Health care reform meets opposition in Wells debate

In case you missed the Sunday paper, reporter Brent Curtis went out to cover a health care forum in Wells featuring Steve Kimbell, the BISHCA commissioner for the state of Vermont, and Wendy Wilton, Rutland City Treasurer. He filed this report:

WELLS — There was universal opposition from residents who spoke Saturday at a forum to consider the pros and cons of a single-payer health care system in Vermont.

Close to 100 people packed the cafeteria at Wells Village School on Saturday morning, where a panel of speakers including two doctors, Rutland City’s treasurer and the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration weighed in on the state’s ongoing efforts to create a universal health care system — including proposed legislation to set up a new health insurance marketplace, known under the federal law that authorizes it as an “exchange.”

While BISCHA Commissioner Stephen Kimbell, whose agency is tasked with helping to create the exchange and implementing a single-payer system once it’s designed, talked about the potential benefits of the health care reform initiatives, the other speakers and the roughly dozen members of the public who spoke all opposed the plan.

Read the full story on the Rutland Herald web site >>>

Furniture building sold in Bennington

BENNINGTON – The former Haynes & Kane Furniture store on Harwood Hill has a new owner who also owns stores in nearby New York that sell furniture.
The building was sold for $85,000 on Wednesday to LaFlamme’s Inc. of Cambridge, N.Y.
On Friday, Chris LaFlamme, the store’s new owner, said he wasn’t ready to discuss his plans for the store yet but said he and his wife Angela were very excited to be in Bennington because it’s her hometown. LaFlamme, who is from neighboring Hoosick Falls, N.Y., joked that because Angela, whose maiden name is Coyne, was from Bennington that’s where he spent most of his time.
“The community means something to us,” he said.
LaFlamme’s Inc., has two existing stores, in Cambridge and Granville, and will be hosting the grand opening of their third location, in Whitehall, very soon.
LaFlamme said his focus on the grand opening in Whitehall was one of two reasons he wasn’t ready to discuss plans for Bennington yet. The other reason was that the purchase was still very recent.
The LaFlamme’s stores in New York sell furniture, appliances and electronics.
Haynes & Kane was a longtime fixture in Bennington but closed in 2006 after more than 80 years in business.

In August, an attempt was made to auction off the building but it failed to sell despite its location in Bennington’s main commercial district. The building is at the intersection of Harwood Hill and Northside Drive, the site of large commercial stores like Walmart, Home Depot and Hannaford’s Supermarket.
Built in 1948, the building’s property’s most recent value, according to town records, is $435,900.

Vermont college fundraising holding steady despite economy

Vermont’s colleges and universities are seeing their fundraising figures go up or hold steady despite lingering economic worries.
The Burlington Free Press reported that Middlebury College took in just under $42 million during fiscal year, the most of any school in state. The University of Vermont raised $29 million, a school record and a figure that represents four consecutive years of growth.
Norwich University’s $6.7 million was down slightly from the previous year, but the school is still coming down from its most successful fundraising campaign ever, an effort that raised $82 million by the time it ended in 2009.

AG Sorrell appeals Vermont Yankee decision

In a press release issued this morning, Attorney General William Sorrell has announced he will appeal the decision of a federal district court to disallow two Vermont laws that would give the state a say over the relicensing of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. From the release:

Attorney General William H. Sorrell has filed an appeal of the federal district court’s recent decision in favor of Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee.  The district court, in its January 19 ruling, invalidated two Vermont statutes that gave the Legislature a say on the ability of Vermont Yankee to continue operations when its current state license expires on March 21, 2012.  Attorney General Sorrell announced today that the State has appealed all aspects of the judgment entered by the district court. 

Download Yankee.appeal

 

Gov. Peter Shumlin issued the following statement in response to the news:

“As I said when the court opinion was issued, I do not agree with Judge Murtha’s decision.  We as a state have had many important and legitimate concerns with Entergy Louisiana and its operation of Vermont Yankee that are not reflected in the opinion.  I support the Attorney General’s work in getting a positive result on appeal.  Meanwhile, my administration will be focusing on the state’s continuing authority over Vermont Yankee.”

 

Victim at Mad River identified as Fayston man

The man found dead at Mad River Glen yesterday morning has been identified by State Police as Andrew Stewart, age 51 of Fayston.  

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has concluded the autopsy performed on Stewart and ruled the cause of death to be positional asphyxia and the manner of death is accidental.  Toxicology results are pending.

There were no signs of forced entry in either the ski school building or the maintenance/paint shop in which Stewart was found.

Stewart was a long time employee of Mad River Glen as a ski school instructor. 

Jamey Wimble, Mad River Glen General Manager, said in a statement: “I’m terribly saddened by this, and I know that feeling is shared by the rest of our staff.  He was a member of our team for more than ten years, and was a good friend and colleague for all of us.  We’ll miss him, and our thoughts are with his family."

Middlebury and Vermont Law School team up

MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury College announced Wednesday they have entered into an agreement with Vermont Law School that will guarantee qualified Middlebury students and graduates admission into the law school.
The agreement — which is expected to benefit both Vermont institutions — will include full scholarships for one or two students from Middlebury and five other schools.
Kathy Hartman, VLS’s associate dean for enrollment management, said in a statement the agreement is a good recruiting tools for the undergraduate schools and keeps the law school on the radar for pre-law advisors and faculty.
The agreement will also apply to students who have completed graduate degrees from one of Middlebruy’s programs or school including Monterey Institute of International Studies, Middlebury Language Schools and Bread Loaf School of English.
Nan Jenks-Jay, Middlebury’s dean of environmental affairs, called the agreement a “natural fit” considering the institutions’ involvement in sustainability issues and environmental law.
Vermont Law School has signed similar agreements with 11 undergraduate schools, including Burlington College, Champlain College, Green Mountain College, and Woodbury College. The agreements are intended to improve coordination between VLS and undergraduate schools whose students are interested in pursuing a law degree. Under the agreement students are guaranteed admission if their GPA and LSAT credentials are equal to or stronger than the median for VLS’s entering class.

Shumlin on Yankee: PSB needs to start over

WESTMINSTER — Gov. Peter Shumlin said Monday he believes the Public Service Board should start over on the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant’s request for a new certificate of public good.

Shumlin said too much has happened at Vermont Yankee since testimony was closed by the board in 2009 in the attempt by the plant’s owner, Entergy, to get its certificate of public good renewed for 20 years. Since then, the plant was found to be leaking tritium in 2010 and Entergy executives made misstatements to the board about the existence of underground pipes carrying radioactivity.

“Too much has happened,” Shumlin said. “We need to start from the beginning.”

Read the full story by Susan Smallheer in the Rutland Herald >>>

More robins wintering in Vermont

BURLINGTON  — Some robins have always wintered in Vermont — but they’re doing so in greater numbers than normal this season.
Mark LaBarr, the conservation program manager at the Green Mountain Audubon Center in Huntington, says the Christmas bird count within a 15-mile radius of Burlington was a record high 2,191. The count’s been held for 64 years.
LaBarr tells the Burlington Free Press (http://bfpne.ws/z7vNXa) a lack of snow cover and a good crop of berries on some wild trees and bushes are contributing to the higher number of robins. He says robins are more likely to stay in Vermont or stop on their way south from Canada if they encounter a lack of snow and a good food source.

Man due in court for theft of Frost papers

HARTFORD — A 42-year-old Vermont man is due in court to answer charges he stole original papers and cards written by the poet Robert Frost and received more than $20,000 for them.
Hartford police say Timothy Bernaby, of Hartland, was arrested Friday on a charge of grand larceny.
Police say that after Bernaby stole the papers he sold them for goods and cash.
Bernaby is being held on $5,000 bail at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield. He’s due in court today in White River Junction.

Business Mini-Expo at Big Picture

WAITSFIELD — The second annual Business Mini-Expo will be held Wednesday, Feb. 15, at the Big Picture Theater.

The Expo opens at 3 p.m. with featured nonprofits in the lobby to welcome you. In the Red Theater, 24 businesses will have display booths meant to educate community members and other business owners about their particular products/services. Local foods will also be prepared and served.

Event is free and open to the public and will continue from 3 through 7 p.m.