The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • 13

Z)t ftorlmQton Jfree press ERMONT INSIDE Opinion 6B Sports 7B Business 1 IB Weather 12B SECTION www.burlingtonfreepress.com Friday, February 6, 2009 Metro Editor Patrick Garrity 660-1897 or (800) 427-3124 Page IB HI; 120 attend project hearing What's news Lawmaker wants Vt Yankee guarantee MONTPELIER Rep. Tony Klein, D-East Mont-pelier, on Thursday called for legislation requiring the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant to guarantee that the decommissioning fund will have enough money to dismantle the plant before it seeks permission to operate past the end of its current license in 2012. Klein, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, made the comments after taking an afternoon of testimony from an official with plant owner Entergy Nuclear. Entergy Vice President Jay Thayer says the company will fight any effort to require it to put the decommissioning guarantee in place by 2012. He says when Entergy bought the Vernon reactor in 2002, the deal didn't include a requirement that the decommissioning fund be full by the end of the license term.

The Associated Press ered Wednesday night for a zoning board hearing, the most recent in a series of meetings since November. It followed a Selectboard hearing last week, attended by nearly 100 people, where the board considered a petition for a zoning change. The truck-stop proposal includes a restaurant, a convenience store, nine truck-parking places, a gas station and diesel fuel station, and 57 parking spaces for the store and restaurant. It would, be located on the site of the Ferrisburgh Road- venience store or fast food restaurant within each commercial zone in town. Within four days, well over the required 5 percent of town voters had signed it.

The Friends of Ferrisburgh for Responsible Growth formed, and a brochure was designed and mailed to residents. It featured a painting of the Ferrisburgh town center by Vermont artist Susan Abbott contrasted with photographs of diesel and gas stations. Many ages have become See U.S. 7, 5B Ferrisburgh house restaurant, which burned in June 2007. The application includes plans for a McDonald's restaurant, but that could change.

Resident Debbie Allen said last week that when' she learned Champlain Oil, or COCO, had presented a preliminary proposal but not a full application, in September, she created a petition for a zoning change that would have prohibited more than one gas station, con U.S. 7 restaurant, gas station plan divides residents By Dorothy Pellett Free Press Correspondent A proposal by Champlain Oil Co. of South Burlington to build a combined restaurant, convenience store, and gas and diesel fuel station along U.S. 7 has mobilized many Ferrisburgh residents. About 120 people gath v.

'I y-- Sharon rest area to close Sunday: The Sharon South Information Center on Interstate 89 will close at 11 p.m. Sunday for an indefinite period of time, state officials said Thursday. The closure is part of a budget-cutting measure that includes closing 19 staffed rest areas. Brattleboro officer injured: A Brattleboro police officer was injured after crashing his cruiser during a chase early Thursday morning on Canal Street, Vermont State Police said. Police are looking for the suspect vehicle, which fled the scene.

Brattleboro Police Officer Adam Belville suffered bumps and bruises when he lost control of his cruiser while pursuing a small, two-door, dark-colored vehicle traveling on South Main Street. Belville's cruiser struck a parked car and a brick wall before coming to a stop in a snow bank. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Sgt. Mike Sorensen at the Brattleboro state police barracks, 254-2382. Chestnut HQ leaves The American Chestnut Foundation has relocated its national headquarters from Bennington to Asheville, N.C.

Founda tion spokeswoman Meghan Jordan says the move brought the foundation's main office closer to its research farm in Meadowview, Va. Jordan says the foundation maintains a number of regional offices and there are.no plans to close the Vermont office. Welch assigned to committees: Rep. Peter Welch, has been reappointed to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, representatives for Welch said Thursday. Welch, who served on the committee during his first term in Congress, will also serve on two of its subcommittees: National Security and Foreign Affairs, and Domestic Policy.

In total, Welch will serve on three committees and five subcommittees during the 111th Congress. Concord man faces second DUI charge: A man who ran his car off the road Tuesday was arrested on suspicion of driving drunk, Vermont State Police said. Johna-fhan Pylypczuk, 26, drove off Royalston Corner Road in Concord at about 6:30 p.m. Police said he faces a charge of DUI 2. He is due in Vermont District Court on Feb.

18. From staff, wire reports 0 EMILY NELSON, ree Press Marisa Hamilton of Bristol warms her face in the sun Thursday while walking down Church Street in Burlington. The high temperature in Burlington should rise to 20 today. See Weather, 12B. Tribble trial hears 4 VtTV plans early conversion Five stations stick with Feb.

17 switch By Joel Banner Baird Free Press Staff Writer The five major television stations that serve northern Vermont will stick with the Feb. 17 deadline for conversion to digital over-the-air broadcasts. Ted Teffner, who manages the stations' broadcasting facility on Mount Mansfield, said Thursday that extending analog service to the new June 12 shut-off date allowed by Congress would result in cost overruns and scheduling quagmires. Speaking from the mountain-top antenna site, Teffner said networks haven't budgeted for an extra four months of analog service this spring which he said costs stations up to $9,000 per month to operate. The stations will maintain a one-month "night-light" service in analog transmissions alerting viewers to the new channel locations for digital service, he said.

For months, industry and government publicity campaigns have attempted to raise public awareness of the switch to digital television. The nonprofit Consumer Electronics Association estimates that 14 percent of Americans are unaware of the transition. In a release Thursday, Jim Condon, executive director of the Vermont Association of Broadcasters, noted "a high level of readiness" among local networks and viewers. "Here in Vermont, after more than a year of helping local viewers pre- See TV, 5B was Kiss' personnel director before moving on to head CEDO. Smith said new leadership is needed in Public Works, headed by Steve Goodkind, and at Parks and Recreation, headed by Wayne Gross.

Both departments, he said, need a "fresh perspective." Wright also suggested See MAYOR, 5B Nip at the nose ment. Tribble, 58, of Wol-cott has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder arising from the Tribble the shooting of Borello, 43, following a running feud between the residents of remote Jones Lane. Defense attorney Dan Maguire declined comment Thursday evening. The defendant claims he was defending himself from Borello, who had advanced toward him or shoved him. Maguire also argues Tribble suffered from delusions and paranoia that reduce his responsibility for the crime while not excusing the conduct.

Prosecutors allege Tribble acted deliberately and with premeditation as he pursued Borello down the CEDO." "A there will be other changes," he said. Smith UULUJI I MAYOR said: "I do like and respect Larry Kup-fernian, but I think we need someone with energy and a view toward entrepreneuria-lism (heading the CEDO of-' fice). That's a good example A IT' witnesses remote road on which they lived, shooting him once with a pistol and four times with a shotgun. The trial is Tribble's second. He was convicted in 2002 after firing three court-appointed attorneys and then boycotting the trial when a judge ordered him to act as his own lawyer.

The Vermont Supreme Court overturned the conviction, ruling the judge's order unconstitutional because he failed to explain to Tribble that repeated disputes with attorneys could force him to represent himself. A jury of seven men and five women is hearing the case. Courts across Vermont are closed today, and proceedings will resume Monday. Contact Adam Silverman at 660-1854 or asilvermbfp.burling-tonfreepress.com. To get Free Press headlines delivered free to your e-mail, sign up at www.burlington freepress.comnewsletters.

of a leadership issue. If we had conducted a national search, I think there would have been a long list of people interested in serving as CEDO director." Neither Wright nor Smith offered a description of how, in their view, Kupferman had come up short as CEDO director. Kupferman worked with Mayor Kiss at the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity and By Adam Silverman Free Press Staff Writer The second day of Dennis Tribble's murder trial went smoothly Thursday, said lawyers and personnel at Vermont District Court in Hyde Park. Prosecutor Joel Page questioned four witnesses, including the lead detective and other investigators who worked the case or handled complaints Tribble made about neighbor Michael Bo-rello before the September 2000 killing. The government is about halfway through its case, said Page, Lamoille County state's attorney.

"I'm figuring Monday and Tuesday, if we're lucky, will do it for the state's case in chief," Page said, referring to how much more time he needs. The prosecution might require additional testimony from expert witnesses in rebuttal if defense attorneys raise a mental-health argu- Montroll, a Ward 6 city councilor, have charged that incumbent Progressive Mayor Bob Kiss has not been an effective or visible leader. Kiss is in his first term as mayor. Wright, the City Council president who promises a "tri-partisan" administration if elected, said that although Kupferman is hard-working, "we need really dynamic leadership at the top of umaiirMiirii Free Press file photo MADORE SAVES: The University of Vermont's Rob Madore makes a stop against Northeastern University in Burlington on Nov. 14.

Madore, a freshman, has excelled. Story in Sports 7B. Wright, Smith promise changes in department leadership Wed dates what personnel changes they would make as mayor. Smith and Wright said that if they win the March 3 election, they will replace Community and Economic Development Office Director Larry Kupferman. Wright, a Republican city councilor from Ward 4, Smith, an independent running for his first elective office, and Democrat Andy By John Briggs Free Press Staff Writer Second in a series If Kur Wright or Dan Smith becomes Burlington's next mayor, heads will roll among the city's top administrative positions.

In the second in a series of reports outlining the mayoral race and the campaign's key issues, The Burlington Free Press asked the candi a. ib DPT COULD Be (pm.