Friday, August 31, 2018
A Jericho woman snapped selfies of Air Force Two under the careful watch of snipers and plainclothes United States Secret Service officers standing conspicuously inside the airport’s perimeter fence. The amateur photographer sheepishly described herself as a Pence supporter, though she declined an interview.
There was no media scrum or large crowd of waving supporters to greet Pence, who landed shortly after 1:30 p.m. Within a few minutes, his motorcade of about 15 SUVs, including Vermont State Police vehicles, slipped through the airport fence and drove away.
Tags: Mike Pence , Vermont , Hubbardton , Burlington International Airport , Phil Scott , Air Force Two , Lake Hortonia , Image , Web Only
In a long-awaited decision, justices ruled 4-1 that the 2015 law, which forbids the distribution of sexually explicit images without the subject’s consent, is constitutional.
In an interview, Defender General Matt Valerio called the decision "bizarre," and said his office is contemplating a U.S. Supreme Court appeal.
Justices said revenge porn represents the "highest" violation of privacy, noting that it is illegal for doctors or banks to disclose personal information about patients or clients. Forty states have enacted laws against revenge porn, justices wrote.
Tags: Vermont Supreme Court , revenge porn , Beth Robinson , Marilyn Skoglund , Matt Valerio , Bennington County , First Amendment , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Last Friday, Paige withdrew from every nomination except secretary of state. The VTGOP had to choose new nominees by August 31, the state's deadline for adding candidates to the November ballot. Only members of the Republican state committee were eligible to vote.
After an hour of wrangling over the rules, the committee quickly filled the available slots. Two men faced off for U.S. Senate: Manchester real estate broker Lawrence Zupan and Dan Feliciano, a 2016 Republican candidate for auditor who also ran for governor in 2014, as a Libertarian. Zupan bested Feliciano 56 votes to 12. (One vote was cast for "Douglas," an apparent reference to former governor Jim Douglas.) Zupan will now challenge Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
"I'm going to invite Sen. Sanders to have eight debates with me," Zupan said when asked how he would take on a very popular and deep-pocketed incumbent. "I think the people of Vermont miss Bernie. He's been everyplace but Vermont, it seems, and I'd like to invite him to revisit the state that launched his political career."
Zupan depicted Sanders as a "socialist" with "a complete misunderstanding of how the world works and how economics works. It's a pity that he doesn't love the American Revolution as much as he loves his imaginary new revolution."
Anya Tynio, 25, a sales representative for the Newport Daily Express, won the nod for U.S. representative on a voice vote. Tynio had been a candidate in the Republican primary, but lost to Paige. She will face U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.). If she wins, she would be the first woman elected to Congress by the state of Vermont, but she faces long odds against a popular incumbent.
Tags: Senator , H. Brooke Paige , Jack Moulton , Lawrence Zupan , Dan Feliciano , Bernie Sanders , Peter Welch , Anya Tynio , Janssen Willhoit , Jasdeep Pannu , Rick Kenyon , Richard Morton , T.J. Donovan , Beth Pearce , Doug Hoffer , Jim Condos , VTGOP , Election 2018 , Statewide 2018 , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
The Burlington City Council voted 8-2 Monday to alter that agreement in order to get things moving again. Mayor Miro Weinberger had requested in a letter late Friday that the council allow Sinex to build the foundation before he has a contract for the rest of the project.
City councilors raised questions in interviews Monday about what the changes would mean for the project, and whether approving the changes would put the city at greater risk if the project were to fail.
Tags: Don Sinex , CityPlace Burlington , Miro Weinberger , Jane Knodell , Kurt Wright , Adam Roof , Image , Web Only
Friday, August 24, 2018
He was 60.
"Smart, witty, thoughtful — just a guy you want to be around," his wife, Ginny McGehee, said on Friday. "I lost the smart half of me, I have to say."
Born in Connecticut, Condon moved to Vermont in the early 1980s when he took a job as news director of several radio stations. He met McGehee at WJOY in 1984; the couple married in 1993. They have a son, Tom, who is a journalism student at Syracuse University.
Tags: Jim Condon , Vermont , Statehouse , legislature , Colchester , Mitzi Johnson , Image , Web Only
Julie MacMillan, the lead negotiator for the University of Vermont Medical Center nurses, stepped down from that role Friday, saying union leaders asked her to resign.
MacMillan announced her decision in a public post on Facebook. MacMillan sat at the bargaining table with hospital administrators throughout lengthy negotiations since July, when the nurses went on strike for 48 hours. They have since been working without a contract.
After the hospital's August 18 offer of a 15 percent pay increase over three years, she "felt that we had not only made great strides, but had potentially reached a compromise," she wrote in the post.
Tags: Julie MacMillan , nurses , strike , UVMMC , Image , Web Only
The attorney and former Winooski mayor lost the Democratic primary to Glennon earlier this month, getting votes on 22 percent of the ballots cast, as opposed to 44 percent for Glennon.
But Norful also got 95 write-in votes in the Republican primary.
Last Friday, Chittenden County court clerk Anne Williams confirmed the vote count and found that Norful had bested Republican National Committee member Jay Shepard, who got 71 write-in votes. (Glennon received 66 GOP votes.) Most GOP voters left that spot on the ballot blank.
Tags: Greg Glennon , Bill Norful , probate judge , Paco DeFrancis , Chittenden County , Image , Web Only
The Republican nominee for six statewide offices in Vermont dropped out of five of them Friday, according to the Secretary of State's Office.
In last week's GOP primary, Washington resident and perennial candidate H. Brooke Paige won the nominations for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer and state auditor. But on Friday, he formally withdrew from all but the secretary of state's race, according to elections director Will Senning.
Paige said he’d chosen to continue challenging Democratic Secretary of State Jim Condos because he was frustrated with the state’s electoral system. “They’re the people in charge of this chaos,” Paige said.
The candidate's decision scrambles Vermont's general election ballot and could lead to new opponents for top statewide officeholders, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.). According to state law, the Vermont Republican Party now has seven days to replace Paige in the contests.
Tags: Senator , H. Brooke Paige , Bernie Sanders , Peter Welch , Jack Moulton , Jim Condos , Election 2018 , Statewide 2018 , Image , Web Only
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Burlingtonians who responded to a survey this summer want the 91-year-old building dedicated once again to its historic uses as an entertainment venue, civic gathering space and farmers market. Eighty-five percent of respondents also said they would "definitely support" or "probably support" the renovation of the building.
Jerry Lindsley, president of the consulting firm hired by the city to conduct the survey, presented the findings Thursday to about two dozen people at Burlington City Hall.
"There's an affinity for this building," said Lindsley, of the Center for Research & Public Policy, in summarizing the survey results. "It appears [a bond vote] would be successful."
Tags: Memorial Auditorium , Dave Hartnett , CEDO , renovations , Miro Weinberger , mayor , City Council , Burlington , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
The council is expected to consider the proposal and hear a presentation from school leaders on Monday.
The school board voted 9-1 in support of the resolution. Mike Fisher of Ward 5 voted against it, Martine Gulick of Ward 4 was absent and Clare Wool of Ward 6 abstained as chair of the board.
But in a press release, Wool expressed support for the bond.
Tags: Burlington , Burlington High School , city council , bond , renovations , school board , Image , Web Only