Friday, June 14, 2019
"I'm in the exploratory phase," Holcombe said. "I love the state of Vermont. It has tremendous potential, but it needs a new direction." She added that she will make a final decision "within the next couple of weeks."
Democratic governor Peter Shumlin first named Holcombe education secretary in 2014. She continued to serve under Republican Gov. Phil Scott until March 2018, when she suddenly resigned, giving a mere one week's notice.
Tags: Rebecca Holcombe , Phil Scott , T.J. Donovan , David Zuckerman , Krista Huling , Brenda Siegel , governor , Vermont , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
BTV Ignite announced Roof’s hiring in a press release Wednesday. He started the position on Monday, said Tom Torti, president of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, which manages the organization.
Roof replaces Dennis Moynihan, who stepped down as Ignite’s executive director this spring after about two years.
Founded in 2014, BTV Ignite is supported by a consortium of public and private partners who promote Burlington’s fiberoptic network as a means of increasing economic development in the city, according to its website. Burlington is one of two dozen member cities with US Ignite, which gives municipalities a platform for projects that enhance health, education, transportation and other services.
Torti said Roof was chosen from about two dozen applicants.
Tags: Burlington City Council , BTV Ignite , Adam Roof , Tom Torti , Eileen Blackwood , Web Only , Image
Scott said he moved the presser from Thursday to Wednesday because he'd gotten so many requests for further comment.
On the waiting period bill, Scott offered a number of explanations, not all of them consistent. He began by recounting the gun measures he signed into law last year and his administration's efforts to improve the state mental health system.
Tags: Phil Scott. Alyssa Black , Rob Black , gun purchase waiting period , abortion , Web Only , Image
Champlain College President Donald J. Laackman will step down June 28, he announced Wednesday.
“I am deeply grateful for the privilege of leading Champlain College and will forever hold this community close to my heart,” Laackman said in a press release. “I’m proud of what we have accomplished together over the last five years.”
Laackman wrote a campus email to students and faculty announcing his departure and followed that with a press release to the broader community shortly after 2 p.m.
Provost and senior vice president Laurie Quinn will serve as interim president beginning in July. A national search is planned for the upcoming year.
Tags: Champlain College , Donald Laackman , Laurie Quinn , Web Only , Image
Federal prosecutors charged Veronica Lewis with firearms violations Tuesday, a week after Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George dropped attempted murder charges over doubts the state could prove Lewis was sane when she shot a firearms instructor in 2015.
Lewis was charged with illegally possessing a gun after being adjudicated as mentally ill, and possessing a stolen weapon. She appeared Wednesday in federal court in Burlington, where Magistrate Judge John Conroy delayed until Monday a hearing on whether Lewis should be imprisoned before trial.
George faced swift criticism in political quarters for her decision last week to drop murder and attempted murder charges in three high-profile cases, including Lewis’. Gov. Phil Scott said he was "at a loss as to the logic" of George's actions, and asked Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan to independently review the case files.
Tags: Veronica Lewis , Christina Nolan , Sarah George , firearms , attempted murder , insanity defense , Phil Scott , Darryl Montague , Web Only , Image
In a new manifesto released Wednesday, the Charlotte writer and former journalist argues that the Green Mountain State must assert itself with bold policy ideas that could solve the state’s most pressing problems and serve as inspiration to its peers.
“In sum, the country is divided, Washington is a mess, and Vermont’s influence is waning,” Kiernan writes. “Therefore the central question is this: In a time of federal collapse, what can a small state do to thrive?”
Tags: Stephen Kiernan , "Vermont to the Tenth Power" , manifesto , Bill Sorrell , Peter Clavelle , Gretchen Morse , Rita Markley , Chris Bohjalian , Jay Parini , Bernie Sanders , Peter Welch , Patrick Leahy , Senator , government , politics , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
The Pine Street Coalition — a grassroots group of 150 people who want a “cheaper, greener, quicker and much safer roadway” — filed a lawsuit in federal court last week that asks a judge to halt construction of the 2.8-mile road in Burlington’s South End, which has been planned since the 1960s.
The suit names Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, Vermont Agency of Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn and Federal Highway Administration executive director Thomas Everett as defendants.
Coalition member Steve Goodkind, formerly Burlington’s city engineer and public works director, said the group doesn’t oppose the project — just the current version on which the city hoped to break ground by year’s end.
“We want a modern road, a road that does divert traffic around neighborhoods, a road that provides multimodal forms of transportation,” Goodkind said.
Tags: Champlain Parkway , Burlington , Pine Street Coalition , Tony Redington , Steve Goodkind , Miro Weinberger , Chapin Spencer , Eileen Blackwood , Web Only , Image
Toensing had already split his time between Vermont and Washington, D.C., where he works at a law firm owned by his mother, Victoria Toensing, and step-father, Joseph diGenova. Toensing is leaving the firm and giving up his Vermont residency to live full-time in D.C.
The 51-year-old attorney declined to share additional details about his new job because the Department of Justice has strict policies governing who can publicly speak about its operations. According to the mission statement of the Office of Legal Policy, it is responsible for implementing criminal justice policies and advising the attorney general on policy matters.
Tags: Brady Toensing , Deb Billado , Vermont Republican Party , Donald Trump , Department of Justice , Web Only , Image
Monday, June 10, 2019
Gov. Phil Scott on Monday vetoed a 24-hour waiting period for handgun sales in Vermont and signed a bill protecting a woman's right to an abortion.
The legislature passed S.169 to create a cooling-off period to reduce acts of impulsive gun violence, especially suicides. But Scott, citing a number of other gun restrictions he has signed, said he didn't think the new bill hit the mark.
“With these measures in place, we must now prioritize strategies that address the underlying causes of violence and suicide," Scott said in a statement. "I do not believe S.169 addresses these areas."
Tags: guns , suicide , waiting period , Second Amendment , abortion , Phil Scott , veto , Web Only , Image
The law enforcement agency reviewed information compiled last October by the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets but “determined there was no appropriate criminal investigation or charges based on the facts of the case,” said Adam Silverman, a state police spokesperson.
Instead, VSP referred the matter to the Vermont Crime Information Center — which directly oversees the medical marijuana registry — for regulatory review, Silverman said. That process can include “sending a notice of noncompliance or a notice of violation, or suspending or terminating a dispensary’s certificate,” according to Silverman.
Tags: Cannabeat , Vermont , weed , pot , hemp , marijuana , cannabis , dispensary , Champlain Valley Dispensary , Shayne Lynn , Adam Silverman , Vermont State Police , Pete's Greens , Web Only , Image