The trial date is now in place for a young man accused of
killing a 78-year-old woman nearly three years ago. Jury selection begins June 17th in the case
of 22-year-old Michael Norrie. Police
say he's confessed to killing Pat O'Hagan of Sheffield
in September, 2010. A prison
psychologist says Norrie is competent to stand trial, despite being diagnosed
with mild mental retardation, post-traumatic stress disorder and other
problems.
As jittery as New Englanders are, a few days after the
Boston Marathon bomb blasts, imagine the nerves rattled Wednesday by the sight
of the Vermont State Police Bomb Squad in full gear at a gravel pit in
Hinesburg. It turned out to all be
training, with the bomb squad and tactical meeting at the gravel pit off of
Route 116 for a training exercise planned well before the blasts ever
happened. The units train separately
each month, but twice a year they get together to practice joint responses,
like this one.
There's broad support for a new hike in Vermont
tobacco taxes, according to a new poll taken earlier this morning. The Mellman Group surveyed 500 Vermont
voters picked at random, and 75-percent are in favor of a buck-25 increase in
state cigarette taxes. That support is
there so long as the money raised is used for anti-smoking programs and to help
Vermonters pay for health coverage. The
poll was commissioned by a coalition of health groups, a separate group called
the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Vermont.
The Senate Finance Committee will vote on a tax bill next week, and
Governor Shumlin has already voiced opposition to any tobacco tax hike this
year.
The New York/Vermont 5K Champlain Bridge Run was supposed to
be a one-time affair last year to celebrate the opening of the new span between
the two states. But the race was such a
hit that it will be returning this year.
The second annual The New York/Vermont 5K Champlain Bridge Run will take
place on Saturday, May 18, at 10 AM . For more information you can go online at www.lachute.us. The 3.1-mile race is being sponsored by the
Crown Point Chamber of Commerce and the Ticonderoga-based LaChute Road Runners
Club.
A public hearing is being held at the Vermont State House to
discuss the Earned Paid Sick Days Bill.
According the bill, anyone working in the state of Vermont
would be eligible for paid leave. Employees would earn one hour of paid leave
for every 30 hours worked, up to seven sick days per year. The bill also allows an employee to take care
of a sick loved one and obtain diagnostic, routine, preventative or therapeutic
health care. The hearing is scheduled to
run from 6 to 8 this evening in Room 11 at the state house.
The Vermont Department of Health has created a new public
information campaign on child immunization called It's Okay to Ask. A press release says the campaign, which is
focused on the web, will provide resources for parents to make informed
decisions about immunization. The Health
Department says the website offers research-based medical information, video
discussions and an interactive timeline tracing the history of vaccines back to
the 1700s.
