Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Printing will be done at a new facility near Concord, N.H. that will serve three newspapers owned by Newspapers of New England — the News, the Concord Monitor and the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript. Publisher Dan McClory announced the changes in Wednesday's paper.
Three designers will lose their jobs in July, when the News will begin contracting with Gannett for design services. Twelve full-time and 18 part-time staffers in printing and distribution will have to choose whether to relocate to central New Hampshire or adapt to a commute that will take at least an hour each way. They'll have some time to decide; the new press won't be ready to go until December.
Tags: Valley News , Dan McClory , printing , Image , Web Only
An overwhelming majority of the University of Vermont Medical Center’s nurses voted to authorize their union's bargaining committee to call for a two-day strike if its demands are not met when the nurses' contract runs out July 9.
Dozens of nurses gathered outside the hospital at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday for the vote result announcement. They cheered and clapped as union leaders came out of the hospital’s McClure Entrance and crossed the street to a picnic area in front of the building. Julie MacMillan, the union’s lead negotiator, announced the vote tally: 1,311 of the 1,800 union members voted, and 1,227 — 94 percent — said yes to a strike.
As the end of the nurses’ three-year contract comes comes ever closer, union negotiators have been playing hardball at the bargaining table. They have refused to meet with a national negotiator and have held press conferences and public demonstrations about what they say are public safety issues stemming from understaffing at the hospital.
The nurses claim low pay and high costs of living are preventing the hospital from retaining the number of nurses it needs to adequately care for patients. Eileen Whalen, hospital president and chief operating officer, estimated that the nurses’ average pay is $64,000 — less than the national average of $73,550 in 2017, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics.
Tags: Burlington , nurses , labor , union , Julie MacMillan , Deb Snell , Eileen Whalen , University of Vermont Medical Center , Image , Web Only
The board voted 7-3 in support of a resolution that directed Obeng to stop spending money and stop developing plans for the proposed South End and North End preschool centers after parents and taxpayers complained that the projects were pushed forward without voter approval.
Supporters, including Obeng, had countered that the buildings were within the scope of a $19 million school improvement bond, framed largely as funding for deferred maintenance, that voters approved at the polls in 2017.
The resolution mirrored the view of critics who said they want more time to consider the addition of two new structures to the district’s already large real estate portfolio, which includes 10 school buildings.
Tags: Burlington , Yaw Obeng , superintendent , schools , preschool , Burlington School Board , bond , voters , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Jackson took his chance to set his record straight on Tuesday, when Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George held an Expungement Day at the Edward J. Costello Courthouse on Cherry Street. Lawyers at the event walked attendees through the process of filing a petition to get misdemeanor marijuana possession convictions wiped off their records.
"I appreciated all the help they are giving me to get this off, so I can have a fully clean record, back to where I started when I was born," Jackson grinned as he spoke with Seven Days.
Tags: Cannabeat , cannabis , Sarah George , law enforcement , records , Image , Web Only
The tragedies, both involving refugees from the African nation and occurring just blocks away from each other, took place less than a week before the Islamic holiday of Eid, which Muslims celebrate to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Lul Ali Gure, 29, was killed in a car crash around 1 p.m. Saturday near the Burlington-South Burlington line. She was the passenger in a car driven by Sadio M. Ali, also 29.
Tags: South Meadows , Lul Ali Gure , Said Elmi , Noor Duale , Trevor Whipple , Aden Haji , Asha Abdille , Abdirashid Hussein , Champlain Housing Trust , Image , Web Only
Monday, June 11, 2018
The surviving combatant, 20-year-old Joshua Granger of Winooski, is now charged with second-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty Monday morning in Vermont Superior Court and remains held in custody without bail.
Granger told police that he'd arranged to fistfight Jared Streeter, 20, on Saturday night at what's known as the Blue Bridge, a span off Intervale Road. The two men had "an ongoing dispute ... regarding a girl they were both interested in," Granger told detectives, according to an arrest affidavit.
Tags: Burlington , Blue Bridge , fight , homicide , murder , Jared Streeter , Joshua Granger , Image , Web Only
Mears was a faculty member at VLS from 2005 to 2011, when then-governor Peter Shumlin named him commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation. In 2015, Mears left state government and returned to the school. Last August he was named head of the Environmental Law Center, which is a key part of the school's mission and appeal. E&E News, an online outlet for energy and environmental news, first reported Mears' resignation.
Mears dwelled on the positive for himself and the school, but hinted that the cuts played a part in his decision. The latest round of layoffs was announced on May 30.
"I wasn’t planning on this," he said. "It was a decision I reached in the last month."
Tags: David Mears , Peter Shumlin , Vermont Law School , Thomas McHenry , Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation , Image , Web Only
Thursday, June 7, 2018
The bill would set homestead property tax rates at this year's level and allow nonresidential rates to rise by 5.5 cents. The latter portion has attracted the governor's opposition; he continues to oppose any increase in property tax rates. Majority Democrats argue that the bill does not actually include a tax increase; it merely allows current law to set the nonresidential tax rate. And if signed by the governor, it would avoid a potential government shutdown on July 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year.
The process took only a single day thanks to a suspension of Senate rules, which was approved on a 21-4 vote. Senators Carolyn Branagan (R-Franklin), Randy Brock (R-Franklin), Brian Collamore (R-Rutland) and Dave Soucy (R-Rutland) were the dissenters, while two members of the Republican caucus were absent and one — Sen. Richard Westman (R-Lamoille) — voted with the Democratic majority.
Tags: Phil Scott , Randy Brock , Michael Sirotkin , Brian Campion , Carolyn Branagan , Brian Collamore , Richard Westman , David Soucy , Jason Gibbs , Image , Web Only
Nurses will vote on June 10, 11 and 12 about whether to initiate a two-day strike once the current three-year union contract ends on July 9. If a majority of members want to walk out, the union would serve the hospital a 10-day strike notice on June 29.
MacMillan said the 1,800-member union is working to nail down more bargaining dates with the hospital in the hopes of reaching a resolution before a strike. Wednesday's vote gives the bargaining committee further proof its membership is serious about its demands, she said.
Tags: nurses , union , strike , UVM Medical Center , Julie MacMillan , University of Vermont Medical Center , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
The passenger train isn't scheduled to pull into the Queen City before 2021, but
hands shot up with complaints and concerns throughout the presentation at the Department of Public Works building on Pine Street. No public comments supported the report’s suggestion that downtown Union Station, between King and College streets, is the most suitable location for overnight train storage.
Once the train begins service to Burlington, it must be housed overnight from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. City officials requested the planning commission study five locations as potential storage sites. Union Station scored poorly for train visibility, noise impacts and proximity to residential areas, but scored well for ease of property acquisition, electrical power availability and crew convenience.
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