The Burlington Free Press du lieu suivant : Burlington, Vermont • Page 16

2B The Burlington Free Press Saturday, February 21. 2004 Group wants needle exchange to go mobile Search for woman moves to Vermont The Associated Press ST. JOHNSBURY Organizers of a statewide needle exchange program for intravenous drug users want to change the program so needles can be given out in the community rather than just at approved clinics. Under the proposal, trained outreach staffers already working in their community would provide drug users with a safe means of using needle-injected substances, like heroin, while educating them on health and safety issues, like safe sex. St.

Johnsbury is one of three locations in Vermont that host an exchange clinic. The others are Burlington and Brattleboro, Farrell said. The exchange program is a continuing effort to squelch growing blood-borne viruses and sexually transmitted diseases passed through needle sharing and unprotected sex. Making the exchange mobile through peer outreach workers was in the original proposal to the state but it was not approved by the health commissioner. Farrell said the Health "The hope is that if we get outreach approved, it can get the prevention materials" to the communities where those in need live, said Kendall Farrell, executive director of Vermont Cares.

"There are so many barriers to getting people into a site-based program." St. Johnsbury's Vermont CARES Community Advisory Board met Thursday night to review an amendment to the statewide Organized Community-based Needle Exchange Programs operating guidelines that would allow that to happen. Department approved the concept of a mobile exchange program last year. But before it can begin the rules have to be established. Under the terms of the proposal the peer outreach workers, given a stipend, would have a lengthy list of guidelines to follow before being able to distribute needles.

Farrell said there are six trained outreach workers in the Northeast Kingdom ready to bring needles and education to the streets; the next step is to win approval from the health commissioner to do so. Yankee upgrade to start without federal OK Maura Murray By David Tirrell-Wysocki The Associated Press Authorities expanded their search for a missing nursing student to Vermont after learning she looked up directions to the Burlington area before disappearing in New Hampshire more than a week ago. Maura Murray, 21, of Hanson, a student at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, disappeared after she was involved in a minor car accident in northern New Hampshire on Feb. 9. Searches, including a renewed search Thursday with dogs and a helicopter, turned up no signs that the woman wandered into the snow-covered woods.

New Hampshire State Police Lt. John Scarinza said Friday that for several days police have also been checking motels and hotels in several Vermont communities, to no avail. Investigators know of no one Murray might know in the Burlington area, he said. "Vermont State Police, Burlington police and other local agencies have canvassed motels in Burlington, South Burlington, Colchester, Shel-burne and surrounding towns to see if she checked in anywhere around," he said. Scarinza said police believe Murray got a ride from the accident scene.

"From that point on, it's destination unknown," he said. Scarinza said searchers found no sign of a struggle at the scene or any other evidence that she'd been harmed. "I totally appreciate the family's frustration in not knowing where she is or what has happened," he said. "But it's also true that she was apparently leaving Massachusetts without telling her family or friends or her boyfriend. That indicates to me that perhaps she wanted to get away on her own for a certain period of time." And if she is not in New England, she might not know of the search, he said.

the plant by 20 percent by mid-March. Neil Sheehan, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman, said other nuclear power plants had started construction without a permit, as Entergy was planning at Vermont Yankee. "It's not unprecedented; other plants have made changes pending approval," he said, but a company risks losing its money if the approval doesn't come. "I can guarantee it doesn't prejudice us in any way," Sheehan said. "We will review their application on its merits and it will rise and fall on its merits." The Associated Press VERNON The owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is set to begin $60 million in renovations in hopes it will receive federal approval for an upgrade in its power output.

But Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee cannot start generating the additional power that would come from the expansion until it receives approval, said Entergy spokesman Brian Cosgrove. The company expects the Vermont Public Service Board to approve the plans to increase power production at "I can guarantee it doesn't prejudice us in any way. We will review their application on its merits and it will rise and fall on its merits." Neil Sheehan, Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman The NRC doesn't care if Entergy makes physical changes to the plant as long as it doesn't compromise the safety of the plant, he said. Vermont Yankee officials are planning on installing a new, high-pressure turbine, new feed-water heaters, and improvements to its main generator. Entergy plans to shut down Vermont Yankee in early April for its regular refueling and maintenance outage.

But this time, it plans to bring in an additional 600 employees to work on the expansion project. The FBI has been developing a timeline of Murray's activities in the week before she disappeared. UMass police have interviewed dozens of people, trying to find out where Murray might have been headed or whom she might visit, Scarinza said. Murray had e-mailed her professors, telling them she would be out of class for a week while she tended to some unspecified family business, then apparently headed north. After the accident in the Woodsville section of Haverhill, a witness said Murray asked him to call a wrecker, but not the police.

Police were called and an officer was on the scene in less than 10 minutes, but Murray was gone. "If someone, by chance, picked her up as a good Samaritan, please let us know," Scarinza said. He said officials don't plan further ground searches in the area because the snowcover has made it easy to determine there were no tracks heading away from the scene. "You can see nobody has crossed this field, nobody has gone up this ridge and from the air, you can see what's come through," he said. Woman sentenced to six months for DWI fatal The Associated Press RUTLAND A 41-year-old Danby woman convicted of drunken driving after a crash that killed her partner is going to spend six months in jail.

Kathryn Pettinato pleaded no contest Thursday in Vermont District Court to a charge of drunken driving with a death resulting. After serving jail time, Pettinato will remain on probation for 12 she lost control of the vehicle, traveling off the road, police said. Gentile, 35, was a passenger in the vehicle. Pettinato had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16, twice the legal driving limit in Vermont. Corsones said she believed that Pettinato was remorseful, but some jail was warranted, particularly to deter other drivers from getting behind the wheel drunk.

years. The July 22, 2002, crash killed Maria Gentile, also of Danby. "I'm so sorry for what happened," Pettinato told Judge Nancy Corsones. "I was so in love with Maria. I miss her so bad.

She was the best person I ever met. I just feel so bad. I never meant for it to happen." Pettinato was driving south on East Road in Tinmouth around 1 a.m. when Racer snake a hopeful for endangered list Parents push for bill addressing meningitis the state's endangered list. If the racer is included on the list it could mean the allocation of more funds to study and protect the snake, as well as further surveys to identify the extent of its range, manage its habitat and educate the public about the rare and seldom-seen creature, Parren said.

"The snake is newly recommended for inclusion on the list and that means it would have more of a conservation focus," Parren said. The Eastern racer is a fast, long and slender nonveno-mous serpent common in the southeast United States but The Associated Press BRATTLEBORO State officials are hoping a rare snake, spotted in Putney last spring for the first time since 1985, can be placed on the state's list of endangered and threatened species. Middlebury College snake expert Jim Andrews found two live Eastern racers and a dead specimen with the help of students from a Vermont Audubon Society camp. Steve Parren, head of the state's Non-Game and Natural Heritage Program, said that was ample evidence to justify placing the snake on rare in New England. Mature racers are solid black, but juveniles may have a row of dark gray, brown or reddish splotches down the length of their back.

The snake can reach up to 5 feet long, and some specimens have topped 6 feet. The snake feeds mostly on insects, frogs and small birds. Hoping to document the elusive snake, a public awareness campaign last year by state conservation agencies, herpetologists and the Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center led to eyewitness reports of the snake's sighting in Windham County. Andrews and the students discovered the snake after following up on the sightings. Thursday, Andrews said that prior to the 2003 rediscovery, he had still hoped to add the snake to the state's endangered species list.

"But the real question was if we had any left," he said. "Once we were able to locate a population it gave us a clearer guideline for the listing." The reptile's chances of survival may be limited by a public fear of snakes, Andrews said. The chance to inform the public that the snake is harmless can help improve its numbers, he said. Officials warn about I.D. theft in N.H.

cine. Springer said her son Nick was at an overnight camp in Massachusetts when he came down with the disease a bacterial infection of the blood that can severely damage the nervous and circulatory symptoms. It began with his neck hurting, a fever and vomiting. By the next morning Nick couldn't walk and had blood clots that splotched his abdomen. He was airlifted to a hospital in Springfield, where he stayed for six weeks and underwent 16 surgeries.

Springer and Kepferle said the disease often strikes adolescents and young adults because they tend to be less careful about sharing drinks and other items that are placed in the mouth. The disease is not spread easily, but can be transmitted through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions and occasionally passes from one person to another through coughing or kissing. Jason Fleishman, 23, of Vail, died Feb. 1 at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, one day after participating in Middlebury's midyear graduation By David Gram The Associated Press MONTPELIER Parents of two teenagers who were stricken with a disease that killed a young man who had just graduated from Middle-bury College earlier this month are pushing legislation to encourage vaccinations. Nancy Springer of New York state, whose son is a quadruple amputee because of meningococcal meningitis, and Mike Kepferle, whose son died of the disease, told their stories to lawmakers and to state Health Commissioner Paul Jarris on Friday.

"What we are seeking is mandatory education, so that parents are aware of the risks of this disease and know of ways to prevent it," Kepferle said in an interview. Legislation introduced by Rep. Ann Pugh, D-South Burlington, would require colleges and summer camps to send a form to students and families for them to sign indicating they had been informed about the disease and about the availability of immunizations. The student or parents of students younger than 18 could decide whether it was advisable to obtain the vac cers and postal service officials at a news conference Friday where they spelled out who the thieves are and how they do it. A decade ago, identity theft was somewhat limited to mail fraud.

Now the crime has spread with the development of organized theft rings that are known to bribe corporate employees to steal their colleague's identities, raid people's garbage and pose as telemarketers. Identity thieves also "skim," or swipe, customer credit cards at restaurants or cash stations, using an electronic device that records personal date from the magnetic stripes on the backs of the card. Another way, called "shoulder surfing," is as simple as looking over your shoulder as you enter your PIN number at an ATM machine. By Kate McCann The Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. Last year, 500 people in New Hampshire complained they were victims of identity theft.

Nationwide, there were an estimated 10,000,000 victims. Most of them don't realize for at least a year their identity has been stolen. Others never can determine how their information was obtained. Now law enforcement officials and politicians say they are stepping up efforts to prosecute thieves and protect consumers. "The way to prevent identity theft is to be cognizant of how you're using your personal information," U.S.

Sen. Judd Gregg said Friday. He was joined by U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley, U.S.

Attorney Tom Colantuono, police offi Criminals can work through the Internet, using a technique called "spoofing." A spoofer creates e-mails and businesses that appear to be legitimate financial institutions or auction sites. One of New England's biggest identity theft problems is its proximity to New York. All agreed much of the burden of preventing identity theft must start with the consumer: not giving out a Social Security number or making absolutely certain who is on the other line before providing personal information. Another idea is to buy a shredder because some thieves steal billing or account information from the trash. More intelligence sharing and cooperation is regarded as an effective tool to stopping identity theft.

For example, American Express, Discover, Master Card and Visa now put any fraud informa- tion they obtain into one database shared with the postal service, whose own inspectors investigate cases of identity theft when they involve the mail. Corporations are urged to keep a corporate security audit checklist, keeping careful records of which employees have access to sensitive information. And the Secret Service is sending training materials to every police department in the country to teach them how to handle identity theft. Those who believe they have been a victim of credit card fraud should contact the three major credit card bureaus, who will alert the victim if someone else tries to obtain a new credit card. In addition to closing all accounts, it is also important to file a police report, which could help protect future credit ratings.

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