, anonymous testing, which is done by counselor.  Every year, about 700 people head to Vermont cares' sites across the state to be tested for HIV.  One or two of them will learn their lives have changed forever.  "We start out with, do you have a doctor you can talk to and if not we can make a referral. Anything again to make them comfortable and to let them know it's not the end of the world," says Jose Davila, a case manager at Vermont Cares.  Jacobsen says there is still a huge stigma and misinformation with HIV despite it being around for decades.  He hopes at least some of that could be cleared up by the new tests.  "Just the fact of having HIV tests out in the public is huge," says Jacobsen.  Vermont Cares offers free, anonymous testing on Monday's and by appointment.  The at-home test does have a 24-hour phone line for counseling.

All three candidates for Vermont Lieutenant Governor debated at Vermont Public Television Thursday.  That's where Republican Phil Scott fought back challengers to keep his job as Lieutenant Governor.  "I listen, I learn, I help when needed," says Scott.  There was also Progressive and Democrat Cassandra Gekas.  "I will be a lieutenant governor that brings your voice to the table," says Gekas.  And Liberty Union candidate Ben Mitchell.  "My belief is the political process is the under the control of a very small number of people," says Mitchell.  The three disagreed on areas including wind development and so called 'Death with Dignity' - physician assisted suicide. "For me it's about the rights of patients to decide how they're going to spend their last months, days," says Gekas.  "The whole idea of telling us what to do is pretty un-American," says Mitchell.  Scott says his position on the issue has changed and for an example he chose his own dad who had been hurt a long time ago and was in the hospital.  "Had he had to make that decision then I think he would have said, 'I've had enough,' but had he done that I wouldn't be here today," says Scott.  'Death with Dignity' could be an issue in the next legislative session and the lieutenant governor does play a big role during critical votes, by deciding ties in the senate.  They were also asked if they were ready for the job, which includes being in line to take over for the governor.  "I also serve on the governor's cabinet so I have an intimate knowledge of the inner workings of state government," says Scott.  "It's a big challenge and I am absolutely prepared for that challenge," says Gekas.  "I've been a substitute teacher so I have had to take over in times of crisis in the past," says Mitchell.  The three agreed marijuana should be de-criminalized.