Bennington Banner from Bennington, Vermont • 3

BENNINGTON BANNER LOCALSTATE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 1992 3 Second judge brought in to Allain case cause it is a confidential document, said David Howard, Allains attorney, after a status conference yesterday at Vermont District Court. Some of the complaints deal with factual assertions about his background, and some have to do with opinions that are expressed that may be appropriate for testimony in court, but do not belong in the report." While there is an agreement before the court, Howard warned that the judge has not accepted it yet, and he did not want the deal derailed by any disputed points in the pre-sentencing agreement. Peretz with a shotgun, then raped his wife, Lisa Novak, stabbed her 17 times and then slit her throat. As part of a plea agreement with the states attorneys office, Allain accepted a 55-year-to-hfe prison sentence, meaning he would be in prison 41 years before he is eligible for parole. Allains objections have delayed his sentencing.

Judge Theodore Mandcville ordered a pre-sentence report on Allain. When the report was written and submitted, Allain had objections to statements made in the report. We cant go into specifics, be We don't know if one of these things could prompt the judge to reject the deal weve made, Howard said, Mandcville, the sentencing judge in the case, said yesterday that he has not read the report and does not intend to read it until the issues have been settled. Both Howard and States Attorney William Wright agreed that the objections to the report should be settled before a different judge. The local practice is to sanitize jhe report through a different judge," Wright said.

I would just like to move this process forward. MATT KELLY BANNER STAFF WRITER BENNINGTON Another judge will be brought in to settle Sean Allains objections to statements in his pre-sentencing report which may influence terms of his incarceration for a double murder in Bondville. Allain, 20, pleaded no contest in December to first and second degree murder and sexual assault charges stemming from an attack on a Long Island couple in their weekend home in March 1990. Police said Allain shot Greg Mill Kelly Smii Attain Is Isd from tho Vormont District Court ysstorday. Coalition issues call for clear policy on drawing water from state streams -f ci iyW fJi The Vermont Federation of Sportsmens Clubs, the Vermont Council of Trout Unlimited, the Vermont Trappers Association, the Connecticut River Watershed Council, the state chapter of the Sierra Club and the Conservation Law Foundation joined VNRC in the appeal.

The fish cant speak for themselves. They dont do well without water said Leonard Buchanan, president of the Sportsmens Clubs. The groups say the Agency of Natural Resources has acted inconsistently on several projects. Natural Resources Secretary Jan Eastman said the agency reviews projects on a case-by-case basis and keeps in mind the wording of Act 250, without causing undue adverse effects. She said the agency translates that into causing a maximum 5 percent destruction of habitat.

We dont disagree that a consistent policy is something we all need to work towards, Eastman said. But there needs to be a discussion of what the questions and ramifications are of setting a certain number for all rivers and streams. MAURA GRIFFIN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MONTPELIER Vermont should have a clear policy on how much water can be drawn from rivers and streams, a coalition of environmental and sports groups said yesterday. Given the greatly increased pressures on Vermonts rivers for a variety of uses from hydro dams to snow-making we must maintain the health of the rivers, said Andrea Colnes of the Vermont Natural Resources Council. The lack of consistency in the permitting process not only weakens resources protection, but creates a frustrating, time consuming and expensive process, she said.

The Legislature failed to act on a bill regulating water withdrawal; it passed the House but died in a Senate committee. VNRC has worked with several groups on a policy for minimum flows, which it is urging the state Agency of Natural Resources to use in considering projects. Mr. APCraig Line GOOD YEAR Everett Palmer, who has been making maple syrup for 75 of his 85 years, gives a sap bucket a final rinse yesterday as he and Kevin Vanschaick, center, and Dana Duggento, right, wash buckets following tho annual sugaring season In Waltsfleld. Sugar makers across the state say this was a good year for syrup production, but prices are down partly to an influx of Canadian syrup.

Smokers rights bill is likely to return to Legislature Generations seeks help with new site JORDAN RAU BANNER STAFF WRITER BENNINGTON Generations Child Care Center, which will be evicted in a month from its current site at the Vermont Veterans Home, asked parents and social service professionals yesterday for financial support and advice on locating a new home. Lindy Whitman, the executive director of the nonprofit group, said she has visited 65 potential sites but none meet the centers needs, the stringent state labor and health requirements and town zoning requirements. If the center is unable to find a temporary or permanent site by May 31, it will have to shut down, idling 10 workers and stranding 45 children who now use Generations on a full-or part-time basis, board members said. Generations may be able to move into the Second Congregational Church for the summer if the state office for the Women, Infant and Childreri (WIC) program, which is now using the space, assents. Were going to do everything we can not to have to close, said Sheila Mullineaux, chairwoman of the Generations Board of Directors.

At a meeting yesterday at the Bennington Free Library, Generations officials told about 25 people that the center is the only one in the area provides child care for working families. Whitman showed a videotape of children at the center playing outside on the Veterans Home grounds. Generations officials came prepared to make a pitch for support, but acknowledged that most people who came were already in agreement with the need for better child care in Bennington. The center is looking for companies to buy slots for the children of their employees, a move that would guarantee more financial stability for Generations. Asked about Generations officials said it would need between 37 and 40 full-time children to survive.

They said Generations, which had a budget of about $170,000 last year, has no cash on hand to finance the costly renovations that a new building would need. The center asked attendees to join an ad hoc committee to give advice to the center, help raise additional money and locate a new space for Generations. Officials also said they would like the volunteers to help convince leaders and others in town of the need for child care. They especially cited frustration with the Zoning Board of Adjustment, which rejected Generations proposal to move into a house on Prospect Street after neighbors complained. Lon T.

McClintock, a Bennington lawyer who moderated yesterdays discussion, said he believes the Bennington zoners turned down Generations because they thought it was going to be an invasion of a residential neighborhood. Vermont Briefs Teen killed in Morgan crash MORGAN (AP) A 15-year-old boy died early yesterday when he lost control of the truck he was driving. Joshua Brock was pronounced dead upon arrival at North Country Hospital shortly after the 2:30 a.m. accident on Sunset Drive in Morgan. Brock lost control of the vehicle on a sharp curve, state police said.

The truck went off the highway and hit a large boulder on the embankment. Brock, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown part of the way out of the drivers side window and the pickup rolled on him, the police said. They did not say whose truck Brock was driving, or if he has a drivers license or a learners permit to drive. Brock was a freshman at North Country Union High School in Newport. Judge dismisses police fondling case MONTPELIER (AP) Too much time and money already has been spent in an alleged sexual misconduct case, a judge said in dismissing criminal charges against a Brattleboro police officer.

A District Court trial last November for Sgt. Frederick I. Holton, 46, on two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a female police officer ended with a hung jury. Judge Paul Hudson dismissed the charges against Holton on Monday and entered an innocent judgment. case has already consumed numerous hours of judge time as well as that of the court staff, time has been expended by the attorney generals office, defense counsel and the defendant has incurred substantial expense, Hudson wrote.

Juror fees and mileage alone cost $4,459.50, he added. Holton was charged with fondling, propositioning and making sexually explicit remarks to Officer Catherine Barrows in 1989. He allegedly told her he would protect her job from budget cuts in return for sexual favors. Hudson rejected an argument by David Tartter, the assistant attorney general handling the case, that Holtons prior sexual misconduct with Barrows and other women in the department be admitted as evidence. Hudson also criticized Tartters work, and said he had failed to show that the evidence would be admissible in a second trial.

The court hardly has the time to try a case once; it most certainly does not have time to relitigate a four-day trial without foregoing other significant litigation, Hudson said. The state attorney generals office said yesterday no decision had been made on whether to appeal Hudsons decision. Holton was put on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome at the trial; a department spokeswoman said no decision had been made on when Holton would be back at work. Barrows and three other female employees of the Brattleboro Police Department have filed a related civil suit against the town. Woman dies in Bethel accident BETHEL (AP) A Rochester woman was found dead in her overturned car yesterday morning, Vermont State Police said.

Cheryl F. Lunna, 42, had been driving on Camp Brook Road. Her car was discovered on its roof in Camp Brook. Her body was partially out of the car and in the stream, according to a report prepared by Sgt. James E.

Ross. He said a motorist reported finding the car in the stream at about 7:30 a.m. The car apparently was eastbound on Camp Brook Road and went off the south edge as it rounded a curve, the report said. The car rolled over a bank before coming to a stop in the brook. Ross said the accident still was under investigation.

An autopsy was scheduled for today. it, said Sen. David Wolk, D-Rutland, vice chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which failed to act on the bill. Near the end of the session, International Business Machines opposed the broader bill because of its potential for preventing the company from banning employees from moonlighting for a competitor. Central Vermont Public Service Corp.

also opposed the bill, creating a last-minute conflict for its lobbying firm, Kimbell and Sherman, which also was representing Philip Morris. Similar legislation has passed in all New England states except Vermont and Massachusetts, where it is still pending before the legislature, Shouldice said. Gov. Howard Dean, a physician, had told lobbyists early in the session he wouldnt sign a smokers rights bill. Tobacco lobbyists said the measure was even considered as a possible vehicle for the gay rights bill, had that measure failed.

The delay, in retrospect, cost us significantly, said Stephen Kimbell, who also represented Philip Morris. He agreed the issue of civil rights in the workplace would resurface. I do think its a big negative that the tobacco industry is one of the lead backers because people hate smoking, he said. MEG DENNISON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MONTPELIER Fire under a smokers rights bill was put out in the final days of the Legislature, but it is certain to be rekindled next year, lobbyists said yesterday. I think smokers rights will be back.

I think privacy in general will be a major topic in the Legislature for the next few years, said William Shouldice, lobbyist for cigarette-maker Philip Morris. But the lead sponsor of the bill, Rep. Robert Harris, D-Windsor, said he probably wont be involved in future fights. It was very a divisive issue among a number of people that I work with and that I know, he said. Harris said full-page advertisements by the American Civil Liberties Union in the states two largest newspapers before the Legislature ended early Sunday convinced him that (the issue) was being fought from outside the state rather than inside the state.

Two tobacco companies and an industry group tried to rally public support with a telephone campaign and through a smokers rights group. The bill started out to protect smokers from being fired for their habit. It was broadened to ban employers from being able to hire or fire employees for other lawful activities they do on their own time. It popped out of a Senate committee a week before the session ended. It deserves a lot more thought and review than we were able to give RED CROSS BLOODMOBILE GIVE BLOOD IN BENNINGTON SHAFFES MENS SHOP GJ-EJ Will Re-Open 9:00 a.m.

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