Monday, May 21, 2018
About 25 residents turned out. Many voiced frustration that there will be no pool for the third summer in a row. The aging Myers Memorial Pool closed in 2015.
Several people suggested that the bond for a new pool should have taken priority over the $23 million Main Street reconstruction project that voters approved earlier this month.
"I personally feel that this bond issue should have gone before," said resident Pat Everts.
"People are incredibly frustrated," added Sarah McGowan-Freije.
Tags: Winooski , Winooski City Council , Myers Memorial Pool , Seth Leonard , Image , Web Only
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has formally announced that he is running for reelection this fall.
In a press release announcing the decision Monday, the two-term U.S. senator said he would seek another six years in Congress to continue fighting wealth inequality in the country.
“Our struggle to create a government which represents all of us and not just the 1 percent — a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice — must continue,” Sanders said. “And that is why I’m running for reelection.”
The candidate said he would formally launch his campaign in June with rallies across Vermont.
According to campaign spokesperson Arianna Jones, Sanders plans to seek the Democratic nomination in Vermont’s August primary. If he wins, she said, he would “respectfully” decline the nomination and run as an independent in the general election. Sanders would, however, accept the endorsement of the Vermont Democratic Party.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Jane Sanders , Jane O'Meara Sanders , Jasdeep Pannu , Vermont , Burlington College , Brad Peacock , Jon Svitavsky , Image , Web Only
Friday, May 18, 2018
Strong winds and heavy rains on May 4 caused sinkholes along the bike path that extends on a former rail line into Lake Champlain.
According to the Colchester town website, local officials have found that the storm also caused structural damage to a bridge on the causeway. The total cost of repairs has been estimated at $563,000.
Tags: Local Motion , bike path , bike ferry , causeway , Image , Web Only
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Scott had notified lawmakers that he planned to veto tax and budget bills that the House and Senate adopted at the end of last week, and called for a special session to work out differences between the Republican administration and the Democratic-majority legislature. Scott has insisted on no tax or fee increases; the legislature's tax bill includes a 2.6 cent hike in the homestead property tax rate.
Scott said he will issue a formal declaration by late Friday, calling lawmakers into special session. But he didn't offer any resistance to House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero), who asserted that the legislature would operate by its normal rules, and the tax and budget questions would be discussed only in open sessions.
The governor had hoped to hold a series of meetings with legislative leaders before the special session begins, to work out agreements on taxes and spending. But Johnson and Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden) stood firm that there would be no pre-session talks on the issues, just on process and logistics. (Ashe did not attend the meeting; he and his leadership team will sit down with the administration on Monday.)
That sentiment was echoed by Rep. Robin Chesnut-Tangerman (P-Middletown Springs), leader of the House Progressive caucus. "Last year, the negotiations felt very exclusive," he said. "We want to be as transparent as possible, with committee discussions in open session."
Tags: Phil Scott , Mitzi Johnson , Tim Ashe , Joe Benning , Brian Collamore , Robin Chesnut-Tangerman , Barbara Murphy , Jill Krowinski , Susanne Young , Don Turner , Jason Gibbs , Katherine Levasseur , special session , budget veto , Image , Web Only
Construction began about a month ago, according to Selden Houghton, the railway’s vice president, and will be completed in about another month. Crews cleared trees and brush to make way for the track, which extends from the waterfront dog park through an area known as the Urban Reserve, almost reaching Texaco Beach.
Houghton said he’s unsure how the railway will use the new track. Rails were once there as part of the line to the Champlain Islands, but were removed in the 1980s, he said.
Tags: Vermont Railway , Seldon Houghton , Burlington Bike Path , rail , trains , track , skatepark , Image , Web Only
"The governor has a choice," said Lauren Hierl of Vermont Conservation Voters. "Does he side with corporations or with regular Vermonters?" The gathered advocates brandished signs that stated the dichotomy.
The groups highlighted a series of bills that will soon land on Scott's desk for signature or veto. Some, such as paid family leave and raising the minimum wage, appear certain to be vetoed. Others are less clear. Scott himself has refused to officially commit on any bill before he has a chance to read it — with the notable exceptions of the tax and budget bills, which he has already said he will veto.
Tags: Lauren Hierl , Phil Scott , Paul Burns , Jon Groveman , Chloé White , Nicole Grenier , Michelle Fay , Vermont , governor , legislature , bills , legislation , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
He reiterated his call for a special legislative session beginning next Wednesday, and for talks with top lawmakers before then to try to find agreement on tax and spending plans he would find acceptable.
Scott sought to lower the political temperature, which rose last week to levels unusual for Vermont. At the same time, he shifted blame for the current standoff onto the legislature. He said that lawmakers knowingly "passed bills I would veto," and mused that it might be a "political calculation, I don't know."
Well, they might have simply done the best they could based on different values and goals, and come to different conclusions.
Scott asserted that finding common ground shouldn't be difficult. "We are actually very close in what we are trying to achieve," he said. But the distance, he said repeatedly, must be traveled by the legislature. And not only on taxes and spending, but also on his five-year plan to curb school spending.
"It’s close, from my perspective, because some of the issues that we believe that are in the plan, to implement the plan, are issues that they’ve worked on," Scott said. "So if we put it all together and understand that I’m not going to sign anything with a tax or fee in it, then we can make progress."
Which sounds like his five-year plan isn't really negotiable either.
Tags: Phil Scott , Tim Ashe , Mitzi Johnson , Neal Goswami , Vermont , governor , budget , politics , Statehouse , Montpelier , Image , Web Only
The school's 88 students would transfer to Jericho Elementary or Underhill Central under a plan proposed Monday night by Chittenden East Supervisory Union superintendent John Alberghini.
The final decision would be up to the board of the Mount Mansfield Modified Union School District, which operates schools in Bolton, Jericho, Richmond and Underhill. No date has been set for a vote.
The proposed closure of the prekindergarten-through-fourth-grade school comes as Gov. Phil Scott and other leaders pressure school boards to deal with steadily declining enrollment statewide, and the growing cost of maintaining small schools.
Tags: Public schools , enrollment , Chittenden County , Underhill , Jericho , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
Gov. Phil Scott announced Tuesday that he will call lawmakers back for a special session beginning next Wednesday, May 23. In a publicly released letter to House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) and Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden), the Republican governor wrote that he hopes to reach an agreement to avert a property tax increase by May 25.
The Democrat-led legislature passed budget and tax bills and adjourned on Saturday, anticipating that Scott, who has demanded lawmakers hold down property taxes this year, would veto both pieces of legislation. Rather than schedule a veto session, the legislature left it up to Scott to call them back for a special session. That means the governor gets to pick the date, but lawmakers won't be limited to voting on bills he vetoed.
Not wasting any time, Scott chose to call lawmakers back to Montpelier before the budget and tax bills have even reached his desk.
The tax bill, which won support from some Republican legislators, would result in an average 2.6 cent increase for residents and a 5.5 cent increase for businesses and second-home owners.
Tags: Phil Scott , Mitzi Johnson , Tim Ashe , property taxes , special session , Image , Web Only
Monday, May 14, 2018
The Burlington City Council agreed to allow Superintendent of Schools Yaw Obeng to continue living outside of the city — but not before reigniting a lengthy debate about residency requirements.
The council voted 9-3 to extend the residency exemption for Obeng, who settled in South Burlington from Canada when he took the job in 2015. This time the measure extends the residency exemption indefinitely — "as long as Dr. Obeng holds the position of superintendent," according to the resolution.
Some city department heads are required to be Burlington voters, which means they must live in the city. Obeng contended on Monday that his family's suburban setup met the requirements for a "hardship exemption" under city ordinance.
The first vote, when he took the job, triggered controversy as Burlingtonians argued that Obeng should be subject to the same taxes and policies he implements as superintendent. On Monday, some spoke up with similar concerns.
Tags: Yaw Obeng , Joan Shannon , Max Tracy , Jane Knodell , Clare Wool , Brian Pine , Burlington , schools , superintendent , Image , Web Only