Car burned on Lovers Lane in Northfield
Toolbox
The Associated Press
TIMES ARGUS STAFF - Published: May 7, 2009
NORTHFIELD – Authorities are investigating what appears to be a case of arson after a car parked on Lovers Lane in Northfield burned early Wednesday morning.
Members of the Northfield police and fire departments responded to the blaze at 3:30 a.m. and found a 2006 Hyundai parked halfway in the ditch and engulfed in flames.
The car, which belonged to Barre resident Daniel Hussey, was reportedly stolen from a Northfield residence the same night as the fire but before the fire occurred, said Vermont State Police fire investigator Matthew Nally.
It took firefighters a half-hour to extinguish the blaze, which was shooting flames 10 feet high and caused a brush fire, said Northfield Fire Chief Peter Demasi. The brush fire burned an area that was about 50 feet by 50 feet, Demasi said.
There were no injuries as a result of the fire, said police.
No one was found at the scene of the fire, said Demasi, but he said a passerby told authorities a rag was hanging out of the gas tank.
It wasn't difficult to determine the fire was suspicious, said Demasi.
"It was 3:30, there was a car burning and no one was around," he said.
Nally examined the burned car and the scene at Lovers Lane on Wednesday afternoon and determined the fire was suspicious and probably the result of arson. But he did not say how the fire was lit and did not want to comment further because the investigation is ongoing.
The Northfield Police Department could not be reached Wednesday afternoon.
Waitsfield construction company reports robbery
TIMES ARGUS STAFF
WAITSFIELD – The Kingsbury Construction Co. reported that 200 feet of welding feed wire was stolen from one of the construction vehicles parked in the company's yard, according to a Vermont State Police news release.
The theft appears to have occurred sometime between Friday and Tuesday morning, when the theft was reported by James Despres, a company employee.
The wire contains fine copper strands covered in a black coating, said police.
Anyone with information is asked to call trooper Richard Ostrout at the Vermont State Police at 229-9191 or Central Vermont Crime Stoppers at (800) 529-9998.
Vandals damage Danville camping area
TIMES ARGUS STAFF
DANVILLE – Vandals reportedly damaged a camping area belonging to Boy Scouts from Waterbury sometime over the last few weeks.
The camping area, on Pumpkin Hill Road, will have to be rebuilt by the scouts, said Vermont State Police in a news release.
Police are looking for information about who might have vandalized the camping area. Contact Vermont State Police or Crime Stoppers at 748-2222 with any information.
Galbraith to speak at Johnson graduation
TIMES ARGUS STAFF
JOHNSON – Peter W. Galbraith will be the guest speaker at the 142nd commencement ceremony at Johnson State College on May 16 at 2 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public.
A lifelong resident of Townshend, Galbraith has served as a U.S. and United Nations ambassador and diplomat in some of the world's conflicts. He was appointed deputy special representative for Afghanistan to the secretary-general of the United Nations in March.
From 1993 to 1998, Galbraith was the first U.S. ambassador to Croatia.
St. Albans fire victim dies
The Associated Press
ST. ALBANS — Police say a St. Albans woman who was pulled from her burning house last week has died from her injuries.
Lynn Barratt was hospitalized after the accidental fire on Button Road on April 28.
Police say Barratt died over the weekend, according to the Burlington Free Press.
Suspect gets maximum in double killing
The Associated Press
ST. ALBANS — A Swanton man who fatally shot two neighbors in a 2007 confrontation outside his apartment is going to prison for at least 20 years.
John Winn, 45, got the maximum sentence Wednesday in the deaths of 31-year-old Joshua Hall and 25-year-old Megan Patenaude, according to the Burlington Free Press. Winn pleaded guilty Feb. 23 to involuntary manslaughter and no contest to voluntary manslaughter.
Prosecutors say Winn shot Hall in self-defense after Hall threw a smoke bomb into his apartment, repeatedly taunted him and tried to break down his door. Police say Winn shot Hall after he darted toward him.
Winn told police he didn't mean to shoot Patenaude.
Man sentenced for racial slurs
The Associated Press
BURLINGTON — Prosecutors say a man accused of yelling racial epithets at a Somali family, including a 9-year-old child, must spend 30 days in jail.
Fifty-year-old James Cannon, formerly of Burlington, was originally charged with disorderly conduct with a hate crime enhancement in the Sept. 2, 2008, incident.
Chittenden County State's Attorney T.J. Donovan says the charge was dropped so the Somali family would not have to go to trial.
Cannon claimed he was protected by the First Amendment right to free speech, but a judge ruled in March that his speech was threatening and insulting, therefore not protected by the U.S. Constitution, according to the Burlington Free Press.
Vt. senator fills booklet with consumer comments
The Associated Press
BENNINGTON — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders wants to place limits on credit card companies' practices that he says feature tactics "that border on criminality."
The Vermont senator says he has a booklet filled with examples from consumers who say they have been subject to abuse from credit card companies.
Sanders, an independent, says the book contains 1,000 comments from consumers nationwide.
That booklet is being distributed to Sanders' colleagues in Washington as he pushes for limits on the companies, including capping the interest rates on consumer loans at 15 percent.
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