IBM Rumors
Governor Howard Dean says IBM has not made a final decision concerning layoffs at its Essex Junction facility. And Dean says he believes IBM will stay in Vermont. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Reservoir Vandalism
The director of Vermont’s Emergency Management System, Ed Von Turkovich, explains the state’s response to a broken lock at the Lyndon reservoir, which has raised fears about local terrorism. (Listen to the interview online.) (VPR)
Diocese Complies with Inquiry
The Catholic Diocese of Burlington says they’ll no longer wait before turning over information to authorities. Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell also said the information the church gave his office earlier this week could result in criminal proceedings involving Vermont priests. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Equinox Partnership with VINS
The Equinox Resort in Manchester has teamed up with a Woodstock-based organization to develop environmental education programs in the Mount Equinox area. The partnership between the resort and the Vermont Institute of Natural Science was announced Thursday. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Star Wars
Vermonters are joining filmgoers across the country this year as they flock to movies about superheroes and fantasy worlds. Fans packed theaters for the Lord of the Rings, and Spiderman. Now they’re coming out “in force” for one of this year’s most anticipated movies. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
GMP Chairman Retires
There’s a changing of the guard at Vermont’s second largest electric utility. Former Governor Thomas Salmon has stepped down as chairman of the board of Green Mountain Power. (VPR)
Act 60 Reform Compromise
A potential breakthrough has been found on the Act 60 education funding law. Members of a Senate team negotiating compromises on the law have proposed eliminating the sharing pool that’s at the heart of Act 60. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Human Trafficking
An Indian national is in federal court in Burlington today on charges that he tried to smuggle six people from south Asian across the border from Canada. If convicted, he could face ten years in prison. (AP)
Parker Transcripts
New Hampshire authorities are releasing 167 pages of transcripts of interviews between police and James Parker. Parker was convicted in the murders of two Dartmouth professors last year. (AP)
FDA Border Inspection
The FDA is opening new inspection posts for food and drug imports along the New England border with Canada. One of them will be at the Highgate crossing in Vermont. (AP)
Fletcher Allen Psychiatry
The psychiatric unit at Fletcher Allen Health Care will stay on the hospital’s main campus in Burlington. FAHC lost a regulatory decision last week affecting the proposed move, and has now withdrawn its application for the transfer. (AP)