Investigators Disclose Motive in Dartmouth Murders
On Tuesday, officials disclosed an apparent motive for last year’s brutal murders of Dartmouth College professors Half and Susanne Zantop. Prosecutors say that the two Vermont teenagers tried to enter other homes in Vermont and New Hampshire. Officials allege the teenagers wanted to steal bank cards and then kill the homeowners. (VPR)
Dartmouth Murder Indictments
New indictments charge that Vermont teens James Parker and Robert Tulloch tried four times to assault people in their homes before killing the two Dartmouth professors in Hanover. Experts say that harms the insanity defense being mounted by Tulloch. Vershire residents learned from the new indictments that one of them may have been an early target of Tulloch and Parker. (AP)
Reapportionment Passes in House
The Vermont House has given its approval to a Republican-backed reapportionment plan. The process has taken on more of an edge this session because this year is the first time the Legislature has considered a reapportionment plan with the Republicans in control of the House and the Democrats in the majority in the Senate. (VPR)
Income Tax Changes
The head of the House Ways and Means committee says he would like to see his panel vote out a new state income tax plan by the end of the week. (VPR)
Olympics Interview
Beth Schmidt reports from the Winter Olympics on the deeds of local-interest athletes, including members of the men’s and women’s hockey teams, and skeleton competitor Jim Shea of Lake Placid, NY. (VPR)
Dean in NH
Governor Howard Dean is in New Hampshire, where he’s already been at least once in search of the Democratic nomination for President. (AP)
Dairy Inspectors
Dairy farmers say the retirement of milk inspectors in Massachusetts could cause chaos in the New England dairy industry. State and federal laws require inspectors to assure the quality of raw milk on its way to processing plants. (AP)
Woodstock Jail
The future of the Woodstock Jail is an issue holding up passage of the budget adjustment bill in the Vermont Senate. The jail is being closed for budgetary reasons, but some lawmakers want it to stay open. (AP)
Judicial Retention
Environmental Court Judge Merideth Wright defended her record yesterday in a hearing before the Legislative Judicial Retention Committee.
UVM Season Tickets
The University of Vermont has shelved the idea of awarding ice hockey season tickets to financial donors. Present ticket holders complained that no one should be given preferential treatment for the sought-after season tickets. There’s a years-long waiting list for those tickets. (AP)