Saturday, September 24, 2016
“Should the people of our state hire me for this important job, I will sell my portion of the company before taking office and will therefore be completely separated from DuBois Construction,” Scott said, standing alongside his co-owner and cousin, Don DuBois.
Scott and DuBois have co-owned the company for 30 years. Founded by DuBois’ father and uncles, it celebrated its 70th anniversary Saturday.
The move comes after Scott faced criticism from opponents that a previous plan to create a blind trust would be insufficient to wall him off from a company that bids on state contracts.
“At first, I thought a blind trust would work,” said Scott, who currently serves as lieutenant governor. After his Republican rival, retired Wall Street banker Bruce Lisman, slammed Scott over the issue during the primary election, he said he reconsidered.
Tags: Phil Scott , Don DuBois , DuBois Construction , Sue Minter , Bruce Lisman , Peter Shumlin , Image , Web Only
Friday, September 23, 2016
The University of Vermont renamed its medical college to honor an alumnus who has donated a total of $100 million to the school.
Dr. Robert Larner, a Burlington native who went on to have a successful medical career in Los Angeles, committed $66 million to his alma mater in his estate, school administrators said Friday at an event outside the Given Medical Building.
“Let me say that again — I want to be perfectly clear — $100 million in total contributions,” UVM President Tom Sullivan, flanked by medical students in white coats, announced to a standing ovation from a few hundred people who gathered to celebrate the gift.
The UVM board of trustees last week approved the name change to the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at the University of Vermont.
Officials live-streamed Friday’s event so that Larner, his wife, Helen, and their family could watch from across the country.
Tags: Robert Larner , University of Vermont , UVM Medical School , Image , Web Only
Thursday, September 22, 2016
"Despite what you'll hear from my opponent's party and my opponents at large, I'm pro-choice. I support marriage equality. And I support equal pay for equal work," the GOP nominee said.
But despite his best efforts, Scott was at an obvious disadvantage throughout the Statehouse forum, which was sponsored by the Vermont Commission on Women, the League of Women Voters, and Business and Professional Women/Vermont. Put simply, his Democratic rival, former transportation secretary Sue Minter, had a bit more experience with the subjects at hand.
"Like a majority of Vermont women, I've lived this," she said, referring to the gap in wages between men and women. "I've worked hard — probably harder than many of my male counterparts — and known that I was probably earning less."
Tags: Sue Minter , Phil Scott , Bill Lee , Vermont Commission on Women , Image , Web Only
An off-duty Vermont National Guard airman crashed a small private plane on a Lake Champlain island around noon Monday and left the scene with his passenger — another airman — apparently without calling police.
Local authorities found out about the badly damaged Piper PA-11 on Savage Island only after the pilot of another small plane noticed the wreckage six hours later while flying over the 207-acre island, according to Grand Isle County Sheriff Ray Allen.
That pilot radioed the tower at Burlington International Airport to report it. The tower staff contacted Vermont State Police, who in turn patched in Allen around 6 p.m.
Allen mobilized a massive response to what he thought was an active crash scene.
Tags: plane crash , Savage Island , Vermont Air National Guard , Image , Web Only
Dooley, a 72-year-old New Hampshire native who attended Boston College Law School, was appointed to the bench in 1987 by former governor Madeleine Kunin. He had previously served as her secretary of administration.
Dooley, a South Burlington resident, told the news station he'll step down when his term ends in March.
Tags: Vermont Supreme Court , John Dooley , Madeleine Kunin , Image , Web Only
The union has assailed the move as unfair and said it would breed “chaos” — perhaps making a not-so-veiled reference to the union’s right to strike.
Burlington Education Association president Fran Brock urged the board this week to come back to the table. “There is only one way to come back from the brink, and that is for the board to rescind the imposition and reach an agreement with us,” Brock said in a prepared statement.
It’s unusual for a Vermont school board to impose working conditions. It’s happened only about 20 times since 1969, according to the Vermont-NEA, which represents thousands of teachers in the state.
Tags: Burlington , union , education , Burlington Education Association , Vermont-NEA , Image , Web Only
With just months remaining in Gov. Peter Shumlin’s administration, his top cabinet official is preparing to take a spin through Montpelier’s revolving door. Secretary of Administration Justin Johnson plans to leave state government next Friday for a gig with the Vermont lobbying firm MMR.
According to MMR president Andrew MacLean, the Australian-born public servant will launch a new practice focused on helping business and government meet new climate regulations.
“Justin brings with him more than 20 years of state, local and federal government experience in the US, Australia and abroad, and will be a great asset to our dynamic firm,” MacLean said in a statement.
Replacing Johnson through the remainder of Shumlin’s tenure, which ends in January, will be Agency of Natural Resources Deputy Secretary Trey Martin. He has some experience following Johnson, having succeeded him nearly two years ago in the No. 2 position at ANR.
Johnson’s move to a powerful Montpelier lobbying firm is sure to raise eyebrows, but both MacLean and Shumlin spokeswoman Sue Allen insisted Thursday that it was perfectly legal.
The Executive Code of Ethics, which Shumlin signed in July 2011, bars former appointees such as Johnson from lobbying “any public body or … the state legislature” on matters in which the state has “a direct and substantial interest” and “in which the appointee had participated personally and substantively while in state employ.”
Tags: Justin Johnson , Peter Shumlin , Trey Martin , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
But will the nonpartisan organization be haunted by the shadow of Lisman’s recent failed bid for governor? That remains to be seen.
At least two Lisman associates have joined Campaign for Vermont this week. Ben Kinsley, who will take over as the group’s new executive director, spent the last several months working as the Republican Lisman’s gubernatorial campaign field director.
And Pam Mackenzie, a former South Burlington city council chair, will replace founding member Tom Pelham on the organization’s board. Mackenzie prominently supported Lisman’s run for governor.
The two appointments could make it all the more difficult for Campaign for Vermont to persuade state residents that the group really is nonpartisan, which it long has argued. After a sometimes-bruising primary campaign between Lisman and Republican gubernatorial nominee Phil Scott, how would Kinsley fare in lobbying the Scott administration if the candidate defeats Democrat Sue Minter in November?
Tags: Bruce Lisman , Campaign for Vermont , Ben Kinsley , Pam Mackenzie , Tom Pelham , election 2016 , Image , Web Only
Connelly attracted national attention in early June by announcing he would give the Hardwick Gazette to whomever submitted the most compelling 400-word essay, along with a required $175 entry fee. He determined that he would need at least 700 entries to make the arrangement financially viable.
When he didn’t hit that mark, Connelly extended the deadline, from August 11 to September 20.
Now, he says, he’s pushing it back one last time.
Tags: Hardwick Gazette , essay contest , Vermont , Ross Connelly , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
The New England First Amendment Coalition wants officials to release body camera videos of the incident so the public can evaluate Franklin County Sheriff's Deputy Nicholas Palmier's decision to open fire on Jesse Beshaw, 29, after a brief foot chase Friday evening in downtown Winooski.
Beshaw, the subject of an arrest warrant for burglary and unlawful mischief, approached Palmier with his right hand behind his back and did not respond to Palmier's verbal commands, Vermont State Police said. He was shot seven times and died at the scene.
Tags: Winooski police , Burlington police , Jesse Beshaw , Rick Hebert , New England First Amendment Coalition , public records , body cameras , Nicolas Palmier , Franklin County Sheriff's Office , Image , Web Only