Thursday, June 30, 2016
“I’ve been straight up that we do not want this event back in our community in 2017,” Colchester Police Chief Jennifer Morrison announced at a public meeting Wednesday.
Trash, trespassing, drunks and parking problems made the mega-flotilla on Lake Champlain a mess last year, some residents said at the police department meeting to address public concerns as the event looms.
Tags: raftapalooza , Colchester , Thayer Beach , Image , Web Only
DFR said the settlement stems from misconduct in Raymond James' Miami office. That's where Jay Peak Resort co-owner Ariel Quiros held several accounts. The Securities and Exchange Commission says he used the accounts in a web of transactions to defraud EB-5 investors and misappropriate more than $200 million.
Raymond James allowed Quiros to inappropriately transfer $13 million in EB-5 investor funds to purchase Jay Peak, and failed to obtain documentation establishing Quiros' control over the investors' funds, among other violations, according to the settlement.
The bulk of the settlement money — $4.5 million — will be used to compensate investors who claim they were defrauded, DFR said. Under the EB-5 program, foreign investors offer a minimum of $500,000 for projects in exchange for green cards.
Tags: Bill Stenger , Ariel Quiros , EB-5 , Jay Peak , Raymond James , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
The company plans to buy the distinctive 19th-century red-brick Winooski Block building atop the city's roundabout, home to Scout & Co. and other businesses. Redstone also has a contract to buy two smaller residential properties a few doors down at 33 and 41 East Allen Street.
The acquisitions would add to the company's growing real estate portfolio in downtown Winooski.
Redstone recently announced plans for an entertainment venue called the Strand, which would be built across Main Street from the Winooski Block building. On Tuesday, the Winooski City Council came out in support of that proposal.
Tags: Redstone , the Strand , Winooski Block , Seth Leonard , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
The proposal stems from an agreement hammered out last week. It would preempt Vermont’s GMO labeling law, which takes effect Friday.
Sanders’ procedural maneuver prevents the bill from being considered unless it gets at least 60 votes, according to Sanders’ spokesman Josh Miller-Lewis. The bill has yet to be introduced and timing of any votes is unknown, he said.
Meanwhile, Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said Tuesday that he will also oppose the federal bill. Last week, Leahy had said he was considering the proposal.
Tags: Senator , GMO labeling , Patrick Leahy , Bernie Sanders , Peter Shumlin , presidential campaign , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
In the wake of the June 12 Orlando nightclub shooting that killed 49 people, Vermont's eight mayors called for a measure that they say would increase safety while respecting the rights of gun owners. Some of the mayors first pushed for background checks after the 2012 murders of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
"In the three years since [Newtown], we have seen a terrible series of massacres across the country, [but] we have seen no action from Congress and very little action by state leaders," Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said during a press conference at the city's police station. "It would be better for the federal government to act, but in the absence of that, state and local leaders must act."
Tags: Miro Weinberger , John Hollar , Seth Leonard , Thom Lauzon , Phil Scott , Peter Shumlin , guns , firearms , suicide , police , mental illness , Image , Web Only
Jack Wallace and Chuck DesLauriers hope to get the necessary permits and start constructing the Burlington Harbor Marina, located between the U.S. Coast Guard Station and the Burlington fishing pier, by next year. The 160-slip facility would be completed by either late in the 2017 boating season or at the start of the 2018 one.
The marina would be surrounded by a floating breakwater that doubles as a public walkway, allowing people to stroll out on to the lake. The design also includes public restrooms and a small public park on what is currently the fishing pier parking lot. A water taxi would shuttle people to North Beach, Oakledge Park and other lakeside locations in between.
The city agreed to a 40-year lease Monday night which calls for the marina owners to pay them $27,500, plus 5 percent of revenue above $565,000 during the first year, and $55,000, plus 5 percent of revenue above $1.13 million in subsequent years.
Tags: Burlington Harbor Marina , Burlington city council , Lake Champlain , Charles DesLauriers , Jack Wallace , Image , Web Only
Monday, June 27, 2016
It won unanimous approval.
The $200 million budget for fiscal year 2017 will result in a slight decrease in the municipal tax rate — 1 cent per 100 dollars in property value. (Don't expect a smaller bill, however, because the invoice you get in the mail includes both city and school taxes.)
The budget sets aside more money for infrastructure improvements, such as sidewalk and bike path renovations, and repairs to city-owned buildings. It also includes additional funding for the police department, allowing it to maintain a force of 100 officers while funding other positions such as a data analyst who will examine opiate-related issues. And it funds a new community center to be located in what was Saint Joseph School in the Old North End.
Tags: Mayor Miro Weinberger , Burlington city council , budget , Image , Web Only
A group of housing advocates, elected officials, developers and other local leaders are banding together to get 3,500 homes built in Chittenden County over the next five years.
The new coalition, led by the Champlain Housing Trust, Housing Vermont and the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, has about 100 members. Monday morning, roughly 50 of them gathered outside a CHT housing development in South Burlington to announce the new initiative, dubbed Building Homes Together.
“I think we all get it now,” said Kevin Dorn, the South Burlington city manager. “We need housing across a broad spectrum of affordability.” He added: “It’s gonna take a regional approach to get this done.”
Tags: Champlain Housing Trust , Housing Vermont , Chittenden County , Miro Weinberger , housing affordability , Image , Web Only
Friday, June 24, 2016
Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager and a native Vermonter, was asking Sanders’ delegates to get behind Clinton for a peaceful convention in Philadelphia in July, several delegates said afterward. It appeared no promises were made.
“We’re still processing,” said Rep. Mary Sullivan (D-Burlington), a pledged Sanders delegate, as she came out of the meeting at the Hilton Burlington.
Tags: Senator , Robby Mook , Bernie Sanders , Hillary Clinton , Vermont Democratic Party , presidential campaign , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
Since losing California to Clinton more than two weeks ago, Sanders has alternately sounded a combative and a conciliatory tone. In a speech Thursday night in New York City called "Where we go from here," he largely avoided mentioning his Democratic rival and pledged to continue fighting for his progressive priorities.
But asked directly Friday morning on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" whether he would vote for Clinton this fall, Sanders provided an unambiguous response.
"Yes," he said. "Yeah, I think the issue right here is, I'm going to do everything I can to defeat Donald Trump."
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , presidential campaign , Recommended Reading , Image , Video , Web Only