Lebanon K9 Gets Protective Vest

Lebanon— The Lebanon Police Department’s K9 Briggs has received a bullet- and stab-proof vest. The gift, sponsored by an anonymous donor, came through Vested Interest in K9s Inc. The East Taunton, Mass., nonprofit provides protective vests and other assistance to dogs in law enforcement and related agencies.

The donation required to provide a vest for a police K9 is $1,050, according to a news release from the Lebanon Police Department.

The Hanover and Claremont police departments do not have K9 units. The Hartford Police Department will be getting a K9 vest in the next several days.

Lebanon — In celebration of National Adoption Awareness Month, the Upper Valley-based nonprofit organization Gift of Adoption will host a walk on Wednesday, from 4:30-6:30 p.m., on the Rail Trail.

The walk “represents the final mile in a child’s adoption journey,” the organization said in a news release. The walk will start at the Packard Hill covered bridge and end at Three Tomatoes Tarroria.

In addition to raising funds for the organization, the walk will “celebrate local families and volunteers who are committed to uniting more children with a forever family.”

In the year since the organization started its New Hampshire chapter, it gave $28,000 toward adoptions of six children in the state.

The organization gives grants to people who are adopting children from the U.S. or around the world and who have been approved by a COA-accredited agency. Grant seekers must also provide financial need. Gift of Adoption is also looking for community members to join its board of directors. For more information, visit www.giftofadoption.org.

Bethel (ap) — Two Vermont teenagers face criminal charges after a stray bullet went through a window and nearly struck someone sitting in dining room.

State police said on Saturday that the teens were shooting a rifle in Bethel at a homemade range that lacked an adequate back stop. The bullet traveled more than 3,700 feet before going through the window of a home, passing within three feet of where someone was sitting.

The teens were charged with reckless endangerment and are due in court on Dec. 6 and Dec. 7.

South Royalton (ap) — A forum on race and law is being held at Vermont Law School.

The Black Law Students Association at the school is presenting the annual forum on Friday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Organizers say the forum will focus on issues related to environmental law and policy, social activism, and voting rights.

A keynote speech on social activism will be presented by King Downing, director of mass defense for the National Lawyers Guild and founder of the Human Rights-Racial Justice Center.

The event is free and open to the public.

Brookfield, Vt. (ap) — Power has been restored to nearly all of the more than 20,000 Vermont homes and businesses left in the dark on Thursday night. Green Mountain Power said just over 100 customers remained without power early Saturday afternoon.

Many of the outages were caused by tree limbs being weighed down by snow and snapping power lines. Nearly half of the remaining outages Saturday were in the town of Brookfield.

Lebanon (ap) — This year’s Moose Permit Auction in New Hampshire has resulted in eight grants to state fish and game programs supporting children, a lobster study, a website to collect data on rabbit species, and other projects.

The Wildlife Heritage Foundation of New Hampshire auction raised over $33,000.

Among the grant recipients are the Fish and Game Department-produced “Wild Times for Kids” publication for third- through sixth-graders; scholarships for the 2017 “Becoming an Outdoors-Woman fall workshop;” a study of the movement patterns of lobsters off the coast; a wild brook trout migration assessment; deer decoy replacements; and sponsorship of the department’s 2017 “Wild New Hampshire Day.”

— Staff and Wire Reports