Police are asking for help finding a
wheelchair-bound woman last seen at the Diamond Run Mall on Sunday. Thirty-one-year-old Jessica Flanders,
who police say also has diminished mental capacity, was last seen at the Kmart
store in the mall at 3 PM on Sunday. Flanders is 4-feet, 4-inches-tall,
weighing 75 pounds with hazel eyes and brown hair. She was last seen wearing a
blue fleece pullover, black pants and sneakers. Anyone with information about
Flanders whereabouts or who has seen her within the last two days is asked to
call state police in Rutland at (802) 773-9101.
Vermont's top election official is predicting about
70% of the State's registered voters will head to the polls this Election Day. Secretary of State Jim Condos said
Monday the 70% figure would be in-line with the last three presidential
elections. He says the 461,000
registered in Vermont is at an all-time high. Vermonters will vote today for president, governor, a U.S.
Senator, the state's lone member of the U.S. House of representatives, as well
the down-ticket statewide elected offices. They will also elect 150 members of the state House of
Representatives, 30 members of the state Senate and vote on a variety of local
issues. The opening of polling
places varies by town, but all must be open by 10 AM. Polls close at 7 PM.
Washington Street Extension to Painter Road will be
closed here in Middlebury today and tomorrow. Tom Scanlon said the streets will be closed today from 8 AM
to 5 PM at Painter Hills Road and tomorrow from 8 AM to 5 PM at Grey Ledge
Road. This work is for
installation of a water main across the road in both locations.
Various meetings are set to go this week here in
Middlebury. Coming up tomorrow the
Middlebury Energy Committee meets at 7:30AM and the Business Development
Advisory Board meets a 2:00PM. The
advisory board will discuss the results of fundraising to date and the next
steps along with the recruitment of the Business Development Director. Both of those meetings will be held at
the Town Offices. On Thursday
night the Vermont Gas Systems – Town Of Middlebury Public Information Meeting
will be held. That takes place at
7:00PM at the VFW on Exchange Street here in Middlebury. The Public Works Committee is set to
meet Friday morning at 7:30 in the Town Offices. Agenda items include a continued
review of the FY14 Capital Budget and status reports on current and upcoming
capital improvement projects. Stay
up to date on all meetings and view complete agendas by visiting the Town’sWebsite.
The Hiring Right the First Time Workshop has been
rescheduled. This workshop,
originally scheduled for October 30th, was postponed because of the threat of
Hurricane Sandy. The event has been rescheduled for November 15th at
1PM at the A-C-E-D-C/Vt-S-B-D-C conference room, located on Route 7 South in
Middlebury. Workshop space is
limited to 20 attendees, and the registration fee is $49 per person for the
first attendee. Organizations registering two attendees will be charged only
$69. Small business owners and hiring managers can register online at www.vtsbdc.org/small-business-training-workshops
or call 802-388-7953.
Middlebury Police officers are investigating an
attempted burglary at Middlebury Beef Supply that took place around at 3 AM
yesterday. Sources have said that
a suspect has been arrested but not confirmed at this time. Store door windows
were broken during the attempt. The suspect was apparently identified on a
store security camera and linked to similar break-ins here in Vermont.
A tip from a local resident led to the arrest of a
father, mother and teenage son from Leicester by Vermont State Police on
Sunday. Police say Larry Lanpher, Melissa Lanpher and Jonathan Lanpher were
arrested on multiple charges related to illegal drug possession and theft. Larry Lanpher was charged with
possession of marijuana and prescription pills. Melissa Lanpher was arrested for possession of marijuana. Jonathan Lanpher was arrested for
possession of alcohol by a minor, stolen property possession, and other
violations relating to a prior criminal case. Vermont State Trooper Tim Hanley reported that family
members will appear in Vermont Superior Court in Middlebury January 7th.
Brandon will be the home of Rutland County’s first
brewery. Brothers Patrick and Daniel Foley have specialized in making local red
wine at their family-owned winery since 2008, but later on this month, they
will start selling home-brewed beer as well. The brothers started Foley Brothers Brewery, an expansion to
the Neshobe River Winery their family has owned for the last four years. Once
it opens later this month, it will be the first brewery in Rutland County. To
start they are offering two types of beers, the Ginger Wheat and Brown Ale, which
at first will be available wholesale in 22-ounce bottles.
This time of year it’s a good idea to be mindful of
deer crossing roadways in Vermont and New York. Early last Friday morning the
Vermont State Police in Rutland received a report of a motor vehicle and deer
crash on Route 22A. The crash
occurred in West Haven just north of the intersection of Route 22A and old
Route 22A. The operator, and lone
occupant, of the vehicle, Patrick Boyle of Burlington, was uninjured as a
result of the crash. The investigation
revealed that Boyle was traveling southbound when the deer ran into his side of
his vehicle.
A National Grid crew arrived at shortly before 5 PM
to restore electricity to a section of Port Henry. The power company had thought a failed transformer had
possibly caused the 2:30 PM outage to Main Street between Rice Lane and
Elizabeth Street and Elizabeth and Grove streets. However, it was found a
homeowner on Shea Lane had cut down a tree that accidentally fell on power
lines.
Essex County saved almost $1 million and months of
construction time by using free prefabricated bridges that the state had
declared surplus. The modular
bridges had been in use at Adirondack Northway overpasses and were replaced by
the State Department of Transportation with newer spans. The bridges had only about 15 years of
use on a 70-year lifespan and officials figure they’ll last at least another 50
years. The bridges were in great
shape.
The Vermont court system hopes to reach a
settlement soon with a software company over its online case management system. In 2009, the system signed a $5 million
contract with a Utah company to design a computerized system that would allow
users to access case records at any time.
But court administrator Robert Greemore says it's not working and he
hopes to reach a settlement with the vendor, New Dawn Technologies, by the end
of the year. The state has spent
$1.7 million on the case management system.
The amount of posted land in Vermont has gone up in
recent years. The Department of Fish
and Wildlife says the numbers have increased since 1971, from 100,000 acres to
230,000 last year. Unless a person
takes measures to enclose or "post" their property, anyone who is
properly licensed can go onto their property and hunt, fish, or trap there. Once a person posts their property,
hunters, anglers, and trappers must get permission from the landowner to
conduct those activities. The department launched a service through its website
that connects willing landowners with hunters. This was done in response to
complaints from landowners with deer damage to their property and from hunters
saying with all the posted land there are fewer places to hunt.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is now
investigating more than 500 reports of price gouging from Superstorm Sandy. He
says more than 300 of those complaints came in over the weekend and today as
the pace of recovery and repair work continued to pick up.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has agreed to issue an executive
order that will allow displaced voters to cast ballots by affidavit at any
polling site they can reach today.
The order will permit voters to sign affidavits that they're legally
registered to vote in the presidential and state races and cast ballots at any
open polling site, even those outside their neighborhoods.
Distinguished Young Women of Crown Point will have
its 27th annual program this Saturday evening at 7 at Crown Point Central
School. Tickets for the program are
on sale at the Champlain National Bank and the Crown Point Central School
office and are $7. Five girls will
compete for more than $2,700 in college scholarships and the chance to
represent Crown Point at the state program at SUNY Albany Performing Arts
Center February 23rd of next year. Distinguished Young Women is a national scholarship program
that inspires high school girls to develop their full, individual potential
through a fun, transformative experience that culminates in a celebratory
showcase of their accomplishments.
The 3rd Annual Ticonderoga Area North
County Christmas is kicking off on Friday, November 30th! Catch the Holiday Spirit in the
Ticonderoga Area this season! It
all begins on the 30th with the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train at
the Ti Train station at 4PM and the Port Henry Station at 5:45PM. Also the same day the Museum & Arts
Co-Op Holiday Gift Shop opens!
Visit the Hancock House between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM. Be sure to check out the Festival Trees
at the Hancock House! There is so
much happening between the 30th of November and December 9th! Please remember that The Ti Chamber is
a drop off location for the Ticonderoga Tiny Tim Program and Local Food
Pantries until Friday, December 14th. Get the scoop now at www.ticonderogany.com.
Brandon Music on Country Club Road in Brandon will
present pianist Lenore Raphael this Thursday at 7:30 PM. Jazz pianist Lenore
Raphael, a Steinway Artist and ASCAP award-winning composer, is celebrated as
"simply one of the best pianists in the jazz mainstream. 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 more information
& reservations call (802) 465-4071 / info@brandon-music.net.
A wheelchair-bound woman from Vermont is missing,
and could be headed for Missouri.
Vermont State Police and the Rutland County Sheriff's office is looking
for 31-year-old Jessica Flanders, and say there is concern because of her
limited mobility, medical needs and mental status. The woman from Fair Haven was last seen Sunday at the K-Mart
at the Diamond Run Mall in Rutland, where she's believed to have met
someone. Police are stopping just
short of calling her disappearance "suspicious," saying they need to
confirm where she is, what she's doing and who she is with.
Vermont's Air National Guard is going to do some
night-flying throughout the month of November as part of its training. Take-offs and landings of several
F-16's from their South Burlington base will start in the afternoon and are
expected to wrap up no later than eight PM. Night flying this week starts today through Thursday, and
next week Tuesday through Friday.
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday that the
Financial Services Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky has instructed insurers to
accept homeowners' documentation and that includes photos and video of losses
so residents can discard debris before a second storm hits the region. The
state has also imposed a 30-day moratorium on cancelling or terminating
homeowners' and small business owners' insurance policies in storm stricken
areas for any reason, including non-payment of premiums.
Rutland Mayor Christopher Louras said yesterday that
his proposed $19,150,242 budget isn’t as expensive as it seems and would pay
for a number of important city investments. In his first meeting with the city’s Board of Aldermen since
he unveiled the proposed spending plan Louras said one of the line item
increases was offset by subsidies while a number of other increases would
support a comprehensive plan to rid the city of illegal drug trafficking and culture.
From Fox 44 & ABC 22 News – Your Voice in
Vermont & New York:
Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin was all smiles
Monday as he campaigned in Essex Junction. "Hey we're excited to meet you," said Shumlin. His opponent, State Senator Randy Brock
was busy too. "Well you have
to stop at every diner and have a cup of coffee," said Brock. As they pushed for votes, Brock did so
thinking he's within five points. Over
the weekend, he put out a poll saying so.
"I'm very, very encouraged based on what I'm seeing, what I'm
feeling and what people are telling me," said Brock. Political experts however disagree. "He's not within 5 points,"
said UVM Political Science Professor Garrison Nelson. Nelson says the source of Brock's poll can't be trusted
because of its conservative background.
"You want the poll to indicate that you're close and so that the
contributions will continue to come in," said Nelson. "The only poll that I believe is
the one that happens on Election Day," said Shumlin. While Nelson says the top of the ticket
might not be too entertaining, he says there's an exciting race near the bottom
for state treasurer between Wendy Wilton and Beth Pearce. Both took part in a Rotary Club
function Monday. Nelson says
Wilton has done a good job making headlines with stories about Pearce's rental
home and overtime use. "In
the down ballot offices, the name recognition and party ID have more of an
impact than policy positions," said Nelson. Although it's helped, Pearce isn't too pleased. "I'm disappointed that we didn't
always have a campaign on the opponent's side that always stuck to the
issues," said Pearce. "I'm just very excited about the race that I've
run. I'm very happy about the way it's occurred," said Wilton.
Route 30 in Hubbardton will be closed until
Wednesday, November 21. It's
from Bridge 96 at the intersection of Route 30 and Monument Hill Road. The work was postponed due to the
heavy rains from Superstorm Sandy.
There is a detour in effect for both south and northbound travel.
Yesterday's snowfall was a welcome treat for Vermonters
eager to hit the slopes. And
skiers and boarders are in luck because Killington is officially open for the
2012-13 winter season. Thanks to
all the new snowmaking equipment, the resort was able to open early this
year--and people are getting excited.
“Last year the first time I got to come up wasn't until thanksgiving, so
this is three weeks earlier which is awesome, and last year I didn't get to
come up as much as I wanted. Employees at the resort say as long as the
temperatures and humidity stay low, they'll be able to run the snow
machines--and we'll be looking at a great ski season.
