Valley News from West Lebanon, New Hampshire • 2

Page A2 Valley News Thursday February 10 2005 OHNIPIGREGG By Ross Sneyd Tending The Roots homes secure residences or some kind of facility akin to a skilled nursing home for physical health Those are among the proposals he is seeking from the general hospitals community mental health facilities and the Brattleboro Retreat But some advocates for the mentally ill say they worry about the speed the administration is moving There are too many unanswered questions about the quality of care the cost and patient protections said Ken Liberteff of the Vermont Association for Mental Health can be unintended Libertoff said a certain sense of crisis plan is to build a new hospital which might ultimately be attached to one of the general medical centers The latest plans were developed at the direction of Gov Jim Douglas who ordered the hospital's closure to be speeded up after the institution again lost its certification with the federal government The latest decertification was because of the escape of two patients from the hospital in the space of a week Smith envisions a system where a significant portion of the current population would be treated by the community mental health system in community beds but several patients already have been transferred to the Brattleboro Retreat Beyond that Smith plans to ask for proposals from various agencies to create programs and facilities that would accommodate even more of the patients who currently are cared for at the only hospital for the acutely mentally ill The state hospital now cares for some of the toughest cases and for people who were com- mined to a mental institution by the courts The goal is to all but close the Vermont State Hospital although the administration acknowledges the continuing need for an acute psychiatric hospital The long-term Associated Press Writer Montfelier The population at the Vermont State Hospital will decline by 30 percent over the next month or so as the Douglas administration speeds up plans for closing the troubled century-old institution Human Services Secretary Charles Smith tokl legislative committees Tuesday that he plans to reduce the population at the Waterbury hospital from its current level of 50 to 35 within the next 45 days That already has begun The hospital has 54 A Hill of Fun Harley McElroy 10 of Newport NH snowboards down a hill of snow built on the town square Waiting their turns right to left are Cyle Kemmis 10 Justin Beauchaine 11 and Dallas Jones 11 Heavy snowfall is forecast for today with possible accumulation of 10 to 20 inches Valley Kate Lattanzu As former Vermont Gw Howard Dean heads to his expected election Saturday as chairman of the Demo-cratic National Committee he is starting to thank sup-porteis At the same time apparently to avoid my race-alter- ing gaffes he's declining press interviews until the DNC meeting in Washington where he will speak to the party faithful going to be outlining his plans for the DNC A lot of the audience are meniers of the DNC and going to outline his plans for them as well and ready to put them to work" said Laura Gross spokeswoman for Democracy for America political aetkm committee Dean was slated to speak A '1 1KU the local DFA tn rjLtrail affiliate in Washington to supporters and he also appealed to DFA supporters across the country to keep on giving money to support local candidates The Burlington-based PAC rased $5 million and spent about $33 million last year much of it an Democratic candidates around the country In an mail Tuesday to DFA supporters Dean urged them to make recurring $25 or $10 monthly donations as much as $300 a year personal involvement will be limited if I am elected Chair of the Party on Dean wrote you have built a movement bigger than anyone imagined and DFA will remain a force for many many years to Yesterday one-time Democratic primary riyal Mm Kerry also reached out to his grass-roots supporters while seemingly embracing likely victory to lead the DNC Kerry announced he is donating $1 million from his presidential campaign committee to help build the party saying he wants to transform movement you (supporters) built into a permanent grassroots presence for die Democratic Party in every state across this new DNC Chair will be elected at the end of this week make sure that he has everything he needs to stmt wrote Kerry Meanwhile whether Dean will continue to make paid speeches to groups while leading the DNC he is represented by the Harry Walker Agency the New York firm that also represents former Attorney General John Ashcroft is unclear trying to figure all that said Gross who declined to rereal what Dean is paid for his speeches varies and rm not going to talk about The Harry Walker Web page for Dean does not list his speaking fees but includes endorsements from university and corporate groups where Dean has appeared including the Institutional Investor Institute and the Forbes Management Conference Group Congressional Business Trips? Memben of Congress who represent the Upper Valley in Washington appear to be heavy junketeers compared to their colleagues at lost but they have found opportunities to take privately sponsored trips often wifo their spouses to sunny spots in recent years Working with students from Medill School of Journalism producers from American Public Media analyzed trips taken by members of Congress and paid for by private groups between 2000 and 2004 In the Twin States US Sen Jim Jeffords I-Vl took trips that cost $35832 including six-day trips to Florence Italy (July 2001) and Barcelona Spain (May 2004) sponsored by the Aspen Institute think tank A Sen Patrick Leahy D-Vt took seven trips costing $15810 the analysis found including a three-day trip in 2000 to Puerto Rico to speak to the Association of Trial Lawyers of America Leahy a bit of a gadget guy also got a free trip to Las Vegas in 2002 for the Consumer Electronics Association trade show US Sen Judd Gregg R-NH took 6 trips but the analysts determine their individual cost from disclosure repots journeys included a six-day trip in February 2003 to Jamaica sponsored by the Aspen Institute UJS Sen John Sununu R-NH took four privately sponsored trips in the time period studied costing $1L335 including a six-day trip to London and Qatar in April 2001 sponsored by the Islamic Free Market Institute Foundation US Rep Charles Bass R-NH took nine trips worth $12647 Bass a car buff traveled to Las Vegas and Detroit on trips paid for by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers And Uii Rep Bemie Sanders I-Vt accepted eight trips worth $13356 including a trip to Thus and Mexico in 2003 sponsored by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters House and Senate rules allow for work-related travel to be paid for by private groups as long as it covers and necessary according to the report which can be found at ml' Briefly Noted Rep Susan Almy D-Lebanon won the New Hampshire Democratic annual Diinfey-Kanteres Award Saturday for her work on behalf of the party John Gregg can be reached at jgreggvnewscom Father Meets Governor By Anne Saunders Associated Press Writer Concord The father of ft Massachusetts woman who disappeared a year ago met with New Hampshire Gov John Lynch yesterday to ask for his help in getting records of the investigation Fred Murray whose daughter Maura Murray vanished after a minor car accident in Haverhill wants police to release their records so he can pursue leads himself asked foiling that to have it declared a criminal investigation rather than a missing person investigation and if he want to do that I asked him to accept the offer of the FBI to come Murray said after meeting with Lynch Lynch made no commitments on the specific requests tokl Mr Murray that I will look into the situation and I promised to get back to him as soon as I possibly can and how we left it" he said Maura a nursing student at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst was last seen on Feb 9 2004 walking away from her car oh Route 112 in Haverhill Police said they have no evidence of foul play and have searched the area repeatedly thousand and thousands of horns have been invested in the search for Maura said state police Lt John Scarinza of Troop which is handling the investigation family believes someone picked her up on the road Fred Murray said he was optimistic after his meeting with Lynch least I have more hope than I had before and why I he said For information pn the Web go to wwwmauramurraycom NH State WebSite Hacked Concord (ap) Information technology experts say a hacker's break-in into New Hampshire's Web site should be a wake-up call for the state Hackers forced the state to pull down its Web site Tuesday but officials said no private information was compromised However the hacker left the message what I can doT For most of the day visitors to wwwnhgov saw a message that the site was down for maintenance posted after hackers got into a server sometime after midnight secluded the server they got said Rick Bailey of the Office of Information Technology The state's main Web site acts as a portal to other state services so no one gained access 1 to any sensitive information The hacker put up the message known as Internet graffiti on several index pages malicious code could have been put on to the Web site so that anybody that visited that site would be infected with a virus said Jay Walsh of PC Authority on the stand including former companion' Donald Aubin 51 of Ferkinsville where the couple lived for two years Aubin said that although the issues involving her son Phillip and the stress from all the publicity that surrounded the charges against mother and son caused him to end his relationship with Lynette Amoroso he was sure she did not participate in the planning and staging of the robbery lived with her for two years and I know this woman And she had nothing to do with said Aubin Windsor County Sheriffs deputies took Amoroso into custody following the hearing Ammons said afterward that his client had been prepared for the possibility of serving as much as a year in jail It was her son who implicated her in the robbery as he was negotiating a sentence with the state Both he and Cappiallo are serving one-year sentences on grand larceny convictions Asked what his relationship is now with her son Ammons replied his mother and she loves him very Sand said following the hearing that there was lot of regarding Lynette role in die matter Eventually he said he decided not to rely on her testimony in pursuing a grand larceny convictibn By Boa Hookway Galley Newt Staff Writer White River Junction The third and final person charged with having a role in the robbery of an Ascutney store last March was sentenced to jail yesterday Lynette Amoroso 46 who was working as a cashier at Ascutney Neighbors when her son and an accomplice came in and robbed the gasoline station and convenience store will spend three months in jail She pleaded guilty in December to one count of giving false information to a police officer in what she said yesterday was an attempt to lead investigators away from her son Phillip Amoroso Police initially charged her with grand larceny for what they said was her role in helping plan the robbery that netted Phillip Amoroso and Robert Cap-pialk) who at the time were 22 and 19 respectively more than $1700 in store receipts In a tear-filled statement in Vermont District Court at the end of sentencing hearing Lynette Amoroso denied that she took part in the robbery a good person Tm not a criminal Tm not a liar Yes Tm guilty of misleading polioe to try and help my son I need this to be she told Judge Harold Eaton Jr Eaton rejected recommendations by both her attorney Richard Ammons of Woodstock and Windsor County Attorney Robert Sand that Amoroso spend only 30 days behindbara Eaton gave her six to 12 months with all but 90 days suspended and a provision that she receive mental-health counseling The judge said Amoroso would also have to write a letter of apology to Rice Oil Co the Greenfield Mass firm that owns the store also have to meet with the manager Ed White and his wife Sharon White the bookkeeper if the Claremont couple request a maxing Eaton said he had to take exception to Amorosufa assertion that she was not a liar solved this crime for the police immediately by telling them who did it But you chose your family over the truth and over your own personal integrity and duty as a citizen I want you to understand that I consider this a minor matter I believe that you have many fine qualities But you made a very significant error in judgment and it had profound Ammons put several character Local Regional Briefs Developer Challenges Unity Growth Limits in Higher Court Unity (ap) A developer is going to the New Hampshire Supreme Court to challenge temporary growth restrictions enacted after he proposed a major elderly housing project Bruce Nadeau claims the town bad no constitutional basis for adopting its interim ban on major subdivisions in August Nadeau sued soon afterward but lost in Superior Court Judge Arthur Brennan ruled in January that Nadeau's project constituted enough of an emergency to justify the response Nadeau has proposed building a 500-unit senior housing development on 300 acres he owns near the Sullivan County Complex The town now has only roughly 700 residences Another Ex-Fletcher Allen Official Pleads Guilty Burlington (ap) A former senior vice president at Fletcher Allen Health Cire pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy admitting his role in covering up the true cost of the hospital's Renaissance Project David Demeis 49 is the third former high-ranking Fletcher Allen executive in seven months to plead guilty to deceiving state regulators and hospital trustees about the cost and scope of the $367 million expansion project Demers agreed to a plea deal in which he could face up to five years in prison and a $250000 fine He must also agree to be a government witness at any trials connected with the Fletcher Allen scandal He will be sentenced June 6 Marine From NH Injured in Iraq Keene njl (ap) A Marine who grew up around Keene and Fitchburg Mass was shot three times in the face while serving in Iraq and is in critical condition at the Navy hospital in Maryland his family says After treatment in Germany Lance Cpl Isaac Croteau 20 was flown to a military hospital in Bethesda Md this week Family members said doctors put Croteau in a coma and he was listed in critical but stable condition Croteau the family said was shot by a sniper in Fallujah ''Vt Officer Cleared After Shooting Car Montpelier (ap) A Springfield Vt police officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing for shooting at a vehicle driven by a Grafton Vt woman last year the Attorney Office raid yesterday Officer Christopher Norton fired at a vehicle driven by Nina Keus in August 2004 in Springfield He had confronted Keus after a man reported his car stolen Norton told police investigators that he believed the car driven by Keus might hit him as it left the narrow driveway prompting him to fire his weapon Keus is facing charges including operating a motor vehicle without the owner's consent reckless endangerment and driving with a suspended license Keus said that she had backed out of the driveway quickly but never pointed the car at Norton Sweetheart Buffet Sunday February 13 pm All You Can Eat $16955975 Children under 12 Alden Country Inn On the Common In Lyme NH 603-795-2222 PURCHASING FINE ESTATE ANTIQUE JEWELRY FREE EVALUATION: CALL NT FERRO JEWELERS 802-457-1901 xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo To get hugs and kiscet from your misses visit REMEMBERANCE for valentine's Day 20 OFF the finest French a Betty Johnaon lingerie 3 Lebanon SL Hanover XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO Town of Norwich Property Taxes Due February 11 2005 4:30 pm Finance Office Tracy Hail' US Postal Cancelation is acceptable 50 OFF Winter Clothing Me Eileen Fieher a much mom Phoenix Rising Boutique 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