Army recruits college students
With war on the horizon, Uncle Sam is looking for a few good men and women – especially those with technical training or a college degree. The military has targeted college students in its recruitment drives. But recruiters say it’s not related to the military build-up for a possible war against Iraq.
Rutland mentoring program
How can communities help their kids succeed? One of the best ways, according to experts, is to make sure young people have at least one trusted adult they can turn to. Because mentoring works, and because the costs are relatively low, communities across the state are looking at ways to expand. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Court upholds privacy ruling
The Vermont Supreme Court has ruled that a police officer can’t ask a driver to get out of a vehicle unless there’s reason to believe a crime has been committed. The decision is seen as a victory by civil liberties advocates. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Education funding reform
The Vermont Senate is scheduled to start debating its short-term and long-term plans for education funding reform Tuesday. Lawmakers want voters who will be deciding school budgets at town meeting elections next week to know that their representatives are working on the issue. And they want voters to know property tax relief is in store for the budget that starts July 1. (AP)
Elderly abuse
A measure that toughens penalties for caregivers who abuse their adult charges is due to come up in the Vermont House this week. The bill was approved last week by the Senate. It increases the penalties for physical abuse, neglect, or sexual abuse of elderly or mentally disabled persons. (AP)
Hyde Park cell tower
The H.A. Manosh Corporation has ended its six-year fight to build a 160-foot telecommunications tower in Hyde Park. The company has withdrawn its appeal of a Vermont Environmental Board decision against the tower, saying “the project has become too expensive to pursue further at this time.” (AP)
Court reviews modular home
A dispute about whether a house in Rutland is a mobile home or a manufactured home soon will be before the Vermont Supreme Court. Both sides in the case are making their final arguments before the court takes up the case. Residents of a Rutland neighborhood where mobile homes are prohibited say a home owned by Francis and Debra Clogston violated deed restrictions. The Clogstons’ home was manufactured in a factory and assembled on their lot. (AP)
Spam
Several Vermont lawmakers are looking for ways to ban “spam” e-mails. Those are the unsolicited e-mails that advertise everything from business services to sexual products. Legislators say they’ve put controls on unsolicited telemarketing so they ought to be able to do the same with electronic communication. (AP)
Ludlow zoning
Officials at Okemo Mountain Resort are proposing zoning amendments in Ludlow that would allow construction of condominiums at its Jackson Gore development. Town zoning requires a minimum amount of land per dwelling unit but there has been disagreement about whether that’s supposed to be 20,000 square feet or 40,000 square-feet. (AP)
Youth wrestling programs
Participation in high school wrestling in Vermont is at an all-time low. Vermont’s two dozen teams are preparing to convene next weekend in Essex for the annual state championship. But the entrance numbers are low. Only the perennial champion, Mount Anthony Union High School of Middlebury, has filled the 14 weight classes that make up a regulation team. (AP)
Skiing death
The father of a teenager who died in a skiing accident at Mount Snow last week says his son was on skis for the first time when he ran into a tree. Sixteen-year-old Patrick Monaghan of Medford, New Jersey, died February 17 after he was taken by helicopter to the hospital in Albany, New York. The Albany County Coroner says the boy wasn’t wearing a helmet. (AP)