Friday, October 19, 2018
“Under no circumstances would we ever have advised to use a campaign address for that type of thing,” said John Quinn, the Agency of Digital Services secretary. “You’re blending the line. You’re meshing official business and political business.”
While perhaps inadvisable, it does not appear to be illegal. Staff at the Secretary of State's Office and the Attorney General's Office knew of no state law that prohibits the use of campaign email accounts or other resources for official state business — or vice versa. The personnel policy for state employees prohibits the use of government equipment for political activity, but not the reverse.
According to Zuckerman’s chief of staff Megan Polyte, there is no intermingling of information between the lieutenant governor's office and his campaign. The email addresses of Vermonters who sign up for the newsletter — either at events the lieutenant governor attends or through his official state website — are kept in the same database used by his campaign. But Polyte said they’re entered into a hidden field that only she and one administrative assistant can access.
Tags: David Zuckerman , Agency of Digital Services , John Quinn , Meg Polyte , Election 2018 , Statewide 2018 , Image , Web Only
Michael Marshall, 61, pleaded no contest to possession of stolen property worth more than $900, a felony. Two other charges, identity theft and false impersonation, were dismissed.
Marshall's attorney, Margaret Jansch, argued that Marshall had unwittingly been swept up in a more complicated scam targeting the Burlington developer.
Tags: Burlington Town Center , Don Sinex , CityPlace Burlington , Image , Web Only
Democrat Lucy Rogers and Republican Zac Mayo, the two under-30 candidates for the seat representing Cambridge, Jeffersonville and Waterville, held a candidates' forum on October 10 at the Varnum Memorial Library in Jeffersonville. They ended the event with a song: "Society" by Eddie Vedder, whose lyrics are a scathing rebuke of materialism and greed.
On Monday, the candidates got calls from CBS News. Two days later, they found themselves being shadowed for a day by "On the Road" correspondent Steve Hartman and his camera crew. "It all happened lightning-fast," said Mayo.
"My understanding is that a person who attended the forum got in touch with them," Rogers said. "The CBS producer told me, 'You have to do this story because there's no other story like this anywhere!'"
Tags: Lucy Rogers , Zac Mayo , Steve Hartman , CBS News , Vermont House , elections , music , song , duet , Eddie Vedder , Society , Election 2018 , Legislative Races 2018 , Image , Web Only
Thursday, October 18, 2018
In two hours, O'Neill produced a work that read more like a nonfiction call to arms than an obituary. In keeping with her family's long-standing candor about Linsenmeir's struggle, the obit documented with heartbreaking honesty a tale of addiction that began when Linsenmeir first tried OxyContin at 16, and continued after she gave birth to a son who was eventually taken from her.
"It is impossible to capture a person in an obituary, and especially someone whose adult life was largely defined by drug addiction," O'Neill wrote in the obituary, which was published in Seven Days, the Burlington Free Press and on Legacy.com. "To some, Maddie was just a junkie — when they saw her addiction, they stopped seeing her. And what a loss for them. Because Maddie was hilarious, and warm, and fearless, and resilient. She could and would talk to anyone, and when you were in her company you wanted to stay." The family hoped their candor would get some attention and help ease the stigma about drug addiction. But they never expected the obituary would rocket across the internet and reach millions of people.
Tags: Brandon del Pozo , drug addiction , Kate O'Neill , Madelyn Ellen Linsenmeir , obituaries , opiates , Opioid Crisis , Image , Web Only
The Trustee Renaming Advisory Committee found that while Bailey "had numerous positive accomplishments that are part of his extensive legacy," his involvement in the eugenics survey was "fundamentally at odds" with the mission of the university, a report released to Seven Days on Thursday shows.
UVM's board of trustees will have the final say on the question. Trustees are expected to review the recommendation at an October 27 meeting.
The question about the name of Bailey/Howe Library surfaced last spring during student protests for racial justice that shut down traffic and disrupted classes. Changing the name was one of their many demands.
Tags: Bailey/Howe Library , Guy Bailey , University of Vermont , eugenics , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
The 17-year-old senior survived the horrific day. On Friday, he will appear with two fellow students in Burlington to promote their book, "Glimmer of Hope," and the March for Our Lives campaign to stop gun violence.
"This is something that is going to be plaguing us our entire lives," Wind said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "But it comes to a point where we have to say, what’s now is now, and we need to be focused on that.”
Last winter, a young gunman sprayed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with bullets. Former student Nikolas Cruz has been charged with 17 counts of murder.
The 6 p.m. stop on the Glimmer of Hope tour will take place at the First Unitarian Universalist Society in Burlington. Tickets sold out Sunday. Phoenix Books is sponsoring the event.
Wind will appear with two other students from the school: David Hogg and Emma González. They will participate in a moderated question-and-answer session and will sign books.
Some of the student activists have left the school to tour the country and advocate for gun safety measures. They are urging young people to register to vote and use the democratic process for change.
Friday's appearance will be Wind's first on the Glimmer tour. He still attends the school. "It's completely changed the entire atmosphere, the entire landscape," Wind said. "There's not a specific thing to point out. It's just the looming feeling."
Wind did not know Cruz, and didn't want to speculate on his motive — or even think about him. "No one is focused on him," Wind said. "We don’t want to be concerned about him and his face, because he is someone that caused harm and we don’t like to talk about him."
The campaign's goals include voter registration, a federal universal background check for gun purchases, a ban on semiautomatic assault rifles, and more funding to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.
It's not a partisan effort, Wind said. "We can all come together and agree on one thing — that this country needs change."
The book's title is not an accident, he added. "The glimmer of hope is the young people, the people who are going to the polls next, the people who are going to the polls now. We don’t like the way things are happening and we're going to change them."
Tags: David Hogg , Emma González , Alex Wind , "Glimmer of Hope" , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Owners vacated the homes when the airport bought them in 2016 and 2017 after federal noise standards deemed them uninhabitable. The seven Lily Lane condos in South Burlington are now owned by the City of Burlington, which had intended to demolish the homes or move them from the zone.
Instead, people who work at the airport now live in them rent-free, as Burlington officials work to convince the Federal Aviation Administration, which funded the purchases, to allow the condos to remain standing. Gene Richards, BTV’s director of aviation, said Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger encouraged him to “exhaust every opportunity there is to have the homes stay where they are.”
Why the change in plans?
A Federal Aviation Administration grant program required the airport to give 39 homeowners near BTV the opportunity to sell their homes in 2016. All of the Lily Lane owners took advantage of the offer; the last one sold in June 2017.
As part of the FAA program, about 145 houses near the airport have been removed since 1997. But most were “older and in disrepair” compared to the Lily Lane condos, which are well-constructed, energy-efficient units that were built in 2010, Richards said.
“We’re really hoping we don’t have to remove them,” he said. “It’s a unique and special situation.”
The airport workers who live in them now serve as “security caretakers,” according to Richards. Their presence prevents the kind of looting and vandalism that plagued other homes emptied as part of the program, he said.
Tags: South Burlington , BTV , Burlington International Airport , Gene Richards , Kevin Dorn , Meaghan Emery , Miro Weinberger , mayor , Image , Web Only
That left Sanders with more than $8.8 million cash on hand, a new record in Vermont politics.
Prior to this election cycle, the record-holder was businessman Rich Tarrant, whose 2006 Senate campaign raised just more than $7 million — nearly all of it from the candidate himself. Sanders, who defeated Tarrant that year to claim an open Senate seat, raised close to $6.2 million at the time.
While it's unlikely that Sanders could spend down his war chest in the three weeks remaining until Election Day, he could legally transfer the balance to a future presidential campaign.
Sanders faces eight challengers in his reelection race, but only one of them, Republican Lawrence Zupan, filed a report with the FEC by Tuesday morning. He raised $85,979 over the past two months and spent $40,382 of it. By the end of September, Zupan had $52,007 in his campaign coffers.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Lawrence Zupan , Peter Welch , Anya Tynio , Patrick Leahy , Election 2018 , Statewide 2018 , Image , Web Only
Gov. Phil Scott’s reelection campaign spent $155,261 over the past two weeks, according to a new filing with the Vermont Secretary of State's Office. Of that, $100,000 went to the incumbent Republican's first television advertisement of the campaign, which focuses on his message of civility in politics.
“I believe each of us has a responsibility to be better role models, act appropriately and treat each other with dignity and respect,” Scott says in the direct-to-camera ad.
Phil Scott for Vermont - "Respect" from Phil Scott on Vimeo.
In the same two-week period, Democratic nominee Christine Hallquist spent $56,873, which included $20,000 worth of online ads. She has yet to run TV advertising.The latest round of campaign finance filings show both gubernatorial candidates raising similar sums of money in the first half of October. Scott picked up $70,272 in donations from 155 individuals and companies, while Hallquist collected $64,755 from 663 donors. Since the campaign began, Scott has raised $545,454, while Hallquist has raised $439,012.
In recent weeks, Scott has accepted donations from several corporations and special-interest groups, including DEW Construction Corp. ($4,080), Maximus ($2,500), Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America ($2,000), the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association ($2,000) and the Vermont Wholesale Beverage Association ($1,000). Hallquist does not accept corporate contributions.
Tags: Phil Scott , Christine Hallquist , Don Turner , David Zuckerman , Election 2018 , Governor's Race 2018 , Image , Web Only , Video
Monday, October 15, 2018
Florida software company Mi9 Retail said Monday that it is poised to acquire MyWebGrocer, the Winooski-based e-commerce firm that has long been a leader in the local tech scene.
Mi9 Retail of Miami did not say how the transaction would impact the employees in the headquarters of MyWebGrocer, which provides digital services for grocers.
But Barry Clogan, MyWebGrocer's president of retail solutions, said that no employees would be laid off or be relocated as a result of the deal. "Four or five" workers did lose their jobs days ago, Clogan said, but that downsizing was not directly related to the deal.
Clogan declined to release terms of the deal.
Mi9 bills itself as a growing provider of software for retailers, wholesalers and consumer brands. It counts Aubuchon Hardware among its many clients. It has offices in Boston and Montréal, and also at locations in Europe, Asia and Africa.
“Combining MWG with Mi9 will increase our ability to serve our customers with innovative technology, professional services, and industry expertise,” said Barry Clogan, MyWebGrocer's president of retail solutions. “Our technology and media businesses complement the Mi9 platform and will operate more efficiently with the scale and business process expertise that Mi9 has put in place. This is a real win-win for our customers and employees.”
Tags: MyWebGrocer , Winooski , tech , buyout , Mi9 , Image , Web Only