The Middlebury Winter Term
Students will make a presentation of a proposed conservation plan to the
Middlebury Planning Commission at 7 this evening in the Ilsley Public Library
Community Meeting Room. For
details on weekly meetings just visit the Town’s Website.
Most Rutland County voters
will have to make at least one decision on local officers at the polls in
March. Brandon has three candidates seeking two seats on the Select Board. The
town also has a contest for first constable, with incumbent Gigi Corsones
facing challenger Gerry McGraw. In Pittsford, Cathy Rider has challenged
Selectman Alan Hitchcock for his two-year seat on the board. Proctor voters
will choose between candidates vying for spots on the town’s Select Board and
School Board this year. And West Rutland has a crowded School Board Ballot.
Shoreham’s Friends of the
Platt Memorial library will host a Benefit Concert and Maple Dessert Contest on
Saturday, February 9th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. Musical entertainment will be
provided by Matthew Dickerson, Susan Nop, Kathleen Smith, and Dutton Smith otherwise
known as the Addison County folk group Zephyr. The local Americana music quartet brings together influences
of folk, bluegrass, blues, gospel, country and the singer-songwriter tradition. A maple dessert contest and tasting
will be held in conjunction with the concert. Local cooks are invited to submit
their favorite maple dessert, which must be made with Vermont maple syrup, to
share with the public. The event will be held at the library on Main St in
Shoreham. For more information contact the library: 897-2647, or via e-mail at platt@shoreham.net or contact Judy Stevens at 802-897-7031, or
Kathleen Hescock at 802-897-7484, or via e-mail at kathleenhescock@hotmail.com.
The Rutland County Humane
Society will benefit from an upcoming variety show. Red Dog Solutions is hosting "For the Love of
Dogs", a canine variety show to benefit the RCHS. Dogs will dance to
music, performing tricks and great feats of agility and intelligence. It will
be held on Saturday, February 23rd at 1 PM at the Diamond Run Mall next to Old
Navy. Tickets are $10, which is a donation to benefit RCHS. Children will be
admitted free. For more
information contact Red Dog Solutions at 802-558-0512.
The Vergennes area Meals
on Wheels is looking for drivers to deliver hot, nourishing meals and a smile
to your elder neighbors, allowing them to remain in their homes and
independent. You can volunteer
once a week, every other week, or as a substitute, whatever works for your
schedule. Currently, CVAA need drivers Friday for the Bristol area and
Wednesday and Thursday's in Vergennes. If you'd like to find out more, please
contact Lisa Townsend at CVAA at 1-800-642-5119 or email lisat@cvaa.org.
A hearing to weigh the
evidence to hold accused murderer Alex Spanos in jail without the option of
bail has been canceled. Spanos pleaded
innocent last week to a charge of second-degree murder in a case involving the
death of 17-year-old Rutland High School student Carly Ferro. Because Spanos is facing a potential
lifetime jail sentence, prosecutors asked that he be held in jail without the option
of bail until his trial. However
the hearing scheduled to take place yesterday was canceled by Spanos’ defense
attorney who withdrew the request for a hearing on Monday.
The town of Killington
started the fiscal year with a deficit and is projecting a surplus at the end. In
March residents will vote on a budget that won’t raise the tax rate. The board unanimously ratified a
proposed budget of $5,093,080, an increase of only 5 percent, compared to the
2012 budget. This figure includes
the general fund, recovery expenses for Hurricane Irene and undesignated funds. When looking at the current grand list,
this proposal will not raise the current residential tax rate of 28.5 cents per
$100 of assessed value.
A lawsuit filed by two
Crown Point Board of Assessment Review members, whose appointments were
rescinded by the new supervisor, has been decided in the town’s favor. Acting State Supreme Court Justice
Richard Meyer ruled that Glenn Russell and Ronald Clarke didn’t take their
oaths of office for the Town Board of Assessment Review within the required 30
days of being appointed, so their posts were legally vacant. The Town Council had named Joseph Duval
and Douglas Woods to take their places, and those appointments will now stand.
Essex County lawmakers
debated Monday whether the county could afford to fill a vacant public-defender
slot. Assistant Public Defender
Robert Seymour took a job elsewhere as a judicial law clerk, leaving the
$59,160-a-year position open. The
debate about whether to hire someone to replace Seymour took a large chunk of
Monday’s County Board of Supervisors Ways and Means session. Hiring a new
assistant public defender passed, 17 to 1. The hiring gets a final vote at the board’s regular meeting
at 10 AM Thursday, February 7th.
New York Sen. Betty Little
has been reappointed chair of the Senate Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and
Recreation Committee for the 2013-14 legislative session, a position she has
held the past two years. Little
has also been appointed other committees that include Consumer Protection;
Crime Victims, Crime and Correction; Education; Environmental Conservation;
Finance; and Judiciary.
Former Vermont Governor
Madeleine Kunin is telling lawmakers she supports legislation that would allow
physicians to help terminally ill patients end their own lives. She testified yesterday
before the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, which is also holding a public
hearing on a proposal that would allow terminally ill patients to request
lethal doses of drugs.
Vermont game wardens say
the biggest buck shot in the state in more than 20 years was shot a day after
the close of the November rifle hunting season. Wardens say they received a tip
that Jim Smith, of Stamford, was seen removing the 10-point buck from the woods
on November 26th. Smith was charged with taking deer in closed season.
A Shelburne man has
pleaded not guilty to one count of animal cruelty after three horses were
seized from his home. Sixty-3-year-old
George Wilson, a former newsman at WCAX-TV in South Burlington, says
authorities overreacted and he plans to contest the charge. A stallion and two mares are being
cared for at Spring Hill Horse Rescue in Clarendon after officials said the
horses were found in small, dark stalls.
Vermont State Police have
released the name of the woman who died after her car skidded across a
snow-covered southern Vermont road and crashed into a large SUV before catching
on fire. State police say
20-year-old Tressa McKinney of Windham lost her life Monday afternoon in the
town of Jamaica. A preliminary
investigation shows that McKinney's car was traveling southbound on Route 30
when she lost control and the vehicle skidded across the road. It crashed into
a northbound SUV driven by 48-year-old Gavin Scotti of Connecticut. The investigation continues.
Lawmakers in Montpelier
are tackling the topic of doctor-assisted suicide. Supporters call it death with dignity, and it's already
legal in two states. On Tuesday, Senate
health and welfare committee members hammered out the details of just what will
go up for a vote. It requires the
patient to be an adult, must have been given a prognosis of less than six
months to live and must prove the patient does not have a mental disorder. And this year, unlike last year when a
similar bill came up, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard Sears say he
will not block it from coming to a vote.
The Vermont Works For
Women organization is celebrating its silver anniversary by not only
celebrating its success, but also highlighting what still remains to be
done. In its first year, it helped
about 30 women learn to become carpenters, plumbers, electricians and
construction workers. Now, the
trades group serves about 900 women each year, creating livable wage jobs for
women. Besides the trades once
considered for men only, Vermont Works For Women also now includes information
technology and food services, along with teaching some basic life skills.
The board president of the
Vermont Veterans Home went before a House committee Tuesday, asking for an
additional two million dollars in its funding from the state. Both the president and home
administrator are proposing a budget of 20-million, saying while most of the
funding comes from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and other insurance
programs, the additional state funds are needed to cover rising expenses. But, lawmakers also made it clear to
them the state is facing fiscal challenges as well.
A truck driver found out
Tuesday a rig standing 13-and-a-half feet high will not fit underneath a train
trestle which is about 18-inches shorter.
The driver tried that on Route 14 going underneath the trestle near
Vesper Road in Royalton, and became wedged underneath. The highway was shut down for about six
hours while a towing company worked to get the big rig out. One Amtrak train was delayed while the
tracks were inspected for damage.
The truck and trailer had extensive roof damage, but the driver was not
hurt.
Both houses of the state
Legislature are weighing in with analyses of Governor Cuomo's latest budget
proposal. Not surprisingly, the
Senate's report is more critical of the 142-billion dollar plan, saying Cuomo's
proposal would "fund new spending rather than provide further broad based
taxpayer relief to stimulate job growth." The Democratic-controlled Assembly's report is more
supportive of the Cuomo plan.
Governor Cuomo is
expecting his approval numbers to dip a bit. Cuomo says he won't be surprised to see his job approval-rating
tumble after pushing through his controversial gun policy package. The governor feels some of the
opposition to his new gun policies are likely to ultimately go away.
The New York State
Teacher's Retirement System is taking a wait-and-see approach regarding
Governor Cuomo's pension proposal.
The 88-billion dollar teacher's pension fund is increasing costs about
40 percent during the next school year on employers. If schools take part in Cuomo's plan, the increases would be
limited in the near future, but would be higher in later years when costs are
currently predicted to go down.
New York's Senate
Republicans are slamming Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposal to expand abortion
rights. Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos says the proposal is just wrong.
Skelos calls Cuomo's proposal an extreme measure from the radical left. Under a
power-sharing deal, Skelos could block the measure from a vote.
New York State health
officials are proposing a new requirement that would force hospitals to set new
protocols to screen and treat sepsis. The rules include calling for antibiotics
within an hour of diagnosis. They also propose requiring hospitals to clearly
communicate test results to parents before children with sepsis are discharged.
Federal agriculture officials
say New York's strawberry crop took a hit last year, but blueberry production
was up. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says strawberry production dropped
to 3.2 million pounds, down 11% from 2011. Many farms reported shortened
seasons because of a snap of cold weather that generally hit early crops around
the state.
In Montpelier lawmakers
are working to tighten the laws about equal pay for equal work. Advocates for new legislation include
attorney general Bill Sorrell. Sorrell
says state contractors must allow inspection to ensure that there is no
discrimination against women who work the same jobs as men. And the new bill would give all employees
the right to ask for flexible workplace arrangements to balance their family
life “the legislation makes very
clear that there may be no retaliation against any employee who makes such an
inquiry. The bill also calls for
the study of paid family leave funded by employee payroll deductions. Two
states already have those systems in place.
In the wake of the Sandy
Hook tragedy, New York was the first state to sign tough new gun laws. Yesterday, leaders toured the Lake
Placid area to explain the changes.
Assault weapons, high capacity magazines - they were all banned in New
York just a month after the tragedy, and because the new laws passed so
quickly, many people have questions. By April 15th of 2014, all assault weapons
must be registered with the New York State Police, for the first time you're
caught with an unregistered weapon, it'll be a warning, but consequences will
come with the second.
