Tuesday, January 31, 2017
About 25 people gathered in the Fletcher Free Library, offering the Burlington Telecom Advisory Board words of advice on who the buyer should be and how the city should go about the selling the entity. The half a dozen people who spoke before the board depicted the local fiber-optic network as a valuable public good.
“A publicly owned company is a precious commodity and asset,” said Lauren-Glenn Davitian, executive director of CCTV Center for Media & Democracy, Burlington’s public government-access cable station. Losing community control would be “short-sighted,” she added, arguing that the city should maintain a “decision-making stake” in the utility.
Tags: Burlington Telecom , Steve Goodkind , David Provost , Keep BT Local , Miro Weinberger , Jane Knodell , Bob Kiss , Image , Web Only
“It wasn’t an invitation,” McArthur noted in an interview with Seven Days. He also said, “I don’t know if we’ll actually have to testify but I have to be there. It’s no longer my decision whether or not I can be there; it’s a court order.”
McAllister, a former Republican state senator from Franklin County, agreed to a plea deal on January 10 while McArthur and Williams were representing him.
Under the agreement, McAllister pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges of prohibited acts and one felony lewd and lascivious charge that could carry up to seven years in prison. That charge was reduced from sexual assault.
Tags: Norm McAllister , Brooks McArthur , David Williams , Bob Katims , Image , Web Only
Rights and Democracy and the Burlington branch of the International Socialist Organization organized the rally after Trump signed an executive order closing the country to refugees and people from seven countries. Protesters filled a large swath of City Hall Park before they marched up Church Street.
Tags: Burlington , Donald Trump , protest , Image , Web Only
The lopsided loss in the Senate Education Committee straw poll was made even worse for Scott because an ally, a Senate sponsor of the proposal, voted against the move.
Four Democrats on the committee readily said no. The two Republicans who joined were more reticent.
“Regrettably, no,” Sen. Joe Benning (R-Caledonia) said as he voted.
Then it was down to Sen. Kevin Mullin (R-Rutland), one of three sponsors of the Senate bill that supports Scott’s budget proposal.
“With even more regret, no,” he said.
Tags: Phil Scott , Rebecca Holcombe , Phil Baruth , Chris Bray , Joe Benning , Kevin Mullin , school budgets , Image , Web Only
Monday, January 30, 2017
His legal team, together with Attorney General T.J. Donovan, will also consider challenging Trump’s travel ban in court if they conclude that it’s unconstitutional. The temporary ban prohibits refugees, as well as citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, from entering the United States.
To further study whether the ban is unconstitutional or unlawful, the governor is creating a “Civil Rights and Criminal Justice Cabinet” that will include legislative leaders, members of Scott’s cabinet, the defender general and law enforcement leaders.
“We believe we need all hands on deck,” Scott said in an interview Monday evening. “This isn’t about trying to make a name for ourselves … it’s about trying to protect Vermonters and Americans alike.”
Tags: Phil Scott , Donald Trump , American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont , immigration ban , Image , Web Only
The candidates filed their petitions before the 5 p.m. deadline Monday. The election is on March 7.
Two candidates have stepped up to run against South District Democrat Joan Shannon: Progressive Charles Simpson, a retired professor, and independent Abdullah Sall.
Tags: Jane Knodell , Genese Grill , Dave Hartnett , Charles Simpson , Charles Winkleman , Abdullah Sall , Joan Shannon , Selene Colburn , Richard Deane , Town Meeting Day 2017 , Image , Web Only
Virginia-based czb LLC, the urban planning consulting firm tasked with creating the 35-page report, will present its findings at 6 p.m. in City Hall during a meeting of the city council’s Community Development and Neighborhood Revitalization committee.
The takeaways of the document, which was released January 16: Development has not kept pace with city growth, pushing housing into the suburbs while city residences remain unaffordable. Some 58 percent of Burlington residents pay more than 30 percent of their income — the target threshold — on housing. Meanwhile, a third pay more than 50 percent. Costs end up disproportionately burdening developers and the affordable housing sector.
But the policy itself has worked well to create economically integrated housing, according to the report prepared by czb. “There is much to be proud of,” the group concludes in its assessment.
Tags: Inclusionary zoning , Adam Roof , Selene Colburn , Michael Monte , Tom Ayres , affordable housing , czb , Image , Web Only
That’s the advice University of Vermont President Tom Sullivan is giving to members of the campus community who have visas from Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Iran or Iraq.
President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order on immigration bars citizens of those seven countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days.
Sullivan is apparently worried the order could make it hard for UVM students and staff to get back into the U.S. should they leave. Sullivan emailed the campus community on Sunday.
Tags: Trump , immigration , UVM , Champlain , Vermont , Norwich University , Saint Michael's College , Image , Web Only
Gov. Phil Scott and Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) on Monday called President Donald Trump’s executive order halting refugee resettlement and banning immigration from seven Muslim nations unconstitutional.
The bipartisan condemnations came during separate events in different parts of the state. Scott, a Republican, addressed the presidential action Monday afternoon while addressing business leaders at Rutland’s Southside Steakhouse.
“I think this infringes upon our constitutional rights,” Scott said in response to reporters’ questions. “So we’re looking for — seeking ways to push back.”
Trump’s executive order, issued last Friday, halted the resettlement of 25 Syrian families in Rutland. Two families relocated to the city in the week before the order was issued.
Speaking earlier that day at the Community Health Centers of Burlington, Welch said he also viewed Trump’s action as unconstitutional.
Tags: Senator , Phil Scott , Peter Welch , Patrick Leahy , Bernie Sanders , Donald Trump , executive order , immigration , refugees , Image , Web Only
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Republican Gov. Phil Scott spent part of the weekend in “a series of meetings” on the subject, according to spokeswoman Rebecca Kelley, “and will be detailing specific actions” on Monday.
In a statement released Sunday afternoon, Scott praised Vermont’s immigrant heritage, from the Europeans of the 19th and 20th centuries to “the Somali, Vietnamese, Bosnian and Bhutanese families” of more recent vintage.
“I’m going to do everything I can to protect the rights of all Vermonters and the human rights of all people,” Scott said. “That includes standing up to executive orders from Washington that cross legal, ethical and moral lines that have distinguished America from the rest of the world for generations.”
Tags: Senator , Phil Scott , Donald Trump , TJ Donovan , Rebecca Kelley , Jay Diaz , ACLU-VT , Patrick Leahy , Bernie Sanders , Peter Welch , Tom Sullivan , University of Vermont , refugees , immigration , Image , Web Only