"Village boundary dispute headed to trial in Vt.
A three-year-old dispute over the location of a village’s southern boundary is headed to trial. Roger and Donna Pion of Barton have filed suit against Barton Village. The Caledonian Record said the Pions have been paying village property taxes under protest for several years. They have appealed the village’s decision in 2012 placing their home and five others within the village. They do not benefit from village services like municipal water and sewer service. The Pions want the court to rule that the line falls north of their home, that their taxes were wrongfully collected, and that the village must repay them, with interest."
Related: New Hampshire Loonies
Must be a regional problem.
"Sorrell, Welch warn: Avoid student loan scams" by Dave Gram | Associated Press August 16, 2014
MONTPELIER — Vermont’s congressman, attorney general, and main student finance institution warned consumers Friday to stay away from companies that promise to relieve student loan debt, calling them predatory and scam artists.
‘‘Student-loan borrowers are being tricked into paying up-front fees, sometimes in excess of $1,000, to these types of private firms offering debt relief that they could get for free,’’ said Scott Giles, president of the Vermont Student Assistance Corp., a public nonprofit that helps students finance their education.
He was joined by US Representative Peter Welch, a Democrat, and Attorney General William Sorrell, who said his office is starting to crack down on the companies, most of which are doing business without the required Vermont license.
The officials urged that anyone with questions or concerns about their student loan debt to contact Vermont Student Assistance Corp. for advice.
The nonprofit released a list of 15 companies, some of whose websites say things like ‘‘help eliminate my student loans’’ and offer a 0 percent interest rate.
Sorrell said many of the companies make money by charging fees for their services, which would equate to a very high interest rate if applied, for example to a $10,000 student loan.
‘‘‘‘With students graduating and trying to find jobs and manage significant debt, we want to ensure their precious resources are not wasted on illegal, predatory and superfluous debt adjusters,’’ Sorrell said.
Many of the companies require customers to submit personal information, including Social Security numbers, passwords, and personal identification numbers to their federal student loan accounts, Welch said.
A manager at one of the companies, Mike Fernandez of the Miami-based Student Aid Center, agreed that consumers could work with lenders to get their loans restructured. But he said his was one of a variety of fields in which some consumers prefer to hire outside expertise.
‘‘You can do your own taxes,’’ or contract with a tax preparer, he noted.
Fernandez said his firm charges customers an up-front fee of $796, charged in four monthly installments of $199. ‘‘If we don’t save them a ton of money, we give them 100 percent of their money back,’’ he said.
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"Malden man dies in Vermont ATV crash
Vermont State Police said a Massachusetts man driving an all-terrain vehicle has died after he hit a pool of water and was ejected from the vehicle. Police said Peter Stavrou, 27, of Malden, Mass., was driving on a trail in the town of Glover. The accident happened about 8 p.m. Thursday. Stavrou, who was not wearing a helmet, was pronounced dead at a hospital. Police are still investigating the crash."
Also see: Vermont woman accused of taking instruments from grandmother
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Work proceeds on rail corridor restoration
