Pat Bradley

Two Entergy subsidiaries have filed suit against the state of Vermont over a new law that hikes taxes on the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant from 5-million to nearly 13-million dollars annually.

Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee and Entergy Nuclear Operations filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont seeking to overturn the legislation signed by Governor Shumlin that substantially increases the plant's annual tax bill.  Entergy Vermont Yankee Communications Manager Jim Sinclair.

Voters in a Vermont community will face ballot questions on whether a public elementary school should be closed and re-opened as an independent school.

Residents will decide the fate of the North Bennington Graded School on Oct. 23.

The Bennington Banner reports if both articles pass during the special vote, the last step will be for the state Board of Education to approve an application from the proposed independent Village School of North Bennington.

The state board has agreed to take up the application in November.

Vermont lawmakers are hoping a new approach will get more school districts to merge.

A plan approved two years ago had one regional school board take the place of local town boards. So far, that's happened just once and voters in some towns have expressed concern about a further loss of local control.

This year, the Legislature passed a bill that provides more flexibility by creating the opportunity for some towns in a supervisory union to create their own single district, even if others decide not to join.

Police are taking more aggressive measures to combat underage drinking at the University of Vermont.

A special law enforcement team is stepping up patrols. It's staffed by volunteers from the Chittenden County police departments, liquor control and Department of Motor Vehicles.

Police tell WCAX-TV Burlington's Hill section neighborhood is where they get the most complaints about loud parties and underage drinking. Five undercover officers focused their attention on the area this past weekend.

Proposals for the first two medical marijuana dispensaries in Vermont have won conditional approval from the Vermont Department of Public Safety.

The facilities are planned for Burlington and Waterbury.

The state last year passed a law that authorizes up to four privately run dispensaries to provide marijuana for patients with chronic illness or intractable pain.

The department said Wednesday that when each dispensary satisfies the stipulations in the statute, they will be issued a certificate of operation.

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin is saying it may be quite a while before the state knows how much it will get from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for repairs from Tropical Storm Irene.

Shumlin on Wednesday is outlining plans for the state to go ahead with revamping its mental health system and renovating its state agency office complex.

The effort comes in response to flooding from Tropical Storm Irene 54 weeks ago, which forced the closure of the Vermont State Hospital and the surrounding office complex in Waterbury.

The Vermont Supreme Court is on the road today.

The court is hearing seven cases at the historic courthouse in Chelsea.

The justices normally hear oral arguments at the Supreme Court building in Montpelier, but occasionally take their show on the road.

Two of the cases Wednesday involve election issues.

Trudell versus Markowitz focuses on petition filing deadlines for independent candidates.

State versus Green Mountain Future focuses on when groups need to register as political action committees.

Two challengers will face off against the incumbent in Thursday’s primary for New York’s new 115th district.

Republican incumbent Janet Duprey, repeat challenger David Kimmel, and Karen Bisso, who has never before run for office, are on the ballot in Republican primary for the 115th Assembly District. Incumbent Janet Duprey was first elected in 2006 to the Assembly.

Janet Duprey joins her challengers in citing the key issue for the region as jobs.

Two men have been charged with illegally digging and extracting quartz from a wildlife management area in Vermont.

Robert LaPorte of Shaftsbury and Philip Yerke of Waterford, New York, were charged with willful and careless destruction of state property. Each man is subject to a $2,500 fine and loss of their licenses to hunt, fish or trap in Vermont for a year.

Voters in the Vermont city of Burlington will be asked in November whether they would support legalizing and taxing marijuana.

The Burlington City Council on Monday approved several measures for the November ballot, including the pot question.

WCAX-TV reports that voters also will be asked whether they support a $9 million bond to help boost the city's credit rating and a half-cent increase in the property tax to help pay for rehabilitating the bike path.

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