Tuesday, May 31, 2016
The work is expected to begin this fall and continue through 2017 at the guard base, which is on land leased from Vermont's largest airport. The city of Burlington owns the airport, located in South Burlington.
The construction will not include the main runway, which military planes share with commercial carriers coming in and out of BTV, according to airport and guard officials.
Tags: Vermont Air Guard , F-35 , BTV , Image , Web Only
Monday, May 30, 2016
Shumlin wouldn’t say Monday whether he will veto S. 230, a bill that is supposed to give local communities more say in the siting of wind and solar energy projects. But he said his staff is poring over the legislation’s details.
“We’re still trying to figure out what it does,” Shumlin said Monday morning as he prepared to march in the Vergennes Memorial Day parade. “You know, I love the bill. I love the part that gives the public more say in decisions. I think we’re trying to figure out what was cobbled together in the halls actually does.”
Tags: Peter Shumlin , Shap Smith , Chris Bray , Tony Klein , veto , Image , Web Only
The transgender man attacked last week in a homeless encampment off Pine Street has died of his injuries, Burlington police said.
Amos Beede, 38, of Milton, died early Sunday, police said.
Police initially said they were investigating the attack as a possible "bias incident." Police Chief Brandon del Pozo released a subsequent statement:
The deceased was a transgender person who identified as male. The investigation suggests motives on the part of perpetrators independent of this fact. The department has not ruled out the victim's transgender status as a possible additional motive, and will seek to determine what role, if any, it may have played as the investigation continues. Until the attendant facts are clarified, we will continue to view this homicide as a possible bias incident. We will release further information as it develops.VPR reported that police were seeking two "persons of interest" in the case: Erik Averill, 21, and Myia Barber, 23, who were described as local transients.
The Pride Center of Vermont posted a statement mourning Beede's death:
Amos, a resident of Milton, was a well-known figure along Church Street and within the homeless community. "Whenever he came into the Pride Center of Vermont, the first thing he’d do is pet my colleague's dog, Georgia, and give her a big hello," said executive director Kim Fountain. "He was always very cheerful when he came in to visit and spend time with his friends. He was out about being a transgender man and I think he felt at home at the Pride Center."Beede suffered multiple blunt force injuries to his head and face on May 22, police said, resulting in broken bones and a subdural hematoma. The attack occurred near the Barge Canal.
Tags: Burlington police , homicide , homeless , Amos Beede , Image , Web Only
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lisman, taken to task earlier this month for a campaign flier that targets rival Phil Scott, has ramped up his attack with a second flier just a week later.
Both of the mailings seek to link Scott, the three-term lieutenant governor, with departing Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin. Scott and Lisman are competing in the August primary for the Republican nomination for governor.
The new flier includes a photo of Scott and Shumlin laughing together overlooking what appears to be Lake Champlain. “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words. Phil Scott Won’t Change Vermont’s Direction,” it declares.
Tags: Bruce Lisman , Phil Scott , Peter Shumlin , H. Brooke Paige , Image , Web Only
Friday, May 27, 2016
Apparently, it really was only a dream.
On Friday afternoon, Trump retracted the commitment he made Wednesday night on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to debate the senator from Vermont. In a statement issued by his campaign, Trump said it “seems inappropriate that I would debate the second place finisher.” He also complained that television networks appeared unwilling to donate millions of dollars to charity in exchange for hosting such an event.
Tags: Senator , Donald Trump , Bernie Sanders , presidential campaign , debates , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
"I really had no idea what to expect," Pearson said.
Within hours, Sanders had emailed his massive list of donors asking for donations to Pearson's campaign and those of seven other state legislative candidates — from South Carolina to South Dakota. That night, as Pearson was walking to dinner, he logged in to his online fundraising platform and found that the appeal had already generated $30,000 in donations.
"I just about fell over," he said. "I was totally stunned."
By Friday afternoon, that number had doubled: According to Pearson, 12,185 Sanders supporters had donated $60,500 to his campaign. That's far more than candidates typically spend to compete in the six-member Chittenden County Senate district — and more than the roughly $40,000 Pearson had hoped to raise.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Chris Pearson , presidential campaign , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
They’re running as D’s.
The Vermont Progressive Party has made a conscious decision to encourage more of its candidates to seek office by running in the Democratic primary first. They will simultaneously seek write-in votes in the Progressive primary, aiming to have both party lines in the November general election.
“It tends to be the winning strategy,” said party chair Emma Mulvaney-Stanak. “You can limit the competition.”
Tags: Vermont Progressive Party , David Zuckerman , Emma Mulvaney-Stanak , Boots Wardinski , Image , Web Only
Thursday, May 26, 2016
A spokesman for Sanders dismissed the allegation as “preposterous,” “politically instigated” and an example of an outrageous personal attack.
Toensing, a lawyer, said he was following up on a request he made in January for a federal investigation of Sanders’ wife in her former role as president of Burlington College. Toensing alleged then that in applying for a loan to purchase a new campus, O’Meara Sanders overstated by nearly $2 million the amount of donations the college had received.
On Thursday, Toensing told a federal prosecutor he had new information.
“I was recently approached and informed that Senator Bernie Sanders’ office improperly pressured People’s United Bank to approve the loan application,” Toensing said in letters to U.S. Attorney Eric Miller and to Fred Gibson Jr., the acting inspector general of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
In an interview, Toensing declined to reveal who approached him or what evidence the person offered. Asked what kind of pressure was allegedly exerted, he said, “The bank was told to get it done.”
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Burlington College , Jane O'Meara Sanders , People's United Bank , presidential campaign , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
The photo depicts Lisman’s rival candidate, Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, applauding as he stands close to Gov. Peter Shumlin. It was taken in January 2015 by VPR news staffer Angela Evancie at Shumlin’s inaugural address, over which Scott, as lieutenant governor, presided.
Lisman’s campaign didn’t ask permission to use it, and if it had, VPR would have said no, said John Dillon, the station’s news director.
“It’s outrageous that they felt free to use the photo. This is copyrighted content, and it’s just plain wrong to use other people’s property without permission,” Dillon said. “We’ve never allowed our photos to be used by political campaigns.”
Tags: Bruce Lisman , Phil Scott , Vermont Public Radio , Peter Kunin , media note , Image , Web Only
Police said they were called to an encampment near the Barge Canal and found a 38-year-old man suffering from head trauma around 11 a.m. The victim, whose name has not been released, was taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center and was being treated for facial fractures, a subdural hematoma and several broken ribs, police said.
Police said the initial prognosis was that the victim would recover quickly. But his condition worsened: The man remains unconscious "with the prospect of recovery now uncertain," police said.
Tags: Burlington , crime , homeless , Pine Street , transgender , Image , Web Only