COUNTING ON VERMONT

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$12.7 million
Amount the state of Vermont spent on clearing roads and highways of snow and ice during the winter season this year, which is less than last winter's total of $17.8 million. The savings, which is attributed to fewer heavy winter storms, offers little help to the already strained state budget. The House Transportation Committee cut $2 million from the road maintenance budget in March.

40 million
Estimated number of lives that would be saved worldwide from smoking related cancers and illnesses by raising cigarette taxes 10 cents per pack, according to a calculation by the World Bank. Last Tuesday Vermont senators discussed the controversial issue of raising state cigarette taxes in the hopes of reducing the number of young smokers. Although the measure was proposed last year and supported by Governor Howard Dean, partisan differences have resulted in prolonged debate on the proposal.

$21,000
Amount of a federal grant used by the city of Burlington to fund a study on potential bicycle commuter routes, part of a statewide effort to reduce the number of people driving to and from work. The city's Metropolitan Planning Organization is designing a plan due in late summer to create alternative roadways and cycling paths to provide more bike accessibility into the downtown Burlington area.

550
Number of Vermonters left jobless during the past year after the closure of several factories in Windsor County in southern Vermont. As part of the Successful Communities Initiatives, Governor Dean, community members, state officials and economic development specialists are currently researching alternative employment opportunities in the affected region.

1
Percent portion of electricity that utilities will be required to buy from generators that use alternative energy sources starting in 2003, according to a new bill. The legislation, which passed last week in the Vermont Senate, hopes to support more environmentally friendly sources of energy. The bill states that the percent of alternative energy used will increase steadily after next year and will allow customers to request energy from renewable or clean energy sources.

50,000
Number of members in the American Association of Nude Recreation, an amount that has doubled in the last 10 years. Vermont native and public advocate for nudity Jim Cunningham, 48, is taking a stand to increase the support of nudity and the appreciation of the human form of average people. Cunningham's publication, Naturist Life International, attempts to encourage people in Vermont and across the United States to feel comfortable with their bodies, regardless of the media's message, which Cunningham says is driven by sex and physical perfection.

11
Days since alleged bank robber, Ronald Nelson Foley, escaped from the Addison County Sheriff's Department lockup. Using a handgun, Foley overpowered a deputy last Sunday at around 1 a.m., stole the deputy's car and vanished. Officials, who did not discover the escape until 6:30 a.m., are in an ongoing search for the armed man.

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