Friday, November 30, 2018
And for now, it's working.
In a filing with the Public Utility Commission Friday morning, public service director of public advocacy Jim Porter wrote that the documents Brian Winn wants to release “are subject to the attorney-client and/or work product privileges,” and are therefore confidential.
Winn, the former director of finance and economics for the Department of Public Service, was fired November 9. Soon after, an anonymous letter sent to news organizations and regulators at the Public Utility Commission alleged that Winn was fired for rejecting directives from Tierney to limit his analysis of the company's rate proposal.
Tags: Brian Winn , June Tierney , Green Mountain Power , Public Utility Commission , electricity rates , regulation , transparency , Image , Web Only
Thursday, November 29, 2018
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, actress Susan Sarandon, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis were among those scheduled to address such topics as climate change, housing and criminal justice reform during the Sanders Institute Gathering.
Before the panel discussions, though, was a Thursday evening reception at the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain featuring motivational speaker Simon Sinek and a keynote address from Sanders himself. The senator's wife, Sanders Institute cofounder Jane O'Meara Sanders, also spoke. In attendance were actors John Cusack —wearing a jacket that said “good night white pride” on the back — and Danny Glover.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Sanders Institute , Jane O'Meara Sanders , Cornel West , John Cusack , Danny Glover , progressive , 2020 , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
The House Democratic Caucus met Wednesday to choose its leaders for the congressional session that begins in January. Welch had refused to declare his position until just before that meeting. According to Welch, Pelosi got 203 votes, more than enough to secure the caucus' nomination. She will need at least 218 votes in January when the full House elects a speaker.
Welch had sought changes in how the House is governed, claiming that too much authority has migrated to its leadership. In a statement released before the vote, Welch said that Pelosi "has personally committed to me that she will reform the legislative process, make it more transparent, and allow the diverse ideas of all members to be considered."
Welch elaborated in a phone interview following the caucus. During the speakership of retiring House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Welch said, "power was concentrated in the speaker's office. The committees were completely bypassed." He said that major pieces of legislation were written by leadership and rushed through with little or no review or testimony. Restoring committee power, he added, would "produce better legislation."
When asked whether Pelosi might be weakened by having to negotiate for support, Welch demurred. "She ended up with 203 votes," he said. "That's a pretty solid majority." Thirty-two caucus members voted "no" on Pelosi, while three returned blank ballots, and one member — a Pelosi supporter — was absent.
Pelosi will need at least 218 votes in January, when the full House will elect a speaker. Welch doesn't see that as a problem. "She would need 14 votes out of the 35 who didn't vote for her [Wednesday]," Welch said. "That's very doable when the choice is between Pelosi and the Republican nominee. It's one thing for a Democrat to vote no in caucus. It's another to vote yes for a Republican."
Tags: Peter Welch , Nancy Pelosi , James Clyburn , Steny Hoyer , Hakeem Jeffries , Barbara Lee , Paul Ryan , U.S. House , Image , Web Only
“This deal is illegal,” said Dean Corren, a former candidate for lieutenant governor and one of the six citizens fighting the sale before state regulators.
Tags: Burlington Telecom , Dean Corren , Schurz , ZRF Partners , Public Utility Commission , Image , Web Only
Porter Airlines will not run its skier-friendly seasonal service into Burlington from Toronto, BTV aviation director Gene Richards told Seven Days Wednesday.
The flights typically start in mid-December and run for eight to 10 weeks. Richards characterized the suspension as a one-year break and said he hoped Porter would be back next winter.
So is the "International" in the airport's name still legit given the suspension of the flight service to Canada?
Tags: Burlington , airport , skiing , BTV , Porter Airlines , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
The department is responsible for representing Vermonters in utility regulation cases before the Public Utility Commission. But last week, an anonymous letter sent to reporters and regulators alleged that Commissioner June Tierney was favoring Green Mountain Power’s financial interests over the Vermonters she is paid to represent.
The letter, reported by VTDigger.org and Vermont Public Radio and mailed to Seven Days, said Tierney fired the department’s director of finance and economics, Brian Winn, for refusing to give GMP favorable treatment.
On Tuesday, Winn confirmed many of the allegations in a filing with the Public Utility Commission, the regulatory body that oversees Vermont utilities and sets the price of electricity and natural gas. Winn wrote that the department approached the latest GMP rate case “with at least one hand tied behind it’s [sic] back.”
Tags: Green Mountain Power , Brian Winn , June Tierney , Department of Public Service , Public Utility Commission , electricity , rates , Image , Web Only
"She's wise beyond her years, is very level-headed and has developed a great rapport with the people she works with," McClory said.
A resident of White River Junction and native of Framingham, Mass., Cassidy joined the Valley News in January 2012 and worked her way up the ranks from news assistant to web editor of the previously tech-averse paper. She'll succeed Martin Frank, who is retiring after more than three decades at the paper and five years as editor.
"I don't know how many times I'm going to be in the position I'm in right now, which is to have been working at a newspaper that I love for seven years and to have an editor position opening that I feel like I can do," Cassidy said.
Tags: Valley News , Maggie Cassidy , Martin Frank , Dan McClory , Image , Web Only
The Border Patrol has not publicly announced its intention. But the delegation's staffers were recently briefed about the plan by Border Patrol officials, according to David Carle, spokesman for Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).
The Border Patrol has the authority to stop and search travelers without a warrant or reasonable suspicion within 100 miles of an international boundary or coastal body of water, a zone that includes about 90 percent of Vermont.
"We are concerned to learn of the U.S. Border Patrol’s plans to operate a number of immigration checkpoints in the interior of Vermont," the delegation said in a joint statement. "While these checkpoints will cause needless delays for travelers and hinder commerce between Vermont and Canada, we are not convinced that they will make Vermont or the United States any safer. Rather, they appear to be another escalation of the Trump Administration’s aggressive yet wasteful use of immigration enforcement resources."
Tags: Senator , Border Patrol , civil liberties , Patrick Leahy , Bernie Sanders , Peter Welch , Image , Web Only
The family of a young drug-addicted woman from Vermont whose obituary went viral last month has sued the Springfield, Mass., police department seeking records surrounding her death, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and Prisoners' Legal Services announced Tuesday.
Madelyn Linsenmeir died October 7 at age 30. Her obituary, which was unusually candid about her addiction, attracted millions of readers around the world, many of whom had lost a loved one to addiction.
"It is impossible to capture a person in an obituary, and especially someone whose adult life was largely defined by drug addiction," her sister, Kate 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."
While the obit was frank, the circumstances of her death have been murky. The ACLU alleges that police in Springfield, where Linsenmeir had been arrested and jailed in the days before her death, have refused to provide answers.
Springfield police arrested Linsenmeir in late September, the ACLU said. She was charged as a fugitive from justice on a New Hampshire warrant and with providing false identification to police. The day before her arrest, she had texted her family that she was experiencing weight loss, chest pain, difficulty eating and sleeping, and swelling in her knee.
"I am just in a lot of pain 90 pounds can't eat sleep," read a message to one of her sisters, "my chest Hurst my knee is so swollen i can't even walk." She told her mother that she needed a hospital. "I am dying," she texted.
After her arrest, Linsenmeir was allowed to call her mother. She was distraught and reported that she was not receiving medical attention, the ACLU said in a statement. "As the phone conversation progressed, a police officer on the line refused to provide medical attention and even made a sarcastic comment after Linsenmeir’s mother reiterated that her daughter needed care," the ACLU said.
Tags: ACLU of Massachusetts , drugs , Madelyn Linsenmeir , obituary , opiate , Opioid Crisis , Springfield Police Department , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Beginning Friday and lasting through Christmas, developer Don Sinex and business partner Brookfield Asset Management will spend $72,000 to cover free four-hour parking at the College Street and Lakeview garages; two-hour parking at street metered spaces; free weekend parking at the city's Elmwood lot; and additional parking benefits for employees of downtown shops and restaurants.
"We’re really rolling out the red carpet to support the great local businesses downtown," said Chapin Spencer, director of the Department of Public Works. The promotion is "much greater and much broader than last year's effort," he added.
Tags: CityPlace Burlington , Chapin Spencer , Don Sinex , parking , Image , Web Only