April 8, 2004 – News at a glance

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Interview: Brown v. Board of Education
Michael Lomax, president of the United Negro College Fund, will speak on Friday at the University of Vermont commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education. Mitch Wertlieb talks with Lomax about the historic decision that led to desegregated schools. (VPR)

Greenhouse gas reduction
The Douglas administration has unveiled a plan to reduce greenhouse gases caused by state government by 25 percent over the next eight years. (VPR)

House approves agriculture bills
The Vermont House gave preliminary approval to key farm legislation on Wednesday. The bills deal with genetically engineered seeds, the right to farm law, and regulations protecting streams and lakes from farm runoff. (VPR)

State outsourcing policy
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Peter Clavelle is calling for a ban on all contracts that would outsource any state jobs overseas. Governor Jim Douglas says he won’t support that blanket approach. (VPR)

Burlington Diocese lawsuit
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington said this week that it has reached a settlement in the last of several lawsuits filed in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct by Vermont priests. (VPR)

Dubie plans trip to Cuba
Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie will visit Cuba next week. Dubie will be traveling with his chief of staff, Martha Hanson, and Essex High School principal Armando Vilaseca – who grew up in Cuba. (VPR)

Windsor town administrator
The Windsor select board is offering the job of town administrator to an official from Manhattan, Kansas. The move comes eight months after the board fired its previous administrator. (AP)

State revenues
A mini-windfall in March is making Vermont officials optimistic that the state may end this fiscal year with a surplus. A tally of taxes paid to the state last month came in $8.7 million above what analysts had projected. (AP)

House passes Yankee resolution
The Vermont House wants the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to conduct an independent engineering evaluation of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. Supporters say the request would send a unified message to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Senate passed a similar resolution last month. (AP)

Hydroelectric dams
The Douglas administration hopes to sign an agreement in the next few weeks that could lead to the state’s purchase of a series hydroelectric dams. Administration Secretary Michael Smith says the state’s goal is at 25 percent ownership of the dams on the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers. (AP)

Freed to retire from House
House Speaker Walter Freed, the first Republican in 16 years to hold the top post in the House, says he will not seek re-election. Freed, 53, declined to discuss his decision but said he would do so on Thursday. (AP)

McClure dies at 84
One of Vermont’s greatest philanthropists and the former owner and publisher of the Burlington Free Press has died. J. Warren McClure died on Wednesday. He was 84. McClure and his wife, Lois, gave huge sums to dozens of organizations in Vermont. (AP)

Kimmick arraignment
A Bethel man facing charges he murdered his ex-wife is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday. Thirty-five-year-old William Kimmick was returned to Vermont on Wednesday by the U.S. Marshals Service. (AP)

Provost sentenced
A Fairfax man convicted of shooting four people to in July 2001 is going to prison for the rest of his life. Douglas Provost was sentenced yesterday to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. (AP)

Ecstasy drug ring
Norwich University hockey player is facing up to 20 years in prison on charges he supplied area drug dealers with the drug ecstasy. Twenty-four-year-old Robert Jaggard was arrested after police found 34 grams of ecstasy and 34 grams of marijuana at his home. (AP)

Heroin ring
A Morrisville man has been sentenced to over nine years in prison for his role in a heroin distribution ring. Forty-eight-year-old Jerry Romero was one of several people arrested over two years ago for distribution of heroin in Lamoille County between December 2001 and October 2002. (AP)

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