Update 2/26/2016: Mayor Miro Weinberger has announced that the city won't prosecute people wearing masks during the upcoming Mardi Gras festivities.

Until recently, it was an ordinance few people knew existed. But after a couple of questionable incidents — and a subsequent push by the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont and a group of “furries” — city councilors appear poised to roll back a longstanding ban on masks in Burlington.

The ordinance in question prohibits anyone age 21 or older from wearing masks, hoods or other face-obscuring garments in public places. According to the Vermont Historical Society, it was originally passed in response to local Ku Klux Klan activity.

On Tuesday, the three members of the Ordinance Committee voted to send to the full city council a significantly scaled-back version that would outlaw masks only when a person is breaking the law or harassing someone else.

Oddly enough, an attempt to enforce the mask ban at an anti-Ku Klux Klan rally held in November 2015, helped spark an effort to overturn the ordinance. 

Gov. Peter Shumlin used an executive order last spring to remove questions about criminal records from applications for state jobs, thereby giving all applicants a fair chance of being considered for employment openings.

Now the House Committee on General, Housing & Military Affairs is considering a bill that would ban private employers from requiring job applicants to disclose their criminal history on the initial job application. The bill would allow employers to query applicants later in the process, such as during interviews. That approach would let applicants explain their records and possibly provide character references.

A $60 million, 6,000-seat arena that would host University of Vermont hockey and basketball games — as well as conventions and concerts — could sprout in South Burlington's new downtown.  

Two locations top the list of possible sites: the parcel now occupied by the Rick Marcotte Central School adjacent to Williston Road and the ailing University Mall property on Dorset Street. 

City and UVM officials debuted the idea Tuesday at a press conference. They announced the formation of a joint committee to study construction of a 230,000-square-foot, multi-purpose arena, tentatively named the Catamount Center.

"This facility would provide a high-quality venue for UVM sports and other programs, concerts, family entertainment like Disney on Ice, and also provide convention and trade-show facilities that this area badly needs," said Kevin Dorn, South Burlington city manager. 

He went on to say the arena could provide a "powerful economic stimulus" for the region and become part of South Burlington's pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use City Center proposal. The city would own the facility, but seek financial assistance to build it from UVM and its donor base. Tax-increment financing and local-options taxes also might be tools to help fund the arena, according Dorn.  
  
UVM has considered building a new sports complex — both on and off campus — for at least two decades. Tom Gustafson, vice president for university relations and administration, said at the press conference that the school is proud of its Division I athletes. "We're somewhat less proud of some of our facilities at the university," Gustafson said. "We've been looking at what we can do with them, given the fact that  they were built at a time when our student body was about a third of the size it is today."

Bob Corran, UVM associate vice president & director of athletics, also spoke about the inadequacy of current facilities. He said they do not meet the standard "we see at the Division I level, and they certainly are not at a level which really encourages our recruiting efforts."

The new South Burlington arena would seat 5,000 for athletic events and as many as 6,000 people for concerts. That plan could change depending on the findings of market studies. 

UVM's hockey team now plays at Gutterson Field House, which has a capacity of about 4,000 and frequently sells out  games. The basketball team plays at the 1963 Roy L. Patrick Gymnasium, which has about 3,200 seats. 

UVM is keeping other options open and is talking with the city of Burlington about potential partnerships for athletics at Memorial Auditorium, Gustafson said. The city of Burlington is planning to seek proposals for redevelopment of the auditorium parcel downtown at Main Street and South Union.   

The study committee will produce a report by August 15 for UVM President Tom Sullivan and Dorn, who will then send the report to the UVM trustees and South Burlington City Council for consideration. 
The committee will explore locations, design needs, legal issues and financing. Both sites mentioned Tuesday are equally practical, Dorn said, although the renderings of the proposed facility focused on the Marcotte School parcel. The video and renderings showed new pedestrian access from Williston Road and connections to the downtown-style development that South Burlington leaders have been trying to build in the core of the suburb for decades. 
 
Thus far, the South Burlington School Board has declined offers to sell the 11-acre Marcotte School, which remains in operation. Some parents don't want to see the school shuttered. The arena proposal could put new pressure on the school board, which is currently weighing options.

Meanwhile the owners of the University Mall have already announced their desire to revamp the aging retail center into a mixed-use development in line with the general goals of the South Burlington City Center vision. The arena would likely take up just a portion of the mall's acreage, if it advances. Todd Finard, who co-owns the mall, gave approval to have the site considered in the arena study.

Dorn said that the city will seek approval from the Vermont Economic Progress Council to include the mall property in the South Burlington City Center's existing tax-increment financing district. The city is hoping for authorization from the state board by the summer. 

Marcotte school is already part of the City Center TIF district. If TIF subsidies are tapped for the arena, South Burlington city voters would first have to authorize bonds in connection with the project. Such a vote could happen as early as November, but would be more likely for spring of 2017, if the arena project moves forward. 

Gov. Peter Shumlin won a promise from the state treasurer and the Vermont Pension Investment Committee that they would consider his call for divesting from coal and ExxonMobil stocks.

The governor proposed divestment in his State of the State speech in January. Treasurer Beth Pearce has pushed back, saying that decisions about pension investments should be based on financial criteria, not political considerations.

But after Shumlin made his pitch to the pension investment committee Tuesday morning, citing financial — as well as moral — reasons to divest from coal and ExxonMobil, Pearce said, “I am committed to a full vetting of the issues.”

Representatives of organizations lobbying for divestment welcomed the thawing in the stance that Pearce and the panel had taken. “I see it as progress, although not as fast as any of us who support this want to see,” said Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group.

The estate of a founder of Burlington College has filed a lawsuit alleging the struggling institution spent donated scholarship funds on other expenses.

G. Jason Conway, who was also a longtime professor at Burlington College before he died in 2010, included the school in his will. According to a complaint filed in Chittenden Superior Court by the executrix of his estate, Marjorie Lemay, Conway's $70,000 endowed funds were to "remain intact," with the interest or income on the principal used each year for student scholarships.

The news site VTDigger.org reported in August 2014 that college officials, who received the money in two installments in 2011 and 2012, used $50,000 for other purposes. Lemay’s lawsuit, first reported by the Burlington Free Press, makes the same claim. 

The complaint states that on October 2, 2012, Lemay met with then-president Christine Plunkett, who acknowledged that the funds had been spent. It also alleges that in an email sent 10 days later, Plunkett wrote, “The decision to borrow funds from the endowment was not taken lightly and was agreed to only with the understanding that the loan was temporary due to extreme financial circumstances and would be repaid in as timely a manner as possible.”

That still hasn’t happened, according to the complaint.

A bill that would legalize the sale and possession of marijuana in Vermont starting in 2018 is headed to the Senate floor for debate Wednesday afternoon.

The bill nicked its way through the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday, passing by a 4-3 vote, including the support of one member who says she’ll vote against it on the Senate floor. “I think the debate on the floor is important,” said Sen. Diane Snelling (R-Chittenden), in explaining her vote.

A Vermont Public Radio poll released Monday showed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) with a huge lead in his home state over rival Hillary Clinton. Sanders had the backing of 78 percent of those likely to vote in the Democratic presidential primary on March 1, compared with 13 percent for Clinton.

Those who would vote as Republicans, meanwhile, favored businessman Donald Trump, who had the support of 33 percent of likely primary voters. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich trailed with 14 percent each.

The same poll indicated that Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott had a commanding lead over other declared candidates for governor, but that Vermonters aren’t paying much attention to that race yet.

The poll, conducted by the Castleton Polling Institute from February 3-17, posed to 895 Vermonters a host of questions about political races and public policy, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percent. Full results are available at www.vpr.net. 

An Irasburg couple, whom authorities alleged ran one of the most elaborate deer poaching operations in Vermont history, recently agreed to a plea deal that saw them lose their hunting privileges but avoid prison.

In Orleans Superior Court earlier this month, Wayne Dion pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failure to tag big game and no contest to misdemeanor charges of baiting deer and taking deer out of season. Jennie Dion pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of possessing a deer taken by illegal means.

Wayne Dion, 67, was ordered to pay more than $2,500 in fines and restitution. Jennie Dion, 65, was ordered to pay $1,500 in fines and restitution.

As part of the agreement, both will lose their hunting licenses for five years, Orleans County State's Attorney Jennifer Barrett said in an interview.

Nearly 300 people showed up Saturday morning to the New York-New York Hotel & Casino to take part in Nevada's Democratic presidential caucuses. 

Six of them couldn't decide whether to support Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) or former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

It took the undecideds 12 minutes to make up their minds. During that time, Sanders and Clinton precinct captains lobbied them individually, answered their questions and delivered brief speeches seeking to persuade them. All the while, reporters swarmed around them and activists on either side of the room chanted their respective candidates' names. 

Here's what it looked like:


In the end, the six undecideds split evenly between the two Democratic candidates. 

Overall, 196 people at the New York-New York caucus site supported Clinton, while 97 supported Sanders. Clinton earned 23 county-level delegates, while Sanders picked up 11.

Updated Sunday, February 21, at 1:43 a.m.

After falling short in the Nevada caucuses, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) vowed Saturday afternoon to fight on to the Democratic National Convention. 

"It is clear to me and, I think, most observers that the wind is [at] our backs. We have the momentum," he told supporters at the Henderson Pavilion, 10 miles southeast of the Las Vegas strip. "I believe when Democrats assemble in Philadelphia in July at that convention, we are going to see the results of one of the great political upsets in history."

With 95 percent of precincts counted, Sanders was trailing former secretary of state Hillary Clinton 52.7 to 47.2 percent. Clinton was on track to collect 19 delegates, while Sanders was in line for 15. 

In his brief concession speech delivered to a small crowd in an open-air amphitheater, Sanders argued that his strong showing in Nevada proved he could compete with a candidate long seen as the inevitable nominee.