June 2, 2004 – News at a glance

Print More

Interview: Canadian national elections
Canadians are bracing for what could be one of the most contentious national elections in recent history. on Tuesday, Prime Minister Paul Martin called for federal elections to be held on June 28. Although the Liberal Party has been in power for four consecutive terms, recent government scandals have some political observers predicting that the Conservative Party could come up winners this time. Mitch Wertlieb talks with Phil Authier, national news editor of the Montreal Gazette. (VPR)

New transportation projects
The Conservation Law Foundation is calling on the Douglas administration to impose a moratorium on all new highway construction in Vermont until the state’s existing transportation infrastructure has been repaired. (VPR)

VELCO transmission project
The Vermont Electric Power Company has won a round in its attempt to build new power lines in western Vermont. VELCO, which operates the state’s electric transmission grid, is also negotiating with some of the towns along the route over the aesthetic impacts of the project. (VPR)

Federal transportation funding
Senator Jim Jeffords is urging the White House to support the U.S. Senate’s plan to increase funding for state highway and bridge projects. Jeffords says more than $200 million in additional funding for the state of Vermont is at stake in this debate. (VPR)

Contract awarded for repaving I-89
A New Hampshire firm has been chosen to repave parts of Interstate 89 between Montpelier and Bolton. An official at the Vermont Agency of Transportation says the work was put out to bid as two separate projects and that Pike Industries of Belmont, New Hampshire, emerged as the low bidder for both. (AP)

Missing women investigation
Investigators in Vermont will meet with their counterparts in New Hampshire to compare notes on the third disappearance of a woman in the region since February. Lamoille County Sheriff Roger Marcoux says the only common thread to the three cases is that the vehicles of the missing women were all found abandoned. (AP)

Quarry carving class
Students at the West Rutland High School are finishing up an art class at the town’s old marble quarry. For the last 17 years, a carving studio has been based at the old quarry. (AP)

Vermont Yankee safety
Vermont Senate leaders are disappointed by a response they’ve received from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Senate President Pro Tempore Peter Welch says a letter from the federal agency did nothing to address safety concerns the Senate raised in the legislative session. (AP)

Heating fuel tax
Vermont lawmakers have created a new half-cent tax on home heating fuel. The levy is expected to add $650,000 to the state’s coffers, and cost homeowners who heat with oil or kerosene about $5 a year. Lawmakers say the revenue is needed to reimburse the state’s Petroleum Cleanup Fund, which the Legislature raided two years ago to balance its books. (AP)

Sheehan’s funeral held today
A funeral will be held Wednesday for a Vermont soldier who died in a mortar attack in Iraq. Sergeant Kevin Sheehan will be laid to rest in a Milton cemetery. Sheehan was a twelve-year veteran of the Vermont National Guard and had volunteered for service in Iraq. (AP)

VEDA loan
Vermont’s economic development lending agency has approved a loan for a Canadian company that will help it develop a manufacturing facility in Swanton. Stedfast USA’s Swanton plant will make protective clothing for firefighters and first responders and could initially bring up to 15 jobs. (AP)

Municipal smoking bans
Williston and Winooski are considering a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants. Some Winooski bar owners fear that a ban will drive away customers. They also say an exemption for nearby private clubs will hurt business. (AP)

Belated graduation
A 93-year-old great-grandmother will get her eighth-grade diploma this Friday from the East Barnet school. Marion Newman was a good student who was supposed to graduate in 1924 from the two-room schoolhouse in East Barnet. But in the summer between the eighth and ninth grades at Newman’s school, the school board did away with the ninth grade. (AP)

Sampson pleads guilty to third murder
Gary Sampson, the man facing execution after he admitted to killing two men in Massachusetts, has pleaded guilty to a third death in New Hampshire. Sampson pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Robert Whitney in Meredith in July 2001. Sampson was captured in Vermont. (AP)

Comments are closed.