Pat Bradley

Secretary of State Jim Condos says turnout is light as Vermonters head to the polls for the state's primary election.

Condos estimates between 8 and 10 percent of Vermont's registered voters will go to the polls Tuesday.

He attributes the light turnout to the lack of high-profile contests.

The interest that has drawn the most outside interest is the Democratic race for attorney general.

Chittenden County State's Attorney T.J. Donovan is challenging incumbent William Sorrell.

Tropical Storm Irene caused damage or destroyed countless homes and businesses as rivers and streams became raging torrents. In Vermont, over 500 miles of state roads were damaged and 34 state highway bridges had to be rebuilt . Over 3000 local roads, culverts and bridges were damaged or destroyed. Towns were completely isolated and supplies were helicoptered to residents.  On this one year anniversary of the storm people in northern New York and Vermont are still rebuilding and many still need help.

Governor Peter Shumlin says Vermont has become a national leader in how to respond to natural disasters and there's little he'd change about the state's handling of flooding after Hurricane Irene.

Shumlin tells The Associated Press that forming partnerships among state agencies, state and local governments and the private sector were keys to Vermont's success in recovering from the storm and the subsequent flooding.

Vermont state officials say the cloud of uncertainty surrounding federal funding for Vermont's recovery from Tropical Storm Irene has grown thicker with the departures of two top officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding says the state has been working for months with FEMA officials over the complicated issues of how much Vermont will be reimbursed for the destruction of the Vermont State Hospital and much of the surrounding state office complex in Waterbury.

More than a dozen New York senators in the Republican majority are opposing a plan to bring hydropower from Quebec to New York City.

The 13 Republicans and one senator from the Independent Democratic Conference say the 330-mile power line would end up sending jobs from the state. They also say it will make New York even more reliant on other countries for energy at the expense of its own power industry.

Meteorologists at Vermont's National Weather Service office in South Burlington have a new tool to help improve their forecasts.

U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy helped inaugurate Monday the upgraded, dual polarization Doppler radar serving the region.

Officials say the upgrade to the so-called dual-pol system is the most significant enhancement ever made to the nation's radar network since Doppler radar was first installed in the early 1990s.

A rally is planned this weekend to highlight concerns about the Vermont Public Service Board’s permitting and public access policies.

The head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency says some of the pollution control practices developed for Vermont's Ben & Jerry's ice cream plants could serve as a model for other businesses.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson visited the company's Waterbury factory today and was given an overview of the company's business practices, a tour of the plant and then samples of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

Jackson says one of the reasons she visited Vermont is because it's a state that has sees a green economy as important to its future.

A wind power developer in Georgia, Vt., has dropped a court order against property owners who moved within a safety zone as construction work was scheduled on a project.

Georgia Mountain Community Wind recently got the order blocking the landowners from accessing their own land that lies with the blasting zone for the project. The landowners oppose the project.

WCAX-TV reports extra crews have been brought in to expedite the blasting process, and they are able to work on the project without requiring the restraining order.

Senator Charles Schumer says Canada has agreed to continue providing local consular services after it closes its consulate in Buffalo.

Schumer had protested the closing and the loss of services that businesses in western New York rely on for cross-border commerce.

He says Friday the Canadian government won't reverse the decision, but will maintain a smaller office to work with businesses and others on border issues.

The size of the liaison office and hours of operation are still being worked out.