Thursday, August 13, 2015
Though he continues to play coy about his political future, House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morristown) has already filed paperwork indicating he's running for governor in 2016.
Those who raise or spend $500 in pursuit of public office must register as candidates with the Vermont Secretary of State's Office. Smith did so Tuesday, according to the office's online database.
In his filing, Smith said he was seeking the Democratic nomination for governor. He listed Sen. Claire Ayer (D-Addison) as his treasurer and former KSE Partners lobbyist Liz Sortino as a contact. Sortino, who briefly led the House Democratic political action committee last year, has been rumored as a likely campaign coordinator for Smith.
The registration form asks, “Running in this election?”
Smith wrote, “Yes.”
According to Ayer, Smith reached out to her more than a month ago to solicit her support. He called her “a couple weeks ago” to ask her to serve as his campaign treasurer, she said.
“I really think he knows how to lead,” she said. “He knows how to inspire action.”
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The report, released Wednesday, documents for the first time the breadth of investigations into development projects funded through the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program. The program grants permanent residency to foreigners who create at least 10 jobs by investing $500,000 in qualified businesses.
As of May 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission and other federal law enforcement agencies had 59 open investigations relating to EB-5 projects, 35 of which "primarily involved securities fraud issues," according to the report. The SEC received more than 100 "tips, complaints and referrals related to possible securities fraud violations" between January 2013 and January 2015.
The report does not identify the targets of those investigations. But as Seven Days reported last week, the SEC has been reviewing Vermont's $750 million Northeast Kingdom Economic Development Initiative, which is supported by EB-5 investment, for at least 15 months. The federal agency has subpoenaed records from the project's developers and the state of Vermont, according to multiple sources. Developer Bill Stenger, the president of Jay Peak, told the paper he and two partners were interviewed by SEC officials in Miami in May 2014.
Stenger said Thursday that he welcomed the GAO's report — and the news that the SEC's reviews were widespread.
"I do appreciate the fact that they're looking into a broad range of projects around the country," he said. "That just tells you the federal authorities are doing what they're supposed to — and that's revealing stuff."
Tags: EB-5 , Government Accountability Office , Jay Peak Resort , Northeast Kingdom Economic Development Initiative , Bill Stenger , Patrick Leahy , Image , Web Only
Around 1:20 p.m., a person related to Henry Premont, 51, reported Premont was in a vehicle outside a home in Williamstown with a gun, Vermont State Police said. While police responded, Premont fled.
A few minutes later, state police found his car outside Rickie's Indian Restaurant and Gas Station, a convenience store at the intersection of routes 14 and 63 in Barre. In the parking lot, Premont drew a handgun from his shirt and "appeared agitated," police said.
Troopers drew their weapons and contained Premont while moving civilians to safety, police said. Authorities blocked off roads in the area.
Tags: Jody Herring , Lara Sobel , Barre , DCF , police , Henry Premont , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Lawrence Miller, the governor's chief of health care reform, and Al Gobeille, chairman of the Green Mountain Care Board, have been in the middle of the state's talks with officials in the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services about creating what is called an "all-payer model." Members of two legislative committees grilled the pair this week about this next big health reform, which the Shumlin administration wants to undertake.
"This is being put forward as a positive step," Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Jane Kitchel (D-Caledonia) said Wednesday. But despite a lengthy briefing Tuesday, she said, "We are still not clear what the benefits will be."
So what is the all-payer model?
"For me, it is an approach to aligning payments across payers that makes sure the incentives promote high-quality outcomes for the least, reasonable costs," Miller said in an interview Wednesday after his meetings with the two legislative panels. It would mean moving away from the current reimbursement model—fee for service—which tends to encourage more procedures and shorter visits with patients.
Tags: Al Gobeille , Green Mountain Care Board , all-payer model , Lawrence Miller , Medicare , Medicaid , Image , Web Only
A survey conducted by Franklin Pierce University and the Boston Herald shows Sanders leading Clinton 44 percent to 37 percent among Democrats likely to vote in the New Hampshire primary. Vice President Joe Biden, who has not entered the race, drew 9 percent in the poll, which was conducted over the weekend and released Wednesday. Its margin of error was plus or minus 4.7 percent.
"It just shows you that the more people know Bernie Sanders, the more they like him," says Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs.
Indeed, the percentage of Granite Staters with a favorable opinion of Sanders has grown by 20 points since Franklin Pierce last polled the state in March. Now, 76 percent view him favorably, compared with 80 percent who view Clinton favorably.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Presidential Campaign , Franklin Pierce , poll , New Hampshire , campaign trail , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
Patrick Fennessey was receiving care for substance abuse and mental health problems at an outpatient home earlier this year. When his caregiver there was found intoxicated, Fennessey was transferred to the inpatient Brattleboro Retreat hospital, the report said. Then his health insurance coverage ran out.
That's when the Department of Corrections charged Fennessey, who had a lengthy record of nonviolent crimes, with violating his furlough by failing to find a place to live, DOC Commissioner Andy Pallito said. He was then incarcerated in Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield.
Distraught, Fennessey, 32, decided to hang himself in April, in hopes that once he was rescued, the DOC would release him. Instead, Fennessey died on April 25. He had survived previous suicide attempts.
"Patrick told his friends that he would attempt suicide to 'make a case,' causing DOC and others to respond to why he remained incarcerated for an incident involving his assigned caregiver that was not his fault," the report says. "Patrick began to consider committing self-mutilation and other self-harm as a tool to encourage [state agencies] to communicate better and move faster to get him back [in the community.]"
Tags: Matt Valerio , Andy Pallito , Dick Sears , DOC , prison , inmates , Patrick Fennessey , Image , Web Only
Their vision: Preserve 12 of the acres closest to the lake as a public park and erect 570 units of housing on the rest. Farrell also plans to develop 200 additional units on property currently owned by the college, including the former orphanage building, which he's signed an agreement to purchase from the college.
When Burlington College, under financial duress, sold the property to Farrell, people worried that one of the city's largest swaths of open space would become a housing development. A group called Save Open Space-Burlington formed. In response to the public outcry, Farrell agreed to collaborate with the city, the land trust and CHT and hold a public process to hash out the property's future.
At an earlier meeting, preservation advocates clashed with the organizers. The Tuesday event got off to a more genial start — in the basement of the St. Joseph's School in the Old North End, artists and activists mingled while eating pizza. Roughly 40 people showed up to see the conceptual plans.
Farrell is proposing to build a mix of rental units, condos and townhouses in buildings that range from three to five stories. Champlain Housing Trust, an affordable housing developer, would build 160 of the units, 80 of which would be for seniors. Reiterating the high demand for affordable housing, chief financial officer Michael Monte said the proposed project is "probably from an income basis one of the most integrated neighborhoods you would find anywhere in Burlington."
Tags: Burlington , Champlain Housing Trust , Vermont Land Trust , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
So he called a news briefing Tuesday because he finally had good news. The backlog of cases of Vermonters trying to make changes to their insurance information had been whittled from 10,200 at the end of May to less than 4,500, he said.
And he predicted that the next improvement — automated policy renewal — will be delivered in time for customers to use it to sign up for 2016 insurance coverage beginning November 1.
"I am committed to making Vermont Health Connect work," Shumlin said. Still, his administration has a contingency plan in case the new enrollment technology isn't ready by October 1, the state's deadline. In a backup plan delivered to legislators earlier this month, the administration said it would hire 200 temporary workers at a cost of $3.5 million to manually process renewals.
Tags: Vermont Health Connect , Peter Shumlin , Lawrence Miller , Image , Web Only
But when the insurgent presidential candidate traveled to Los Angeles Monday night, he got a little help from a star of the small screen: comedian Sarah Silverman. The New Hampshire native introduced her fellow New Englander to a crowd of 17,500 people packed inside the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena for another of Sanders' signature mega-rallies.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you — if we're all very smart and a little bit lucky — the next president of the United States: Sen. Bernie Sanders," Silverman said to the cheering throng.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Presidential Campaign , Sarah Silverman , Los Angeles , Recommended Reading , Image , Video , Web Only
Monday, August 10, 2015
Johnson announced the news Monday morning on his eponymous morning talk show, which has aired on WDEV for 16 years. Before that, the two-hour show was broadcast for nine years on Burlington's WKDR.
"Everything has a life span, and I just feel after 25 years of having a really great radio show, it's been a great run and it's time to do something different," Johnson said later Monday.
According to VTDigger founder and editor Anne Galloway, Johnson will serve as senior reporter and editor. He starts October 1.
"We're very excited to have him come on board," she said.
Tags: Mark Johnson , WDEV , VTDigger , Anne Galloway , Image , Web Only