The Addison County Chamber Of Commerce After Hours
Business Mixer is coming up tomorrow.
January’s mixer is hosted by the Rikert Nordic Center. Come early at 4
PM and enjoy an hour of free skiing. Rentals are free too if you don’t have
your own equipment. The mixer will
take place from 5 – 7PM. For more
information or to RSVP to see just visit the Chamber Website.
The Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce “January
After Business Mixer” will be held tomorrow at Dunkin Donuts of Ticonderoga
from 5:30 – 7:00 PM. Dunkin Donuts is located on Wicker Street in Ti. Sponsors providing door prizes will be
Eddie’s Restaurant, Swift Maintenance and the Wagon Wheel Restaurant. Dunkin
Donuts of Ticonderoga offers the freshest in coffee and baked goods daily. The
staff at Dunkin Donuts invite you to stop by today and enjoy a cup of freshly
brewed coffee, relax by the fireplace, and connect to free Wi-Fi. Although an RSVP is not required, they
are appreciated and can be made by contacting the Ti Chamber Office. Just visit www.ticonderogany.com
for details!
The Compass Music and Arts Center is a new
organization, situated in the former Building K of the Brandon Training School
in Park Village, Brandon. As part of its community-based and educational
programs, CMAC plans to develop a small, permanent exhibit about the history of
the Training School and especially the history of Building K. However, this
won’t be possible without the personal stories, memories, and artifacts of
those who were connected with the site. They are looking for former employees,
students and residents, Brandon community members, and anyone else who would like
to contribute, to contact them so that they may portray the school accurately
with first-hand accounts. CMAC is
being developed by the nonprofit organization Compass Music and Arts Foundation
Inc. and Diversions LLC, which operates the Brandon Music Café on Country Club
Road. To share your memories,
photographs, and artifacts, please contact Kathryn Marshall at 802-247-4295 or kathryn@cmacvt.org.
Vermont State Police announced Tuesday it has
completed the move into its satellite office in Fair Haven after officially
closing the Castleton Outpost after more than 30 years. The Commander of the Rutland barracks said
the troopers began moving into their new space in the Fair Haven Police
Department late last week and that the outpost is basically empty. The outpost,
located near the Castleton Four Corners, played host to the State Police for
more than 30 years. People can continue to contact state troopers for
nonemergency situations in the western part of the county at 468-5355. Emergency
calls, as always, should be made to 911.
In coordination with Winter Fest 2013 the
Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce is promoting Ticonderoga Area businesses
that will be offering promotions the day of the event. The Ticonderoga Montcalm
Street Partnership plans Winter Fest with support from the Ticonderoga Central
School, Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce as well as other area
organizations and businesses. Winter Fest, which is a free event, will be held
Saturday, February 9th from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM at the Ticonderoga Recreational
Fields, Ice Skating Rink and surrounding areas. The Winter Fest promotions
flyer is available at the Chamber office, participating businesses, on the
Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce Facebook page, or www.ticonderogany.com.
The American Veterinary Medical Association
recently released its U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook, which
revealed that Vermont ranks first for pet ownership with 70.8 percent of
households owning a pet. In 2006,
which was the last time the AVMA put together the sourcebook, Vermont again
made the top 10 list of pet owners, ranking 1st with 74.5 percent of households
owning a pet. Vermont also ranked as the top state for cat ownership in 2011. Remember many animals are looking for
their forever-home right here in Addison County. Check out the Homeward Bound Animal Welfare Center’s ‘Pet OfThe Week’.
There will be a joint meeting of the Addison,
Ferrisburgh and Vergennes Town Republican Committees tomorrow evening at 7 at
the Bixby Library in Vergennes. The meeting will select candidates to recommend
to Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin to serve out the unexpired term of late Rep. Greg
Clark. All are welcome to attend,
but please note that only registered members of the three town committees will
be able to vote.
Ben Karkoski has received the Duane Crammond
Memorial Scholarship. The $1,000
award was recently presented to Ben, who just completed his first semester at
SUNY-Potsdam. The LaChute Road
Runners Club presents the scholarship each year to a Ticonderoga High School
graduate who participated in varsity cross-country and/or track & field who
attends college full-time. The winner is selected by a scholarship committee
and is a person who reflects the strong academic, athletic and character traits
of Crammond.
February 1st is the deadline to apply for tuition
reimbursement through the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York’s
educational initiative, the Higher Education Learning Plan. The first-ever, statewide community-college
tuition-reimbursement program is geared toward recruiting and retaining
volunteer firefighters. Due to a variety of factors, many volunteer departments
are experiencing a need to recruit and retain more members. Nearly 200 students across New
York applied to participate in the program for the fall 2012. For more
information, visit www.fireinyou.org.
About 300 unionized workers and Green Mountain
Power have reached a five-year labor agreement that brings all employees under
one contract after the company's expansion following its merger with the
Central Vermont Public Service Corp.
GMP said yesterday the contract with the International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers Local 300 brings all union employees together under a single
contract. Before last year's
merger, workers for GMP and CVPS belonged to the same union, but worked under
different contracts. The details
of the contract were not released.
Top officials with the administration of Vermont
Governor Peter Shumlin are defending his proposal to take $17 million from
benefits for low-income working Vermonters and use it to subsidize childcare
for the same category of people. Human Services Secretary Doug Racine says good
childcare is an investment that will pay off in better outcomes later in life.
Some of Vermont's top elected educators and school
superintendents are calling for changes to ensure every student succeeds. During an event yesterday in
Montpelier, representatives of the state's school boards and superintendents
outlined a 5-point plan that they are calling "a comprehensive agenda to
create a world-class education system." Among the proposals are calls for the Legislature to provide
universal access to pre-kindergarten education for every student, develop a
system that gives credit for what a student has learned rather than how much
time the student has sat at a desk and having businesses engage schools with
meaningful work study and internships.
The plan did not carry a price tag, but some of the proposals would cost
money.
Vermont State Police say they have found child
pornography on the computer of a woman charged with killing a popular Vermont
prep school teacher. The Caledonian-Record reports documents filed in the case
against Patricia Prue say investigators also uncovered forensic evidence
showing the computer was used to conduct research on kidnapping.
New York has become the first state to dramatically
stiffen its gun laws after last month's shooting at a Connecticut elementary
school. With Governor Andrew Cuomo's signature yesterday, parts of the measure
that sped through the Legislature in two days take effect immediately.
New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is
freezing investment by the public workers' pension fund in firearms companies
following recent shooting tragedies. DiNapoli says he has directed that the
massive pension fund not buy any new stock in firearms manufacturers following last
month’s sad incident in Newtown, Connecticut.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has collected more than $4
million in campaign contributions in the last six months and has amassed an
almost unassailable $22.4 million campaign fund nearly two years before he runs
for re-election. Cuomo released the total figures yesterday as required by election
law that mandates six-month reports.
Lawmakers have plenty to talk about, and are
hopeful they'll get something done this session regarding guns. Senate Majority Leader and Democrat
Phil Baruth of Chittenden is proposing a bill banning manufacturing, possessing
and selling assault weapons, with the same for magazine clips with a capacity
for higher than five bullets.
Current owners of such weapons and clips would be exempt from the
regulation. Representative Pat
Brennan, also of Chittenden but a Republican, believes mental health reform is what
should be focused on instead of a weapons ban, with more discussion needed.
After years of talking about it, residents in the
Northeast Kingdom are finally getting their own Wal-Mart. An area resident started ten years ago
with a petition drive to bring the nation's largest retailer to Derby after
Ames closed. Two years ago,
85-percent of voters in Derby and Newport asked planners to support bringing in
Wal-Mart. The company now plans to
build its first Supercenter in Vermont on land off of Route 5 in Derby,
covering 150-thousand square feet.
If the permit process goes smoothly, construction could start early next
year.
When the emergency aid bill for Hurricane Sandy
passed in the U.S. House last night passed, it was without relief for Vermont's
Tropical Storm Irene. The nearly
51-billion dollar originally had provisions giving FEMA authority to help with
relocation and construction costs of the Vermont State Hospital as well as help
in rebuilding bridges and culverts.
The bill is now in the hands of the Senate, and the office for Vermont
Senator Patrick Leahy says it's not clear if the Irene relief can or will be
added back in. Right now, FEMA and
insurance will pay 30-million of the 43-million estimated for the new hospital
system.
The National Rifle Association is less than pleased
with New York State's newly passed gun control legislation. In a statement on its website, the NRA
says "Cuomo seized the opportunity to exploit tragedy and put his own
personal politics ahead of sound public policy. The governor was determined to steal the thunder from an
anti-gun White House."
Governor Cuomo had pushed for New York to take the lead on gun control
reform following last month's Newtown, Connecticut school shooting.
The head of the Conservative Party in New York is
furious Senate Republicans allowed a vote on Governor Cuomo's gun control
legislation that ultimately was signed into law. Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long says GOP lawmakers
"made a very serious mistake" and risk eroding their base in the
Empire State over the vote. Long
ultimately blasted the measure as a "political charade" that only
boosts the governor's political standing.
State health officials say flu vaccine is still
available for New Yorkers who want to get a flu shot, though there may be some
localized shortages because of late season demand. According to the Health Department, providers have been
vaccinating since September, and those needing more vaccine should use the
national Influenza Vaccine Availability Tracking System to help in ordering
more. The department says it is
also surveying pharmacists and hospitals to determine their vaccine availability.
As New York works on its gun legislation, in
Vermont, one lawmaker has introduced a similar bill. The bill, introduced by Sen. Philip Baruth, a Chittenden
County Democrat, would ban semi-automatic guns, limit the amount of bullets in
a cartridge to 10 and require parents to put locks on guns. This comes as Governor Peter
Shumlin has said he wants legislation to come from the federal level, not
Vermont. He disagrees
with the governor and believes the Green Mountain State should not sit around
and wait. "Just as with
same-sex marriage, or other things that we've done piecemeal, I don't think
there's anything to be ashamed of in making your states regulations what you
want them to be," said Baruth.
The bill was introduced to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday
morning. Baruth began to
draft the legislation after the movie theatre shooting in Colorado. He isn't
sure if it will pass, but since its introduction, his inbox has been flooded by
emails from pro-gun groups opposed to the bill. To read the bill, click here.
The Vermont food bank was in danger of not meeting
its 2012 goal. However they
finally got there! Yesterday they got a major jump on this year's goal! 40-thousand pounds of food were donated
by "ocean state job lot."
The company raised over 1-point-2 million dollars this past year for
food banks all across New England.
“The economy's a little south, and people know people need help and
they're willing to help out.” It’s a great start to the year--but the food bank
still needs help to make sure this year's goal is met and they say they expect
even more people to be relying on them this year so all donations make a difference.
