WVTK Local & State News April 8, 2014

Vermont officials announced earlier today the date that Green Up Day Vermont will be happening this year. According to a press release, the 44th annual Green Up Day will be held on Saturday, May 3. Officials are asking Vermonters to join them and help them pick up trash to clean up the state. For more information on how to participate in Green Up Day on Saturday, May 3, please visit GreenUpVermont.org.

A man accused of shooting his neighbor and two State Police officers is now being held without bail until his next court date. 47-year-old Timothy Foley refused to go to court yesterday for his arraignment on charges of aggravated attempted murder and second-degree attempted murder. He’s accused of walking into his neighbor’s house and shooting Mahlon McCoy, who is already paralyzed from a stroke. McCoy is recovering from the shooting, as are the two State Police officers hit with shotgun pellets when they first arrived on the scene.

Authorities are currently investigating the death of a 15-month old boy. Emergency services were called to the home on Malletts Bay Avenue in Winooski on a report of a baby who had stopped breathing. Detectives with the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations say the boy was taken to Fletcher Allen Health Care where he was soon pronounced dead. Police say the autopsy at this point is listing the toddler’s death as “pending” and no other information, including names, is being released.

Vermont does better than the national average when it comes to a wage gap between men and women. In Vermont, women are paid an average of 85 cents for every dollar paid to men, creating a yearly gap of more than 67-hundred dollars a year. This analysis of the latest census bureau data was compiled by the liberal National Partnership For Women & Families. It also found that nationally, women holding full-time jobs are paid on the average just 77 cents for every dollar paid men. More than 24-thousand Vermont families are headed by women, with about 27-percent of those having incomes below the poverty line.

Vermont spring turkey hunting season is starting soon. A press release says the spring turkey hunting season will run from May 1 to May 31. Hunters can shoot one half hour before sunrise to noon. Two bearded turkeys may be taken during the hunting season. The Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife says the entire state is open to turkey hunting during youth turkey hunting weekend on April 26-27. A shotgun or bow and arrow may be used in the youth turkey or regular spring turkey hunting seasons. Shot size must be no larger than #2 and no smaller than #8.