Thursday, June 27, 2019
“Sen. Sanders, a Vermont newspaper recently released portions of an interview you gave in 2013 in which you said, ‘My own view on guns is: Everything being equal, states should make those decisions,’” MSNBC host Rachel Maddow said.
“No,” Sanders said, interrupting her.
“Has your thinking changed since then?” Maddow continued. “Do you now think there’s a federal role to play?”
“No, that’s a mischaracterization of my thinking,” Sanders said.
“It’s a quote of you,” Maddow responded, prompting laughter from the audience.
The quotation came from a March 6, 2013, interview that Seven Days conducted with Sanders in his Capitol Hill office. It was the first time the senator had agreed to speak to the newspaper in the nearly three months since a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
At the time, Sanders was weighing whether to support federal gun control measures proposed by then-president Barack Obama and vice president Joe Biden. Later in the interview, Sanders said, “If you passed the strongest gun-control legislation tomorrow, I don't think it will have a profound effect on the tragedies we have seen, which are really tragedy."
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , gun control , Democratic debate , Web Only , Image , Audio , Video
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Of four open positions on the seven-member commission, the council only returned vice chair Shireen Hart to her seat. Two other incumbents, Peter Bahrenburg and James Dunn, did not win reelection, while a third, Robert Simpson, did not reapply.
Newly appointed to serve three-year terms were black men Jabulani Gamache, a bartender; Yuol Herjok Yuol, a social worker; and Mark Hughes, a community activist.
Tags: Burlington City Council , police commission , Mark Hughes , Yuol Herjok Yuol , Jabulani Gamache , Shireen Hart , Web Only , Image , Video
Monday, June 24, 2019
The alley between Red Square and Akes’ Place off Church Street is now known as Thorsen Way in honor of staff photographer Matthew Thorsen, who died from cancer at age 51 on New Year’s Day 2019.
The council unanimously approved a resolution renaming Mechanics Lane as a way of recognizing Thorsen’s artistic contributions to the Queen City.
“Matt’s work helped to tell the stories of thousands of Vermonters,” associate publisher Colby Roberts told the council. “If you picked up a copy of Seven Days over the past 24 years, you will have almost exclusively seen Matt’s work. And for any of you who knew him, he was an incredibly unique individual.”
Tags: Matthew Thorsen , Thorever , Burlington City Council , Thorsen Way , Red Square , Akes' Place , Colby Roberts , Diane Sullivan , Web Only , Image
Friday, June 21, 2019
It targeted Native Americans, French Canadians, people of color and the poor. UVM professor Henry Perkins directed and founded the effort, with support from other UVM leaders including then-president Guy Bailey.
"We recognize and deeply regret this profoundly sad chapter in Vermont and UVM’s history," university president Tom Sullivan said in a statement Friday.
Tags: Dorothy Canfield Fisher , Thomas Sullivan , University of Vermont , Guy Bailey , eugenics , Abenaki , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Crews removed the 8-by-10-foot advertisements along Cherry and Bank streets, revealing boards, some graffitied, that shield the pit from public view. Combined, the signs measured 2,880 square feet, far exceeding the 150-square-foot allowance in Vermont’s billboard law, which was enacted in 1968, Seven Days reported last fall. The signs had been installed as part of an October 2017 development agreement with the city.
Tags: Burlington , CityPlace , Will Voegele , Brookfield Asset Management , John Franco , Web Only , Image
Members of the city council in neighboring South Burlington are steamed about the vote, which will allow Burton Snowboards to move forward with a plan to host music venue Higher Ground at its Industrial Parkway campus.
In a strongly worded email Tuesday morning, South Burlington City Council vice chair Meaghan Emery chastised all 12 Burlington councilors for not involving their neighbors in the discussion. She explained that SoBu leaders, busy with various projects, hadn’t learned of the plan until last week. At that point, Emery and a colleague emailed her Burlington counterparts, while SoBu council chair Helen Riehle contacted Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger’s office on Monday to voice her concern, according to Emery.
Tags: Burton Snowboards , South Burlington , Higher Ground , venue , Justin Worthley , Meaghan Emery , Kurt Wright , city council , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Burlington officials broke ground Tuesday on work to rehabilitate 2.4 miles of what's known as the Greenway. Construction beginning this summer through the end of the year will intermittently close chunks of path from where it starts in the South End near the intersection of Pine Street and Queen City Park Road up to Perkins Pier.
In previous years, the city upgraded about five miles of path north of Perkins Pier, through Waterfront Park and up to the Winooski River Bridge. Once complete, all 7.9 miles of the bike path will be brought to modern standards, Mayor Miro Weinberger said at Tuesday's event.
Tags: Burlington Bike Path , Burlington , Parks and Rec , Miro Weinberger , Cindi Wight , mayor , upgrade , redevelopment , Web Only , Image
A large council majority approved an amendment to the Enterprise-Light Manufacturing District, a South End area that previously limited performing arts centers to Pine Street and capped them at 5,000 square feet. Under certain conditions, the amendment will allow for such venues to be built up to 15,000 square feet on Industrial Parkway, where Burton owns 155,000 square feet of space between two buildings.
Councilor Joan Shannon, a Democrat whose South District contains the affected area, was the lone no in the 10-1 roll call vote. Councilor Chip Mason (D-Ward 5) recused himself.
Tags: Burlington City Council , Burton Snowboards , Talent Skatepark , Champlain Parkway , South End , Web Only , Image , Video
Monday, June 17, 2019
Scott said the state has recently passed numerous drinking water protections, but he worried that the bill, S.37, lacked clarity and could negatively affect the business climate in the state.
“Numerous Vermont employers have expressed concerns to me, and to Legislators, that the unknown legal and financial risks, and increased liability, is problematic for continued investment in Vermont,” Scott wrote in his veto letter.
Tags: drinking water , contamination , lawsuit , veto , Phil Scott , Web Only , Image
Harrington announced the move in a June 10 post on the company website, writing that the business has "stayed true to the core mission: that ALL people with interest, passion, and knowledge of cannabis in Vermont should have news, a political voice, and spaces where they could meet each other."
Harrington and cofounder Monica Donovan started Heady Vermont in 2015. What launched as a blog about cannabis evolved into a full-fledged business that now features memberships, reported stories, analysis and advocacy. Harrington was a familiar face at the Statehouse, where he’d lobby for weed legalization and, more recently, regulation. Last month, the company hosted the two-day Vermont Cannabis & Hemp Convention at the Champlain Valley Exposition.
Tags: Cannabeat , Vermont , Heady Vermont , pot , weed , marijuana , cannabis , blog , events , Monica Donovan , Eli Harrington , Web Only , Image