With another day of above-90-degree temperatures, New
Englanders are being asked to conserve power, especially in the afternoon and
evening. More and more people are
keeping their fans and air conditioners on, and electric companies are saying
if customers conserve power now, heat-related brown-outs later will not be
necessary. Green Mountain Power is
making the request, along with I-S-O-New England, the power grid operator for
the region. Both say it’s a way to keep
supply and demand in balance, with the heat wave not expected to break until
the weekend.
Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin is urging IBM
to make public the number of employees it laid off last month at its Vermont
facilities. And the governor says if he
and his lawyer conclude the Vermont Public Records Act requires it, his
administration will release the number whether IBM
wants to or not. IBM
doesn't make layoff numbers public. It reported them to the state, but is
telling Vermont officials the
number is commercially sensitive and exempt from disclosure under the law. Labor Commissioner Annie Noonan is asking IBM
to explain its position on the law by noon
tomorrow.
The Vermont
attorney general’s office is warning about scam lottery letter being mailed to
Vermonters. The letter from Trans Financial
Company- Lottery & Resource Management typically says the recipient has won
$250,000 in a sweepstakes. The letter
says the company is working with New Bedford Symphony Orchestra Entertainment
and lists a number of businesses with addresses in the U.S.
and South Africa .
Vermont State Police are searching for an unidentified man
who robbed a convenience store on Route 103 last night. Police say at 9:30
p.m. a man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and gray T-shirt
entered the Mac's Convenience Store in East Wallingford
and demanded money from the register.
Investigators say the clerk complied and the robber fled the store with
an undisclosed amount of money. No
customers were in the store at the time of the robbery. Anyone with information about the incident is
asked to call state police.
A Hinesburg teen arrested for making meth at his parents'
home has accepted a plea agreement.
Police say Jacob Berino was injured when his makeshift meth lab exploded
last October. He was later arrested on federal drug charges. According to court documents, Berino has
agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to manufacture
narcotics. He remains jailed while
awaiting sentencing.
Amtrak's Ethan Allen line is now letting people bring their
bikes on board. Café cars are being
fitted for bikes to let passengers bring their own wheels when they head north
to take advantage of the biking trails.
It's a limited time offer, and Amtrak will use this time to gauge demand
for this program on other lines. Bicycles
on Board is also available on lines from Boston
to Portland and New
York to Charlotte .
