Holding a banner reading “No More Leaks & Lies! Shut it Down Now,” the eight women pulled into the nuclear plant’s front parking area shortly after 3 p.m. and walked into the gated entrance, a restricted zone where many of the Shut It Down Affinity Group protesters have demonstrated in previous years.

This is the ninth time the group has protested on the nuclear plant’s property.

Officers with the Vernon Police Department and the Vermont State Police took Harriet “Hattie” Nestel of Athol, Mass., Ellen Graves of West Springfield, Mass., Frances Crowe of Northampton, Mass., Patricia “Paki” Weiland of Northampton, Marica Gagliardi of Athol, Martha Hennessy of Weathersfield, Nina Swaim of Sharon and Julia Bonafine of Shrewsbury into custody and released them with a citation to appear in Windham District Court at 8 a.m. on Sept. 21 to answer to the trespassing charge.

While sitting at the gates of Vermont Yankee, the protesters read aloud from a prepared statement saying they have exhausted all other means to close the 38-year-old plant. They used Tuesday’s events to call for a thorough investigation of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as well.

“The NRC continues to put the financial interests of the nuclear industry before the safety and health of the people it is supposed to protect. Recently the NRC has decided to drag its feet for three years rather than immediately change the way cooling towers are monitored that is presently based on incorrect information,” the women stated.
Protesters also criticized Entergy, the owner and operator of Vermont Yankee, for lying to state regulators and nuclear engineers for failing to read the blueprints to know where the underground pipes are at the facility.

“We want Vermont Yankee to be shut down now. Right now, this minute,” Gagliardi said. “Vermont Yankee is an aging nuclear power plant that should be shut down because it is dangerous.”

Entergy spokesman Larry Smith said the company has no comment in regards to the demonstration.

After about 20 minutes within the gate, police officers on scene pulled their vehicles up in front of the protesters and made small talk with them for several minutes while waiting for more troopers to arrive. By about 3:35 p.m., reporters at the plant were asked to leave Entergy property.

Within 10 minutes, authorities peacefully removed the banner and started leading the women into the squad cars and drove them to the Vernon police station down the road. Some of the women waved to the press from the back seat of the police vehicles.

Vernon Police Chief Mary Beth Hebert said the eight women were arrested for unlawful trespass, transported back to the station and processed without any resistance.

Several of the women (Nestel, Graves, Crowe and Weiland) were arrested last September for walking through the gates at the Vernon-based facility. The Windham County State’s Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute them, saying it would consume a disproportionate amount of resources to the crime.

State’s attorneys have opted not to prosecute anti-nuclear protesters in the past on several occasions. The decision has disappointed the group, which wants its day in court.

“We’re hoping that this time they won’t drop the charges,” Gagliardi said. “They shouldn’t drop the charges, they should hear us out.”

Source: Brattleboro Reformer

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“I’m very excited about being appointed permanent chief,” she said. “I am so, so proud of all the hard work from everyone in the department, we’ve come a long way in just seven months in what we’ve accomplished. … I’m really very proud to be a part of it.”

Selectboard Chairman Mike Courtemanche said since Hebert became acting chief on Oct. 26, she has put a tremendous amount of effort in taking the department in a different direction.

“She was faced with literally no staff and had to begin to build the department from the ground up,” he said. “All-in-all, Mary Beth has really hit the ground running and the board felt that she was ready for the job. Additionally, the board felt that Mary Beth would be able to start working on long-term goals now that the position was officially hers.”

The current staff consists of Hebert, acting Sgt. Bruce Gauld and three patrol officers, with a fourth expected to join the department next week.

“Aside from building up the staff, Mary Beth went before the town at Town Meeting and was successful in attaining the funding needed to get the department new bullet proof vests, computers and uniforms, all of which will benefit and strengthen the department,” said Courtemanche.
The board also credited Hebert for rewriting many of the policies and procedures used by the force since October, as well as her ability to improve the relationship between the department and the town residents.

Hebert, an officer with the VPD since 2005, and the staff held an open house for Vernon residents to come and meet the officers last fall.

By CHRIS GAROFOLO / Brattleboro Reformer

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Driverside.com has put together a list of what it calls the “Top Ten Speediest States.” Because they count speeders by the number of speeding tickets issued, we think it’s more like the 10 states with the busiest traffic police. After all, are there more fast drivers where the police issue a lot of tickets, or where they issue very few? Maybe these are just the top 10 states where speeders are likely to get caught. At any rate, they’re the states with the most speeding tickets issued per capita.

Jalopnik adds, “A lot goes into these statistics besides how fast residents are driving, including the number of law enforcement officers on the road and the population of each individual state.”

Whichever way you look at it, the list has some important information for those of you who tend to find their right foot getting a little heavy on the highway.

Try the cruise control in wide-open spaces, for instance — states like North Dakota and Wyoming have a lot of highway miles through beautiful, sparsely-populated country, and a lot of cops who patrol them. Another important lesson: when a state is generous with its speed limits, don’t push your luck. New Mexico is happy to let you go 75 on many of its highways, so why do New Mexico police have the opportunity to issue so many tickets? Are drivers really pushing 90 out there? Won’t 75 get you there fast enough?

We also tried teasing out some of the psychology of speeders in other states. Delaware has no sales tax, so maybe drivers there feel like they have extra cash to spend on speeding tickets. Or maybe, since Delaware bills itself as “The First State” (it was the first state to ratify the constitution), Delaware drivers feel the need to be first everywhere.

Massachusetts has universal healthcare, so maybe drivers there speed because they’re not worried about medical bills. But we’re stumped as to why Vermonters are speeding. We’ve always been under the impression that Vermont is populated by aging hippies driving beat-up cars running on biodiesel, not speed machines.

If you’re looking to avoid a ticket, you shouldn’t apply for jobs here at U.S. News Automotive. In the nation’s capital, where our offices are, Driverside says police managed to issue 434,301 traffic citations last year. That’s impressive, considering that the District of Columbia has only a little over 550,000 residents. Of course, many of us commute in from Maryland (which made the list) and Virginia (which missed it). At this rate, perhaps we should begin reviewing bikes.

The complete list ranks these places from low to high, based on the number of speeding tickets issued per capita.

10. Massachusetts

9. Delaware

8. South Carolina

7. New Mexico

6. Maryland

5. Mississippi

4. North Dakota

3. Vermont

2. Wyoming

1. Washington, D.C.

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BRATTLEBORO — A Vernon woman accused of killing a neighbor’s dog was found guilty of animal cruelty.

After deliberating for roughly two hours, a jury convicted 37-year-old Jackie L. Lee Thursday evening in Windham District Court after she caused the death of an animal belonging to another person without legal consent.

Her sentencing had not yet been scheduled as of Friday afternoon. The potential penalty for such a misdemeanor is $2,000 or one year in prison, or both.

According to Windham County State’s Attorney Tracy K. Shriver, the jury convicted Lee of the one count for killing the dog without justification.

“We respect the jury’s decision and appreciate their hard work,” she said.

The case stems from an incident on May 21, 2009 when the neighbor’s dog, Isis, was chasing Lee’s cat on their property. In her initial statement, Lee said she retrieved her .22 caliber single-shot rifle and shot the animal three times before calling police to the scene.

Statements obtained from police found Lee told the dog’s owner not to move the animal until officers arrived and shouted at them to leave the property in the meantime.

Lee alleged that the dog had a history of tormenting her cats, horse and daughter. She also reported in the affidavit that she contacted the Vernon Police Department multiple times regarding the dog before taking matters into her hands.

But Shriver pointed out in Lee’s statement, she mentioned the dog was chasing cats, but later contended Isis was also coming at her during the incident.

“She had claimed the dog was chasing a cat, and claimed at trial the dog was charging her and chasing the cat,” said Shriver. “She claimed at trial it had chased and killed other cats.”

Other neighbors living nearby testified to the behavior of the dog.

Lee’s attorney could not be reached for comment.

Source: Brattleboro Reformer

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