Friday, October 26, 2018
DR Power Equipment is part of Country Home Products, which was founded in Vergennes in 1985 and locally owned until it sold to Wisconsin-based Generac in 2015. DR makes and sells equipment for yard work.
Generac is moving most of DR Power Equipment's jobs out of Vergennes. Art Aiello, the public relations manager for Generac, said in an email that the company's shipping and repair operations are moving to Wisconsin. Twenty-six employees will be affected, though they're being offered other jobs in the company.
Tags: DR Power Equipment , Neuton Power Equipment , Country Home Products , Vergennes , South Burlington , Generac , economy , jobs , Image , Web Only
Breuer and her husband Tom are residents of Winchester, Mass. They bought a second home in Stowe five years ago. In each of the three election cycles since then, they have given tens of thousands of dollars to Vermont Republican candidates and to the party itself. (They have not given any money to Gov. Phil Scott, who may be too moderate for their tastes.)
Tags: Carol Breuer , Terje Anderson , Christine Hallquist , Cameron Russell , Deb Billado , Election 2018 , Image , Web Only , Video
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Keurig Dr Pepper is laying off 118 Vermont employees as part of a recently finalized merger, Department of Labor Commissioner Lindsay Kurrle said Thursday.
Those laid off will be paid until January 4, according to Kurrle.
Keurig Green Mountain and Dr Pepper Snapple Group merged in July. At the time, the new company said it expected to save $600 million over three years due to "synergies." A total of 500 job cuts are expected nationwide.
The coffee and beverage giant has facilities in Waterbury, Williston and Essex. Most of the job losses — 82 — are tied to the closure of Keurig's early production center in Waterbury, Kurrle said. The center was used for manufacturing and research and development, Kurrle said.
Keurig spokeswoman Katie Gilroy confirmed the layoffs, which she said were part of implementing a “new organizational structure as a key step of our integration process.”
Tags: Keurig , Waterbury , Dr Pepper , layoffs , Lindsay Kurrle , Vermont , Image , Web Only
Khashoggi entered the consulate October 2 and hasn't been seen since. The Saudi government — after initially denying any involvement in Khashoggi’s disappearance — has acknowledged that the critic of the Saudi government was killed inside the consulate in a premeditated plot.
In an op-ed in Thursday’s New York Times, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said the United States should end its military aid for Saudi Arabia’s ongoing war against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
“The United States is deeply engaged in this war,” Sanders wrote. “We are providing bombs the Saudi-led coalition is using, we are refueling their planes before they drop those bombs, and we are assisting with intelligence.”
Tags: Senator , Jamal Khashoggi , Bernie Sanders , Patrick Leahy , Peter Welch , Donald Trump , Saudi Arabia , human rights , Image , Web Only
The show profiled Vermont's Democratic gubernatorial candidate as one of hundreds of LGBT candidates running for office around the nation. But the comedy segment was as much about Vermont’s politics as it was about Hallquist. The six-minute dispatch shows correspondent Ashley Nicole Black searching for a classic good-versus-evil social justice narrative. But the Vermonters she speaks with focus on broadband access and socioeconomic diversity — not the candidates’ gender politics.
“I’m here to make, like, a beautiful Oscar-winning film about a woman who’s just become, like, a champion for the people,” Black tells Hallquist in a sit-down interview at the beginning of the segment.
“Okay, that’s ... Yeah, sure,” Hallquist responds.
Tags: Samantha Bee , Christine Hallquist. Ashley Nicole Black , transgender , diversity , Phil Scott , TBS , Full Frontal with Samantha Bee , Vermont , politics , Election 2018 , Governor's Race 2018 , Image , Web Only , Video
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Early in the hour-long forum, Scott both defended and sought to distance himself from Act 46, the controversial school district consolidation law.
“Act 46 wasn’t something that I crafted. It was done by the Democratic legislature,” he said. “But it’s the law now,” the governor continued. “Sometimes it’s painful, but we’re going to have to follow through on this.”
Hallquist accused Scott of trying to “hide” behind the claim that he has no control over the situation. She pledged not to force districts to merge against their will: “I think forcing communities to do things against their will is an indication of a leadership failure.” But she did not specify how she’d go about reversing the implementation of Act 46.
The second part of the debate, when moderators allowed the candidates to ask questions, got more confrontational.
Tags: Phil Scott , Christine Hallquist , Act 46 , Donald Trump , Vermont Electric Coop , election , Vermont , governor , president , Election 2018 , Governor's Race 2018 , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Two Republican super PACs have begun investing big money in Vermont’s general election campaign.
The Republican State Leadership Committee Vermont PAC is spending $186,000 for advertising against left-leaning Vermont politicians: House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero), Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden) and Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, a Progressive and Democrat. It's the single largest expenditure by an outside group in this year's general election campaign.
The super PAC filed its spending report late Tuesday with the Vermont Secretary of State's Office. Expenditures include $116,800 on television ads, $7,500 on radio and $61,700 on postcards.
Tags: Mitzi Johnson , Tim Ashe , David Zuckerman , Jack Moulton , Republican State Leadership Committee , Election 2018 , Legislative Races 2018 , Image , Web Only
Burlington resident Reed Doyle says he saw officers threaten to pepper-spray a group of children in Roosevelt Park in June 2017. Doyle said that as one of the youths walked backward with his hands up, an officer pushed him forcefully with both arms. The boy, who appeared to be 11 to 13 years old, protested and was arrested, Doyle claims.
Doyle submitted a written complaint to the police department and police commission. Frustrated by what he said was a lack of followup, he filed a public records request for body camera footage.
Tags: ACLU , Burlington police , Vermont Supreme Court , body camera , use of force , public records , Image , Web Only
“Wow. Sure as hell hope I win this election! The Trump administration is going to get a can of whoop-ass from me!” Hallquist tweeted in response to an October 21 New York Times story that revealed that Trump officials are discussing defining gender based on the genitals a person is born with.
The Times reported that “the new definition would essentially eradicate federal recognition of the estimated 1.4 million Americans who have opted to recognize themselves — surgically or otherwise — as a gender other than the one they were born into.”
That includes Hallquist, who is the first transgender candidate nominated by a major party to run for governor. During an interview Monday, she speculated that if the administration goes through with the change, “I may not be able to travel … My passport currently says female but [Trump] could be revoking passports. He could be telling states that our enhanced [driver’s] licenses are not valid.”
“It’s a horrible thing,” Hallquist said. “Nobody should feel comfortable when the president starts wiping out entire populations.”
Tags: Christine Hallquist , Phil Scott , Donald Trump , transgender , Election 2018 , Governor's Race 2018 , Image , Web Only
Monday, October 22, 2018
The first public poll of Vermont's 2018 general election found that statewide incumbents have little to fear.
The poll, commissioned by Vermont Public Radio and Vermont PBS, showed Republican Gov. Phil Scott holding a 42 to 28 percent lead over Democratic nominee Christine Hallquist. Another 22 percent said they were not sure who they would support.
In the five other races surveyed — from attorney general to U.S. Senate — incumbent Democrats, Progressives and independents held double-digit leads over their Republican opponents.
The survey of 495 likely voters was conducted by Braun Research under the direction of Castleton University professor Rich Clark between October 5 and October 15. Its overall margin of error was 4.4 percent, though subsets of the data had a higher margin of error.
The public media stations found that Scott’s approval rating hasn’t budged since July, when their last poll showed 43 percent of those surveyed approved of his job performance and 28 percent disapproved. The October poll found that 45 percent approved and 26 percent disapproved.
Tags: Senator , Phil Scott , Christine Hallquist , David Zuckerman , Don Turner , Bernie Sanders , Lawrence Zupan , Peter Welch , Anya Tynio , Election 2018 , Governor's Race 2018 , Statewide 2018 , Image , Web Only