Monday, November 30, 2015
The “sticker price,” as the college called it in an announcement, which doesn’t include room or board, will be $21,500 for the 2016-17 academic year — down from roughly $23,500 today.
Burlington College’s decision comes at a time when many colleges are raising tuition, and then offering more generous discounts to those students who can’t afford it.
The tiny liberal arts college has kept tuition flat since the fall of 2014.
That's despite being in serious need of cash. Burlington College officials are hoping the tuition break will bring in new students — a critical need, given that its student body has shrunk in the midst of its financial struggles. But because the college will be taking in less revenue, the move also makes the need for new students all the more urgent.
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Sanders, 74, was to be treated at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., and was expected to return to his Senate duties Tuesday, Briggs said. The procedure was planned and was not expected to interfere with the senator's presidential campaign, according to the spokesman.
Sanders' office offered no further details.
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Wednesday, November 25, 2015
"I have personally satisfied my concerns about the process and I am comfortable with continuing with the process," he said. "I think it is safe and well-run and we should continue."
Like fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lisman and more than 30 governors across the country, Scott questioned the security of the program after the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, allegedly perpetrated by members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
But as WPTZ's Stewart Ledbetter first reported Tuesday, Scott had a change of heart after taking part in a U.S. Department of State conference call last Friday and meeting with Vermont Department of Public Safety officials Tuesday in Waterbury. The meeting included DPS Commissioner Keith Flynn and Deputy Commissioner Joe Flynn.
"I learned a lot from [DPS officials] about where some of the security risks really are," he said, pointing to student visas and the Canadian border as areas of concern. "I came away being much more comfortable than I was and having a better understanding of what that process is. I've also reached out to the [Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program], hoping to meet with them as well."
Tags: Phil Scott , refugee resettlement , Syria , Matt Dunne , Vermont Democratic Party , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
The Vermont independent won a 5-0 ruling Tuesday from the New Hampshire Ballot Law Commission, after a local lawyer challenged Sanders' eligibility to run as a Democrat.
Sanders, the longest-serving independent in Congress, has chosen to run for the Democratic nomination for president. In filing his petition to be on the ballot in New Hampshire, Sanders had to affirm that he is a Democrat. The commission’s ruling concurs.
Sanders has caucused with the Democrats during his time as a senator and had previously as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Sanders’ campaign cheered the news. "The commission's ruling today ensures Bernie's name will be on the New Hampshire ballot, and puts this issue to bed for good," state campaign director Julia Barnes said in a press release. "For our part, we'll keep our attention where it always has been: on making calls, knocking doors and spreading the Senator's message about a political revolution that finally takes on the billionaire class to put working families first."
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Monday, November 23, 2015
More than 40 contestants had called our hotline and recorded an imitation of Brooklyn-born Sanders' speaking (and shouting) voice. They touched on crucial themes — underwear, billionaires and damn emails — from the Vermont senator's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Many were quite impressive. Others weren't, but we respect the effort. Our panel selected five finalists, and we posted their audio takes online for you to vote.
The winner is Sam Pelletier of Maine, who delivered with his bit on ordering cheesy bread for Sanders volunteers. Congratulations, Sam, and we hope you can make it to Burlington to use your prize: tickets to see Bernie imitator and comedian James Adomian at the Vermont Comedy Club!
In second place: a rant on global warming and underwear by Tony O'Rourke of Williston, who noted in his message that he's "one of those dirty Republicans."
In third place is Joel Levin of New York City, who railed against the Republicans who are double-dipping and triple-dipping their chips. (You'll notice there's a food theme to many of these imitations.)
The fourth-place winner, David Houston, had this suggestion for Ben & Jerry's:
Fifth place went to Joel Najman, whose voice you may recognize from his show on Vermont Public Radio.
And although this one didn't make the final round, it made us laugh.
Thanks to everyone who entered. And now, do we need to have a talk about how much time you've been spending in front of your bathroom mirror perfecting your Bernie impression?
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Friday, November 20, 2015
But on Thursday, its 11,500-member New Hampshire affiliate broke ranks with top union brass and threw its support behind the Vermont independent.
Richard Gulla, president of the State Employees' Association/SEIU Local 1984, explained in a press release that the New Hampshire group's endorsement process proceeded separately from the international union's. A majority of the local's members backed Sanders, Gulla said, and its board of directors ratified their decision after meeting with the candidates.
“While we differ in our endorsement, we share the same values, hopes and dreams for our country,” Gulla said of the intra-union divide.
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Rev. Debbie Ingram, executive director of Vermont Interfaith Action, credited Gov. Peter Shumlin for taking the “courageous and compassionate” stance that Vermont should welcome refugees from the war-torn country. “Also,” she continued, “we have come to speak out against those in Vermont who would not applaud and support Governor Shumlin’s decision."
In the wake of the terror attacks that killed 129 people in Paris, both Republican candidates for governor have said Vermont should temporarily refrain from accepting Syrian refugees until the federal government can prove the rigor of its vetting process. Nationwide, at least 28 governors have made similar calls, and on Thursday, the U.S. House passed a tougher screening process for Syrian refugees. The White House has said President Obama will veto it if the Senate follows suit.
A Syrian passport found after the attacks ignited concerns about refugee screening. Vermont doesn't currently have any Syrian refugees, but officials expect some will arrive during the coming year.
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Thursday, November 19, 2015
Since he launched his bid for the presidency last May, Sen. Bernie Sanders has been dogged by persistent questions about his identification as a democratic socialist. Speaking Thursday afternoon at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., the independent from Vermont sought to put those questions to rest.
"Let me take this opportunity to define for you, simply and straightforwardly, what democratic socialism means to me," he told a supportive audience of students in the university’s ornate Gaston Hall. "It means building on what Franklin Delano Roosevelt said when he fought for guaranteed economic rights for all Americans. And it builds on what Martin Luther King, Jr., said in 1968 when he stated, and I quote, 'This country has socialism for the rich and rugged individualism for the poor.'"
In a forceful, unapologetic tone, Sanders defended the ideology to which he’s long subscribed as nothing more radical than a desire for economic justice. Abandoning his campaign-trail comparisons to Scandinavian political systems, he instead framed democratic socialism as entirely American.
To drive his point home, Sanders repeatedly invoked Roosevelt’s 1944 State of the Union address, which the candidate described as “one of the most important speeches ever made by a president.” In it, Roosevelt called for a “second bill of rights,” which the 32nd president said should guarantee such basic human necessities as decent pay, food, education and health care.
“‘We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence,’” Sanders quoted FDR as saying. "That was Roosevelt's vision 70 years ago. It is my vision today. It is a vision that we have not yet achieved. And it is time that we did."
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The city council is poised to lift its blanket December-to-March, overnight ban on curbside parking and adopt a storm-by-storm approach, similar to Burlington's.
“The goal is to only use a winter parking ban when it’s really necessary,” says Winooski Mayor Seth Leonard.
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Following last week's terrorist attacks in Paris, two Republican candidates — Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and retired Wall Street banker Bruce Lisman — told Vermont Public Radio Tuesday that they would like to temporarily halt the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the United States. Authorities have blamed the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria for the attacks, which killed at least 129 people, but news accounts have indicated that most, if not all, of the suspects were French and Belgian nationals.
On Thursday, Democratic candidate Matt Dunne accused his Republican opponents of "playing to our worst fears."
"I have to say that when I heard Phil Scott's position on it, I was extremely disappointed," said Dunne, a community affairs director at Google and a former state senator. "I would have hoped that Phil would be someone who would not just fall in line with the right-wing Republicans in Congress."
Meanwhile, Scott appeared to walk back the tone, if not the substance, of his comments.
"When asked what I would do, I probably should have gone a little further to explain that I don't understand the situation and I certainly don't feel like we can pause or stop the refugee program in its entirety," he said. "But I do honestly feel the highest obligation of any government is to ensure the safety and security of every citizen."
Tags: Syrian refugees , Vermont , Matt Dunne , Phil Scott , Sue Minter , Bruce Lisman , Peter Shumlin , Image , Web Only