Four days after a federal court judge in Miami gave him control over the Q Burke Hotel in Vermont, Michael Goldberg was in East Burke on Tuesday showing the property to two potential buyers.

“It will be sold eventually. It’s not going to be sold right away,” said Goldberg, who was appointed by the federal court to oversee several Vermont properties involved in an alleged funding scandal.

Ariel Quiros and Bill Stenger, developers of Q Burke and six other Northeast Kingdom projects funded through the federal EB-5 visa program, were charged April 14 by federal and state authorities with misusing the money and misleading investors.

City councilors seemed torn between excitement and wariness Monday night as they discussed an agreement they’re being asked to sign with the New York developer who’s planning a massive overhaul of the downtown mall. 

They heard from dozens of prominent businesspeople, architects, construction executives and even a few inveterate environmental activists, who exhorted them to go ahead and sign what’s called a pre-development agreement, spelling out the public and private responsibilities for the project.

Mayor Miro Weinberger and Police Chief Brandon del Pozo say the Queen City needs a better informed and more coordinated approach to address opiate abuse. They’re hoping two new positions will accomplish that.

The city is advertising for an “opiate operations policy manager” who will be responsible for getting all the local groups that deal with opiate-related issues — from treatment providers to probation officers — to work together.

“We have a lot of hardworking organizations that leave value on the table by not coordinating with each other, and the city wants to take responsibility for that coordination,” del Pozo said.

In contrast to Rutland, where officials and residents have been widely praised for their efforts to address opiate addiction through a program called Project VISION, officials say Burlington has lacked a unified approach. 

Since last fall, however, the mayor has been attempting to improve coordination informally by holding regular meetings with these organizations. Now they are seeking a full-time manager to take on this task. He or she will make between $64,000 and $77,000 and will report to del Pozo.

A former Alburgh selectboard member pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday to drug trafficking charges and agreed to forfeit $75,000, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Bernard Savage pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute powder cocaine and oxycodone between 2014 and June 2015, when his home was raided by investigators. Savage, who faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, will be sentenced at a later date.

After his July arrest, Savage told Seven Days that he had no intentions of resigning his seat on the Alburgh Selectboard, even after fellow board members pressured him to step down. He resigned in October.

The Vermont Retail & Grocers Association has been shopping two changes to the law that mandates labeling of products containing genetically modified ingredients to smooth the law’s implementation.

One change would prevent consumers from suing should they find non-labeled products on store shelves during the 18 months immediately after the law takes effect. This change would allow retailers time to clear their inventory of products that were legally distributed without labels prior to July 1, said Jim Harrison, president of the retail and grocers association.

The second change would give an exemption to the labeling of food prepared in stores — such as potato salad, sandwiches and baked goods, Harrison said. 

“It wasn’t our feeling that these materially change the law,” Harrison said.

The Vermont Right to Know GMOs coalition has opposed any changes to the law. Andrea Stander of Rural Vermont said retailers have had plenty of time to work out how to deal with inventory and comply with the law.

“This is all part of a national effort to undermine the Vermont law,” Stander said. For example, national grocery and snack food organizations have sued the state, challenging the legality of the law. The lawsuit is pending.

The Senate Appropriations Committee included a provision in the budget bill that would delay the date when consumers could sue over the lack of GMO labels, but not for as long as Harrison wanted. The Senate proposed ending the protection a year after the law takes effect.

“It is a way to protect our small retailers,” said Senate Appropriations Chair Jane Kitchel (D-Caledonia). Product turnover isn’t always speedy in small stores, she said, noting that “a lot of items like pasta have long shelf life.”

Kitchel added, “In no way would this alter the underlying labeling requirements.” The Senate budget bill doesn’t address the exemption for food made in stores.

The House version of the budget didn’t include the provision delaying consumer lawsuits, so the two chambers will have to negotiate whether it is included in the final budget bill.

Todd Daloz, an assistant attorney general, said his office would prefer that lawmakers make no changes to the law so close to the time of its implementation. Daloz noted that the office of the attorney general had established a rule that gives retailers six months to clear their inventories of non-labeled stock.

“Our main goal in the first six to twelve months is enabling compliance,” Daloz said.

He noted that delaying when consumers could sue over non-labeling would not affect enforcement by the attorney general’s office.

Daloz said he opposed granting an exemption to products made in stores. Those could contain the same genetically modified ingredients as items made by big manufacturers, he said.

Attorney General Bill Sorrell wrote a memo in late March advising how his office would enforce the law. “Our enforcement priorities will focus on willful violations of the labeling law,” he wrote. “Thus even after January 1, 2017, we do not expect to bring enforcement cases based solely on a company’s failure to remove improperly labeled products that were distributed before July 1, 2016.”

In the week and a half since federal and state authorities accused a pair of Northeast Kingdom developers of massive fraud, some of the state’s most powerful politicians have sought to walk back their support for the projects. 

But there’s one top pol who has little walking-back to do.

Doug Hoffer, the Democratic and Progressive state auditor, has long been critical of the federal EB-5 investor visa program, which the developers used to attract more than $350 million in foreign financing. Under EB-5, those who invest $500,000 in certain economic development projects are eligible for a green card; if they can later show the investment generated 10 jobs, they and their families can become permanent residents of the U.S. 

In a March 2012 interview with Seven Days, most of which was never published, Hoffer questioned the program’s moral underpinnings, its economic utility and its oversight structure. At the time, he called EB-5 “offensive on some levels” because it allows those with means to bypass the nation’s restrictive immigration procedures. 

“It’s a policy that rewards wealth with citizenship,” he said. “They don’t need to wait in line like everybody else.”

Democratic leaders of the Vermont House sought to quash a resolution Friday calling on Gov. Peter Shumlin to publicly release emails his legal counsel attempted to delete. 

The non-binding measure, sponsored by Rep. Chris Pearson (P-Burlington), asks the administration to hand over email accounts belonging to five former Shumlin staff members who left state employ more than three years ago. Shumlin’s lawyer, Sarah London, asked a state information technology officer earlier this month to delete the accounts as part of its archiving process. Critics have questioned whether her request was prompted by a looming crackdown on two politically connected Northeast Kingdom developers — a charge the administration has repeatedly denied. 

Speaking on the House floor Friday afternoon, Pearson argued that the Shumlin administration could easily restore trust by handing over the emails. 

“The point is that there’s an assertion of no wrongdoing,” he said. “Maybe it’s perfectly standard. But we have the opportunity to verify that. We’ve gotta shine some light on this and make sure nothing suspicious is happening.”

Rep. Willem Jewett (D-Ripton), vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee and a former majority leader, disagreed. He said that Pearson’s request could interfere with ongoing federal and state enforcement actions against the developers, Ariel Quiros and Bill Stenger, who have been accused of fraud. 

“I think we need to stand firm and respect the investigations that are ongoing,” he said. “We need to acknowledge how serious this is and the harm this has done and will continue to do.”

Updated at 1:00 p.m. on 4/25/2016 with information from Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained a Mexican farmworker and prominent migrant rights activist in Vermont Thursday, according to a friend who was with him at the time.

Victor Diaz was about to enter Green Goddess Cafe in Stowe for a Mexican food event when two officers in plainclothes asked for his name. After he complied, they apprehended him, said Enrique Balcazar, a fellow organizer also from Mexico.

ICE released a statement late Friday saying that 24-year-old Diaz became an “enforcement priority” after he was convicted for a DUI last November. It described him as a citizen of Mexico and noted that he “will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.”

Balcazar said the agents, who showed badges, did not question him. 

On Friday, members of the group Migrant Justice and other supporters crowded into the foyer of Sen. Patrick Leahy’s Burlington office, demanding that he intervene on Diaz’s behalf.

The massive fraud case that has gripped Vermont for the past week is poised to enter the legislative arena. 

The Vermont House is scheduled to debate a resolution Friday calling on Gov. Peter Shumlin to release a batch of emails his legal counsel sought to delete earlier this month. The governor's critics have suggested the request was prompted by a looming crackdown on two Northeast Kingdom developers with close ties to Shumlin — a charge his administration has adamantly denied. 

Rep. Chris Pearson (P-Burlington), who heads the House Progressive caucus, says there's an easy way to put to rest any lingering questions.

"I agree with a whole lot of Vermonters that something seems very fishy here," he said. "But I'm not asserting anything. I'm saying: Show us the emails and prove it to us."

Updated at 11:24 a.m.

For the past two decades, a series of distant media corporations has owned Vermont’s Brattleboro Reformer, Bennington Banner and Manchester Journal. 

Next month, that’s set to change. 

The papers announced Thursday that a group of Stockbridge, Mass., residents plans to buy New England Newspapers next month from New York-based Digital First Media. The sale includes the buyers’ local paper, the Pittsfield, Mass.-based Berkshire Eagle, along with the three Vermont properties. 

“For local journalism, for local readers, for community newspapering, it’s like winning the lottery,” said Kevin Moran, vice president of news at New England Newspapers. 

The new ownership group, called Birdland Acquisition, includes three Stockbridge residents: former VISA president John “Hans” Morris, former Pittsfield District Court judge Fredric Rutberg, and M&T Bank chair and CEO Robert Wilmers. Former Buffalo News publisher Stanford Lipsey is also part of the group.