In advance of the November 6th election
the Addison County Chamber of Commerce Candidates’ Forum gets underway this
morning, focusing on the Addison County races for the Vermont House of
Representatives and Senate. Attending Candidates include Chris Bray, Robert
Wagner, Willem Jewett, Tim Ryan, Dave Clark, Arabella Holzapfel, Diane Lanpher,
Ed McGuire, and Harvey Smith. It
will be held from 8:00 to 9:30 at the Ilsley Library Community Room and we’ll
carry it live on 92.1 WVTK. Our
very own Bruce Zeman will be moderating the event. The forum will revolve around a variety of topics, including
Healthcare, Education, State Pensions, Tax Policy and Energy. It will cost $5 to attend and coffee
and baked goods will be provided.
A truck heading north of Court Street/Route 7
tipped over in front of the Middlebury Inn around 5 on Tuesday afternoon. The curve is located on a slope and trucks
exceeding the speed limit have had problems there in the past. There were no
reported injuries. It is uncertain if the truck involved was exceeding the
speed limit. A large wrecker and
crane arrived on scene, along with help from an emergency crew from the
Middlebury Fire Department. Traffic
was held up in both directions as crews worked on the accident. Vehicles were
routed around the Middlebury Green via Merchants Row, past the Civil War
monument, to south Court Street.
The president of the Rutland Board of Aldermen,
David Allaire, formally announced his candidacy for the March election
yesterday, in which he will run against Mayor Christopher Louras. Speaking to an audience of about
30 at the Franklin Conference Center, Allaire said his time on the board, his
service representing the city in the Legislature and his business experience
have prepared him for the job.
Farmers from 10 dairy farms across the state are
inviting people on Saturday to celebrate Raw Milk Dairy Day. The full-day event will feature tours
of the farms and interactive activities including watching a milking. Some participating farms include Trevin Farms in Sudbury, New
Village Farm in Shelburne and Windy Corners Farm in Charlotte.
The Paradox Community Center is a prime example of
historic preservation and has been cited by the Adirondack Architectural
Heritage, a Keeseville-based historic preservation organization. The award was presented during the 17th
annual A-A-R-C-H Preservation Awards luncheon in Lake George. The Paradox Community Center was
constructed in 1825 as the Paradox school. About 50 students a year attended
the school until the Schroon Lake Central School District was organized in 1937.
In 2004 the Paradox Community Center Association began a campaign to save and
restore the building.
Naturalists and recreationalists can again enjoy
the Ticonderoga school nature trail.
The trail, which is located behind the Ticonderoga Middle School, has
been reconstructed. The four-year project officially came to an end with a
re-dedication ceremony on Monday.
The trail is about a half mile long and was cleared, widened and
stabilized. Seven interpretive signs were placed along the path to education
people about their surroundings. The
project was completed without taxpayer money. The natural trail is officially
linked to the town’s LaChute Trail system.
The Ticonderoga Federal Credit Union is again
offering local high school seniors the opportunity to win several scholarships
toward tuition at a two or four-year accredited college. TFCU student members will be competing
with high school students from credit unions statewide for $1,000 Credit Union
Association of New York awards. In addition, they will be competing regionally
within the Adirondack District for a $500 scholarship, and locally among TFCU
members for $500 scholarships. Three $500 TFCU scholarships were awarded in
2012. To be eligible, students
must be college-bound high school seniors at the time of application, attending
college for the first time in the fall of 2013 and members of the Ticonderoga
Federal Credit Union.
Elizabethtown Community Hospital has purchased a
new ambulance that will be used to transport its patients for additional
care. The vehicle is stocked with
new equipment and accessories used by the hospital’s emergency staff while
transporting patients for additional care at other facilities. It is now one of
two units owned by ECH and stationed on hospital property, ready to transfer a
patient in minutes. The addition of the second ambulance has cut transfer time
in half.
The Vermont State Employees Credit Union says
unencrypted computer tapes containing personal data and transaction records of
about 85,000 members were inadvertently thrown into a landfill. Credit union CEO Steven Post says
there's no evidence any of the information has fallen into the wrong hands. Post says it appears data tapes were
buried in a landfill and cannot be retrieved. The credit union is working with regulators and law
enforcement. The credit union has offered its members a year's free service for
credit monitoring and data protection.
A Vermont hospital says it is notifying about 200
patients that they were administered drugs recalled by the Massachusetts Company
linked to a deadly meningitis outbreak.
Officials say the drugs administered at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital
were not the same steroid injections that have resulted in 23 deaths around the
country and sickened nearly 300. New
England Compounding Center in Massachusetts recalled all of the products produced
at its facility on October 6. The
hospital is following a joint recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control
and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The town of Bennington and a Vermont developer are
taking another step toward installing a solar power facility on the site of a
former landfill. The Bennington
select board agreed Monday to sign a letter of intent with Encore Redevelopment
of Burlington that could lead to the construction of the solar power project. The company had approached the town
about the proposal two years ago, but at that time the finances didn't work
out. Since then legislative changes and decreases in the price of solar panels
make it feasible.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo says state government will put
the promotion of beer, wine and liquor made in New York "on steroids"
to boost jobs and help the growing industries. Cuomo along with farmers and orchard growers are meeting
Wednesday in Albany for New York's "Wine, Beer and Spirits Summit." The aim of the meeting is to boost wine
production and craft brewers, in part to spur job growth. Cuomo and the state Farm Bureau will
lead the discussion of ways state government can help these old, but small,
industries flourish in New York. A
similar summit on Greek-style yogurt resulted in the easing of some
environmental protection restrictions on dairy farms.
A meeting set for tonight in Rutland deals with the city's response to crime and quality of life issues. What triggered it is the death last month of 17-year-old Carly Ferro as she walked out in a parking lot. Police say a man who was high after huffing chemicals in his car ended up driving wildly in the lot, and caused an accident killing Ferro. Rutland residents were outraged by it all, and can speak out tonight about their concerns over drug-related crimes in the area.
A meeting set for tonight in Rutland deals with the city's response to crime and quality of life issues. What triggered it is the death last month of 17-year-old Carly Ferro as she walked out in a parking lot. Police say a man who was high after huffing chemicals in his car ended up driving wildly in the lot, and caused an accident killing Ferro. Rutland residents were outraged by it all, and can speak out tonight about their concerns over drug-related crimes in the area.
Almost as if on cue, massive 150-foot blades rolled
out onto the streets of Burlington early yesterday morning, bound for Georgia
Mountain. The dozen blades are
part of the new wind project up there, and the blades for the turbines arrived
in Burlington via railroad cars.
It was a well choreographed ballet, moving the blades through the
pre-dawn hours, dealing with all sorts of obstacles. The Georgia Mountain wind project is expected to be up and
running by the end of 2012.
Barre's Main Street in its downtown is finally open
to traffic and pedestrians. Main
Street has been closed for nearly a year in Barre while it underwent a major
overhaul. After a ribbon-cutting
ceremony this week, handled by a fire truck carrying "Digger," which
drove through the ribbon, the street is now open and getting rave reviews. There's wider sidewalks plus
streetlights, new restaurants, new signs and an underground sewer line. Merchants are happy to see it's opened
up, saying they lost 30-percent of their business during construction.
The University of Vermont is considering a
campus-wide ban on smoking. A new
survey revealed 26-percent of students who smoke picked up the habit after they
started living on campus. A report
issued by Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights says 814 colleges nationwide already
have such a ban in place. That's
nearly double the amount of colleges that banned smoking on campus just two
years ago.
Governor Andrew Cuomo wants some celebrity help in
making New York State alcohol production the next big thing. Cuomo is inviting top New York chefs
and celebrities such as Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and "The
View's" Whoopi Goldberg to a beer-and-wine tasting bash to promote state
brewers and vintners. The event is
the latest move by Cuomo to promote Empire State products. The alcohol tasting party will be held
in New York City next March.
Governor Cuomo says he remains ready to hit the
campaign trail for President Obama, though he has yet to be told where he'll be
heading in the coming days.
Cuomo's kept a relatively low-profile on the national front, but again
told reporters this week that he will be stumping for Obama around the nation
with less than two weeks to go before Election Day. While Cuomo says the White House hasn't given him his road
map yet, he expects to be sent to swing states.
Jazz returns again this week to Brandon Music on
Country Club Road in Brandon. The
Leo Blanco Trio will perform in the Music Café’ this evening at 7:30. He has
appeared at major festivals at Newport and Monterey, as well as in Holland,
Scotland, Switzerland, Japan, Brazil, Italy and Germany. General Admission is
$12. Brandon Music Café offers a concert and dinner package, which includes
dinner and a ticket to the show for $27 plus tax per person. For Information & Reservations
(802) 465-4071 / info@brandon-music.net
This week, the North Country SPCA will be waiving
adoption fees for all of their wonderful Pit Bull breed dogs this weekend, in honor
of National Pit Bull Awareness Month. Come to the North Country SPCA and
ADOPT-A-BULL for FREE! Check out their album of gorgeous purebred and Pit Bull
mixes, or come by the shelter and meet them in person. A Pit Bull's love is
like no other - you will have a best friend for life. Contrary to their
much-misaligned reputation, Pit Bulls are not naturally aggressive and can be
gentle, loving animals if they are raised in the right environment. You can
learn more about the myths and truths behind this fascinating breed on their
Facebook page, which has links to some interesting information!
For the 20th year in a row, readers of Ski Magazine
have named Whiteface/Lake Placid as the No. 1 destination in the East for
off-hill activities. Results
from the 23rd-annual readers survey appear in the magazine’s October issue. The article describes events and
activities on the State Olympic Regional Development Authority Olympic venues,
such as speed skating on the Olympic Oval on Main Street in Lake Placid, a
visit to the 1980 Rink Herb Brooks Arena, elevator rides to the top of the
120-meter ski jump and bobsled rides at Mt. Van Hoevenberg.
The New York Philharmonic is extending the contract
of music director Alan Gilbert through the 2016-2017 season. Gilbert said in a telephone interview
that he is looking forward to opening a new chapter at the Philharmonic. The 45-year-old Gilbert has been music
director since 2009. He is the first native New Yorker to be music director at
the Philharmonic. Both of
Gilbert's parents have had careers as violinists in the Philharmonic, and his
mother still performs there. The
New York Philharmonic was organized in 1842 and is the nation's oldest
orchestra.
From Fox 44 and ABC 22 News – Your Voice in Vermont
& New York:
The state Attorney General's office has sued a
company called VerMints, saying it has mislabeled its tins of mints as Vermont
products. The suit was filed
recently in Washington Superior Court. It says from 2006 to 2010, the company
sold over 1.3 million tins prominently labeled "Vermont's All Natural
Mints," or "Vermont's All Natural Pastilles." It says many tins
also were marked "Product of the USA." The attorney general's office says the products actually
were manufactured at a plant in Canada, mostly out of ingredients that
originated outside of Vermont. An
employee at VerMints in Burlington said Chief Executive Officer Gary Rinkus was
on a conference call and was not immediately available to comment Wednesday
afternoon. Rinkus also was named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Governor Andrew Cuomo is throwing his support
behind Congressman Bill Owens (D).
Owens is running for re-election in New York's 21st Congressional
District. Cuomo cites Owens' work
ethic and ability to create jobs.
