Tuesday, June 23, 2020
"This is like the taxpayers and press being locked out of City Hall for a public meeting," wrote Loomis, who is also editor and co-owner of Waitsfield's Valley Reporter.
The next day, it happened again.
Now, Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden) is promising that the Senate will adopt a policy established a month ago by the House barring committees from conducting business when they encounter technical difficulties. "If the streaming isn't working, we'll stop," he pledged. "I'll be telling all the chairs that if it happens again, they should stop officially meeting."
Tags: Lisa Loomis , Tim Ashe , Mitzi Johnson , Chris Bray , Peter Sterling , Kevin Moore , Web Only , Image
A national political organization devoted to electing pro-choice women to public office announced Tuesday that it has endorsed former education secretary Rebecca Holcombe in the Democratic primary for Vermont governor.
"Rebecca is a tireless advocate for education who understands the importance of investing in Vermont’s children and working families," EMILY's List president Stephanie Schriock said in a written statement.
The endorsement hardly comes as a surprise. Even before she joined the race last July, EMILY’s List was advising Holcombe from afar. According to Mairead Lynn, a spokesperson for the organization, it has already provided strategic guidance to the campaign, as well as budgeting and fundraising support.
The formal endorsement could yield additional resources for Holcombe as she competes with Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, Bennington attorney Patrick Winburn and several others for the Democratic nomination. A super PAC affiliated with EMILY’s List called Women Vote! could choose to make independent expenditures, such as television ad campaigns, on behalf of Holcombe.
EMILY's List has not had a winning record in Vermont in recent years. In 2016, it endorsed Kesha Ram for lieutenant governor and Sue Minter for governor. The former lost in the Democratic primary and the latter lost in the general election. In 2010, Deb Markowitz garnered the group's endorsement before losing to fellow Democrat Peter Shumlin in the party's primary.
Corrected June 23, 2020, at 3:15 p.m.: An earlier version of this story inaccurately described EMILY’s List’s actions in Vermont’s 2018 gubernatorial race. It did not endorse a candidate that year.
Tags: Rebecca Holcombe , Emily's List , Stephanie Schriock , David Zuckerman , Patrick Winburn , Phil Scott , Sue Minter , Deb Markowitz , Web Only , Image
Monday, June 22, 2020
Other senators told Seven Days that they viewed Rodgers' words as sexist or homophobic — and certainly intolerant. Members of the Senate's Committee on Committees, meanwhile, said they expected to meet in the coming days to determine whether Rodgers should be sanctioned for his actions — first reported by VTDigger.org — though it appeared unlikely that they would strip him of his committee assignments.
The Senate drama began last week when Rodgers and fellow Northeast Kingdom Sen. Bobby Starr (D-Essex/Orleans) criticized the leaders of the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee for working to reform Act 250, the state's landmark land-use law, while legislating remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic. Rodgers, a member of the committee, said his professional obligations and spotty internet service had made it difficult to take part in the deliberations — and alleged that the committee's leadership and Statehouse lobbyists had "largely worked behind the veil in crafting" the legislation.
"It's not transparent. It's not friendly to the public or people who want to participate," Rodgers told his colleagues last Wednesday during an all-Senate caucus meeting. "I'm extremely frustrated."
Tags: John Rodgers , Tim Ashe , Brian Campion , Chris Bray , Debbie Ingram , Becca Balint , Bobby Starr , Web Only , Image
The conversation centered on demands from activists that the city cut 30 percent of its police force, remove police officers from Burlington schools and fire cops who have engaged in violent behavior. Department brass and the police union have argued that an immediate 30 percent cut would be dangerous.
"It's got to be done in a way that is intelligent and intentional," Murad said Monday night. "You can't turn off the only responsive agency without building viable alternatives."
Most councilors gave no real indication of how they'll vote on — or seek to modify — Mayor Miro Weinberger's fiscal year 2021 budget proposal, which includes trims of $1.1 million, or 6 percent, from the police budget he originally proposed. The vote is scheduled for June 29.
The mayor's plan leaves 12 officer positions vacant but otherwise keeps the department intact. Just $300,000 of the savings would be diverted to programs that promote racial justice; the remaining $800,000 is earmarked to help fill a $12 million coronavirus-related budget deficit, unless the city receives more revenue than expected.
Tags: Burlington Police Department , defund the police , Jon Murad , Mayor Miro Weinberger , budget , Burlington City Council , Web Only , Image
The procedural snag is the latest act in a long legislative drama over how Vermont should modernize Act 250, the 50-year-old landmark environmental law.
Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, acting as president of the Senate, on Friday and again Monday agreed with objections that the environmental amendments were not “germane” to the underlying affordable housing bill.
That parliamentary maneuver prompted Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden) to pull the bill from consideration — for now.
The setback was disappointing but not fatal to the effort to update the law, said Sen. Chris Bray (D-Addison), chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee.
Tags: Act 250 , Chris Bray , David Zuckerman , John Rodgers , Web Only , Image
"While this fall will look much different than at any time in our history, I am grateful that we will be able to come together again in a way that upholds educational opportunity while maximizing the health and safety of the entire Middlebury community," president Laurie Patton said in a detailed campus letter.
Like the University of Vermont, Middlebury is planning for a semester in which in-person classes conclude before the traditional Thanksgiving break. On-campus classes will run from September 8 to November 20, and resume on November 30 for online instruction and remote final exams.
New policies intended to limit coronavirus exposure will affect every aspect of campus life, beginning with students' arrival.
Before coming to campus, students will be asked to quarantine at their homes for two weeks. They will arrive according to staggered move-in and orientation schedules. Upon their return, students will be tested for COVID-19 and quarantined in their dorm rooms until they get results. If negative, they will enter a weeklong "campus quarantine" period, during which they cannot leave campus property.
Additional tests may be administered throughout the semester, Patton said. The college is setting aside one residential building for "isolation housing" for any students who test positive.
Professors may decide whether or not to hold their classes in person; Patton wrote that initial responses from faculty suggested that a third of classes will be taught remotely.
Athletics and extracurricular programs are still up in the air, though Patton wrote that the school hopes to "provide meaningful experiences for our student-athletes."
Off-campus travel will also be limited, and the college will restrict guest speakers and other visitors.
Patton said the college's plan meets or exceeds all state and federal guidance. Gov. Phil Scott has not released specific reopening guidance for Vermont Colleges, "but we have been working closely with the state and have a good sense of what the new guidelines will say," Patton wrote.
Tags: Middlebury College , Laurie Patton , coronavirus , covid-19 , Web Only , Image
Human Services Secretary Mike Smith initiated the independent probe last December after Seven Days uncovered allegations of sexual misconduct, drug use and retaliation within the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility.
Smith told Seven Days earlier this month that the investigation had been suspended, citing safety concerns related to the pandemic. But last week, he said that the state must forge ahead with the review in light of yet another allegation of misconduct — this time involving a Department of Corrections probation officer from Brattleboro.
"We can't allow this to happen," Smith said at a press conference last Friday, one day after the officer was arrested for sexual misconduct with a woman he was supervising.
Tags: prison , Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility , allegations , misconduct , Mike Smith , Web Only , Image
Friday, June 19, 2020
The dual tracks reflect the pressure lawmakers feel to act both quickly and deliberately as they participate in the painful debate about racism and police brutality that has convulsed the nation since the death of George Floyd.
Floyd, an unarmed Black man, was killed last month in Minneapolis when a white police officer pressed his knee on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
After taking testimony for two weeks, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday divided a police reform bill into two parts in an effort to ensure the reforms in S. 219 — including assurances that police collect and report race data — can be passed by both chambers of the General Assembly by the end of this month.
The committee moved provisions dealing with police use of deadly force into a separate bill, S. 119, because House members wanted more time to take up the complex measure after the August break, Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington) told his colleagues Friday.
Both bills passed out of the Judiciary Committee on Friday, which Sears noted was “appropriate” given the Juneteenth holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the U.S.
“Hopefully they will make a difference,” Sears said of the two bills.
The first bill simply requires that in order for law enforcement organizations to receive state grants, they must show that they have complied with existing laws requiring the collection of race data in police interactions with the public.
Police agencies already must gather information on the age, race and gender of drivers, as well as the reason for and outcome of traffic stops. The bill would require additional reporting of whether police threatened or used physical force, whether any injury resulted, and whether a "prohibited restraint" was used.
“The goal of this section is a ban on chokeholds,” Sears said Friday.
The bill defines such restraints as “any maneuver on a person that applies pressure to the neck, throat, windpipe, or carotid artery that may prevent or hinder breathing, reduce intake of air, or impede the flow of blood or oxygen to the brain.”
The committee removed references in the draft to “spine” and “torso” after Minority Leader Joe Benning (R-Caledonia) said there might be times when an officer legitimately needs to sit on a suspect who is “flipping out” and endangering others.
The bill also defines an officer's failure to intervene when another officer uses excessive force as unprofessional conduct.
The bill would require the Department of Public Safety to ensure that all state police have body cameras, and to submit a budget for such purchases to lawmakers by August. The bill would go into effect August 1.
The sections regarding the use of deadly force were moved to a separate bill that would go into effect October 1. S.119 deals with “law enforcement training on appropriate use of force, de-escalation tactics, and cross-cultural awareness.”
The bill would establish a statewide policy that clarifies that the use of physical force “is a serious responsibility that shall be exercised judiciously and with respect for human rights and dignity and for the sanctity of every human life.”
Officers can use deadly force “only when necessary in defense of human life,” and “shall be evaluated” by others “based on the totality of the circumstances known to or perceived by the officer at the time.” The bill stresses that officers could use “proportional force if necessary to effect the arrest, to prevent escape, or to overcome resistance” of a suspect.
On this point, Sears invoked Floyd's killing. “We had a person who is alleged to have passed a $20 bill in a store in Minneapolis and the whole arrest, restraint, everything results in that man’s death," Sears said. "Is that proportional to the crime?”
The full Senate is expected to take the bills up next week.
Tags: use of force , police , black lives matter , Web Only , Image
The venues will be able to permit 75 people or up to 50 percent of the space's allowable capacity, whichever is less. Up to 150 people will be able to gather outside, Commerce Secretary Lindsay Kurrle said at an afternoon press conference.
"Our goal at the end of the day is to keep people safe, to keep people healthy," Kurrle said. "In the situation of a restaurant, we're asking people to plan accordingly to try to keep people properly distanced."
Previously, restaurants and entertainment venues were restricted to 25 percent capacity. Gov. Phil Scott said Wednesday that he's considering upping the maximum capacity at retail shops, too, in the coming weeks.
"We are working diligently to open things up as fast as we can. We hope Vermonters will venture out to support these businesses, as they begin to open up," Kurrle said. "Our announcement today will not make the hospitality industry whole, but we hope it's another step in the return to profitability."
The Vermont Department of Health on Friday announced nine new cases of COVID-19. The state reported one new death on Thursday, bringing the total to 56.
Vermont's positive COVID-19 test results are tracking below 1 percent, according to Finance Commissioner Michael Pieciak, who is tasked with data modeling during the pandemic. The rate is the lowest in the country, he said.
"Over the next two weeks, we anticipate having a continued, low-level case count," Pieciak said, adding: "Our reopening metrics ... have been steady and trending positive throughout the outbreak and throughout the reopening process."
The Northeast region "can expect to continue to see improvements" in case counts over the next few weeks, Pieciak said. The number of people who can travel to Vermont without quarantining continues to grow. Since last Friday, the state has counted net increase of 12 counties subject to relaxed quarantine rules.
A total of 75 counties in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York — or about 6.8 million people — are free from these restrictions, Pieciak said.
Tags: coronavirus , COVID-19 , Gov. Phil Scott , Web Only , Image
"Today, Madame Speaker, you have allowed this body to sink to a new low," Rep. Bob Bancroft (R-Westford) told House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero). Bancroft said that, while he had not voted for Trump and frequently disagreed with the president, he was "ashamed" of the House for adopting a "divisive and politically inflammatory" resolution.
"I'm embarrassed that this body has descended into a political gutter," Bancroft said.
The resolution, authored by Rep. Kevin "Coach" Christie (D-Hartford) and cosponsored by a majority of his colleagues, pays homage to Juneteenth, the day in 1865 when slaves in the Confederate state of Texas were finally declared free. It also describes the recent death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by Minneapolis police, and names six other people of color who died in similar circumstances. It declares that Vermonters of color have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic and are "subject to disparate law enforcement treatment."
Christie, who is Black, said he offered the resolution "with mixed emotions, celebration and sadness" and called it critical to remember that systemic racism continues to plague the state and the country.
Tags: Juneteenth , Kevin Christie , Bob Bancroft , Bob Helm , Pattie McCoy , Marianna Gamache , Larry Cupoli , Hal Colston , Web Only , Image