Tuesday, April 30, 2019
A vote on the matter is scheduled for May 9.
Dr. Peter Gunther, chief medical officer of the nonprofit health center, said employees officially informed the CHCB administration of their intent to organize on April 19, but he’d “heard rumblings weeks before.”
The union, called Community Health United, has launched a campaign seeking support prior to the May vote. Emails obtained by Seven Days show that Community Health United promises “greater transparency, a seat at the decision-making table and pay equity” for employees.
Tags: Community Health Centers of Burlington , union , health care , Web Only , Image
Monday, April 29, 2019
City councilors had hoped to get answers from Mayor Miro Weinberger and Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo about their intervention efforts but heard more of the same during the discussion hosted in a packed City Hall conference room.
“The chief and I have been questioned again and again by members of the media … about the actions that took place here. We have shared as much as we can about that,” Weinberger said. “The attorney general does not want the facts of the case discussed any further.”
Tags: Burlington , CityPlace , Douglas Kilburn , Burlington City Council , Brandon del Pozo , Web Only , Image
Previously unreported court records show that, by his own account, Campbell initiated physical contact with Kilburn by grabbing the disabled man's arm as he stepped out of his SUV, in an attempt to handcuff him.
Kilburn then punched the officer using his free arm, hitting him in the jaw — a blow Campbell rated as three out of 10 on a pain scale. Campbell reported landing three punches in return, all to Kilburn's right eye, sending him to the ground.
"I placed Kilburn into handcuffs and observed Kilburn to be bleeding heavily from his right eye," Campbell wrote.
Tags: Cory Campbell , Douglas Kilburn , Burlington Police Department , use of force , UVM Medical Center , Web Only , Image
Friday, April 26, 2019
Mayor Miro Weinberger and Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo will appear before the council on Monday. The agenda item is listed as an “expected executive session,” but council President Kurt Wright (R-Ward 4) said some discussion may be public.
Councilor Ali Dieng (D/P-Ward 7) requested Weinberger and del Pozo provide a “detailed explanation” about why officials questioned and attempted to stifle chief medical examiner Steven Shapiro’s classification of Douglas Kilburn’s death as a homicide. Kilburn, 54, died March 14, three days after being punched by Officer Cory Campbell.
Tags: Burlington City Council , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Chief Brandon del Pozo , police , crime , Douglas Kilburn , Cory Campbell , Web Only , Image
The House committee didn’t make many changes to the bill, but this week’s deliberations were occasionally tense as lawmakers argued for protections to prevent the bill from hurting the business community.
The bill, S.23, would raise the minimum wage to $11.50 in 2020, $12.25 in 2021, $13.10 in 2022 and $14.05 in 2023.
Tags: minimum wage , Tom Stevens , House General Housing and Military Affairs Committee , Medicaid , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
The Vermont Constitution currently reads: “no person born in this country, or brought from over sea, ought to be holden by law, to serve any person as a servant, slave or apprentice, after arriving to the age of twenty-one years, unless bound by the person's own consent, after arriving to such age, or bound by law for the payment of debts, damages, fines, costs, or the like.”
The amendment approved by the Senate Wednesday would replace that entire passage with the words: “slavery and indentured servitude in any form are prohibited.”
Tags: slavery , indentured servitude , racial justice , racial equality , constitutional amendment , prop 2 , Dick McCormack , Debbie Ingram , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
The bulk of those costs are part of an effort to prevent “wage compression,” which happens when the lowest-paid employees at an organization receive a raise but employees making slightly more do not.
Analysts say wage compression can put businesses in a pinch as middle-level staff who aren’t subject to the minimum wage increase demand raises of their own or seek other jobs.
The legislation, S.23, doesn’t require private-sector employers to take measures to avoid wage compression, but a proposed amendment would require home health agencies and other Medicaid-funded employers to do so.
Tags: minimum wage , $15 minimum wage , wage compression , Medicaid , legislature , Tom Stevens , Joyce Manchester , health care , nurse , personal care attendant , hospice , Web Only , Image
The Burlington police union sued in state court Monday on behalf of Officer Cory Campbell to force city officials to hand over bodycam footage, surveillance video and other documents related to the altercation outside the University of Vermont Medical Center emergency department.
Tags: Cory Campbell , Douglas Kilburn , Burlington Police Department , City of Burlington , Rich Cassidy , bodycam , public records , Vermont State Police , Burlington Police Officers' Association , Web Only , Image
Monday, April 22, 2019
The summer market will open at the same time on May 11 but in a different place, as City Hall Park, the market’s home for nearly four decades, will soon close for a two-year renovation.
By day, 345 Pine Street is a dirt lot between the Barge Canal Market and the Chittenden Solid Waste District drop-off that Dealer.com workers use for overflow parking. But every Saturday through October, it will be home to the summer market’s 90-plus vendors — a huge relief to the organization's executive director, Chris Wagner.
“At first it was mutiny,” Wagner said, recalling last fall when he told vendors they were being uprooted. “It was a challenge for me, but I was more than happy to do it to really convince them of how exciting this location could be and how up-and-coming the South End is."
Tags: Burlington Farmers Market , City Hall Park , Miro Weinberger , Web Only , Image
Friday, April 19, 2019
Middlebury's Alexander Hamilton Forum was to host a public talk by conservative Polish politician and writer Ryszard Legutko on Wednesday. College administrators canceled the lecture, citing security worries, as protestors who branded Legutko a homophobe prepared to demonstrate.
The Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University helps fund the Alexander Hamilton Forum, the forum's director, Middlebury assistant professor Keegan Callanan, confirmed to Seven Days Friday. The Hamilton series is meant to broaden debate and inquiry at the highly selective private liberal arts college.
Tags: Charles Koch , Middlebury College , free speech , Alexander Hamilton Forum , Ryszard Legutko , Web Only , Image