Friday, March 31, 2017
The House Human Services Committee expects to discuss the bill next week, according to committee chair Ann Pugh (D-South Burlington). The panel will focus on youth drug prevention programs and the impact legalization could have on young people, she said.
Lawmakers pulled the bill, H.170, from the House floor this week and sent it to the Human Services Committee this week because it lacked the votes to pass. The legislation would allow possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, two plants and four seedlings. It would not legalize sale of the drug.
The bill's sidelining led many to conclude the legislation was dead for the year. Pugh's comments suggest that might not be the case.
Tags: Ann Pugh , Cannabeat , marijuana legalization , Mitzi Johnson , Vermont legislature , Image , Web Only
Thursday, March 30, 2017
"We're going back to our roots," editor Steven Pappas said in an interview. "We're going back to where these papers built their cores initially. Some people are saying we're pulling up stakes, but we have a business decision to make."
The retrenchment comes nearly eight months after a Maine publisher and New Hampshire printing executive agreed to buy the financially struggling Herald and Barre-Montpelier Times Argus from a local family. At least eight reporters, editors, photographers and paginators left the Herald newsroom last summer and fall. In recent months, just three full-time reporters have remained.
That, Pappas said, "left us feeling a little vulnerable" in the two counties where the Herald and Times Argus are based.
"We are really going to be making a concerted push in Washington and Rutland counties," he said.
Tags: Rutland Herald , Steven Pappas , Susan Smallheer , Patrick McArdle , Image , Web Only
A $5.8 billion proposed state budget won near unanimous backing, with a 143-1 vote. Beforehand, Republican House members gathered for a press conference and declared that they liked the plan produced by a chamber led by a Democratic majority.
“Today is the first step in the right direction,” said House Minority Leader Don Turner (R-Milton).
And a tax bill that raises no new taxes passed 138-0. “That was a first for me,” Rep. Sam Young (D-Glover) tweeted afterwards, referring to the unanimous vote.
Turner said it was a first for him, too. He didn’t think he’d ever before voted in favor of a tax bill during his 12 years in the legislature.
Tags: state budget , taxes , Phil Scott , Vermont House , Kitty Toll , Janet Ancel , Warren van Wyck , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Louis Fortier, 36, surrendered to police at the scene after allegedly stabbing Richard Medina, 43, multiple times in the neck at the corner of Church and Cherry streets, police said. Police described both men as transients.
Medina was pronounced dead at the University of Vermont Medical Center at 2:20 p.m., shortly after he was stabbed.
Tags: Burlington , police , Church Street , Louis Fortier , Richard Medina , Image , Web Only
While the Vermont legislature has been moving forward on a number of fronts, two of the left’s top priorities — marijuana and raising the minimum wage — have run aground. A third, paid family leave, is in danger of following suit. On top of that, House budget writers have tried their darnedest not to raise taxes or fees — even at the cost of some painful belt-tightening.
Progressive/Democratic Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman sees a missed opportunity to capitalize on political momentum.
“In the land of Bernie, I would hope that we would be a leader on many of these working-class issues,” he says, referring to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). “Voters are tired of establishment politics, and they’re looking for results in their day-to-day lives.”
James Haslam, executive director of the progressive advocacy group Rights & Democracy, agrees.
“It really seems like the new leadership in our state is not coming in with the appetite to take on big things,” he says. “I understand the excuses people make, but we need action.”
Tags: Bernie Sanders , cannabis related , David Zuckerman , James Haslam , Josh Wronski , Mitzi Johnson , Phil Scott , Senator , Tim Ashe , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
The freshly inked law is a rejoinder to several of President Donald Trump's executive orders, which enhance immigration enforcement. Scott said Tuesday that the orders "introduced a significant level of uncertainty for states, law enforcement, citizens and non-citizens alike" without making the public safer.
In a conspicuous display of bipartisanship, Vermont's Republican governor was joined by Democratic Attorney General T.J. Donovan and key Democratic state lawmakers.
When it was his turn to speak, Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick Sears (D-Bennington) stepped up to the podium and deadpanned, "I want to thank the president of the United States for bringing together a diverse group of people to agree — and quickly agree, in record time — on a bill of major importance."
The new law gives the governor the sole ability to authorize new agreements between federal immigration officials and local law enforcement. It responds to an executive order calling on local police to help enforce federal immigration law. Scott, who's said he won't enter into such agreements, described the order as "federal overreach."
Tags: Phil Scott , Donald Trump , TJ Donovan , immigration bill , Image , Web Only
The move means House leaders were unable to muster the votes to pass the legislation. Whether that kills the bill for the year or not is a matter of speculation.
“It’s not dead,” said Eli Harrington, an East Burke resident who had been lobbying for legalization.
“That kills it,” muttered Rep. Sam Young (D-Glover), also a supporter.
“We believe the bill needs some more time and some more vetting,” said House Majority Leader Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington). “I’m not going to push it out there if it needs more time.”
The legislation, H.170, would legalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and the personal cultivation of two mature and four immature plants. It’s based on the legalization system in place in Washington, D.C. It would not permit the sale of marijuana.
Tags: Ann Pugh , Cannabeat , Eli Harrington , marijuana legalization , Mitzi Johnson , Vermont House , Image , Web Only
On April 4, incumbent Andrew Champagne will try to inch past challenger Adrian Burnett in a runoff election for the position in Ward 2. Voters can cast ballots at the Integrated Arts Academy at H.O. Wheeler in the Old North End.
The contest comes after the March 7 tally ended in a deadlock: 272-272. It's the first race in recent history with such a result, according to assistant city clerk Amy Bovee.
Tags: Andrew Champagne , Adrian Burnett , Town Meeting Day , special election , ward 2 , inspector of elections , Image , Web Only
Monday, March 27, 2017
Despite a tough prognosis, 30-year-old McLaren was upbeat Monday in a telephone interview from the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston where he is undergoing physical therapy.
“I am OK. I am as good as I possibly could be,” McLaren said in an interview with Seven Days.
He expressed gratitude for all the love and support he has received from family, friends and his fiancée, Burlington lawyer Adrienne Shea.
Tags: Ryan McLaren , Adrienne Shea , Kelly Brush Davisson , Burlington School Board , Image , Web Only
Unbeknownst to Zuckerman, the company quickly incorporated his television "interview" into Shen Yun's massive marketing machine.
"Lieutenant Governor of Vermont Says Shen Yun Is an 'Incredible Presentation,'" reads the Epoch Times, a New York City-based anti-Communist China newspaper founded in 2000 by members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement.
Tags: Shen Yun , David Zuckerman , lieutenant governor , Epoch Times , Falun Gong , Image , Web Only