Friday, September 20, 2019
"We are skipping our lessons to teach you one," read a sign that a girl held up in a crowd packed shoulder-to-shoulder in front of Burlington City Hall.
The turnout there reached at least 2,000 and was probably many more, Deputy Police Chief Jon Murad said shortly after noon, as he and other officers set up traffic barricades. But he had no way of knowing for sure, he added.
The crowd spilled onto Main Street, which was closed to vehicles. Musicians played, students chanted for climate justice and speakers addressed the crowd from city hall steps.
In Montpelier, protesters gathered at the Statehouse carrying banners such as one that read "Climate Action Now." Similar events were being held all around the state, according to the Vermont Climate Strike Coalition, which said Friday marks the start of a week of action.
Climate protests organized by youths have drawn massive crowds in major cities around the world.
Check out these images from Vermont gatherings:
Tags: Vermont Climate Strike Coalition , climate change , global warming , Web Only , Image , Slideshow
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Early Thursday afternoon, he was the first to confirm that the long wait was over.
“There they are!” Rolston called out across the bright tarmac crowded with media and guard officials.
He pointed south across the runway to a spot on the horizon between Camel's Hump and the control tower at Burlington International Airport.
Tags: F-35 , Vermont Air National Guard , Burlington International Airport , Vermont , 158th Fighter Wing , Greg Knight , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Known as a "bump-out," the extended curb design is meant to lessen the road-crossing distance for pedestrians. It's just one feature of the city's Great Streets Initiative, which aims to create friendlier roadways for walkers and cyclists in the six blocks contained by Maple, Battery, Pearl and South Union streets. The ongoing construction project on St. Paul Street, from Main to Maple, is the city's first Great Streets endeavor.
Tags: Burlington , Great Streets Initiative , St. Paul Street , bump-out , Chapin Spencer , roads , drivers , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Union leaders successfully challenged the driver's termination in a labor grievance, and he returned to work in August.
"We followed a contractual grievance process with our union partners and he was reinstated," Jon Moore, GMT's interim general manager, said Tuesday morning after a regularly scheduled board meeting.
In a separate development, two parents of kids involved in the May incident have filed a complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission.
A parent originally drew attention to the incident by posting on Facebook that the driver had singled out children of color and ordered them off the bus for "singing and clapping."
Tags: Green Mountain Transit , driver , reinstated , Thomas Chittenden , Jon Moore , Web Only , Image
Friday, September 13, 2019
In handcuffs and leg shackles, Aita Gurung spent the hourlong session staring straight ahead as prosecutors and his defense team argued about whether he should be kept in the custody of the state’s Department of Mental Health or Department of Corrections as his case progresses.
He’s been kept in a "locked, secure facility" since his arrest in October 2017, first at the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital in Berlin and recently at a facility in Middlesex, his public defender, Sandra Lee, said during the arraignment. She argued for keeping him there.
“It is uncontested that he suffers from a severe mental illness, judge,” Lee said. “And the humane, fair way to address this issue is to have close court oversight and allow the court the opportunity to determine if jail is really necessary before putting him through that for charges that were dismissed previously by the State of Vermont.”
Tags: Aita Gurung , Burlington , meat cleaver , murder , T.J. Donovan , Web Only , Image
In its 3-2 ruling, the state’s highest court reversed a decision by Washington Superior Court Judge Mary Miles Teachout, sided with Burlington man Reed Doyle and declared “that state agencies may not charge for staff time spent responding to requests to inspect public records pursuant to the [Public Records Act].”
In 2017, Doyle claimed to have witnessed a Queen City officer use excessive force against young teens in Roosevelt Park. He sought a court order requiring the department to let him view body camera footage from the incident without charge.
But the department denied the request. When Doyle appealed the decision, Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo agreed to let him view a redacted version of the video. But altering the footage would require making a copy of the original. That would require staff time for which Doyle would need to pay, del Pozo said at the time.
Tags: body camera , Burlington , police , Vermont Supreme Court , Reed Doyle , Web Only , Image
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan has refiled murder and attempted murder charges against a man who allegedly hacked his wife to death with a meat cleaver in Burlington in 2017.
The move comes three months after Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George dropped the same charges against Aita Gurung, who had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. In declining to prosecute the case in early June, George said she had concluded the defendant was legally insane at the time of the crime and would not be found guilty of the charges at trial.
She did the same for two other defendants — one in a murder and the other in an attempted murder case.
But two days after George's decision, on June 6, Gov. Phil Scott asked Donovan to review the cases, saying he was “at a loss as to the logic or strategy” behind the decision to drop the charges.
Tags: T.J. Donovan , Attorney General , Vermont. murder , charges , refiled , dismissed , Sarah George , Phil Scott , governor , Chittenden County State's Attorney , Web Only , Image
The Connecticut-based company reportedly reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday with half of the states and local governments that have filed suit against the OxyContin maker and its owners, the Sacklers. That deal “would have Purdue file for a structured bankruptcy and pay as much as $12 billion over time, with about $3 billion coming from the Sackler family,” the Associated Press reported.
But on Thursday morning, Donovan said in a statement that the state rejected the offer because the amount of money to be paid is not yet settled, and the deal “is not fully developed and we want to be certain that any benefit is not illusory.”
“Vermont demands more certainty and guarantees regarding the money in order to effectively address the opioids crisis in Vermont,” Donovan wrote.
The AG also blasted the idea of the company declaring bankruptcy, saying the business could shutter and sell its assets instead.
“I want to be sure that billionaires can’t use bankruptcy court as a vehicle to avoid accountability,” Donovan wrote.
Tags: Vermont , Purdue Pharma , settlement , reject , T.J. Donovan , attorney general , drugs , OxyContin , Sackler family , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
In an order issued late last week, the board wrote that Lewis had violated the Code of Judicial Conduct by failing to dispose of cases “promptly, efficiently and fairly.” Lewis formally accepted the reprimand instead of fighting it at a hearing that was scheduled to take place in October.
At issue was the judge’s handling of a nearly decade-long family feud over the guardianship of an elderly Newbury woman, Miriam Thomas, who has since died. As Seven Days reported last year, three of her children had accused a fourth of abusing his power as her court-appointed guardian and depleting her assets by more than $1 million.
In its reprimand, the board wrote that Lewis’ “repeated failure to address and decide issues” that came before him had cost the aggrieved siblings “significant attorney fees” and wasted both parties’ time and resources.
“The chronic failure to hold the guardian accountable for his actions with respect to his obligations while allowing him to pay himself enormous amounts of money over 7 ½ years, despite repeated filings that brought such issues to the Court’s attention, exemplifies a failure to dispose of issues fairly,” the board wrote.
Lewis declined to comment, saying only, “There’s two sides of every story.”
Tags: Bernard Lewis , Judicial Conduct Board , reprimand , Gregory Glennon , Web Only , Image
Monday, September 9, 2019
Rosanne Greco and Roger Bourassa, both retired military officers, were eventually cited for trespass — but only after Burlington police deputy chief Jon Murad tried for 30 minutes to persuade them to leave voluntarily by citing political theorists.
Tags: F-35s , Burlington International Airport , Air National Guard , Sen. Patrick Leahy , Rosanne Greco , Roger Bourassa , Web Only , Image