Friday, February 22, 2019
The announcement Friday was not a surprise. The senior administrator and mechanical engineering professor at Indiana's Purdue University had been the sole finalist for the job to succeed current president Thomas Sullivan, who will step down in July.
Garimella's contract is effective July 1. He'll earn a base salary of $480,000 and an additional $50,000 annually in deferred compensation for each year he stays on the job.
On top of those payments, Garimella will receive a $100,000 annual payment toward a retirement fund, according to his new contract.
Tags: University of Vermont , Suresh Garimella , UVM , president , Thomas Sullivan , STEM , Sarah Alexander , Image , Web Only
Thursday, February 21, 2019
The Vermont House passed a landmark bill Thursday to enshrine abortion rights into state law, rejecting another flurry of last-minute efforts by Republicans to restrict or limit access to the procedure.
By a vote of 106 to 37, the House passed H.57 after six proposed amendments failed. Many of them were similar to measures that either were shot down Wednesday or had been previously rejected by House committees.
“This legislation secures Vermonters’ rights,” Rep. Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington) said. “I trust women, and that’s why I’m voting yes.”In explaining his opposition, Rep. Brian Smith (R-Derby) noted that 12-year-old girls need parental permission to get a flu shot. “We’re about to give 12-year-olds the right to get an abortion, and I don’t think that’s right,” Smith said.
Tags: abortion , Roe v. Wade , Vermont House , H.57 , Image , Web Only
Legislators on Thursday tapped a new leader for the Vermont National Guard who vowed to meet individually with every woman in the organization as he seeks to reform a culture characterized by some as sexist.
Col. Greg Knight of Huntington smiled and hugged his wife and son after Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman announced the results of the election during a joint session of the Vermont House and Senate.
Knight was the only one of four candidates who is an active duty Guard member, currently serving as a human resources officer. All three of his opponents were retired members of the Guard.
On the first ballot, Knight received 95 of the 176 votes cast, enough to avoid a runoff.
Tags: Military , Adjutant General , Vermont Guard , Statehouse , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
"It's democracy at work," House Minority Leader Pattie McCoy (R-Poultney) said in explaining the demand for roll calls. "I think our members wanted [roll call votes]. It's a very personal and emotional issue."
Vermont has had no restrictions on abortion since 1972. Supporters of H.57 say that abortion rights must now be protected in law, given the possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court could overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1972 decision establishing abortion rights.
Rep. Carl Rosenquist (R-Georgia) proposed an amendment establishing legal rights for fetuses developed enough to survive outside the womb. "The most underrepresented person or thing in Vermont is a viable fetus," he said in floor debate. "It feels pain, it feels love."
The amendment was defeated on a 106-41 vote, largely along party lines.
Tags: Pattie McCoy , Carl Rosenquist , Bob Bancroft , Ann Pugh , Charen Fegard , David Yacovone , Vicki Strong , abortion , Vermont , H.57 , Statehouse , Image , Web Only
David L. Bissonnette, 38, of Burlington, died on November 22, 2016 of bacterial endocarditis, a heart infection often associated with intravenous drug use, a few hours after an ambulance rushed him from Northwest State Correctional Facility in Swanton to a hospital.
Bissonnette had been arraigned on November 7, 2016, on charges that he failed to appear in court, violated conditions of release and stole a laptop. He could not afford to post $4,000 bail, the suit says, so he was sent to prison. During intake, he revealed to staff that he had been taking buprenorphine, an opioid-addiction medication.
"[O]fficials who assigned Bissonnette to segregation expected Bissonnette to be going through withdrawal (as they would not let him continue to use buprenorphine)," the suit contends.
Tags: opioid addiction , corrections , Vermont , Image , Web Only
Thousands of current and former members of the Vermont National
Guard may have been exposed to toxic smoke from burn pits during overseas deployments in the past 30 years, but only a small percentage appear to be aware of the health risks posed by such exposure.
Vermont legislators want to change that by increasing awareness
among service members and health care professionals about what Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden) called a “ticking time bomb in public health.”
Of the estimated 10,000 Vermont guardsmen who have served in overseas theaters where burn pits were used by U.S. forces, just 366 have signed up for a registry aimed at sharing information with service members who may have been exposed.
That tells Ashe that “something hasn’t quite clicked yet in a pervasive way among returning service members” about the need to sign up for what is known as the federal Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry.
“A lot of people aren’t even aware of the registry and, certainly, I don’t think the general public is informed about this issue,” Sen. Jeanette White (D-Windham) said Wednesday.
Tags: Vermont National Guard , Tim Ashe , Jeanette White , Michael Heston , Military , health , environment , Statehouse , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
On Tuesday night, the Burlington City Council gave its blessing to a plan to redesign the Moran building, the most significant progress toward remodeling the old coal-fired power plant since it was decommissioned in 1986.
The unanimous vote gave Mayor Miro Weinberger's administration permission to move forward with the project and to borrow the cash to fund it. The plan, which the city's Community Economic Development Office presented in December, proposes filling in the basement of the old structure and removing the brick exterior.
It would leave in place a steel skeleton. The open-air space would include public restrooms and space for vendors and concerts. Additional walkways, public art, a performance venue, a viewing deck or outdoor areas could also be added to the project in the future, pending additional funding.
Tags: Burlington City Council , Miro Weinberger , mayor , Moran plant , Image , Web Only
Within 24 hours of joining the race for president Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) reeled in more than $5.9 million, according to his campaign. The money came from roughly 223,000 individual donors.
The campaign said it also signed up $600,000 worth of recurring, monthly donations.
Sanders' fundraising haul shatters this cycle's record, which was briefly held by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.). In her first day on the trail last month, Harris picked up $1.5 million from 38,000 donors.
Four years earlier, Sanders himself raised $1.5 million from 100,000 donors on the day he joined the 2016 race for the Democratic nomination. By the end of that campaign, he had raised more than $234 million.
In his announcement Tuesday morning, Sanders called for a million voters to pledge their support. His campaign said that 330,000 had done so by Tuesday evening. His announcement video was viewed by more than 5.7 million people that day on social media.
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The Vermont Public Utility Commission issued its decision on Tuesday afternoon, granting a certificate of public good to the Indiana-based telecommunications company, which operates locally under the business name Champlain Broadband.
Schurz "has the technical expertise, financial resources, and management experience to assume ownership of the Burlington Telecom assets and to operate the telecommunications and cable television systems," the commission wrote in its 51-page decision.
Representatives from Schurz did not immediately return requests for comment.
Tags: Miro Weinberger , Schurz Communications , Burlington Telecom , Image , Web Only
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will make a second run for the White House in 2020, he announced Tuesday morning.
The senator disclosed his candidacy in an interview with Vermont Public Radio, telling host Bob Kinzel, “I wanted to let the people of the state of Vermont know about this first.”
Sanders elaborated on his plans in an 11-minute video and a 1,500-word email to supporters, in which he sounded many of the populist, progressive themes that have characterized his nearly five decades in public life — and made him a breakout star of the 2016 presidential election. “Our campaign is about taking on the powerful special interests that dominate our economic and political life,” he said.
Asked in a pre-taped interview with CBS News’ John Dickerson how this campaign would differ from his last, Sanders said, “We’re gonna win.”
"Our campaign is not only about defeating Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in modern American history," Sanders said in his announcement. "Our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice."
The 77-year-old independent joins a crowded Democratic field, which already features five other U.S. senators and is expected to include more than a dozen members of Congress, governors, mayors and business leaders. Sanders, however, is the highest-profile pol to enter the race thus far — and the only one to have previously sought the office. Only former vice president Joe Biden, who is reportedly eyeing a run, has garnered greater support in early public opinion polls.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , 2020 , president , Image , Video , Web Only