Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Standing outside the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain on the Burlington waterfront, Queen City Mayor Miro Weinberger said the Vermont Climate Pledge Coalition will hold a summit this fall in which municipal governments, the state, businesses, colleges and organizations will pledge to reach specific goals to reduce carbon emissions — and will outline plans to do so.
Weinberger characterized the statewide plan as a way to counteract the “historic mistake of the Trump administration” in withdrawing earlier this month from the worldwide Paris climate change accord.
“I envision Burlington coming to the summit and reporting out where we plan to be in 2025,” the mayor, a Democrat, said. Ideas likely will include expanding on the city’s current efforts to require energy efficiencies for downtown business construction and its transition to electric buses, he said.
Tags: Phil Scott , Miro Weinberger , climate change , Donald Trump , VPIRG , VNRC , Image , Web Only
Authorities recently extradited Alexis Vlachos, 40, from Québec to Vermont, where earlier this month he pleaded not guilty to five firearms charges, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Tuesday. He is being held in prison pending trial and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Vlachos imported 100 handguns into Québec without a permit from the U.S. State Department, prosecutors said.
Tags: Alexis Vlachos , Haskell Free Library , U.S. Attorney's Office , Paul Volk , Image , Web Only
Auditor Doug Hoffer and his staff examined 10 construction projects led by the Department of Buildings and General Services between 2012 and 2016.
One project is ongoing and under budget, but the nine finished projects went over budget cost by a median of 31 percent and collectively cost $24.6 million more than expected. All 10 missed their completion deadlines.
Tags: Doug Hoffer , Department of Buildings and General Services , Chris Cole , Vermont , Image , Web Only
The 74-year-old Montpelier woman is closely connected to the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. She’s the ship’s “sponsor” — the person chosen by the secretary of the Navy to help christen and launch the vessel. And it bears the name of her late husband, Lt. William “Bill” Fitzgerald, who was killed on August 7, 1967, while defending his compound near Co Luy, Vietnam.
The military posthumously awarded the Vermont native the Navy Cross — the branch’s highest honor. He was 29.
The collision over the weekend, again a world away, “just brings it back to day one,” Betty Ann told Seven Days on Monday.
Tags: USS Fitzgerald , William Fitzgerald , Betty Ann Fitzgerald , Bryce Benson , U.S. Navy , Image , Web Only
Monday, June 19, 2017
Soucy, the general manager and a golf pro at Killington's Green Mountain National Golf Course, replaces fellow Republican Kevin Mullin, who vacated his senate seat last month to chair the Green Mountain Care Board. He'll represent the district along with Sens. Peg Flory (R-Rutland) and Brian Collamore (R-Rutland).
Scott chose from three candidates submitted to him by Rutland County Republicans. He passed over Tom DePoy, a Rutland City alderman and former state representative; and Joshua Terenzini, a Rutland Town Selectboard member.
Soucy could not immediately be reached for comment. But in a statement released by the Scott administration, he said, "I'm honored to have been selected to serve the residents of Rutland County, and look forward to working with my fellow legislators and Governor Scott to promote economic development and address the crucial issues facing Vermonters."
Tags: David Soucy , Rutland County , Phil Scott , Vermont legislature , Image , Web Only
The arrests of two young Mexican farm workers over the weekend sparked a Monday morning protest outside a South Burlington jail where one was held.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it detained Esau Peche-Ventura, 26, and Yesenia Hernández-Ramos, 19, around 9 p.m. Saturday during a traffic stop near the town line between Franklin and West Berkshire, not far from the Canadian border. Earlier that day, the couple had walked 13 miles from Montpelier to the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Waterbury as part of the “Milk with Dignity” campaign, calling on the ice cream company to hold its dairy farms to higher standards. Both work on a farm in Franklin County.
Now under the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Hernández-Ramos was being held at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington while Peche-Ventura was detained at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in Swanton.
Both are activists with Migrant Justice, a Vermont human rights organization. In the past year, immigration officers have arrested at least four other members of the group.
Tags: Migrant Justice , U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement , U.S. Border Patrol , Image , Web Only
Friday, June 16, 2017
The phase two rehabilitation will repave a 3.3-mile section between the North Beach Campground and the Winooski River, where a bridge connects Burlington's New North End to Colchester. The first phase, from the waterfront to the North Beach Campground, was completed this spring.
Cycling advocacy organization Local Motion is concerned about the work's impact on tourism and cyclist safety during the high summer season, according to executive director Jason Van Driesche — though the group supports the upgrade.
"For most people, there's no good time to do a project like this," acknowledged project manager Jon Adams-Kollitz of the Burlington Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department. The long-term benefits are worth it, he said. "All we can do is ask for forgiveness in terms of the inconvenience."
Tags: Burlington Bike Path , Parks and Rec , Jon Adams-Kollitz , Jason Van Driesche , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Authorities say 66-year-old James Hodgkinson of Belleville, Ill., opened fire Wednesday morning at a baseball field in Alexandria, Va. Five people were wounded, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.). Hodgkinson was shot at the scene and later died in a hospital.
Sanders first issued a statement condemning the shooting, then addressed it in prepared remarks delivered on the U.S. Senate floor.
"I have just been informed that the alleged shooter at the Republican baseball practice is someone who apparently volunteered on my presidential campaign," Sanders said. "I am sickened by this despicable act. Let me be as clear as I can be. Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms."
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Steve Scalise , James Hodgkinson , Alexandria shooting , Congressional shooting , Image , Video , Web Only
Monday, June 12, 2017
The Conservation Law Foundation, the Vermont Natural Resources Council, the Preservation Trust of Vermont and local activists Exit 4 Open Space spent the last two months furiously making phone calls and soliciting donors to meet the June 15 deadline that Sammis set.
Paul Bruhn, executive director of the Preservation Trust of Vermont, dubbed it an "amazing and miraculous" effort.
The transaction will be the last nail in the coffin of Sammis' nearly decade-long effort to build a multiuse development on the land. The 172-acre tract was to host a welcome center, a rest stop, a 180-room hotel and conference center, as well as 274 homes, a fitness center, and light industrial space.
Tags: Jessie Sammis , Paul Bruhn , Ayers Brook Goat Dairy , VNRC , CLF , Preservation Trust , Image , Web Only
Richard Monroe, 24, carried out the "execution-style killing" of Kevin DeOliveira, 23, over a cocaine debt, federal prosecutors said in a prepared statement.
Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Monroe in Western Texas on Monday. He was scheduled to appear in federal court in El Paso, Texas, on Monday and could be transported to Vermont soon, prosecutors said.
Tags: cannabis related , Champlain College , Kevin DeOliveira , Richard Monroe , Zachary Hust , Image , Web Only