WVTK Local & State News April 22, 2014

The Addison Central Supervisory Union board and the three unions representing district teachers have signed off on a new, three-year deal. The contract calls for annual average raises of around 3.6-percent and by the third year of the deal, teachers will be paying 15-percent of their health care premiums. The contract covers approximately 200 employees, including teachers, nurses, guidance counselors, and other professional staff. The new pact goes into effect starting July 1st.

A Vermont House committee appears comfortable with Senate changes to a bill to require labeling of genetically engineered foods. The biggest Senate change would set up a $1.5 million fund to help provide legal defense for a GMO labeling law in the event of an expected lawsuit or suits by industry. Gov. Peter Shumlin has said he's likely to sign the bill, which would implement labeling by July 2016 and likely make Vermont the first state to have such a law.

New York State Police have arrest a Moriah man for sending pornographic photos of himself to a young girl. As a result of an investigation, authorities arrested 26-year-old James Pickering. They say the young girl was 15-years-old. Pickering was arrested and charged with Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors, a felony, and Endangering the Welfare of the Child, a misdemeanor.

Police say they found 146 bags of heroin and 20 grams of crack cocaine in a South Burlington hotel yesterday. The renter of the room, a man from Philadelphia, left the scene before the drugs were found. Police arrested another man in the hotel room, 22-year-old Ronald Harris, also of Philadelphia. Police say Harris initially gave a fake name. He was arrested and charged with heroin trafficking, giving false information to an officer and possession of cocaine.

The state of Vermont is planning informational sessions at a South Burlington hotel to help workers laid off from the state's IBM plant. Two sessions are planned for Thursday at the Doubletree hotel on Williston Road in South Burlington. The U.S. Department of Labor has determined that some of the workers laid-off by IBM and some of the company's contract workers are eligible to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance. The program helps workers who have lost their jobs because of foreign trade.