Vermont

In the absence of definitive federal action on protecting the world's ozone layer, the State of Vermont, population 550,000, has stepped into the breach. Effective in 1993, it will ban the sale or registration of cars containing the most common kind of automotive air conditioners. Gov. Madeleine M. Kunin, who is expected to sign the legislation in the next two weeks, has hailed the law as "landmark legislation. " (Actually, Hawaii is considering the same thing.) Automotive air conditioners were singled out because the coolant used in them, CFC-12, is regarded by scientists as the chlorofluorocarbon product most damaging to the stratospheric layer of ozone, which protects the earth from ultraviolet light.

Everyone knows that some prisoners do hard time and some do soft time. But only recently did we learn of a third alternative - Vermont time. John Zaccaro Jr., 24, the son of 1984 Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine A. Ferraro, is currently serving time in a $1,500-a-month luxury apartment in Burlington, Vt., where he is presumably doing penance for a drug conviction. Mr. Zaccaro owes his good fortune to a program of sentencing certain kinds of non-threatening felons to house arrest - a program that Vermont's embarrassed governor, Madeleine M. Kunin, is now reviewing.

Archbishop Carroll's Liz Mintzer made quite an impression on the Vermont coaching staff this summer while playing throughout the country with the 16-and-under Runnin' Rebels AAU team. So much so that Vermont coaches went to see Mintzer play again in the Villanova Shootout in September and eventually offered her a scholarship. Yesterday, Mintzer took Vermont up on its offer, making an oral commitment to accept a basketball scholarship. The 6-foot center said she would sign a letter of intent with the Division I team, which plays in the America East conference, as soon as possible.

THREE OF the colleges that made Brendan Kilpatrick's personal final four can be found in New England. Hmm, what have we here, a closet skier? "Not even close," he said, chuckling. "And I don't even plan on learning. When guys come back from skiing or snowboarding, they all seem to have broken arms or broken legs. I don't think that's for me. " Kilpatrick, a 6-5, 195-pound senior at Malvern Prep, is a quality basketball player and his next stop will be the University of Vermont.

Hockey, hockey and more hockey have been the traditional topics of conversation in sports circles in Burlington, Vt. - until recently. The No. 25 University of Vermont women's basketball team has changed that. The Catamounts (29-0) became the nation's only unbeaten school in Division I, navigating a perfect course into their first NCAA tournament appearance, which will come tonight at No. 16 George Washington (24-6), the Atlantic Ten champion, in a first-round East Regional game.

When we first pointed the car toward the northern end of Vermont, we were looking for a relaxed few days of soaking up a little American culture in a setting of bucolic meadows and green hills. But in the best spirit of the good, short vacation, what we encountered along the shores of Lake Champlain was unexpected and even more fun than our original aim. In the pleasant New England town of Shelburne, a few miles south of Burlington, we did find the strong dose of history we anticipated, in a sort of visit to Grandmother's attic that doesn't require blowing dust off any of the relics.

From our "Truth in Advertising" file comes word that Bob Newhart, who stars as the nerdy proprietor of a quaint Vermont inn on CBS's Newhart, has never been to the Green Mountain State. And it looks as if he has no intention of going in the near future. Montpelier on the Move, a civic group headed by Steve Faust, recently invited Newhart to participate in the state capital's annual Fool's Fest, a summertime vaudeville and music celebration. According to Faust, Newhart said thanks, but no thanks.

Jeff Myers scored 25 points to lead four Drexel scorers in double figures as the Dragons routed Vermont, 97-58, last night in the North Atlantic Conference opener for both teams. Drexel got 19 points from Mike DeRocckis, 13 from Cornelius Overby, and 10 points, plus 17 rebounds, from Malik Rose. Myers was 7 for 9 from the floor, including a 4-for-5 performance from three-point range. The Dragons improved to 3-1 overall. Vermont fell to 1-4. Drexel shot 16 for 28 from the floor in the first half, including 9 for 15 from three-point range, and went 13 for 13 from the free-throw line.

Turnovers cost Drexel dearly last night as the Dragons blew a 12-point lead in the final four minutes and lost to Vermont, 73-72. The Catamounts never had the lead in the game until Tobe Carberry sank a free throw to complete a three-point play with 13 seconds to go. Drexel's Bryant Coursey had a six-footer to win the game rim out in the closing seconds and his stickback at the buzzer also refused to drop. Drexel fell to 10-13 overall and 7-6 in America East. Vermont improved to 12-10 overall and 7-6 in the conference.

Drexel wore down visiting Vermont yesterday on its way to a 56-42 victory that evened the Dragons' record at 14-14. The teams were taking a break from their conference schedules to participate in a BracketBusters event in which 100 teams from around the country faced off over two days. Drexel had dropped six of seven games to fall into a tie for seventh place in the Colonial Athletic Association. Vermont (11-13), the three-time defending America East champion, is tied for third place with three conference games remaining.

Penn State defeated Vermont, 4-2, in the Philadelphia Faceoff in front of a sellout crowd of 19,529 at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night. The game followed a few hours after the Flyers' NHL season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Taylor Holstrom scored 3 minutes, 11 seconds into the first period to give Penn State (9-12) a 1-0 lead. David Glen made it 2-0 off a great feed from behind the net by Justin Kirchhevel. Kirchhevel scored in the second period on a wraparound to put the Lions up, 3-0, before Robert Polesello of Vermont (6-12-4)

STATE COLLEGE - Nestled near the Lasch Football Building on the east side of Penn State's campus is the Greenberg Ice Pavilion, home to the men's hockey team. About a 2-minute walk away is the state-of-the-art, 200,000- square foot Pegula Ice Arena, currently under construction, where the Nittany Lions will play next season in their first year in the Big Ten. Formerly known as the Icers, the Lions are generating Frozen Four dreams in Happy Valley, which draws heavily from two hockey hotbed fan bases in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Penn State, competing in men's ice hockey at a major-college level for the first time in 66 years, makes its debut at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night against Vermont in the inaugural Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff. Faceoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. The start time was pushed back one hour because of the Flyers' NHL season opener in the afternoon against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Nittany Lions (8-12-0), who last played Division I hockey in the 1946-47 season, are competing as an independent this season and will begin play in the Big Ten next season.

A Philadelphia fugitive, awaiting trial on a charge of attempted murder and sought in a sexual assault, was captured Friday in Vermont, authorities said. Clifford Moore, 34, was arrested without incident while riding in a taxicab outside Burlington, where he had been staying at an apartment complex, said Jim Burke, supervisor of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force. An arrest warrant was issued for Moore in connection with a sexual assault in September, Burke said. Moore had been jailed pending a scheduled Oct. 29 attempted-murder trial, but too much time had elapsed since his 2010 arrest under state law requiring a prompt trial.

MANCHESTER, Vt. - Abe Lincoln was born in a log cabin, but his son built himself a mansion. Robert Todd Lincoln, the only child of the president to survive to adulthood, built the Georgian Revival home, called Hildene, as a seasonal dream home for his wife, Mary Harlan Lincoln, and their children. But Hildene is no dusty museum. Located on 412 acres (167 hectares) between two spectacular mountain ranges, the homestead offers a feeling of warmth, family, and hospitality along with the history lessons.

TICKETS SOON will be available for the first Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff game between Penn State and Vermont. The game will be played Jan. 19, at the Wells Fargo Center. Tickets will be on sale at 10 a.m. Nov. 2 through ComcastTIX. This is Penn State's first year as a Division I program. The Nittany Lions are playing as an independent this season before joining the new Big Ten hockey league next season. Several local players are at Penn State: defensemen Rich O'Brien, of Central Bucks East High; Brian Dolan (Bonner)

IT'S BEEN a long time since Binghamton coach Mark Macon has seen his players smiling after a game. In fact, it hadn't happened all season. Robert Mansell scored 18 points and Binghamton held off visiting Vermont, 57-53, to win its first game of the season last night, snapping a 27-game losing streak and shedding the dubious distinction of being the only winless team in Division I. "To see the happiness on their faces was uplifting," said...

BETHEL, Vt. - June Tierney and Kellie Burke never envisioned island living in the Vermont woods, but Tropical Storm Irene had other ideas. Their home, a two-story, natural-sided saltbox, was a rural idyll on a wooded 10-acre lot off a dirt road, with a stairway leading from their backyard down a steep bank to Gilead Brook, a small stream. When Irene blew through Vermont on Aug. 28, the brook became a raging torrent. After the storm, the main part of it had moved around to the other side of the house, leaving a smaller stream still flowing along its old bed. Now Tierney, a 47-year-old lawyer who works for the state board that regulates utilities, and Burke, 48-year-old high school librarian, have to cross a ford - a new, narrow road that dips into the old stream and has no guardrails - to get home, and face an uncertain future.

Jenna Woginrich has serious Pennsylvania connections. She grew up in Palmerton in Carbon County, a place she's described in interviews as "a small town with street lights, sidewalks and Wonder Bread and mayonnaise. " She also graduated from Kutztown University. Perhaps those stolid roots inspired the homestead dream. For although Woginrich makes her living as a Web designer for Orvis in Sunderland, Vt., she's also a farmer - and now the author of Barnheart , a memoir about "the incurable longing for a farm of one's own. " Woginrich raises chickens, sheep, bees, rabbits, and geese; she grows her own vegetables and bakes a lot of bread.

NEW YORK - The innkeeper wore a Mets cap. He skidded his bike to a stop, removed his backpack, threw the bike's frame over his shoulder, and trudged up the granite steps of the townhouse. It was raining, and from behind the wrought-iron doors we watched him fumble with his keys. He looked up, squinted at us and waved. We stood in the vestibule, where we had been waiting 40 minutes, sheltered from the downpour but unable to go farther into the building without a key. We had arrived early.