Report: Official watched porn on office computer
Toolbox
Times Argus Staff
Times Argus Staff - Published: May 9, 2009
STOWE (AP) — A report obtained by the Stowe Reporter newspaper says a former Lamoille Regional Solid Waste Management District routinely looked at pornography on his office computer before he was fired.
Officials have never said why Mike Morrow was dismissed from his $55,752-a-year job as CEO in February.
The Stowe Reporter obtained a copy of a report by Ellen Coogan, an investigator hired by the trash board. In it, she says Morrow began visiting porn Web sites soon after his Morrisville office got high-speed Internet in 2000. The report says he also sent explicit e-mails and photographs to two women who worked in his office.
Morrow and his lawyer, David Putter, declined comment on the report, according to the story.
Teacher allegedly closed door on child's hand
BURLINGTON (AP) — A Vermont teacher who allegedly closed a door on a 9-year-old's hand, breaking one finger and cutting three others, has surrendered his teacher's license.
Thad J. Krueger of Jeffersonville, a former teacher at the Baird School in Burlington, was removed from the job after the October incident. He surrendered his license April 14.
Catherine Simonson, a spokeswoman for the Howard Center, which operates the school for children with emotional and behavioral problem, says Krueger has been criminally charged in the incident.
Krueger declined comment about the incident, referring inquiries to his lawyer, Edward Fitzpatrick of Essex Junction. Fitzpatrick didn't immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Friday.
Car hydroplanes, hits guardrail on I-89
Times Argus Staff
MIDDLESEX – A 33-year-old Waterbury resident crashed his car when his vehicle hydroplaned on Interstate 89 on early Thursday morning.
Timothy Petit lost control of his Toyota Corolla and hit the guardrail at 2:42 a.m., but was not injured, according to state police.
It was raining at the time and Petit was wearing his seat belt at the time of the accident, police said.
Out-of-state trio face drug charges
Times Argus Staff
BERLIN – State police arrested three men for possession of illegal drugs after a traffic stop on Interstate 89 last weekend.
Max Bell, 21, of Massachusetts, and Michael Bell, 19, of Connecticut, were both charged with possession of marijuana and Jason Falamino, 23, of Massachusetts, was charged with possession of mushrooms, according to police.
The car they were traveling in was stopped for speeding at 7 p.m. last Saturday, and police said they got permission to search the vehicle.
The three men were issued citations to appear in Vermont District Court in Barre to face the charges.
Man who torched apartments gets prison term
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION (AP) — A paraplegic who set fire to his Windsor apartment building in an effort to kill himself is going to prison for it.
A judge Thursday sentenced 39-year-old Gary A. Hogge to two to 10 years after his neighbors testified that they don't think he meant to harm them.
Hogge, who is confined to a wheelchair, barricaded himself inside his Armory Square apartment, set fire to sofa cushions and waited to die. The Dec. 30, 2007, fire left 17 tenants of the 72-unit building homeless.
Given the time he's already served, Hogge, who had no prior criminal record, could be released from prison this summer.
Thieves cut catalytic converters off trucks
ST. JOHNSBURY (AP) — Police in St. Johnsbury say someone stole catalytic converters from trucks parked in a car lot, cutting them off six new GMC pickups with a saw.
The thefts, discovered Wednesday, occurred at St. Johnsbury Auto, which has been plagued with vandalism and thefts. Vermont State Police Trooper Lyle Decker says the dealership, which is surrounded by woods, has had six such incidents.
Catalytic converters, which clean an engine's exhaust before it's discharged, contain platinum and have been targeted before by thieves looking to cash them in at junkyards.
John Loschiavo, who owns the dealership, is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible, according to the Caledonian-Record newspaper.
Burlington man's kidnapping conviction tossed
MONTPELIER (AP) — The Vermont Supreme Court says a man convicted of attempted kidnapping was wrongly rebuffed in his bid to suppress statements and has thrown out his conviction.
Timothy Mumley was charged in 2006 after police said he pulled his truck up next to a woman pushing her 2-year-old son in a stroller in Winooski, made lewd comments and attempted to pull her in. A jury convicted him after a two-day trial in which his lawyer insisted Mumley was innocent.
In a ruling Friday, the state's highest court said police didn't adequately read Mumley his rights before he made statements and that the judge in his trial erred in rejecting a motion to suppress them.
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