CAVENDISH — A Cavendish man will face charges today he burglarized a home Thursday morning.

Around 11:30 a.m., police responded to a residence on Route 131 after a woman called to say there was a masked man in her home. State police, Fish & Wildlife wardens, Department of Motor Vehicle inspectors and police from Chester and Weathersfield worked jointly to apprehend Earl Patterson, 20, of Cavendish.

Patterson was lodged in Springfield prison on $10,000 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned today in White River Junction District Court.
Read more at the Rutland Herald

NORTH SPRINGFIELD read more (157 words)

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. James Douglas traveled to a downtown that will hopefully one day see better days when he announced $1.7 million in tax credits to revitalize buildings in 12 towns across the state.

"These tax credits are especially important as we seek to rejuvenate Vermont's economy," Douglas said. "The downtown tax credits support the redevelopment of older and historic buildings and encourage the installation of sprinklers, elevators and other building upgrades."

The tax credits are for projects approved by the Downtown Development Board and are available to older and historic buildings in designated downtowns and village centers. Springfield received money for two projects, including $209,200 for the Ellis Block, which was the site of the world premiere of "The Simpsons Movie" in 2007 and was gutted by a fire in 2008 that left 40 people homeless.
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SPRINGFIELD — They've been cooking for days: Penelope's signature Chocolate Seduction pie, as well as its famous French onion soup, and chili, and pasta sauces.

Penelope's Restaurant is reopening today, almost a year after a devastating fire in downtown Springfield forced it to shut its doors.

The restaurant, founded more than 35 years ago, was forced to close after the fire at the neighboring Ellis Block sent water cascading into the McKinley Block, which houses Penelope's and its companion McKinley's, a pub in the basement of the building.

The restaurant suffered extensive water and smoke damage, but no fire crept across the narrow alley that separated it from the Ellis inferno, which destroyed the town's movie theater as well as more than a dozen single-occupancy apartments and a couple of other small businesses. One of the tenants was charged with arson; plans are under way to rebuild.

But at Penelope's, because of the water damage, the building had to be rewired and brought up to modern building codes, said Liz Clapperton, the manager of the restaurant, resulting in the long delay.

"All the old staff is back. We kept meeting at my house," said Clapperton, who worked at DJ's Restaurant in Ludlow in the interim. She has worked at Penelope's for 24 years. read more (352 words)

SPRINGFIELD — Residents should expect big traffic changes in downtown Springfield on June 1, when construction is slated to start on the $2.3 million reconstruction of the Community Center Bridge on Main Street.

Traffic patterns in Springfield will change dramatically for at least the next five months, said Roger Whitcomb, an engineer with the Agency of Transportation.

Because the contractor has decided to use new steel in the rehabilitation of the bridge, construction will take longer and extend into another building season, Whitcomb told the Springfield Select Board Monday evening.

The state has also abandoned its controversial plan to change on-street parking on Main Street north of Wheeler's Corner, from H&R Block north toward the Springfield Plaza, Whitcomb said.

The state had originally planned on converting the parallel parking to diagonal parking, and thus eliminating the turning lane for Summer Street, he noted.

Springfield Police Chief Douglas Johnston said he had serious concerns about the diagonal parking plan and said he was glad the state had abandoned that idea.

Read the full story in the Rutland Herald

Thursday, April 23, 2009 10:56 PM

WINDSOR -- Rescuers from five towns responded Thursday afternoon after an ATV flipped over and pinned the woman who'd been riding it on a wooded trail near Ascutney State Park.

Firefighters from Windsor, West Windsor, and Ascutney were joined at the scene by members of the Cornish Rescue Squad and a Golden Cross Ambulance crew out of Claremont.

Initial reports of the accident, which came in to dispatchers just after 3 p.m., described the woman as being trapped under the wreckage and unconscious and led the rescue workers to respond to Route 44 in the area underneath the Interstate 91 overpass high bridges. After the first half-dozen Windsor firefighters made their way approximately a half-mile into the woods they found that the victim was actually located on the end of the trail closest to Route 5 and they made the decision to carry her out in that direction.

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LUDLOW — A Reading man who spent the past four months a fugitive from justice has surrendered to police and is facing the possibility of more than 50 years in prison.

Robert C. Wade surrendered 6 p.m. Saturday to Ludlow Police, said Officer Richard King. Wade was released on furlough in February after serving 22 months in prison for aggravated domestic assault, violation of an abuse prevention order and violations of conditions of release.
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SPRINGFIELD — A 52-year-old Springfield man died Sunday after his tractor flipped over on him, according to Springfield police.

Police were called to the home of Dennis "Chip" Richardson at the intersection of Will Dean Road and Seavers Brook Road Sunday morning, Springfield Police Chief Douglas Johnston said.

Richardson, who was self-employed as a woodworker and worked as a caretaker for the Boedtker Farm on Pleasant Valley Road, died at Springfield Hospital.

Johnston, who said he went to high school with Richardson, said there was a possibility that some medical issues led to the accident.

"When our officers got there, the tractor was on him," he said. "We're not sure of the cause of death."

Richardson, who grew up in Weathersfield, graduated from Springfield High School in 1974.

HARTLAND – More details began to emerge Monday about the weekend shooting incident that sent four people to area hospitals with relatively minor gunshot wounds but officials said the on-going investigation could still result in additional, more serious, charges being filed.

The accused shooter, Jeffrey Ely, 28, most recently of Reading, was brought into the Windsor District Court in White River Junction Monday, where he stood silently during a brief arraignment as his public defender, Elizabeth Kruska, entered innocent pleas on his behalf to a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment and three additional misdemeanor counts of simple assault with a deadly weapon.

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Submitted by Proctorsville Volunteer Fire Department
Tuesday, October 28, 2008 9:06 AM

On behalf of the Proctorsville Fire Department I would like to thank everyone who attended the 175th anniversary celebration. Departments that participated in the parade were Ludlow American Legion, as the color guard, local, town and State politicians, Ludlow Ambulance, Vermont State Police, Ludlow Fire Dept, Cavendish Fire Dept, West Weathersfield Fire Dept, Weston Fire Dept, Chester Fire Dept, Rutland Town Fire Dept, Wallingford Fire Dept, Mt Holly Fire Dept, Reading Fire Dept, West Windsor Fire Dept, and Glen Cove Volunteer Fire Dept from Long Island, NY.

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