Friday, November 19, 2021
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona settled into a chair sized for a second-grader and told a group of Champlain Elementary School students that he was there on a special assignment.
Saturday is President Joe Biden’s birthday, he told the children huddled on the floor, and he wanted to bring his boss a card made by professionals.
“I was told this second-grade class is the best in Vermont. Is that true?” Cardona asked, to cheers. One student, Sophia, proffered a large red envelope adorned with gold stars. “Birthday Greetings,” their teacher had written in neat script.
“Thank you for helping me out,” Cardona said, handing out chocolate coins embossed with the U.S. Department of Education logo.
Tags: U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona , President Joe Biden , Build Back Better Act , vaccinations , COVID-19 , coronavirus , education , Champlain Elementary School , Web Only , Image
Commissioners denied Bove’s proposal unanimously, following the recommendation of Essex town officials who have been tussling with Bove over overflowing dumpsters at the property for the last four years. One commissioner, Ned Daly, recused himself because he has a relationship with Bove.
Bove’s mismanagement of his Vermont rental empire, including at the Essex Town Center, was the subject of a joint investigation published earlier this month by Seven Days and Vermont Public Radio. The news outlets found that maintenance needs have been neglected across the 400-plus rentals that Rick and his brother, Mark, own in several communities, leaving low-income tenants to live in substandard conditions.
Tags: Rick Bove , Bove Brothers , Mark Bove , Town of Essex , Essex Planning Commission , Essex Town Center , Traci Rochester , Whittier Building , Paul O'Leary , Web Only , Image
Thursday, November 18, 2021
The newly created "action levels" are significantly higher than the "screening level" the state has previously used to flag excessive amounts of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in indoor air. Burlington High School decided to shut its doors after testing last year showed levels above the state's threshold of 15 nanograms per cubic meter, along with extensive PCB contamination in building materials.
But the new action levels are 100 nanograms per cubic meter for high school buildings, a level not exceeded by most of the classrooms at Burlington High School's Institute Road campus. Last school year, district officials decided to forgo $70 million in renovations that voters approved and recently decided to build a new school. It is unclear whether the state’s decision will impact this plan.
Tags: Vermont Department of Health , PCBs , Burlington High School , Department of Environmental Conservation , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Rutland City Police Cpl. Christopher Rose was justified in shooting Jonathan Mansilla because Rose reasonably feared for his safety, Attorney General T.J. Donovan said in a press release Wednesday. Rose told investigators he believed Mansilla was holding a weapon as the man ran toward him from a bathroom stall. The object was a cellphone.
Donovan made the charging decision after his office reviewed investigative materials provided by the Vermont State Police, which probes police shootings by other agencies. The attorney general's office did not immediately release those materials publicly.
Tags: Vermont Attorney General's Office , T.J. Donovan , Rutland City Police , Christopher Rose , Police Shooting , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
The governor has been under pressure from Democratic lawmakers to require masks indoors as case counts climb to pandemic highs.
Scott said he would extend an "olive branch" by allowing the legislature to reconvene for a special session next week so that lawmakers can give municipalities the authority to issue mask mandates.
To keep the measures in effect, municipal boards would have to revote on them every 30 days; they could not extend past April 30, 2022. The proposal mirrors one suggested by the Vermont League of Cities and Towns last week. If legislators try to pass any other legislation, Scott said, he would veto it.
In a joint statement Monday night, House Speaker Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington) and Senate President Pro Term Becca Balint (D-Windham) said that the governor should take more sweeping steps to mitigate the virus’ spread. Last week, both lawmakers called on Scott to reimplement a statewide mask mandate.
Tags: Vermont , vaccinations , COVID-19 , Jill Krowinski , Becca Balint , Web Only , Image
Introduced by Councilor Joe Magee (P-Ward 3), the measure called on Mayor Miro Weinberger's administration to come up with a long-term housing plan for the 40-some campers who lived at the South End site. But before Magee could describe his proposal, Councilor Joan Shannon (D-South District) argued that it was materially the same as one he had introduced on October 25.
Shannon’s objection touched off a contentious debate between councilors, which ended in a 6-5 vote killing the resolution. The two council independents and four Democrats outvoted the Progressive contingent, which was one vote short of a tie as Councilor Zoraya Hightower (P-Ward 1) was absent.
“I didn't expect when I got elected to this body that I would have to beg people to consider the humanity of our houseless neighbors,” Magee said during the debate. “For us to not have this conversation … will be an abdication of responsibility by this body and complicity in the worst possible outcomes that face the people that live in Sears Lane.”
Tags: Burlington , housing , Sears Lane , homeless , Mayor Miro Weinberger , eviction , city council , Progressives , Web Only , Image
Monday, November 15, 2021
If councilors don’t agree, Weinberger wrote in a memo, he’ll appoint one of the two candidates who met the job’s “minimum requirements” after a monthslong search. Acting Chief Jon Murad, who has served in that role since summer 2020, is one candidate; the mayor hasn’t identified the other. The search resulted in 21 applicants, none of them women.
“Burlingtonians want us to choose a permanent Police Chief from a large and competitive pool of leaders eager to serve our City,” Weinberger wrote in the memo to councilors. “I am prepared to continue working towards this goal if the Council promptly takes the actions I have detailed.”
Tags: Burlington , Burlington City Council , Mayor Miro Weinberger , police chief , search committee , hiring , CNA report , Web Only , Image
At an event at the Vermont Statehouse, Leahy, 81, said he plans to retire from the U.S. Senate, where he is the fifth-longest serving senator in the chamber's history. He was first elected in 1974, and is currently in his eighth term.
“It is time to pass the torch to the next Vermonter who will carry on this work for our great state,” he said, appearing emotional as he made the announcement. “It’s time to come home.”
Leahy spoke to a packed room of staff, friends and media — the same room where he launched his first Senate campaign. The senior senator spoke from prepared remarks for nearly 20 minutes, recounting what he considered his proudest achievements in Congress. His wife, Marcelle, who began chemotherapy treatments in May for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, was by his side.
“While I’ll continue to serve Vermont, Marcelle and I have reached the conclusion that it is time to put down the gavel,” he said, adding that representing Vermont has been his “greatest honor.”
Leahy did not elaborate on the reason for his retirement, and did not immediately take questions. He left to return to Washington, D.C., to attend a presidential signing ceremony for the $1 trillion infrastructure bill.
Leahy chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee and serves as president pro tempore, giving him outsized influence despite hailing from one of the country's smallest states. He presided over former president Donald Trump's impeachment trial earlier this year.
Tags: Sen. Patrick Leahy , U.S. Senate , 2022 election , Web Only , Image
Friday, November 12, 2021
On Friday, Skoda, 27, and several others graduated from Construction 101. He’s headed for a temporary position weatherizing houses for Capstone Community Action; if he’s hired permanently, he expects to make $18 an hour.
Skoda, who has a psychology degree from Castleton University, saw an ad for the free four-week construction program on Front Porch Forum, and considered it a good opportunity to learn new skills in a short period of time. After working for several years in community mental health, and then in an array of short-term jobs, he decided he needed more skills.
“I find myself at a juncture where my partner and I are looking to buy a house and have stability in our lives,” Skoda said.
Tags: Serve , Earn & Learn , job training , workforce development , Becca Balint , Jane Kitchel , Rhoni Basden , Tom Longstreth , Vermont Audubon , ReSOURCE , Vermont Works for Women , Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. , Web Only , Image
Thursday, November 11, 2021
Updated 5:28 p.m.
Since October 14, Brenda Siegel and Josh Lisenby have kept constant vigil outside the Vermont Statehouse for a single purpose: to pressure state officials to fully restore the pandemic-era motel voucher program, which provided free rooms for anyone experiencing homelessness between March 2020 and July 2021.
On Wednesday, after their 27th consecutive night on the Statehouse steps, Siegel and Lisenby achieved a momentous, if partial, victory. From November 22 to March 1, 2022, the Department for Children and Families will open motels to anyone in need of shelter who earns less than $24,000 a year.
Tags: Homelessness , Brenda Siegel , motels , COVID-19 , Web Only , Image