COUNTING ON VERMONT

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690
Votes to reject the proposal to move Middlebury's municipal office complex to the site of the Maple Manor Motel. The number opposed defeated 500 votes in favor of the relocation of the town offices for $3 million offered by Middlebury College which seeks to convert the current site into a park. A majority of voters at the Town Meeting suggested that preserving the municipal building's current central downtown location is in the best interest of the town.

23
School budgets defeated at statewide annual town meetings last week, the most defeats of its kind in Vermont in five years. All school boards will meet this week to consider alternatives. Those in opposition of the schools' budgets claim that the school boards added unneccessary expenses. Superintendents claim that the high number of statewide school bugdet defeats are due to the slow economy and effects from the common level of appraisal, which affects property tax revenue.

1,000
New homeowners created in the next three years as part of The Vermont Homeowner Intitiative Fund, which will contribute $1 million to provide more homeowner education and lending programs for middle and low income Vermonters.

96
Percent of registered voters in Vermont who wish to see labels on food products that contain genetically modified organisms (GMO), according to the Vermonter Poll of 734 registered Vermont voters. Although the poll found that most Vermonters were aware of the GMO issue, very few had access to information on exactly how widespread they are in food supplies.

6
Firefighters from the Vermont Air National Guard to head to unidentified regions in the Middle East on Monday as part of the United States' war on terrorism. The firefighters are scheduled to spend six months overseas responding to aircraft and structure fires and medical emergencies.

18
Age of Will Webb, a write-in candidate who was selected on Town Meeting Day as representative of the town of Addison on the Vergennes Union High School board. He beat out one other write-in candidate to win the three-year job as a member of the high school's seven-member school board.


Statistics courtesy of The Rutland Herald and The Burlington Free Press. Compiled by the Local News Editor.