Thursday, December 27, 2018
That's when Bissonnette announced, again, that he would not serve in the legislature because he is moving to Guildhall. The longtime Winooski pol, a Democrat, posted on Front Porch Forum on Monday that he is relocating soon to the small town where his wife grew up.
Meanwhile, Winooski City Councilor Hal Colston, who had sought the seat as a write-in candidate in November, announced on Wednesday that he hopes Gov. Phil Scott will appoint him to the seat.
Tags: Winooski , legislature , politics , Vermont , Clem Bissonnette , Hal Colston , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
The news came one day after Mayor Seth Leonard announced he would step down before his term is up to avoid any conflicts of interest involving his new job with the Vermont Housing Finance Agency. His term would have run until 2021.
Both contenders for the part-time job are relatively new to the city council. Neither is running with a party affiliation.
Lott was elected in March, and Covey was elected in 2017.
Tags: Winooski , mayor , Kristine Lott , Eric Covey , Town Meeting Day , Image , Web Only
But unlike Santa Claus, Jackie Walters wasn't making deliveries. The 33-year-old Burlington resident was allegedly stealing packages from homes in the city's Old North End and Hill Sections. The 11-year-old child Walters brought along was an "unwitting accomplice," according to police.
“The man had been seen roaming the city overnight, allegedly removing whatever packages he could find,” Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo wrote in a press release after Walters was arrested Tuesday morning.
Tags: Jackie Walters , Brandon del Pozo , Burlington , package , theft , steal , bicycle , bike , Christmas , holiday , presents , gifts , Image , Web Only
Monday, December 17, 2018
While both say the decision was mutual, they disagree about what precipitated it. Leven blamed a disagreement over the panel's power, accusing its members of overstepping their authority. Motta alleged that the director wasn't performing his duties adequately.
Vermont Law School professor Larry Novins has replaced Leven as executive director, according to Motta. VTDigger.org first reported the dispute Monday.
Leven, a Stowe lawyer who previously served as deputy secretary of state, said his differences with the commission date back to August, when the body issued an advisory opinion concluding that Gov. Phil Scott had violated the state ethics code by personally financing the sale of his company, DuBois Construction. The high-profile decision was spurred by the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, which had requested the opinion. Scott later slammed the five-member commission for failing to give him the opportunity to present his case.
The commission, created by a 2017 law, is charged with reviewing and referring allegations of governmental misconduct, but it has no investigative or enforcement powers.
Tags: Vermont State Ethics Commission , Phil Scott , Vermont Public Interest Research Group , Madeline Motta , Brian Leven , Larry Novins , Image , Web Only
Owner Kathleen Donahue said that her 70-hour work weeks during the slow colder months had become unsustainable.
"I kind of just made a decision for myself that I didn't want to make that sacrifice of my time any longer," she said. The decreased traffic during a "dark and stormy" October and "wintery" November sealed the deal, Donahue said. Friday will be King's last day open.
Tags: King's Corner Deli , Kathleen Donahue , food , sandwiches , Image , Web Only
Seth Leonard will step down from the post January 28 and pass the baton temporarily to city councilor and deputy mayor Nicole Mace. She'll serve until a new mayor is elected on Town Meeting Day in March. Leonard's term would have lasted until March 2021.
Leonard said he is leaving early because he has accepted a new job as managing director of community development at the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, effective January 8. The statewide organization's work could present a conflict of interest with various mayoral decisions, Leonard said, including those pertaining to affordable housing .
"Even the concern of a conflict, I think it is important that we remove that,” Leonard told Seven Days Monday.
Tags: Winooski , mayor , Seth Leonard , Nicole Mace , parking , Town Meeting Day , Image , Web Only
Friday, December 14, 2018
He testified that he never behaved improperly with a student teacher at the school and that he texted her after a faculty party at ArtsRiot in Burlington only to make sure she arrived safely home. There was no sexual intent, he said.
“I love my wife. We have three kids, we have been married for 14 great years and I was offended by the accusations,” Macias said, looking over at his spouse, his father and other family members who attended the hearing.
Macias gave testimony for several hours as he defended himself against allegations of misconduct during a third day of hearings at the Vermont Agency of Education offices in Barre.
Tags: Mario Macias , guidance director , Burlington High School , BHS , licensing , Agency of Education , Image , Web Only
Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George told Seven Days via email Friday that Maier’s case was referred to the Burlington Community Justice Center.
"CJC referrals are pre-charge, so he’s not officially 'charged,'" George wrote, "but we didn’t decline to prosecute it either. If [Maier] completes CJC then he won’t have to appear in court. If he does not, he will be officially 'charged' and have to appear in court."
Maier, who performed with the recently disbanded psych-pop quintet Madaila, was arrested December 5, more than a month after he allegedly used a chemical solution to destroy parts of the mural depicting Caucasian people’s faces. Margaux Higgins of Burlington was arrested November 7 on suspicion of being an accessory to the crime.
Tags: Eric Maier , Sarah George , Brandon del Pozo , Church Street , vandalism , mural , Madaila , Rapid Intervention Community Court , diversion , crime , Image , Web Only
The company, R.L. Vallee, alleged that Sanders and his Vermont spokesman, Daniel McLean, sought to gin up a state prosecution and a class-action lawsuit after the company's CEO, Rodolphe "Skip" Vallee, produced a television advertisement attacking Sanders and his family.
A week after Vallee released the ad in September 2014, according to documents and testimony obtained by the company's lawyers, Sanders and McLean met with two members of the Vermont Attorney General's Office to discuss the senator's suspicion that the company engaged in anticompetitive practices. According to handwritten notes taken at the meeting by Assistant Attorney General Ryan Kriger, either Sanders or McLean suggested that the AG should "Bring [a] case just to make a point."
McLean emailed Kriger several times in the coming weeks to ask whether Attorney General Bill Sorrell would take action. In the end, he did not.
Tags: R.L. Vallee , Skip Vallee , Bernie Sanders , Senator , Maplefields , gas , oil , price-fixing , Image , Web Only
Thursday, December 13, 2018
In a bare conference room at the Agency of Education headquarters in Barre, a three-member panel, comprised of two school administrators from other districts and a member of the public, listened to a full day of testimony from BHS educators, a student and a University of Vermont employee. It was the second day of hearings involving Macias and will continue on Friday.
Following a yearlong investigation, the Agency of Education in September cited Macias, the BHS guidance director, for allegations that include: falsifying a student transcript, creating a hostile work environment, behaving inappropriately with a college student and impeding the investigation by "inappropriately engaging" a student witness about the charges against him.
Macias, who was hired in the summer of 2016, was placed on administrative leave in September 2018 pending the conclusion of the investigation. The Agency of Education, which laid out its case on Thursday, has recommended revoking Macias' license. The panel is expected to return a decision in early 2019.
Macias did not take the stand Thursday but is expected to testify in his defense on Friday, according to his attorney, Francisco Guzman.
Tags: Burlington High School , Agency of Education , Mario Macias , Image , Web Only