By Guy Page

This computer stuff is complicated, state officials are saying. 

The long-sought statewide public safety dispatch update will take at least two years to plan, Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison said at Gov. Scott’s press conference Wednesday. 

Emergency dispatch long ago moved beyond old-fashioned two-way radios and now are highly computerized and closely tied in with the state’s telecommunications system, which is also in development. When an expert called the upgrade ‘complex,’ Morrison commented: “truer words were never spoken.”

Also, A $30 million upgrade of the Department of Labor unemployment insurance computer will take at least four years, according to a February 15 VT Digger report. This is the same computer system that was a spectacular ‘fail’ when the Covid-era unemployment claims crunch. Workers laid off from their jobs due to Covid public health measures waited weeks, even months to get into the system and submit claims. A frustrated Gov. Scott actually drove a batch of unemployment checks to the post office to do what he could to speed them on their way to recipients.

Both the public safety dispatch and unemployment computer upgrades have been long in the planning and have experienced multiple false starts and dead ends. The first call to upgrade public safety dispatch statewide began about 51 years ago, Morrison said. The aging unemployent computer was the one state computer issue that former Agency of Digital Information chief John Quinn said kept him up at night. A possible solution involving cooperation with several other states imploded a few years back. 

Superspeeding out-of-staters – State police reported the latest arrest of a young man from out-of-state arrested for traveling more than 100 MPH on a Vermont highway. 

On February 4, a state trooper was conducting speed enforcement on I-91 in Rockingham (Windham County). The Trooper initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle traveling at 113 miles per hour in a posted 65 miles per hour zone. Edoardo Desogus (27) from New York, NY, was identified as the operator and cited to appear in court on April 30. 

Observant Chronicle readers may have noticed that in recent years, quite a few young men from out-of-state have been stopped and cited for driving over 100 MPH, generally heading south on Vermont highways. 

VT State Parks turn 100 – In 1924, land donated to the state led to the creation of the first state park in Vermont — Mount Philo State Park in Charlotte.

Today, there are 55 parks around the state contributing to Vermont’s $1.9 billion outdoor recreation economy, according to officials who commemorated the anniversary in Montpelier yesterday. Gov. Scott’s proclamation for the occasion specifically mentions Seyon Lodge in Groton.

Meanwhile, the state wants to hear from visitors to Vermont State Parks. If you have a story to share, give them a shout. – Journal-Opinion

Toast ’em if you got ’em – The inventor of the Pop-Tart has died. Bill Post was 96.

The breakfast pastry is over 60 years old and has saturated American pantries and culture. In 2022, Americans ate 3 billion of them.

Post was a military veteran. During the Global War on Terror, Pop-Tarts took on a form of currency among American soldiers, mostly 20-somethings, serving abroad.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld stars in a film about Pop-Tarts. He wrote and directed “Unfrosted,” which comes out on Netflix in May. – Journal-Opinion