The Brattleboro Reformer from Brattleboro, Vermont • 3

VERMONT 3 Thursday, February 23, 1995 Brattleboro Reformer Northfield cop pleads guilty, agrees to testify Dean makes request for Medicaid waiver harassment of local store owner Bill Oren. Trono, who is from Burlington, was scheduled to go on trial Mon-day on two counts of obstruction of jus-tice, three counts of violating the condi tions of his release, raccoon outside. Elwell has denied any involvement in the unlawful mischief and said a half-dozen witnesses will say he was at a hunting camp in the Northeast Kingdom when the October 1993 incident happened. Under the plea agreement, Trono can still appeal whether he was properly charged with obstruction of a legal proceeding. Before accepting Tronos two guilty pleas late Tuesday, Vermont District Court Judge David Suntag rejected an earlier proposal whereby Trono would have pleaded guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice and two counts of unlawful mischief.

the plea accord, Trono has agreed to testify against former police chief Michael ONeill, who faces three felony obstruction charges, and part-time Officer Brian Elwell, who faces a misdemeanor unlawful mischief charge. Kenneth Falcone, the fourth officer arrested, pleaded guilty to unlawful mischief for firing two shots into a Northfield store owned by Oren in September 1993. Trono admitted Tuesday that he switched the shell casings found at the site of the shooting so they could not be linked to Falcone. Trono also admitted he counseled Elwell to vandalize Orens store and leave a dead BARRE (AP) A suspended Northfield police officer has pleaded guilty to charges of misconduct and agreed to testify against the other officers involved in the same case that led to his arrest. Officer Tim Trono, 29, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of felony obstruction of justice and being an accessory to unlawful mischief.

He is expected to receive a one- to three-year prison term with all but six months suspended, special prosecutor Thomas B. Anderson said. Four Northfield officers, including the chief of police, were arrested in March on charges that stemmed from the alleged and counts of unlawful mischief. Until Tuesday, he had denied any wrongdoing. Anderson said Trono provided authorities with an 84-page statement that detailed misconduct by Northfield police.

Under Briefs Fired CYPS employee sues Claims son health costs led to dismissal provider taxes. There was uneasiness in the House about whether those taxes would really raise $15 million and whether that would be enough money to do what the governor has proposed. Those concerns are even greater in the Senate and Dean acknowledged that he had plenty of work to do in convincing senators that his proposal was a good idea. We have spent hours with the Senate leadership and that is the tip of the iceberg, the governor said. Sen.

Helen Riehle, a Chittenden Republican who chairs the Health and Welfare Committee, said the tobacco tax was the sticking point. I think there is some very strong concern about the efficacy of raising a tax that he admits covers the bill for only two years, Riehle said. I think theres a lot of concern about the states capacity to fund everything the state wants to do. Dean also made the point that the administration was merely doing in this years health care reform what it appeared the Legislature wanted it to do when a much more comprehensive proposal died in the Senate last year. The Legislature, particularly the Senate, last year asked for a modest, scaled-back proposal.

This is that, Dean said. Sen. Cheryl Rivers, D-Windsor, who fought hard for a much more aggressive plan last year, now sides with the governor. The governor has come back with an incremental approach, that goes slow, is modest, she said. I plan to help the governor take modest steps to cover the uninsured.

By ROSS SNEYD The Anociatad Proa MONTPELIER The Dean administration formally asked for the federal governments permission on Wednesday to extend health coverage to 15,000 uninsured Vermonters. The health care reform plan that was approved last week by the House requires a waiver of U.S. Health and Human Services Department rules governing the state-federal Medicaid insurance program for the poor. Gov. Howard Dean said the formal waiver request was not being used as a way to pressure skeptical state senators to approve the pending tax bill needed to fund the states share of expanding Medicaid.

The administration set out a schedule months ago for assembling the reform effort and Feb. 22 was the target for filing the waiver request. Dean said. Still, he took the opportunity to put pressure on the Senate to consider the proposal seriously because, given Republican congressional leaders talk about cutting Medicaid funding, the state might not be able to try the idea later. Thats one of the reasons we need to have this bill approved this year, he said.

If we dont pass this this year, I think these opportunities are gone. Under the Dean proposal, the state would have to raise up to $15 million to cover its share of expanding coverage. The administration has proposed raising that by adding 24 cents to the tax on a pack of cigarettes and by increasing other tobacco and health care Crash victims family rejects sentence RUTLAND (AP) A young Rutland man has been placed on probation and fined $300 for a car crash that killed a Middlebury College student in 1993. Kurt F. Renner, 20, sat quietly in court Tuesday as the parents of Deborah Edelstein showed pictures of their daughter to Judge Theodore S.

MandeviUe and begged him to reject Renners plea agreement. Stewart Edelstein, the victims father, called the agreement reprehensible and said it represents the worst in our criminal justice system. The Nov. 28, 1993, accident killed 19-year-old Deborah Edelstein of Southport, and seriously injured her passenger, Teresa Manzano. Both were on their way back to school after Thanksgiving vacation.

Police said Renner had pulled out to pass two trucks in his own lane in Clarendon and apparently did not see Edelsteins car, which apparently was operating with only one headlight, until shortly before the crash. Renner pulled his car to the left in an attempt to avoid Edelstein, but she also pulled to that part of the road, hitting her brakes, and the two cars collided head-on. School voters turn down Grateful Dead SW ANTON (AP) Residents of the Missisquoi Valley School District have voted not to host a proposed Grateful Dead concert because it would disrupt the districts high school graduation. The voters said Tuesday night that the concert would interfere with Missisquoi Valley Union High Schools graduation because it is scheduled for the day before the June 16 ceremony. Supporters of the concert said it would give a needed boost to the local economy.

But about 250 Missisquoi Valley residents recommended in a voice vote not to hold the concert. WOODSTOCK (AP) A Woodstock man has filed suit against Central Vermont Public Service claiming the utility fired him so it would not have to pay health care costs for his gravely ill son. I gave them almost ten years of my life, said Jack Corry at a news conference Tuesday at his Woodstock home. All I wanted back was honesty. I never got that.

Corry, 39, worked for CVPS for nearly 10 years as a customer service representative. He said after a series of positive performance reviews and raises, he felt his job was safe when CVPS announced a year and a half ago that it would be reorganizing. And he said a company memo to employees in September of 1993 listed his position as one of those unaffected by the layoffs. Eight months later, on May 9, 1994, the company let Corry go. Corry said CVPS never told him why he was fired, other than that the company was cutting staff to save money.

He was the only one within his job bracket to lose his job, he said. In a suit filed in U.S. District Court in Burlington last month, Corrys lawyer, Peter Welch, said CVPS fired Corry so it would not have to continue paying his health insurance. Corrys 9-year-old son Ryan has cystic fibrosis, a serious disease Corry said it costs about $10,000 a year to treat. Corry said the costs of the care were expected to rise significantly as the disease progressed.

CVPS spokesman Bruce Simons said the company health care plan was run by an independent company and the utility knew nothing of Ryans disease. We absolutely did not single out any employee because of the costs of providing an employees family health care, said Simons. While this case has emotional appeal to those not familiar with the details, we believe it is absolutely without merit. The company laid off 20 employees during its $20 million costcutting effort and eliminated 105 positions, Simons said. Curtis urges more help for AIDS in rural areas MONTPELIER (AP) Burlington lawyer and former Vermont defender general David Curtis urged a U.S.

Senate committee to increase funding for AIDS services in rural states like Vermont. I do not suggest that rural areas should benefit at the expense of urban areas, Curtis told the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee during a hearing in Washington on Wednesday. Curtis told the panel that the need of people with AIDS is substantial, regardless of where they might live. However, there are significant differences in the ability to provide services. In an interview last week in which he went public with the fact that he has AIDS, Curtis cited transportation problems and the lack of an economy of scale as two issues unique to rural AIDS service providers.

It was that perspective that Curtis aimed to share with the committee on Wednesday as it took up proposed reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act, a federal program that funds ongoing care for HIV and AIDS patients. Curtis told the Senate panel on Wednesday, that increasing the minimum Ryan White Care Act grant to rural states would have a positive impact on Vermont and the lives of Vermonters living with HIV and AIDS. Vermont currently receives the minimum $100,000 per year in funding under the Ryan White Act. Community Events The Killing Fields: The Deadly Legacy of Landmines Friday, Feb. 24, 7:30 p.m.

Brooks Memorial Library Brattleboro, Vt. Ms. Williams is responsible for the development and coordination of an international campaign to ban the use, production and trade in landmines. Her first two years in this effort resulted in a U.S. moratorium on landmines followed by moratoria announcements by other countries.

She has a Masters in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. space provided by First Vermont Bank SHOP Monday Saturday 10 a.m. 9 p.m. Sunday noon 5 p.m. DJCPanmy SM IRECT MLINE CATALOG SHOPPING 1-800-222-6161 JCPenney LX3ENG RIGHT Fairfield Ftazo, Putney Rood, Brattleboro, Vt 60o for 175 years.

Thats why we offer financial support to over 500 community organizations throughout Vermont. But our commitment goes beyond money. Vermont National Bank actually encourages employees to work face-to-face with the community sometimes even on company time. If our credit administrator has to coach Little League at 3 p.m, well gladly lend him out. If our loan officer has to play trumpet in an afternoon concert at Linden Lodge Nursing Home, we wont let him miss a beat Rather unusual behavior for such a big bank.

But then, Vermont National isnt exactly your usual kind of bank. Is this any way for a high-ranking officer of a billion-dollar bank to behave? Just ask Bob Soucy, Vermont National Banks Executive Vice President and clown par excellence. Theres nothing more satisfying in life than for a clown to hand a balloon to a six-year-old, Soucy says. He should know. For Brattleboros Vermont Bicentennial Parade, Soucy not only filled 7,000 helium balloons, he traded in his pinstripes for polka dots and marched along Main Street with the Vermont National Bank float.

At Vermont National Bank, building business has gone hand in hand with building community relationships VNB Vermont Notional Bank Were big on people Mens Womens Clothing Fine Leather Goods Footwear 8 High Street Brattleboro, Vt. 802-257-1174 Hours: Fri. til Sun. 12-5 Member FDIC tsl Equal Housing Lender.