Vermont sues over soot standards with 10 other states

From the Associated Press:

NEW YORK — Vermont and 10 other states filed a lawsuit Friday designed to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to issue new regulations on soot pollution.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan comes after the federal agency failed to meet a statutory October deadline to revise soot standards. Soot is produced by diesel vehicles and power plants and has been linked to chronic respiratory disease, impaired lung function, heart disease and asthma.

“Although EPA has taken steps to address air pollution in recent years, Vermont cannot overlook its failure to adopt more protective standards for fine particulate matter or soot,” Vermont Attorney General Willaim Sorrell said in a prepared statement.

Shum has a ball with the Patriots

From the Vermont Press Bureau Monday column, Cap Beat:

With Super Bowl Sunday fast approaching last week, the governor betrayed his game-day allegiance. Apologies to devotees of the New York Football Giants, but Peter Shumlin is firmly in the Patriots camp.
Apparently, he’s more than just a passing fan. Peter Shumlin was in Gillette Stadium when the Pats put a beating on the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game.
Shumlin got to enjoy the action from the lap of a luxury box, thanks to his corporate friends at NRG. Executives from the New Jersey-based energy conglomerate — which owns power plants running on everything from sun to natural gas to nuclear — invited him to join them for the show.
An Associated Press photo of Shumlin moved across on the wires on game day. In it, he’s seen standing behind Patriots owner Robert Kraft and musician Jon Bon Jovi. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.

Nitka's Notes from the Statehouse

From Ralph Pace and Black River Today, we have Nitka's Notes from The Statehouse, written by state senator Alice Nitka:

Education is always a topic that has House and Senate members expressing divergent views while all want the best for the children of our state. The same is true of the general public and this week I heard from those on both sides of the aisle with regard to school choice. On the radar this week was Senate bill 201, An Act Relating to Expanding Public School Choice for Elementary and High School Students. Many of our smaller towns in VT have school choice when they don’t have their own schools and aren’t members of a union. There is also limited public high school choice, up to ten students via agreements between high schools. The money from the state doesn’t follow the student and stays with the sending school. The Senate Ed Committee took testimony on S-201 and heard from residents from Kirby to Barnard to Berkshire to Chester. Principal Craig Hutt Vater of the Mount Holly School also testified and the information he presented was valued by the committee.

Read the full post at Black River Today>>>

Vt college to offer aviation degree

 WILLISTON The Vermont Technical College will offer a four-year bachelor of science program in aviation.
The college has received approval for the program, professional pilot technology, from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. Applications for the fall semester are being accepted.
The college says retirements in the aviation industry are expected to surge during the next decade and the demand for pilots, engineers, technicians and information specialists is expected to be high.
Graduates of the Vermont program will be eligible for direct access to jobs and internships at airports and Federal Aviation Administration facilities.

State Police decals doctored

State Police have planned to remove about 30 decals from the doors of police cruisers after a member of the force brought a slight modification to the design to the attention of officials.

The cow on the door decal has had the splotch modified into the shape of a pig. The decals are produced the Vermont Correctional Industries Print Shop, a section of the State of Vermont Department of Corrections

“While some may find humor in the decal modifications,” said Major Bill Sheets in a statement, “the joke unfortunately comes at the expense of the tax payers.”

 The police press release continued:

"Officials from the Department of Corrections Print Shop are working diligently to correct the emblem and print new decals for the Vermont State Police. The source and timing of the modifications are still being reviewed by the Department of Corrections. Any remaining decals have been destroyed."

Update: Suspicious object in car was a gas mask, not land mine

PITTSFORD - A suspected landmine found inside a used car at a dealership in town turned out to be a harmless gas mask component that only happened to closely resemble an anti-personnel mine, according to state police.
State and local police were called to Brandon Auto South on Route 7 at about 9:45 a.m. Monday when an employee at the used car dealership found a green disc-shaped device covered with words printed in a foreign language under the front seat of a car that the shop's owner recently purchased at auction.
Pittsford police along with the state police bomb squad and agents from the FBI and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called to the scene where further research and an x-ray of the device revealed its true nature.
Traffic on Route 7, which passes about 50 feet from the garage, proceeded uninterrupted during the roughly four hours that police were on the scene.

Police charge kids with vandalism of Barstow school

CHITTENDEN — State Police responded to an alarm activation at the Barstow Memorial School late on Saturday night, and found lights on in the building along with a vehicle parked at the rear of the school. After finding no one inside the school, one of the troopers spotted two boys walking out of the woods behind the school.The two boys - whose names are being withheld because they are both 16 years old - admitted to taking fire extinguishers from the school busses and peeing in the seats, according to police. The extinguishers were recovered from their car. The boys also admitted to going into the school through an unlocked door and walking around. They were taken into custody and charged with unlawful trespass, vandalism to a motor vehicle and larceny from a motor vehicle.   

Waitsfield woman jailed for domestic disturbance

WAITSFIELD – A Waitsfield woman is being held on $1,000 bail following a domestic disturbance at her North Road home on Friday night.
State Police responded to the home at approximately 11:31 after a 911 hang up call came from the residence. Upon arrival Troopers found that Susan Hans, 35, had allegedly assaulted another resident.
Hans was taken into custody and transported to the Middlesex State Police Barracks before being lodged at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington.
Hans is expected to be arraigned on a domestic assault charge on Monday.

The Rundown from the Vermont Press Bureau

Our Vermont Press Bureau - Pete Hirschfeld, Jenna Pizzi and Thatcher Moats - have been producing a video rundown of important topics/subjects in Vermont politics and government. Here's installment 4, which talks about a few of the stories you'll see from VPB over the weekend.

 

The Rundown - Week 4 from 802 Live on Vimeo.

Community hears options for future of East Montpelier school

EAST MONTPELIER -- At an informational community meeting at the East Montpelier Elementary School on Wednesday night architects presented three different options that met the requirements that the school board laid out a few months ago.

The plans, presented by David Epstein, an architect with Truex Cullins, a firm hired to work on the building, range from an estimated $9 million to $11 million.

Read the rest of this story here.