By Senator Alice Nitka, Windsor County, February 26,  2010

Vermont Yankee/Entergy was in the news for most of the week. On Feb. 24th  a vote was taken on Senate bill 289 which addressed the relicensing of the Vernon nuclear plant.  The result was twenty-six opposed to granting a license extension beyond 2012 to four in favor of granting the twenty year extension. The full membership of the Senate was present and the four in favor of relicensing were two Democrats and two Republicans. Many citizens from around the state were present at the State House despite the heavy snowfall and difficult driving. Early in the morning several persons who would later in the day be in the building were seen cross country skiing behind the State House and others built snowmen and other sculptures on the front lawn. 

Another bill generating interest was S-288, An Act Relating to the VT Recovery and Reinvestment Act, sometimes referred to as the “Jobs Bill” which passed the Senate with a unanimous vote. Some of the proposed investments and goals are Rural Broadband Investment, $8,750,000 for 2009 -10 with a goal of providing service to at least 10,000;  VT Economic Development Authority/ VT Jobs Fund, $2,000,000 over 2 years with a goal of subsidizing interest on commercial loans;  VT Employment Training Program, $2,900,000 for 2 years with a goal of promoting a highly skilled workforce with state subsidized training;  Aviation Training Technical Training Center, $1,150,000 for 2 years with a goal of providing funds for continued planning and design of the center;  Neighbor to Neighbor Program, $573,360 for 2 years with a goal of continuing this program which helps disabled and elderly persons to live independently as well as many other initiatives in the bill.  S-288  now goes to the House for their consideration.   

The “Challenges for Change” bill, S-286 has passed both the House and Senate. It addresses state government and the gap between available revenues and projected expenditures. It challenges policy makers, service providers and school administrators to design better methods for delivering services while spending less money and still achieving the outcomes specified in the bill. For example, the Dept. of Corrections is asked to reduce the number of persons coming into the prison system, decrease the recidivism rate, improve community safety and reduce the budget by $10 million the first year and by another $10 million the second year. A very tall order, however several routes are being reviewed such as reducing the number of detainees in prison who can’t “make bail” or don’t have any bail set. These are persons who have not been convicted of a crime but are charged. There are 395 male inmates in this status of the total male population in prison of 2,115.  It is interesting to note that the crime rate is down and has been going down over the last few years but the incarceration rate is up.  Incidentally, of the 2,115 men, 678 are serving time at prisons in West Tennessee and Kentucky. A prison bus runs back and forth to these states from VT every two weeks.  

View daily committee schedules and all the bills at www.leg.state.vt.us   Please feel free to contact me at home, 228-8432; at the State House, 1-800-322-5616; at anitka@leg.state.vt.us  or at PO Box 136, Ludlow, VT 05149.

by Chris Graff

By Senator Alice Nitka, Windsor County, February 12,  2010

One of many bills being studied in the Senate Judiciary Committee is S-153. This bill proposes to 1. Require law enforcement agencies to make a video or audio recording of custodial interrogations of criminal suspects; 2. Require biological evidence secured in connection with a criminal case to be retained by the government for the period of time that the person is incarcerated, on probation or parole, or subject to registration as sex offender and 3. Create a forensic lab oversight commission. The biological evidence piece is likely to be modified to only pertain to the thirteen listed crimes some of which are kidnapping, murder, manslaughter, sexual assault and robbery with a dangerous weapon.

In 2009, approximately 40% of felony cases that went to trial in VT resulted in convictions and only 36% of misdemeanants cases that were tried resulted in convictions. A small number of cases resulted in mistrials per information from Matthew Valerio, the State Defender General. Approximately 90% of all cases that come to the court system result in plea bargains and not trials. The goal of S-153 purports to bring about better outcomes in these matters, and ease the burden on law enforcement with respect to bulk evidence.

Evidence collection, preservation, storage and tracking are major issues for the 53 municipal police departments in the state, the State Police, Game Wardens,  the courts other police personnel and the State Forensic Lab. Best practices for preservation of evidence as developed by the lab are taught at the Police Academy which trains all the law enforcement officers that are certified in the state. Where to put all the “stuff” collected is a real problem plus the specific requirements that might be required for biological or arson evidence from controlled temperatures to warehouse space. There are car parts, couches, walls of houses, beams cut out of houses that contain bullets, clothing and of course DNA. Police have evidence from murders that occurred many decades ago and keeping track of it is as big a problem as anything. It is important to retain materials related to unsolved cold cases as new technology is helping to solve some of these cases and bring about justice. At the same time it protects anyone innocent who is accused.

Forensic DNA analysis started in the 1980ies and at that time the sample size for a DNA profile was about half the size of a dime and today traces of cells can be used as the equipment is so much more refined. Dr. Eric Buehl, the Director of the State Forensic Lab testified that with the current testing methods, a wall splattered with blood no longer needs to be kept on a new case as one can cut out a piece for a sample and that will be all that is needed. A new state lab is under construction and is expected to be finished in October of this year. The current lab has about 1200 DNA samples but expects to have about 4500 samples by July, 2011 due to the enhanced sex offender registry bill passed last year. To process all these samples additional staff will need to be hired.

Testimony re the custodial interrogation portion of the bill is continuing as there are differences of opinion from the law enforcement community and others. According to testimony thus far, Burlington, Norwich and Rutland do record these interrogations.  

View daily committee schedules and all the bills at www.leg.state.vt.us   Please feel free to contact me at home, 228-8432; at the State House, 1-800-322-5616; at anitka@leg.state.vt.us  or at PO Box 136, Ludlow, VT 05149.

Submitted by Laurie Marechaux

If you watch DIY television or HGTV and love the content of their programs we have the same caliber instructors as their program hosts and guests right here at Fletcher Farm School for the Arts and Crafts, which is one of the country’s leading Arts and Crafts Schools.

Feb. 6 & 7: Beginning Woodcarving with Al Wilkinson
Cabin fever and Woodcarving are a perfect match! In a few easy lessons learn the use of carving knives, gouges and V tools.  Students  will create a story stick of a caricature face and a caricature bottle stopper and may also choose from: a Santa, animal, wood spirit etc. Projects will be finished with Acrylic paints.

Feb. 6 & 7, join Donald Hofer for Pen & Ink: Mixed Media class.  Participants will learn various pen and ink techniques, theory and basic applications of design working with technical pens. Learning: stippling, crosshatching and more. Some mixed media will also be incorporated. Come explore, relax and enjoy the process of creating a pen and ink project.
 
Weekend class times are Sat., 9:00am-4:00pm, Sun., 9:00am-3:00pm. Please call for tuition pricing.  A materials fee is paid to the instructor in class and most courses also have a Supply List which are items which students should bring to class.

View all of these classes and more on our website at http://www.fletcherfarm.orgfor more information. One-on-one instruction is always emphasized in all of our classes. If you are a Ludlow, Cavendish or Proctorsville resident (age 7 & up) you are entitled to 50% off one class per calendar year. Register online or for a copy of our fall flyer call 802-228-8770.

By Senator Alice Nitka, Windsor County, February 5,  2010  

A non headline event of the week was the start of Judicial Retention. Every year a number of VT judges face review of their situation to determine if they will be reappointed to their six year terms as judges. This year, the judges undergoing review are Thomas  Durkin, who serves in the Environmental Court, David Howard and Helen Toor who both do rotations as judges in the courts that deal with family matters, such as divorce and child custody, District Court that deals with criminal matters and Superior Court where civil matters are heard. The judges are reviewed as to judicial temperament, impartiality, health, diligence, legal knowledge and ability as well as administrative and communicative skills. Additionally they appear before the committee which is made up of four representatives and four senators to present why they wish to continue in their positions and review their past job performance. Some judges voice that it seems like they are on the other side of the bench from where they usually find themselves. These jurists also submit sample writings of their work which generally are decisions from cases that have come before them.

Prior to the first meeting, the committee receives comments, complaints, commendations and opinions from persons working with the judges as well as persons who appear before them. The nature of the work of course results in satisfied and dissatisfied customers, some more so than others. The anonymous responses to questionnaires about the judges come from lawyers, court clerks, probation officers, criminals, innocent persons, divorcing parties, injured persons, drinkers, jurors, business owners, landlords and a myriad of persons involved with the courts on a voluntary and involuntary basis. Surprisingly, many persons on the losing end of a case, even though they didn’t like the decision felt they were treated fairly by the judge and were satisfied that they were fully heard.

The public is invited to “weigh in” at a public hearing to be held in the evening on Thursday, February 11th at The State House regarding the work of Judges Durkin, Howard and Toor. At a later date a vote by secret ballot will be taken at a joint assembly of the House and Senate. The VT Supreme Court justices go through this same process for their retention every six years. The exceptions to this method of reviewing judges are the Probate Judges and the Side Judges who must run for election and be judged by the voters in order to keep their positions.

An update re H-533 re Military Rights, particularly child custody issues is that the bill passed the House and is now in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Adj General Michael Dubie of the VT National Guard testified on 2/4 concerning the bill as did his aide-de-camp, Capt Matthew Wignall. The bill which is on a fast track needed some additional work but when done will likely be voted out of the committee by early next week. A side note on Capt. Wignall who is a Norwich Graduate and his wife a UVM Graduate is that they after being students from out of state decided to make VT their home as they feel it is a great place to work and raise their children. They have resided all over the country while in the military. The committee felt they made a good choice. 

View daily committee schedules and all the bills at www.leg.state.vt.us   Please feel free to contact me at home, 228-8432; at the State House, 1-800-322-5616; at anitka@leg.state.vt.us  or at PO Box 136, Ludlow, VT 05149.