COUNTING ON VERMONT

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35
Percentage of Vermont criminal defendants whose fingerprints are taken by police, according to the Vermont Criminal Information Center. This number puts Vermont behind 46 states in the country that fingerprint 100 percent of criminals. Lawmakers are attempting to pass a bill that would give police more authority for arrests, including the power to fingerprint all suspects. Fingerprinting benefits police investigation by securing a suspect's identity and determining his or her past criminal record.

460,000
Gallons of maple syrup made annually in Vermont, the nation's largest producer of maple syrup, with approximately 2,000 producers in the state making a total of $13 million worth of syrup each year. Due to this year's mild winter, the increasingly warm temperatures have resulted in the earliest onset of the maple syrup season on record. For most sugarmakers the season began in the middle of February, which is about two weeks earlier than usual. The labeling of maple syrup products and the authenticity of actual Vermont products have spurred controversy recently. A petition is circulating to encourage lawmakers to pass a law requiring more specific labeling in order to distinguish between the syrup tapped in the state from the 3.2 million gallons that are imported.

65
Years since the Woodstock Regional Correctional Facility has had no inmates, part of a process to gradually relocate and release prisoners and ultimately close the facility. The jail, which normally houses 80 people and is the oldest and least efficient jail in Vermont, is closing as a result of a Corrections Department plan to save $1.1 million this year and $2.8 million next year. Eighty inmates will be released from jails statewide during this closing process, but they will continue to be supervised by Corrections Department personnel.

500
Number of covered bridges in Vermont in 1927. Due to flooding, however, only 114 historic bridges remained by the 1980s. Currently there is a statewide covered bridge revival program that has placed all the remaining bridges on the National Register of Historic Places.

Statistics courtesy of The Rutland Herald and The Burlington Free Press.