Vermont State Police are
searching for a 15-year-old girl who reportedly ran away from her home in
Chittenden. According to state police Alexandra “Alex” Papineau ran away from
her home during the early morning hours Tuesday. She was last seen near Rutland Middle School at 12:30 AM. Papineau stands at about 5-feet,
5-inches tall and has brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing blue
jeans and a yellow sweater. Anyone
with information about her whereabouts is asked to call VSP in Rutland at 802-773-9101.
As part of a national
effort to reach potential claimants and to provide an opportunity for farmers
who have not participated in the wide range of available USDA programs, several
USDA offices throughout Vermont will be hosting informational open houses
during November and December in cooperation with UVM Extension and the Vermont
Women's Agricultural Network. Light refreshments will be served. The following local open houses
will be run from 10AM to 2PM on Thursday, December 6th at 68 Catamount Park
here in Middlebury and Thursday, December 13th at 170 South Main St in Rutland.
For specific questions about the Middlebury USDA Open House event, or for
directions to their office, please call 1-888-408-3783.
As downtown businesses
across the state ready themselves for the holiday shopping season, the Dept. of
Economic, Housing and Community Development (DEHCD) is pleased to announce the
50/50 Challenge, a call to Vermonters to support their community by doing at
least half their holiday gift buying with Vermont's local retailers, artisans
and craftspeople. For every dollar
spent downtown, more than 87 cents stays in the local community, compared to
only 38 cents from purchases with national retailers. In 2011, Vermont
downtowns were host to 200 new jobs, 94 new businesses and 121 building
renovation projects with more than $17 million in private investments. Many of
these local downtown organizations do this form of economic development on a shoestring
budget, but Vermonters stand behind their communities with more than economic
support; downtowns were strengthened by 25,000 volunteer hours this year alone.
The 50/50 Challenge runs now through New Year’s Day. Learn more about
holiday events and special promotions at www.vermontvacation.com/5050,
and sign up for an opportunity to win a gift certificate for shopping in
Middlebury or Montpelier.
The Middlebury College Department of Theatre and
Dance presents “Mosaics from the Underground,” a fall concert of new works by
Middlebury dance students and faculty on Friday & Saturday at the Mahaney
Center for the Arts. Ten student choreographers will contribute work to the
performance. Both performances
take place at 8 PM.
Ticonderoga has adopted a $5.5 million town budget
for 2013 that meets the state’s 2 percent tax cap. The 2013 spending plan totals $5,573,865. That’s an 8.2
percent increase — from the current budget. The tax levy in the 2013 budget is $4,282,090. That’s a 2.8 percent tax hike, although
it meets the state’s 2 percent tax cap when exemptions are removed. The 2013 tax rate is estimated to be
$8.07 per $1,000 of assessed value in the Ticonderoga Fire District, up 41
cents, and $8.39 in the Chilson Fire District, a 42-cent increase. The town is
using $78,000 in fund balance to meet the tax cap.
Turnout was low for the Essex County Board of
Supervisors’ public hearing on Monday introducing a local law that, if enacted,
would override the state's 2 percent property tax levy cap. Harold Akey of Jay was the only county
resident speaking at the hearing, asking the members of the board re-consider
the option to override. County
Attorney Daniel Manning said that the introduction does not mean the law was in
place, but would be if they later voted to enact the local law. County Manager
Daniel Palmer said that either way, he would counsel any municipality to at
least introduce the local law whether it would eventually be needed or not.
The Elizabethtown Planning Board is seeking
residents interested in filling two vacancies. The board meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month
at the Town Hall. Letters of interest
should be mailed, by December 15, to: The Elizabethtown Planning Board,
Elizabethtown Town Hall, PO Box 265, Elizabethtown, NY 12932, or emailed to Etownny@etown.com. For more information, call Bruce Pushee
at 873-2294.
It’s time for the Thirty-One Cats of December!
Throughout the month of December, the North County SPCA is featuring 31
selected cats from the shelter to be adopted for free. If you have been
considering adding a feline friend to your household, but have not been able to
afford the adoption fee, now is a great time to bring home one of our
cats. They would also like to
announce the North County SPCA Puzzle Fundraiser, sponsored by adkpuzzles.com.
When you order a custom puzzle through their website between now and Dec. 15,
15-percent of the sale price will be donated back to the North County SPCA. To
order, visit adkpuzzles.com, choose your puzzle size and piece count; upload
your photo; and enter coupon code NCSPCA at check out.
A small house on Main Street in West Rutland will
be demolished sometime this winter as part of a town project to help alleviate
traffic near the high school and public library. Yesterday the town manager said the town is in the process
of closing a deal on a house located at the corner of Main Street and High
Street that had been previously purchased during a tax sale last year. She said
the house was not redeemed after the sale and the homeowner has agreed to sell
the house to the town for $7,400.
The former interim president of the University of
Vermont is going to lead an effort to help the state get more from its
investment in the state's flagship university. The appointment of John Bramley
was announced Wednesday by Gov. Peter Shumlin and UVM President Tom Sullivan.
Bramley will head a panel tasked with implementing some of the ideas contained
in a report issued in June called "New Ideas for Changing Times."
The Vermont State Police's top criminal
investigator says the man in a New Mexico prison for killing a Vermont girl in
2000 has a history of making wild claims as part of a long-running goal of
being incarcerated in the federal prison system. Major Ed Ledo is the investigator
who arrested Dana Martin in 2000 on charges Martin had killed a 15-year-old
girl in Barre. Ledo says he doesn't know what allegedly motivated Martin to
send two New Mexico men to kill two Vermonters.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has
announced a settlement with insurer Excellus BlueCross BlueShield requiring
refunds to patients and health care providers who overpaid due to improper
accounting of deductibles. Schneiderman's office says Excellus has so far made
repayments totaling $3.1 million. Excellus reported that accounting errors
affecting 12,000 customers processed after Sept. 1, 2011, followed software
modifications with glitches that have since been repaired.
The leader of the breakaway Independent Democratic
Conference is pursuing an unprecedented shakeup in New York politics that would
see three leaders with equal power ruling the state Senate in a bipartisan
coalition. Senator Jeffrey Klein says he wants a formal three-way power-sharing
arrangement that would be extended to every decision in the chamber, including
state budget negotiations.
Community members of
Orwell spent the weekend after Thanksgiving preparing the town for the
Christmas season. Peggy Parks of
the Orwell Fortnightly Club organized efforts, which included placing colorful
bows on a variety of natural, evergreen wreaths. Phil, Aaron and Zach King pitched in with members of the Lee
and Parks families to help decorate Main Street with the wreaths. Members of the King and Lee families of
Orwell helped prepare wreaths and other decorations along Main Street.
Brandon Music on Country
Club Road in Brandon will present vocalist Violette this Thursday at 7:30pm. Growing
up on a small island off the French Atlantic coast, Violette fully embraced the
beauty and unspoiled nature of her surroundings, dividing her days between
sports, books and music. Her originals, although rooted in jazz, reflect the
young artist’s eclectic range of musical influences from Pop to Rock and
R&B. General Admission is
$15. Brandon Music Café offers a
concert and dinner package, which includes dinner and a ticket to the show for
$30 plus tax per person. For Information
& Reservations (802) 465-4071 / info@brandon-music.net
Rutland’s “Secret Santa” has
announced his return, along with his intention to distribute $2,500 to people he
spots out and about in town. Secret Santa first appeared in 2007, handing
people cards with cash in them and then slipping away. Initially, his gifts
would vary from $20 to $50 and he would give out a total of about $800. Last
year, he started making uniform gifts of $50. The Secret Santa announced his return officially to the
Rutland Herald this week.
Four juveniles are accused
of making bomb threats against Spaulding High School. The school was evacuated three times this week when
threatening notes were found in public areas of the school. The four teens were
charged with the first two incidents.
The third is still under investigation.
A Mount Holly man is in
jail, charged with breaking into a home and assaulting a 17-year old. Thirty-five-year-old Nathan Turco
entered a home on Shunpike Road on Sunday according to police. He was armed with a knife and at one
point held the knife to the teen's throat and threatened to kill him. Turco faced arraignment today.
New York Senator Charles
Schumer is calling on travel companies to refund or credit customers who are
forced to cancel plans because of school districts cancelling their mid-winter
recesses. Numerous school districts
have cancelled the vacation week usually built around the President's Day
holiday. Schumer says in addition
to the hardships caused by Hurricane Sandy, parents and school workers now face
losing hundreds or thousands of dollars in cancellation fees or non-refundable
deposits. Schumer is hoping that
the travel industry will work with those who have had to cancel their plans.
New York officials say
they sold a record number of Empire Passports in a Cyber Monday promotion. The decal provides unlimited day-use of
the state's parks and recreation facilities. The Office of Parks and Recreation sold more than
22-thousand-600 passports on Monday, a five-thousand-percent increase from last
year. The Passport normally sells
for 60 dollars, but those who bought them on Monday paid only 40 dollars.
Vermont Secretary of State
Jim Condos says the state's election division will be doing a random audit of
voter tabulator results in the recent election. Today the votes in the races for U.S. representative and
Vermont state treasurer in the towns of Barre Town, Brandon, Essex and Newfane
will be hand counted. Condos says
ensuring that the election process is both honest and accurate is as important
as voting itself.
We have continuing
coverage on a highly controversial topic in the state taxing sugar sweetened
drinks like soda. Obesity is a growing epidemic in our country. Some health expert’s
feel curbing attitudes is the best way to change behavior. Several researchers at UVM laid out
their findings to see if a tax on sugar sweetened beverages will in fact deter
people from drinking them and therefore help curb obesity. Do you know just how many calories
you're consuming in what you drink?
Health experts say a woman should only be consuming around six teaspoons
of sugar a day or 100 calories; men nine teaspoons or 150 calories. Yet, the average person is downing
around 28 and a half teaspoons. That's 475 calories of sugar per day. "The weight gain by the American
population in the last 30 years has come from sugar sweetened beverages,"
said Tina Zuk, Government Relations Director, for the American Heart
Association. So some health
organizations are proposing a penny an ounce excise tax. The purpose is to make
you think twice before you buy that soda.
"If we want healthcare costs to go down and we want people to be
healthier, we have to do things like deterring consumption of unhealthy
products. This tax is a way to do it," said Zuk. One argument against the tax, is that the state will lose
money if people cross the border, for example, into New Hampshire to avoid the
extra tax. "We heard today
that that's not true that there has been research done that shows definitively
that doesn't happen," said Zuk.
In fact, if the one cent per ounce tax is implemented, it will raise
nearly 28 million dollars. Jonathon
Besett, a UVM student, believes the tax could work to combat obesity, "I
think that it would be helpful and that is a smaller part of they talked about
it being a part of a tool box in fighting the obesity thing." There is no such thing as a magic
bullet, but they hope by increasing the tax on sugary beverages. This can be
one tool to help curb the obesity epidemic. For more information on the proposed tax check out http://allianceforahealthiervt.org/
Vermont Governor Peter
Shumlin is getting his office in the holiday spirit by cutting down a couple of
Christmas trees and bringing them to the capitol. Wednesday he visited Paine's Christmas Trees in Morrisville
Vermont where he had his choice of 8-foot (that's what fits in his office
lobby) Fraser firs. Paine's has been growing Christmas Trees since the 60's and
Thomas Paine took over for his father in the 80's. But this is the first time a
Vermont governor has picked a tree from his farm. "Yeah it does make me feel good. That's for sure,"
Paine said. Paine's farm was
recommended to the governor by the Vermont Christmas Tree Association. He used
to sell trees wholesale, thousands at a time, before he switched to
"choose and cut" where each person gets to walk through the field and
pick out their own tree. And
escorting Governor Shumlin on his journey to pick a pair of beautiful trees was
Thomas's son, Ben. Ben drives the tractor around the farm, helps cut trees down
but told me he really hopes his teacher and classmates are watching the news
Wednesday night to see his dad's farm.
Ben says that one day he'll take over the Paine family business. "I'm going to try and extend it
and make it even awesome," Ben Paine said. Governor Shumlin endorsed the
idea. "He's gonna do a great
job. You watched him go after that tree with that saw," Gov. Shumlin said. "He knows how to pick him. He
picked both these trees. I figure he has better training than I do." And Ben did pick some beautiful trees.
Both of them were transported to the Pavilion in Montpelier where people
started decorating them within the hour.
But for Ben the best part takes place on the Paine farm. "Customers are really fun, they
get to cut down trees. What's not fun about it?" Ben said.
More than a year after
Tropical Storm Irene ruined the Vermont state office complex in Waterbury, and
leaders still don't know how much federal money is coming to rebuild it. On Tuesday, they finally learned one
option is off the table. Members
from the Federal Emergency Management Agency informed state leaders they won't
be eligible for 90% reimbursement because they weren't deemed destroyed. "It's not a big surprise,"
said Governor Peter Shumlin. Governor
Shumlin didn't think they would get that much, but still no one in his
administration expected FEMA's announcement when we questioned Shumlin about it
in his weekly news conference. "Is
there an update to the FEMA money coming later this week?" said
FOX44/ABC22. "I'm glad you
asked that," said Shumlin, and his continued, "we don't have any
additional news on a date for a dollar amount from FEMA than we had
[Monday]." FEMA leaders have
been working at a site in Essex. But
after Superstorm Sandy came through, leaders say it's time to move these
resources. "Was this almost an effort to
get things moving to get elsewhere around the country too?" said
FOX44/ABC22. "That's a great
point, we're very mindful of that," said FEMA Coordinating Officer Mark
Landry. There are other options to
help pay the $180-million dollar complex and mental hospital bill. But still Vermont has 60 days to
challenge FEMA's decision, although Shumlin isn't sure that's the best thing to
do. "I'm not sure that an
appeal will be necessary to get the dollars that Vermont deserves," said
Shumlin. So when might Vermont
learn how much money is coming? FEMA
leaders say they hope to give an answer by mid-January.
