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Romney camp decries Vermont absent voting preparations
MONTPELIER (AP) -- The presidential campaign of Republican Mitt Romney’s is complaining some Vermont military personnel serving overseas might not be able to get their absentee ballots in time to vote.
In a letter sent Tuesday to Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos, Romney’s veterans’ affairs adviser Anthony Principi says delays by Condos’ office caused 53 towns to miss the 45-day deadline needed to ensure veterans receive their absentee ballots and can return them by election day.
Condos says the recount in a primary race delayed the printing of the November ballots, but town clerks were sent electronic copies of the ballots prior to Saturday’s deadline and the vast majority of veterans should have been able to receive them on time.
Condos, a Democrat, calls the issue "a show" by the Romney campaign.
Norman Rockwell models to reunite in Vermont town
ARLINGTON (AP) -- People who modeled for artist Norman Rockwell decades ago in the Vermont town of Arlington are getting together for a reunion this weekend.
More than 200 people were used as models in the Arlington area where Rockwell lived from 1939 to 1953.
More than a dozen of them are meeting Saturday at the Norman Rockwell Exhibition in Arlington to catch up and share stories about Rockwell, whose paintings and illustrations graced
Mary Hall said she modeled for Rockwell as a child four times, first as a victim being saved by a boy scout from a flood, then as "Little Lord Fauntleroy."
She said Rockwell was a humble man who made the models feel relaxed.
Canaan creates community forest
CANAAN (AP) -- The Vermont town of Canaan has taken ownership of 424 acres to create a community forest.
Town officials say the property will be used for a variety of economic, educational, recreational and conservation purposes. For example, it will generate income through sustainable timber harvests and provide an outdoor classroom for local schools.
The land was owned by the Tillotson family for generations. The town acquired the land with a conservation easement on 368 acres to ensure that the majority of the land will be left undeveloped. The remaining 56 acres has no easement and can be used by the town for other economic development.
The town is holding a celebration for the community forest on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Canaan Recreation Park.
Vermont, Maine senators ask federal dairy price review
MONTPELIER (AP) -- Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is joining colleagues from Maine and Minnesota in calling for a review of minimum federal dairy price supports, given sharply increasing expenses on the farm.
Sanders joined Sens. Olympia Snow and Susan Collins of Maine, as well as Al Franken of Minnesota in asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to review its floor price for raw milk.
The senators point to rising production costs on the farm, including sharply higher prices for the corn that goes into animal feed. Corn reserves are at a 15 -year low, which is attributed to drought conditions in many areas.
The letter questions whether farmers can stay in business under such conditions.
Vt. man accused of baseball bat beating
POWNAL (AP) -- Police in Pownal have arrested a man accused of beating another man with a baseball bat.
Police have accused 32-year-old Joshua Camp of breaking into a woman’s home early Tuesday and hitting her boyfriend multiple times with the metal bat.
Police say he then vandalized the man’s truck and fled.
Police later arrested Camp. The Bennington man is being held without bail to face aggravated assault and other charges.
The condition of the 34-year-old victim wasn’t immediately known.
U.S. says defense contractor to pay $1.1m in fraud
BURLINGTON (AP) -- Federal prosecutors say a New Mexico-based defense contractor with offices in Vermont is going to pay $1.1 million to settle billing fraud charges.
The prosecutors say Applied Research Associates improperly billed the federal government for work performed by its employees that was unrelated to the government Nemesis Project designing a system to detect land mines.
Prosecutors say the company did not admit any wrongdoing and the allegations don’t affect the quality of the firm’s work. The issue was settled to avoid litigation.
The issue was brought to federal officials’ attention by a company engineer, Brent Boerger, who filed a lawsuit last year under the false claims act. Court documents say Boerger worked at the company’s Williston office. He is due to collect $220,000 as part of the whistleblower law.
Judge dismisses lawsuit
over telecom funds
BURLINGTON (AP) -- A Vermont judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by city residents against Burlington that sought repayment of mismanaged telecom funds.
Plaintiffs Fred Osier and Eugene Shaver had accused the city and then-Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold of fraud, deceit and breach of duty. The lawsuit sought the return to taxpayers of $17 million borrowed from general city accounts by Burlington Telecom between 2007 and 2010.
Judge Geoffrey Crawford granted the city’s request to throw out the case while he acknowledged the loans violated state regulatory constraints.
Crawford wrote in his order that taking $17 million out of BT would repay the taxpayers, but it would undoubtedly also eviscerate BT, resulting in negative consequences for the city and its taxpayers.
