Monday, September 30, 2019
The announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture comes after Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) vowed last month to tighten rules meant to ensure the integrity of the 1990 Organic Foods Production Act he helped author.
Leahy said in August that industrial-scale dairies were exploiting a loophole that allowed them to rotate conventionally raised calves into their organic herds in perpetuity.
“Factory-scale farms want a piece of the action. They want to cut corners. They want to erode the true intent of organic farming,” Leahy said during a visit to a Fairfield dairy.
Tags: Dairy , Organic , Sen. Patrick Leahy , Web Only , Image
Caledonia County State's Attorney Lisa Warren will preside over trial courts in the Northeast Kingdom and Washington County, replacing retired judge Dennis Pearson. Kerry Ann McDonald-Cady, a deputy state's attorney in Windham County, will be assigned to Rutland and Bennington counties. She replaces former judge David Howard.
In a press release, Scott praised the prosecutors' "record of sound legal judgement to ensure justice, which protects the vulnerable and upholds public safety."
Tags: Vermont Superior Court , Gov. Phil Scott , Lisa Warren , Kerry Ann McDonald-Cady , Judicial Nominating Board , Web Only , Image
After 12 years on the job, Mary Powell announced Monday that she'll step down from her position as president and CEO of Green Mountain Power. She'll hand the reins to Mari McClure, who is currently a senior vice president at the company.
Powell said she is pondering new opportunities and wants to fight climate change and serve the public good. She might even run for political office, though Powell said she had no specific plan to announce.
"I'm not ruling out that public office could be something that I might come to feel is a good place for my energy and my commitment to serving society," said Powell, who described herself as a lifelong Democrat.
Tags: Mary Powell , Green Mountain Power , Mari McClure , Web Only , Image
Sunday, September 29, 2019
That was the case Saturday morning when U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) — aka AOC — joined Sanders, wife Jane O'Meara Sanders and campaign manager Faiz Shakir at Burlington's Penny Cluse Café.
According to owner and chef Charles Reeves, who was working in the kitchen that morning, Sanders is a semi-regular and "usually gets the buckwheat pancakes with blueberries." Ocasio-Cortez ordered scrambled eggs with rye toast and home fries, Reeves reported.
"They're totally regular people when they eat," he said of Sanders and O'Meara Sanders. "And we don't make a big deal about it."
What was up for discussion Saturday morning was less clear. Sanders' campaign did not respond to a request for comment and Seven Days could not reach an Ocasio-Cortez spokesperson, though her office confirmed the meeting to CNN.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , Penny Cluse , Web Only , Image
Thursday, September 26, 2019
A fourth man has been charged in connection with the alleged harassment of Addison County farmworkers. Unlike the first three men, Chase Atkins, 24, of Addison, faces a hate-crime offense.
Vermont State Police said Thursday that Atkins deflated the tires on the vehicle of a Migrant Justice employee who was visiting a farm and later left a threatening voicemail for the immigrant-advocacy organization.
State prosecutors in Addison County charged Atkins with disturbing the peace by phone, a misdemeanor, with a hate-crime enhancement for the voicemail. Atkins was not charged for the flat tires because they were undamaged and could be reinflated, VSP spokesperson Adam Silverman said, summarizing the state's attorney's reasoning.
Tags: Farm feuds , migrant justice , hate crime , vandalism , bridport , vermont state police , Web Only , Image
"I support getting the facts in that inquiry that's happening today," Scott said Thursday morning at an Essex Junction press conference. "I think these are serious allegations, and we need to make sure that we do the fact-finding and figure out what exactly did happen."
Asked specifically whether he supported House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) decision this week to launch a formal impeachment inquiry, Scott said, “Well, I think the inquiry’s important. Yes.”
The second-term governor, who has long distanced himself from the Republican president, declined to say whether he believed Trump had committed impeachable offenses and said he would not "predetermine" what actions Congress should take in the future. "At this point, I just want to make sure what we're actually talking about," he said.
Scott made his remarks two days after Pelosi announced that the House would probe whether Trump improperly pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate a political rival, former vice president Joe Biden. The governor first weighed in on the inquiry late Wednesday in a written statement to the Associated Press, in which he referred to it as "appropriate."
Tags: Senator , Phil Scott , Donald Trump , impeachment , Patrick Leahy , Bernie Sanders , Peter Welch , Rebecca Holcombe , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in recent days repeated their previous demands that the House initiate an impeachment inquiry, but neither would explicitly call for the president's impeachment or removal from office.
In an interview with Seven Days Wednesday afternoon, Leahy said it was "extremely urgent" that the House investigate whether Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to dig up dirt on former vice president Joe Biden. "This Ukraine episode is very, very disturbing," the senator said, referring to allegations that Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine as he sought assistance in besmirching a political rival.
Leahy declined, however, to call for the impeachment of the president. "No, I said I support what [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)] is doing: beginning the impeachment inquiry," he said. "Impeachment's gonna be up to the House."
Vermont's senior senator said he would not "prejudge" the outcome of the House's investigation without all the facts. And he noted that, if the House were to impeach the president, the Senate would be charged with conducting a trial and determining whether to convict him and remove him from office. "As one who would have to be a juror in any case brought by them, I'll wait and see what they do," Leahy said of the House.
Tags: Senator , Patrick Leahy , Bernie Sanders , Peter Welch , Donald Trump , impeachment , Web Only , Image
Monday, September 23, 2019
ANEW Place, a transitional housing organization based on North Street, will run the low-barrier shelter on the corner of King Street and South Winooski Avenue. The 37-bed facility is open from November 1 to April 15 each year and is available to anyone. Other Queen City shelters allow only sober people to drop in, except in emergencies.
The nonprofit is taking over from the Community Health Centers of Burlington, which ran the shelter for the last three years. ANEW Place's board of directors approved the decision earlier this month.
Executive director Kevin Pounds said his organization focuses on helping the homeless find permanent housing but also recognizes that a warming shelter is "a means to an end."
"We do feel compelled to do something and not just sit by," he said, adding, "If there isn’t a low-barrier shelter in town, it’s very difficult for somebody to survive on the streets here through the winter."
Tags: Burlington , Community Health Centers of Burlington , ANEW Place , homeless , low-barrier shelter , Web Only , Image
Friday, September 20, 2019
The zeal of Vermont's youth was on display Friday when thousands of people flooded the streets of Burlington and other Vermont towns and cities to demand action against climate change. Speakers at the rally at Burlington's City Hall expounded hope and, in a few cases, called for an overhaul of the country's economic and agricultural systems.
Tags: Climate strike , climate anxiety , global warming , Web Only , Image
The first and only executive director of Preservation Trust of Vermont, Bruhn, who was 72, had battled poor health in recent years. “It was his heart that finally couldn’t keep up with him,” his obituary reports.
Bruhn lived in South Burlington. Among his many survivors is his partner, Colleen O’Neill, of Cornish, N.H.
“I can’t think of anybody who’s been more important to the fabric of life in Vermont over the last 40 years than Paul,” said Candace Page, a veteran journalist and a consulting editor at Seven Days who attended Burlington High School with Bruhn in the 1960s. The two remained close friends until Bruhn’s death.
With his well-reasoned, matter-of-fact manner and professorial, friendly countenance, Bruhn was beloved by those fighting to maintain Vermont’s small-town charm. He was also respected — and feared — by the developers who sought to alter it.
A fount of information about Vermont history and a range of other topics, Bruhn was also articulate and eminently quotable, qualities that made him a sought-after source for reporters.
He was known to crisscross the state, helping communities and village centers maintain their historic features. Bruhn saved general stores, churches and grange halls, and did his best to fight suburban sprawl.
Tags: Paul Bruhn , Preservation Trust of Vermont , Neale Lunderville , Patrick Leahy , Web Only , Image