WTSA News For Your Friday, February 14th:
It’s Been a bad pothole season in Brattleboro, and it’s not even spring. Town roads have experienced multiple freeze/thaw cycles that have deteriorated the roadways and made maintenance a challenge. Potholes are formed when the road surface fails, introducing water into the roadway which weakens the soil beneath the pavement. Traffic applies loads to the roadway that stress the pavement past the breaking point. The Highway Department monitors all of the roadways in town and work orders are issued when we identify or receive reports of potholes. The town has a responsibility to protect public safety and make every attempt to patch and repair the holes in the roadways. Last week crews used 15 tons of patching material to fix the largest potholes. Drivers are advised to use caution.
The Vermont Senate voted Thursday to override Governor Phil Scott’s veto of a bill that would increase the minimum wage to $12.55 over the next two years. The vote in the Democrat-controlled Senate was 24-6 vote in favor of the veto override, which happened the first day the chamber was eligible to vote on Scott’s Monday veto. It’s unclear when the House, which also has a Democratic majority, will vote on the bill.
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu touted economic, educational and environmental successes in his State of the State address Thursday, while offering a handful of initiatives spanning life stages from pre-birth to old age. Following up on a recent initiative to allow state employees to bring infants to work, Sununu said he will back legislation to ensure pregnant women are treated fairly on the job and are provided with reasonable workplace accommodations. At the opposite end of the spectrum, he announced that the state’s new health and human services commissioner will spend the next 90 days developing solutions “to get long term care back on track in New Hampshire.”
The Vermont Department of Health is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to monitor people who have returned from travel in China for symptoms of coronavirus. The monitoring effort is for people who have returned from China in the past 14 days and who had no symptoms of respiratory illness when screened upon returning to the U.S. There are no cases of illness from COVID-19 in Vermont. State health officials emphasized that, there has been no community spread of the illness in the U.S. and the risk for Vermonters is low at this time.
New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen applauded passage of a Senate War Powers resolution that would require the President of the United States to stop military action targeting Iran within 30 days unless Congress consents. The bill passed 55 to 45 with bipartisan support. Shaheen is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
LOTTERY NUMBERS:
TRI STATE PICK 3 6-2-4
TRI STATE PICK 4 0-9-4-3
LUCKY FOR LIFE 5-14-31-40-46 LUCKY BALL 2
MASS CASH 2-8-9-11-21
WTSA SPORTS:
Locally, tomorrow you can catch Brattleboro Colonels Boys Varsity Basketball at 1:15 as they host Fair Haven. Hear the game on your home for Colonels Sports, 99 5 The Beast.