Archive - Oct 17, 2011 - Page
VERMONT — At a joint meeting of the Vermont Senate and House Transportation Committees on Transportation in Montpelier last Wednesday, one thing was clear: The state’s coffers stand to take a major hit following Tropical Storm Irene.
MIDDLEBURY — Porter Hospital officials weren’t sure how state regulators would react to their proposed fiscal year 2012 operating budget of $65.9 million. It’s a spending plan that requires less than a 2-percent increase in net revenues but necessitates a 10.3-percent rise in the rates the hospital needs to charge for procedures.
MIDDLEBURY — Addison County Superior Court is being asked to resolve a property assessment grievance filed by the owners of one of the most valuable properties in Middlebury. Town officials said as much as a penny on the local tax rate could be riding on the outcome of the case.
RUTLAND — Former elementary school teacher Will Parini, 29, of Starksboro pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography last Thursday at the U.S. District Court in Rutland.
An FBI investigation, which stemmed from an investigation in Texas, led to Parini’s arrest in March. He was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography. At the time he was a music teacher at Bristol Elementary School and Robinson Elementary School in Starksboro.
BRISTOL — A blaze of as-yet unknown origin destroyed an A-frame house at 239 Birch Ledge in Bristol — just off of Route 116 — during the evening of Wednesday, Oct 12. Bristol Fire Department officials confirmed that no one was injured in the blaze and surrounding homes remained untouched, though the structure belonging to John and Tonya Willard was labeled a complete loss.
According to Bristol Lister Claire Scribner, the house had been vacant for some time.
VERGENNES — Vergennes City Manager Mel Hawley is talking with two existing Vergennes businesses that may be interested in a loan from a $79,000 city fund to help them expand, Hawley told Vergennes aldermen at their Oct. 11 meeting.
Hawley said in a Thursday interview he could not yet identify the firms, but said “both businesses are growing businesses.”
VERGENNES — Although Vergennes Police Chief George Merkel said earlier this month he hoped to be able to complete by late last week a report on the death of a Vergennes resident during a Sept. 28 armed robbery, he confirmed on Thursday that the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office will not complete its part of the work until mid-November.
While the town might lose some property tax revenue from the Lodge, it will be gaining some from the former Addison County Courthouse at 5 Court Square. That’s because the property will, for the first time ever in its lengthy history, be subject to property taxes this year.
The old brick courthouse was built in 1883 on land originally owned by one of Middlebury’s founders, Gamaliel Painter. The old courthouse became the property of Middlebury College once the structure was replaced by the current Frank Mahady Courthouse, built nearby in 1995 and 1996.
