Wednesday, July 31, 2019
The stickers — which depict a sickle, the slogan “Better Dead Than Red” and Patriot Front’s web address — were affixed to the King Street side of the Turning Point Center building on South Winooski Avenue. The wall displays wayfinding signs for Black Lives Matter of Greater Burlington, Migrant Justice, the Vermont Workers' Center and 350Vermont, all of which have space in the building at 179 South Winooski.
After receiving a complaint, officers removed the stickers around 8 a.m. Wednesday, Det. Tom Chenette said.
“We tend to get a lot of calls about them,” Chenette said of such stickers. “They are absolutely bias-motivated and absolutely targeting these institutions.”
Tags: Patriot Front , Burlington , stickers , hate group , Miro Weinberger , Black Lives Matter of Greater Burlington , Migrant Justice , 350Vermont , Vermont Workers' Center , Web Only , Image
Asked to respond to former representative John Delaney’s assertion that his Medicare-for-all plan was “political suicide,” Sanders said simply, “You’re wrong.” With laughter and cheers, the audience at the Fox Theatre voiced its approval.
Later, when Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) argued that Sanders’ plan would strip union members of health insurance policies they’d fought for, the senator suggested they’d be better off under Medicare. “It covers all health care needs,” he said. “For senior citizens, it will finally include dental care, hearing aids and eyeglasses.”
“But you don’t know that,” Ryan interjected. “You don’t know that, Bernie.”
“I do know it,” Sanders said. “I wrote the damn bill.”
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Democratic debate , Web Only , Image
Monday, July 29, 2019
Moody’s increased the city’s rating to Aa3, a two-step upgrade from its most recent A2 status, Mayor Miro Weinberger said at a press conference on the City Hall steps. That's six steps higher than the Baa3 rating in 2012 that put it on the verge of junk bond status.
Moody’s report notes the city strengthened its standing by increasing its cash reserves; settling union contracts, including pension program cost-sharing; and resolving financial woes at Burlington Telecom, notably through its sale to Schurz Communications this March.
In 2011, Citibank sued the city for $33.5 million to cover the cost of equipment it leased to the ailing telecom. The city settled the suit for $10.5 million during Weinberger's first term as mayor.
This week's upgrade marks the first time the city has held a “Double A” credit rating in a decade, the mayor said. The milestone was a personal goal, he said, recalling his pledge as a mayoral candidate eight years ago to restore the city’s financial health.
Tags: Burlington , Burlington Telecom , credit rating , Moody's , Miro Weinberger , Web Only , Image
By a vote of 99 to 9, members of the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery agreed to have the co-op, trucking company and retail store become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the 14,000-member Dairy Farmers of America.
The outcome was not a surprise, as the co-op's board voted unanimously in favor of consolidation last month. But the decision to end 100 years of independent operation was nevertheless a consequential one for many farmers.
“I guess it’s kind of an unfortunate situation,” said Chris Sunderland, who milks about 130 cows in Ellenburg Depot, N.Y. “At this point in time, it’s the best we can do to save what we have.”
Tags: St. Albans Cooperative , Dairy Consolidation , Dairy Farmers of America , Web Only , Image
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Several hundred protesters marched through Williston to the nondescript Immigration and Customs Enforcement intelligence center on Sunday in an effort to draw attention to the state’s little-known role in Trump’s national immigration crackdown.
Nineteen people were cited for disorderly conduct after blocking entrances to the 24-7 facility for two hours. But the federal government’s pursuit of undocumented immigrants continued unabated, as ICE’s sister agency, Customs and Border Protection, set up a highway enforcement checkpoint in South Hero during the widely publicized demonstration against federal deportations.
Tags: ICE , immigration , Customs and Border Patrol , Peace & Justice Center , protest , Department of Homeland Security , border enforcement , deportation , Web Only , Image , Slideshow
Friday, July 26, 2019
The Friday announcement, via emailed press release, came after Seven Days and VTDigger.org published pieces critical of her original assertion, and the Scott administration categorically denied it.
For the first 10 days of her campaign, Holcombe had accused the Scott administration of promoting a statewide school-choice policy that would strip public schools of millions in state funding. In her new press release, she instead accused Scott of promoting a "vision" of a statewide voucher system.
Tags: Rebecca Holcombe , Phil Scott , Web Only , Image
Thursday, July 25, 2019
At least two of the deaths appear to involve opioids, wrote Jackie Corbally, the Burlington Police Department's drug, mental health, homelessness policy and operations manager, in a press release.
"These deaths may be clustered due to coincidence," Corbally wrote. "Nonetheless, three deaths in five days is cause for concern."
Tags: opioids , drug overdoses , Chittenden County , Jackie Corbally , Web Only , Image
Sinclair entered the popular, mountainous Highline trail on the afternoon of July 8 after leaving his car and dog unsecured at the Logan Pass Visitor Center atop the park's famed Going-to-the-Sun Road. Search crews scanned the area by foot and air for more than a week but called off the response July 18, according to park officials.
Sinclair, 66, spent two decades advocating for environmental issues in Vermont. He directed the Conservation Law Foundation's Vermont office, worked at the Clean Energy Group and served as an attorney for the state Agency of Natural Resources and the Public Utility Commission.
Tags: Mark Sinclair , Clean Energy Group , Conservation Law Foundation , Glacier National Park , Web Only , Image
"We understand this news will stir varying emotions in our community, as it did for us when we first considered this option," Marlboro president Kevin Quigley and Richard Saudek, chair of the school's board of trustees, said in a joint statement about the merger. "Like many small, private liberal arts colleges, Marlboro has experienced significant challenges around enrollment and finances in recent years."
The southern Vermont school's enrollment dipped to 150 students this past school year, its lowest in about a decade and an approximately 25 percent decline since 2007. The college sold its downtown Brattleboro graduate school building for $3 million last August.
Tags: Marlboro College , Vermont colleges , University of Bridgeport , merger , enrollment , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
The permit allows the vast dump in Coventry near the Canadian border to operate for another nine years, until 2028.
But an appeal of a different permit from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources that is also required for the expansion is still pending. Until that's resolved, the expansion cannot go forward.
Tags: landfill , Casella , Coventry , Act 250 , PFAS , Lake Memphremagog , Web Only , Image