COUNTING ON VERMONT

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79
Age of Bernard Robinovitch, a Cornwall man hit by a car driven by a 78-year-old Cornwall man in downtown Middlebury on Tuesday, Jan. 23. He died the following day at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, where he was flown after the accident.

$4.5 million
Proposed amount of money to be subtracted from the Education Fund from its current $245.5 million budget according to Governor Howard Dean in his 2003 budget address to the Vermont Legislature on Jan. 22. The Education Fund was created with the passage of Act 60 to transfer money directly from the main account for state government, the General Fund, to a specific account used for educational purposes only.

60,000
Signatures of registered voters needed by the end of April on a petition circulated by Missouri resident and gun enthusiast Steve Umsched for a ballot initiative titled the Vermont Project 2002. He is proposing a repeal of the Missouri law that prohibits the carrying of a disclosed weapon that would create firearm freedom similar to that in Vermont, which is the only state that does not require a permit to carry loaded, concealed weapons.

2
Vermont's national ranking for the highest number of prescriptions per capita of the drug Ritalin. Several senators presented a bill to the Vermont Legislature that would reduce the state's high use of the behavior modification drug by preventing schools from requiring certain students to take Ritalin in order to attend classes.

18
Percent of adults in Vermont who are obese, according to the Vermont Health Department. Senator Ginny Lyons of Chittenden County has introduced a bill to the Vermont Legislature that would place a tax on all junk food and soda products in order to promote weight loss and better eating habits in addition to ultimately saving on personal health care spending.

61
Number of high schools and middle schools in Vermont that have substance abuse counselors working at least two days a week, according to the state's Health Department. These counselors are part of a joint effort, which includes putting counselors in every school, starting a residential youth treatment center and improving early intervention resources, to fight a recent boom in statewide heroin abuse among teenagers.

124
Number of spiny soft-shelled turtles residing in Lake Champlain's Missisquoi Bay that are threatened by the Vermont Transportation Agency's construction of a new bridge. Despite controversy, a permit recently issued by the Fish and Wildlife Department will require the Agency to secure the endangered turtles' habitat and survival.


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