WVTK Local & State News July 29, 2014

The state Public Service Board has ordered Vermont Gas Systems to stop digging for its pipeline near power lines owned by the Vermont Electric Cooperative because of nearby pesticide concerns. The cooperative’s poles have been treated with a chemical that the EPA has found to be toxic. Last week, Vermont Gas said in a letter to the board “it would be prudent” for the company to develop a soil management plan for the project. In response, the board required the company to stop digging until a plan has been reviewed and approved by the board.

Police in Rutland have cited two parents for cruelty to a child. Sunday there was a toddler wandering the streets wearing just a diaper and a baseball cap. Worried neighbors say they had no choice but to call the authorities. Rutland Police say the father admitted to drinking alcohol and losing track of his son. By the time the boy was found, he had made it nearly a half mile from home. Now, by court order, the child is in DCF custody.

A crash last night in Bridport sent multiple people to the hospital. Troopers say one of the cars crossed the center line and smashed into the car coming the other way. Vermont State Police say one person had multiple broken bones. Three others were treated as a precaution. Police say they don't think alcohol was a factor in the crash.

The clock runs out Saturday night on a contract between nearly 18-hundred IBEW workers at FairPoint in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Contract negotiations between the union and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers pick up again on today. The Communications Workers of America are also about to lose their contract, and members of both unions have voted overwhelmingly to strike. The union has a scheduled candlelight vigil in down Burlington Saturday night at 10 pm.

Governor Peter Shumlin says he wants to help with the immigration crisis on the border but he doesn't think the Green Mountain State has the space. Shumlin told the Department of Health and Human Services in a letter that Vermont doesn't have the kind of facilities they’re looking for to handle a large influx of people, up to 1,000 children. However Shumlin did say there are some options to house 75 to 100 children. He also says they have offered to help Massachusetts after Governor Deval Patrick proposed two military bases there as solutions.