Barre DRB reverses course in 'BabyGate;' more early Vermont news..
Welcome to our early morning Web report, which is presented from 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., Monday through Friday.
Our hosts are two newsroom staffers -- Darren Marcy and Cristina Kumka.
Your host today is Darren. And this is his final morning update. Please check our afternoon report for additional news.
Welcome to Vermont Today!
BARRE – Some would argue it was a month overdue, but the city's development review board finally delivered the conditional use permit a local midwife had requested to run an office out of her Colby Street home.
Thursday night's decision, which required a complete change of heart by a board that just last month unanimously denied the very same application, came at the tail-end of a surreal hearing attended by several moms, moms-to-be, and more than a few infants and toddlers.
Barre midwife Katherine Bramhall also enlisted the assistance of a couple of dads whose babies she's delivered – one a lawyer, the other a traffic expert – and was joined at the hearing by most of the residents of a tiny street that board members last month deemed too dangerous to grant her request to see six patients a week at her home.
On a night when only five of the board's nine members were in attendance, Chairman Ulysse “Pete” Fournier noted at the outset of the hearing that every last one of them would need to vote in favor of Bramhall's application – something none of them did last month – or it would again be denied. Fournier's observation represented yet another interesting wrinkle in a permit process that was, by all accounts, unique.
But, for one member's failure to disclose that she'd discussed the application with one of the residents who opposed it prior to last month's hearing, Bramhall would have been forced to file the legal appeal she promised upon learning the board denied her request last month.
That decision was made despite Zoning Administrator Eric Sturm's written recommendation the application be approved because it satisfied all of the conditional use criteria the board was entitled to review.
Big doins tonight in Rutland as the second to last Friday Night Live hits Center Street from 6 to 10 p.m.
Highlights tonight include:
- The Voodoo Alien Blues Band at 7:30 p.m.
- Wonderfeet, The Kid's Museum focuses on "Trashformers" 6-8 p.m.
Plus, the usual array of food, shopping and fun.
Remember, this is the next-to-last event this season, so come ready to party!
NORTH CLARENDON — Spring Hill Horse Rescue is starting a fundraiser in flapper style to help 19 horses receiving rehabilitation.
At 6 p.m. Friday, the nonprofit group is hosting a Gatsby/Flapper Gala at the Summit Lodge in Killington. Tickets are $45 per person or $40 per ticket for two or more, and all proceeds will benefit the rescue.
The rescue's mission is to rescue, rehabilitate and find homes for abused, neglected and unwanted horses and other farm animals.
The event includes a buffet dinner, raffle, silent auction and more.
All proceeds are going to the operation to care for the horses. It costs about $100 a day per horse to get the animals back to proper health, according to Tara Williams, the gala's organizer and rescue representative.
The money will go toward paying for food, vaccinations and other care.
The rescue is nearly full, according to Williams, and because of the state of the economy many horse owners are still unable to care for their animals properly.
In those cases, rescue workers advocate for better homes for people in their areas.
For tickets or more information on the event, call Tara Williams at 282-3387 or emailtarawilliams410@yahoo.com.
Cuts to health care programs will cause premiums to rise
MONTPELIER – Cuts to government health care programs will quicken the rise in private insurance premiums, according to one analyst's review of new health care data.
Operating budgets for the state's 14 hospitals are expected to rise by nearly 5 percent next year.
But doctors who treat patients enrolled in state-subsidized insurance programs will in some cases see a year-over-year reduction in reimbursement rates.
Jeanne Keller, a health care analyst who does contract work for a network of small businesses, says that as hospital costs rise and government reimbursement rates fall, the private insurance market will be forced to make up the difference.
The so-called “cost shift,” she said, will send premiums rising even faster than they otherwise would.
For more on this story, see Saturday's Rutland Herald and Barre Montpelier Times Argus as well as the papers' websites
Viking Nordic Center in Londonderry is no longer in danger of foreclosure, owner Peter Foley announced Friday.
Foley said the cross-country ski area reached agreement with its lender and is no longer threatened with foreclosure.
A foreclosure auction had been scheduled for August 5.
“We'll be open for skiing as usual this winter,” Foley said in a statement. “Last winter was our best winter season in the 11 years that I've owned the center and this summer our guest house bookings are running more than double what we typically see. This problem didn't happen because of the way the center has been operating.”
Foley blamed the near-foreclosure on a change the center's mortgage terms.
Viking Nordic Center features a cross country ski shop, rentals, lessons, cafe, warming hut, ski group clubhouse, night skiing, and a 10 person guest house. The center opened in 1970 making it one of North America's oldest commercial cross-country ski centers.
How cool is this Jupiter thing.
I don't often get all riled up about space stuff. I mean, I saw Star Wars and I got excited when the Space Shuttle made its first trips into orbit, but for the most part, I'm one of those people President Obama talked about when he said NASA needed to capture the imagination of people.
Well this trip to Jupiter is pretty neat. The problem is, like the Mars Rover, it takes so long from launch until it arrives, people forget it was even going.
This Jupiter mission is set for launch today beginning at 11:34 a.m. It won't arrive until July 4, 2016.
I'm not waiting up.
It's been 16 years since we went to Jupiter. By we, I mean Galileo. I was busy that weekend.
The spacecraft will be powered by solar energy from three large solar panels. It's the farthest any solar-powered craft has ever traveled. Yet American auto manufacturers are selling electric cars that are limited to a short commute. We need to put NASA in charge of developing new cars.
The best part of this trip will be the answers scientists may find to important questions like: how did the solar system form, what gasses make up Jupiter and its atmosphere and why isn't cheese more affordable in the United States.
So, when Juno lifts off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, it will be a mission that is not only important, but might just help scientists find the answers that could lead to further discoveries.
Or maybe, they just find that the reason Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system is because it's full of cheese.
For the real story on the trip to Jupiter, please see the story on the websites.
Enjoy the launch.
KILLINGTON — A Killington woman appeared in criminal court Wednesday after she allegedly tried to run her ex-boyfriend off the road.
Kristin Leggett, 21, of Killington pleaded innocent in criminal court in Rutland to a charge of aggravated domestic assault.
According to court records, Leggett was arrested in Bridgewater Corners on Tuesday after police officers responded to a motor vehicle crash on Route 4 on the Killington Flats in Killington.
In a affidavit, State Police Trooper Michael Tietz said he responded to the scene where one vehicle was overturned and the other had left the scene.
Health Dept. says West Nile virus found in Brandon
BURLINGTON — The Vermont Health Department says West Nile virus has been found in mosquitoes in Brandon.
The mosquitoes were taken from a trap on July 18.
West Nile is a mosquito-borne virus that is typically spread through the bite of an infected mosquito. It is known to infect people and horses.
The last case of West Nile in a human in Vermont was in 2003. The last infected horse was found in 2005.
Symptoms of West Nile can include high fever, muscle aches, headache and fatigue. Most cases are mild, but about 1 percent of people who are infected develop severe illness affecting the central nervous system. It can be fatal.
Youth camp offers chance to learn teamwork, responsibility
BENNINGTON — The New Experiences camp, which took place recently in Bennington and beyond, helped more than 30 area young people learn about teamwork, responsibility and the role of emergency responders in the community, according to Bennington Police Chief Paul Doucette.
“I could not be more pleased with the way the camp turned out. We came together as a department for the third year, working with the Vermont Army National Guard and the Bennington County Sheriff's Department. This was the biggest and I think the best camp we've run,” Doucette said.
While the camp, which took place in the third week of July, couldn't accommodate all of the kids — who were between the ages of 11 and 13 — that attempted to sign up, about 75 percent of the applicants were chosen for a camp that involved activities like safety education, demonstrations of high-speed pursuit and tire deflation, whitewater rafting and training with handguns.
Doucette said parents were called to make sure they knew what kinds of activities would be involved and whether their kids were mature enough. The coed group included kids from Bennington, Arlington, Pownal, Shaftsbury and nearby New York.
Campers met at the National Guard armory in Bennington every morning and started with calisthenics and physical training.
The full story will appear in a future edition of the paper and online.
The Vermont State Police released the following news related to ongoing burglaries at Killington Ski Resort:
"Over the past several weeks, Killington Ski Resort reported burglaries occurring to some of their maintenance buildings and storage facilities throughout the mountain property. A large amount of copper had been removed from the buildings and stolen from the properties. A lengthy investigation revealed two suspects had been turning in large amounts of scrap copper in the Rutland County area. A search warrant was sought and executed on the suspect's residence on River Street in Rutland City. Evidence used in the burglaries was discovered and seized. Both suspects were charged for a series of burglaries at the resort. They both were lodged at MVCC and will be arraigned on 8/5/11 at 1230 hrs."
POUTLNEY — Green Mountain College in Poutlney received a top 10 ranking in the Princeton Review's “Best 376 Colleges.”
Classes are small at GMC and discussions are lively which is why the college ranked sixth in the nation in the category of “class discussions encouraged.”
The evaluation appears as part of the Princeton Review's “Best 376 Colleges” 2012 edition released earlier this week.
Only about 15 percent of the country's 2,5000 four-year colleges are profiled in the book. Three colleges outside of the United States are also profiled.
It includes detailed profiles of the colleges with rating scores for all schools in eight categories, plus lists top 20 schools in 62 categories based on surveys of students attending the colleges.
Green Mountain College was also rated among the most environmentally responsible schools in the country by the Princeton Review and was named the greenest school in the nation by Sierra magazine.
HARTFORD — Hartford is celebrating 250 years and the town will be throwing a party with dozens of activities for everyone.
Events kick off Saturday with a 5K Fun Run and Walk at the RSD Transportation building at 602 River Road. Walkers and strollers are welcome and the event is free to the public. The fun run and walk begins at 9:30 a.m. Volunteers should arrive by 7 a.m.
Watson Park on Maple Street will be hosting field games and a townwide picnic. There will be relay games, team games, face painting, and contests. Drinks and watermelon will be provided and ice cream will be available for purchase. Events at Watson Park begin at 11 a.m. and are free to all ages.
A book sale and history talk will be held at the Hartford Library from 9 a.m. to noon and the Garipay House will feature historic displays, reenactments, a souvenir sale, and more from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Greater Hartford United Church of Christ will also be hosting a quilt display and concert with the Bel Canto Summer Singers from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Watson Park, Hartford Library, Garipay House, and the Greater Hartford United Church of Christ are all located on Maple Street. For more information, call the Hartford Parks and Recreation Department at 295-5036.
Korean company to build biotech plant, 200 jobs expected
NEWPORT — Vt. Gov. Peter Shumlin and U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy are going to announce a plan by a South Korean biotechnology company to build a facility in Newport that will eventually employ about 200 people.
The announcement is planned for Friday in Newport.
The project is being put together by Jay Peak ski area president Bill Stenger who is partnering with South Korean company AnC Bio to build a $50 million plant that will be called AnC Bio Vermont.
HINESBURG — A 27-year-old Bristol, man is being held without bail on charges stemming from a dispute that began over the sale of heroin.
Dean Heffernan pleaded not guilty Thursday to a charge of attempted first degree murder arising from a drive-by shooting in Hinesburg on Tuesday.
Court documents say 34-year-old Shawn Holbrook went to buy heroin from Heffernan and his wife Katherine Heffernan at their home.
Police say Holbrook bought four bags for $25 each, but only paid $75. The Heffernans accused Holbrook of shorting them $50. Dean Heffernan claimed Holbrook punched his wife in the face and stole the heroin.
State police say they found two bullet holes in the upper portion of the driver's door of Holbrook's car.
MORRISTOWN — A 27-year-old Vermont man is facing charges he broke into a Morrisville apartment and beat two people he found sleeping.
Morristown Police say Casey English was arrested a short time after the early Thursday morning incident at the Colonial Manor apartments.
The victims were transported to Copley Hospital in Morristown where they were treated for head injuries. One of the victims was later transported to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington.
Casey was ordered held without bail on charges including aggravated assault.
2 more lawsuits filed against Vt. police dept.
SOUTH BURLINGTON — A former Vermont police officer, the South Burlington police department and others are facing two new lawsuits over the actions of the former police corporal.
One of the people who filed the new lawsuits spent more than a year in jail after being arrested by former police Cp. Jack O'Connor.
The charges against Kareem Campbell, who was arrested by O'Connor in March 2010 on drug charges, have since been dismissed.
The second suit stems from an incident in January. One of three men claims O'Connor improperly detained them in an incident that included a gas station bathroom strip search.
Last month a woman filed a separate lawsuit against O'Connor and others.
O'Connor's attorney did not return a call seeking comment.
Sports writer Tom Haley loves his job. He seems like he's always happy and in a good mood. He occassionally (translated as just about every day) he gets real excited about something. It's not unusual for his stories to get a little out of hand as he gets more and more excited in the telling. Many years ago, his beloved New York Giants won a big game and he "allegedly" ripped his shirt off and ran around the newsroom in his excitement. It's the kind of passion that is infective.
One of his most famous quotes -- of the many he's uttered -- came when asked about how much he likes his job.
"Every day is like Christmas," Haley answered.
If that is true, then today must be Christmas Eve.
Tomorrow, Haley will unwrap the 58th annual Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl, one of Haley's favorite days of the year, along with the other 364.
So, when Haley wandered into the newsroom earlier this morning on his way to New Hampshire, I grabbed him and sat him down at my computer instructing him to give me what he could in his limited time about the game.
Here's what he filed:
Saturday is the day. It's here. The 58th edition of the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl is at hand and the big question is: Is the end of Vermont's long losing streak also at hand.
The Vermonters have not won this game since 2000 and a victory would be bigger for the Shrine Bowl itself than for Vermont.
The game could use a win by the Green Mountain State to keep interest alive. More than you know. New Hampshire is starting an East-West Game that will make its debut in June of 2012 at the University of New Hampshire's Cowell Stadium.
That does not mean the end of the Maple Sugar Bowl by any means, but its appearance on the grid landscape, along with a lengthy Vermont drought, will at least raise concerns about the health of a game that has been around since 1954.
Does Vermont have a chance? Rice Memorial's Christian McCormick is the triggerman on a spread offense that Vermont coach Jim Provost and his staff are pinning their hopes on.
The last time Vermont won was with a spread offense with MSJ's Mike Keenan rifling a Shrine Bowl record six TD passes in a 47-40 shootout victory.
But that was more than a decade ago.
Can it happen again?
Most don't think so. But for the health of a game with a grand tradition, here's hoping....
Merry Christmas Tom, and enjoy the game.
Pair facing charges in copper thefts from Vt ski area
KILLINGTON — Vermont State Police say two men are facing charges they stole a large amount of copper from buildings at the Killington ski resort.
Twenty-seven-year-old Charles Keefe and 25-year-old Lance Smith, both of Rutland, were arrested after an investigation found they had been selling scrap copper in the Rutland area.
A search of a Rutland apartment found evidence of the burglaries.
Both Keefe and Smith were jailed. They're due in court today.
Red Sox lose, Yankees win, huge series begins tonight
The Boston Red Sox dropped a 7-3 decision to Cleveland on Thursday night while the New York Yankees beat Chicago to put the teams in a tie atop the American League East heading into this weekend's series.
Boston, 8-1 against New York this season, has been in first place since July 7.
The series gets under way tonight in Boston.
Here's how last night's games went from the Associated Press:
Justin Masterson struck out nine in six innings against his old team, leading the Indians to a 7-3 win over the Red Sox that stopped Cleveland's two-game losing streak
The win also kept the Indians from falling below .500 for the first time since the third game of the season.
Carlos Santana, who struck out four times Wednesday night, snapped a 3-3 tie with a two-run homer in the sixth inning and drove in three runs with three hits, while Travis Hafner and Kosuke Fukodome also collected three hits.
Masterson (9-7), traded by Boston to Cleveland in the Victor Martinez deal in 2009, raised his Fenway record to 10-2. He is 15-33 everywhere else. He is also 3-0 against the Red Sox.
“He's good ... we see his best,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “I am sure that he enjoys pitching against us. He's impressive.”
Masterson tied a major league record with four strikeouts in the second inning, thanks to a wild pitch on a third strike. He is the sixth Indians pitcher — the first since Chuck Finley in 2000 — to fan four in an inning.
He gave up two first-inning runs and a solo homer to Josh Reddick in the fourth. Three relievers finished up, with Chris Perez working the ninth in a non-save situation.
Erik Bedard, making his Red Sox debut after being acquired from Seattle, gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings. In his second start since coming off the disabled list, he was on a pitch count and came out after 70 with the score tied 3-all.
Hafner greeted reliever Franklin Morales (0-1) with a long double and, on the next pitch, Santana, already 2 for 2 with an RBI, hit his 16th homer to dead center field. It was only his second home run of the season right-handed.
Hafner's RBI double off Andrew Miller in the seventh and Fukudome's RBI double closed the scoring in the ninth.
The Red Sox took a 2-0 lead in the first on an RBI double by Adrian Gonzalez and run-scoring single by David Ortiz. Gonzalez extended his season-best hitting streak to 14 games with his major league-leading 91st RBI.
The Indians tied the game on Matt LaPorta's infield hit (Bedard failed to cover first) and an RBI grounder by Austin Kearns in the second, and Santana's RBI single made it 3-2 in the third. Reddick tied the game again with his fifth homer of the year.
Ivan Nova did his part. Now the onus is on New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi.
Nova struck out a career-high 10 and the Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox 7-2 on Thursday night, completing a four-game sweep and winning their seventh in a row overall.
“That might be as good as we've seen him all year,” Girardi said. “This start and Cincinnati. He was excellent tonight. His slider, again, made a huge difference for him.”
Nova (10-4) pitched 7 2-3 innings and won his sixth consecutive decision. He held Chicago to one run and six hits and didn't walk a batter. His approach was simple.
“Be aggressive, try to get ahead of the hitter,” Nova said. “Slider today was unbelievable. Command was there. Everything was working good.”
The Yankees are using a six-man starting staff on their current turn through the rotation and it's been assumed that the rookie Nova would be the odd man out, especially after Phil Hughes threw six shutout innings on Tuesday.
“I don't know,” Girardi said. “We'll continue to talk about it. We've got a good problem. We've got a lot of people throwing the ball well and I'd like to keep it that way.”
Girardi already announced that Hughes would start for New York on Tuesday against the Angels. In light of Nova's performance, he's not sure what's next.
“I don't have an answer for that yet,” Girardi said. “We don't have to rush and make a decision what we're going to do. Eventually we'll have to.”
I think the weather guessers switch things up just so we won't catch on that they actually all just copy the same forecast off the Internet every day.
I can see the weather guys now ...
"Hey Bob, throw some rain in there so we don't look like everybody else."
"You got it, Tim, how about a little afternoon wind activity too."
Well whatever kind of magic they're pulling out of their hats, they're telling us that today is going to be nice.
Well, at least one place is promising us a nice day, others are throwing that afternoon chance for showers in.
Here's the scoop.
Today will be sunny with a high in the low- to mid-80s. Let's call it 83 1/2 degrees today. That's the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium. Weather.com, the Weather Channel's site is also tossing in a 30 percent chance of scattered showers.
Weather Underground (www.wunderground.com) has that at 10 percent and much later -- think tonight.
I'm calling for a 0.5 percent chance of an ice storm. If that comes in I'm a genius and if it doesn't happen, hey, I said it was only a half a percentage point chance.
Seriously, enjoy this beautiful day on tap. It looks like it's going to be great weather for Friday Night Live tonight in Rutland and all the other events around the state.
Where will you be enjoying your perfect weather day? Let me know at:darren.marcy@rutlandherald.com
Boy do we have a treat waiting for you.
Sportswriter Tom Haley is getting ready to cover the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl tomorrow and, like a kid on Christmas Eve, can hardly wait. We'll have a short update on the game from Tom coming soon.
NEWPORT — Police have arrested an armed Vermont man who they say threatened to kill his mother and assaulted his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend.
Officers responded at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday to a report that Dwayne Calloway, Jr. had used a machete to threaten his mother, Bernadette Dewing, and was wrecking her house.
Calloway had left by the time police arrive, but he returned after officers left, assaulted his mother, pulled out a knife and threatened to kill her.
Calloway attempted to fire a handgun, but it was unloaded.
Police searched for Calloway on Thursday, saying they considered him armed and dangerous. They found him at a friend's residence where he was arrested without incident.
ESSEX — Vermont authorities have expanded their search for an Essex couple missing since early June.
Police are now looking in a 20-mile radius of the couple's home after they discovered 40 unaccounted for mile on the couple's car.
Bill and Lorraine Currier were last seen on June 8.
The Burlington Free Press reports that on Thursday, teams of officers from various police departments searched areas up to 100 yards off of roads but did not find anything new.
The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant reported releases of a radioactive substance into the environment several times in the years immediately after the plant's current owner bought it in 2002, an Associated Press review of Nuclear Regulatory Commission records has found.
That raises questions about statements by Entergy Corp. this week that strontium-90 found in a fish sample taken from the adjacent Connecticut River did not come from the Vernon reactor.
The state Health Department says the levels found in the fish are consistent with background levels caused by nuclear bomb testing decades ago and the Chernobyl accident in 1986, and that there's no way to trace the radioactivity found in smallmouth bass caught in the river to Vermont Yankee.
But in at least one of the quarters in each year from 2002 to 2005, Vermont Yankee told the NRC in its annual report on radioactive leaks that it had released some strontium-90, a radioactive substance linked to cancer and leukemia.
Vermont Yankee spokesman Larry Smith said Thursday that the samples from fish caught in June 2010 and announced this week by the state were taken 9 miles north of Vermont Yankee, while fish taken from the river nearer the plant did not show strontium-90.
There is much more to this story, which we'll bring to you a little later. Watch for it under This Just In.
Good morning and thanks for checking in. Friday is finally here. Never thought it would make it, did you? Well, it's here and more importantly that means the weekend is upon us. There's a lot going on.
Today, in addition to blanketing you with Web news, we're going to spend a significant bit of time letting you know what's coming up so you can take full advantage of your weekend.
But, I always say, if you don't tell us about it, we won't know about it. So send in your events. Tell us where you're going this weekend. What do you have planned? Share with us and we'll share with the readers. We don't want anybody to miss out on a great event. Email your event information to me atdarre.marcy@rutlandherald.com. Be sure to include all the important details, but also, tell us why your event is the one that is deserving of someone's time. Why is it so great? Put on your marketing hat and convince us it's worth attending.
As usual, Red Sox and weather coming at the top of the hour. Here's a hint, bad news from Boston, good news in the sky.
Now, let's get some news flowing across your screen.
BURLINGTON — A Vermont judge has granted final approval to a settlement that would require dairy processor Dean Foods Co. to pay more than 9,000 Northeast farmers and their attorneys $30 million to settle antitrust allegations.
The settlement stems from a class-action lawsuit that accused Dallas-based Dean Foods; the cooperate Dairy Farmers of America; and the cooperative's marketing arm, Dairy Marketing Services, of working together to monopolize the market for raw milk in the Northeast, driving down prices paid to dairy farmers.
Dean does not admit any wrongdoing. DFA and DMS have opposed the settlement.
U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss ruled on Thursday that the settlement was “fair, reasonable and adequate.”
The Burlington Free Press reports she also reduced plaintiffs' expenses and attorneys' fees from $10 million requested to $6 million.
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