Mobile homes demolition to begin

BERLIN — Top state officials are going to mark the beginning of the demolition process at a Vermont mobile home park heavily damaged by flooding from Tropical Storm Irene.
Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and Secretary of Commerce and Community Development Lawrence Miller will be at Weston’s Mobile Home park in Berlin on Monday to give an update on efforts to find new homes for Vermonters who lost their mobile homes in the flooding.
Contractors will begin dismantling the first group of homes at the park that are considered a total loss after the flood.
Officials will also give a briefing on asbestos testing and remediation actions to protect work crews, residents and the environment from asbestos that may be in the building materials.

-- The Associated Press

School closed today

Staff writer Jenna Pizzi reported that Twinfield Union School is closed today due to "unforeseen circumstances."

Pizzi is chasing down a rumor as to why the school is closed and we'll update here as soon as she confirms the details.

200 protestors brave snow at Yankee

VERNON – Close to 200 anti-nuclear activists Sunday braved overnight record snow in southern Vermont to push for the scheduled shutdown of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.
“We had people from St. Johnsbury, Burlington and Montpelier. The people who had the hardest time getting here were from Massachusetts,” said Leslie Sullivan-Sachs of Brattleboro, one of the organizers for SAGE (Safe and Green Energy) Alliance, a consortium of eight anti-nuclear groups.
There were no arrests, and the group stayed on the public sidewalks in front of the plant.

Vt. collects nearly $6M in fines

MONTPELIER — The U.S. attorney’s office in Vermont says nearly $6 million in criminal and civil fines were collected last year.
Almost $4 million came from civil judgments. Most of those were from health care fraud cases.
Another $830,000 was collected from criminal fines, special assessments and restitutions.
Assets forfeited to the federal government totaled nearly $1.5 million.

-- The Associated Press

Southern Vt. gets brunt of storm

BURLINGTON — Parts of southern Vermont got more than a foot of snow from the surprise October storm.
Brattleboro reported 16 inches and Woodford near Bennington recorded 14 inches from Sunday’s storm.
About 10 to 16 inches fell in Windham County, including 13 in Wilmington, which was devastated by Tropical Storm Irene in August.
Central Vermont Public Service reports about 7,500 customers were without power at about midnight Saturday night, primarily in Windham County.

-- The Associated Press

Police: Hunter shoots fellow hunter

ALBANY — Vermont State Police say a hunter shooting at a bear apparently missed and struck a fellow hunter, injuring him in the abdomen.
Police say 58-year-old Wayne Goff of Wolcott is being treated for his injuries at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
Police got a 911 call from Albany about 1:50 p.m. Sunday. Detectives learned a group of hunters were bear hunting in the area, using dogs to push the bear through the woods.
Police said Conrad Masse of Albany fired two shots at a bear. One wounded the animal and the bear took off. The second shot apparently missed and struck Goff, who was about 100 yards away.
Police are investigating.

-- The Associated Press

Vermont culinary students compete

MONTPELIER — The competition will get cooking next month when culinary students from around Vermont compete in the fourth annual Vermont Culinary Classic Competition.
Students from 11 schools will have 90 minutes to create a menu consisting of white bean vegetable and fresh herb soup, seared chicken breast, rice pilaf, green beans, cranberry beurre blanc and seasonal crepes.
The students will be judged by New England Culinary Institute chefs on safety, sanitation, production, efficiency, use of equipment and personal hygiene and grooming.
The event takes place Nov. 18 at the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier.
Some of the schools participating are the Center for Technology in Essex; Green Mountain Technology and Career Center in Hyde Park; Patricia A. Hannaford Career Center in Middlebury; and North Country Career Center in Newport.

-- The Associated Press

Vt. to update Irene damage estimates

MONTPELIER — Vermont officials are expected to update damage estimates from Tropical Storm Irene.
Gov. Peter Shumlin and administration officials will hold a media briefing today.
Some estimates say Vermont suffered $1 billion in damage from Irene flooding, that tore about roads, bridges and homes.

-- The Associated Press

Teachers strike continues in southwest Vt.

BENNINGTON — The union representing striking teachers in southwest Vermont says it plans to meet with the school boards again to try to end the strike.
The union says a meeting has been planned for Monday to consider teachers’ latest offer.
The two sides did not meet Friday, after negotiating throughout the week.
School in the Southwest Supervisory Union has been canceled during the strike, which enters its ninth day today.

-- The Associated Press

What are you dressing up as?

What are you wearing tonight, if anything?

Me? I'm dressing up, as I always do, as an ugly, old, fat, bald guy. I may, or may not, wear a hat.

I hope your costume is better.

Comment here with your costume plans.