Thursday, November 11, 2021
Nearly 600 Vermonters tested positive for COVID-19 in a single day, far surpassing a previous record-high figure for daily infections set a week ago.
The Vermont Department of Health reported on Thursday 591 new cases — nearly 100 more than the 496 infections reported on November 3.
The positive cases were identified out of roughly 13,800 tests. The new data raised the average rate of positive tests to 4.1 percent.
"It's another concerning data point," health department spokesperson Ben Truman said.
Franklin (72 cases), Lamoille (21 cases), and Rutland (74 cases) counties all set new records. Windsor, with 37 cases, tied its previous high.
But infections are distributed across the state. Chittenden County, Vermont's most populous, recorded 97 cases, the most in a day since the Delta variant arrived over the summer.
Tags: COVID-19 , coronavirus , new daily infections , Vermont Department of Health , Gov. Phil Scott , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, November 9, 2021
But they maintained that there is still no need for new restrictions, again dismissing the idea of another mask mandate.
“If we make smart decisions in the coming weeks, and make an extra effort to protect the vulnerable, we can help reduce hospitalizations,” Gov. Phil Scott said, flanked by several masked members of his cabinet. “But it takes all of us committing to these smart, practical choices.”
It has been less than a week since Vermont reported a record-breaking 487 COVID-19 cases in a single day, 140 more than the previous record. The state has now reported 2,200 cases over the last seven days, bringing this week's average to 308, the highest it has ever been.
Unvaccinated people continue to drive much of the surge, posting a rate of infection 3.7 times higher than their vaccinated counterparts, state data shows. That includes children ages 5 to 11, who are catching COVID-19 at the highest rate of any age group right now — twice the rate of all adults — and who were recently made eligible for vaccination.
Tags: COVID surge , Vermont , Cases , Vaccinations , Infections , Data , Housing , Homeless , Web Only , Image
Monday, November 8, 2021
Sponsored by all six council Progressives, the resolution also tasks officials with analyzing the fairness of the city’s tax system.
The measure was spurred by public concern over this summer’s reappraisal, the city’s first in 16 years. Residents complained that the city downplayed how the reassessment would impact their tax bills, and that Tyler Technologies, the city’s hired consultant, made numerous errors in its calculations.
"These stories paint an unfortunate picture of a system that is not designed to support our neighbors," said Councilor Joe Magee (P-Ward 3), the resolution's lead sponsor.
"If we're serious about addressing the housing affordability crisis and truly wish to make homeownership more attainable for more residents, then we have to examine the inequity that's inherent in this regressive property tax," he added.
Seven Days documented residents' concerns in two cover stories earlier this year, including one that examined how homeowners were saddled with higher taxes while commercial property owners got a break. The pandemic played a role in both: home values skyrocketed during the buying boom, whereas commercial values — which are based on buildings’ cash flows — dropped due to the economic shutdown.
Tags: Burlington City Council , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Burlington , reassessment , property values , tax bills , short-term rentals , redistricting , Web Only , Image
Party chair Paul Dame, who was elected Saturday, on Monday announced a “Let’s Go Brandon” rally to be held November 13 in the Rutland County town of the same name.
The phrase has gained viral popularity in certain conservative circles as a coded insult toward Biden. It’s a stand-in for the "Fuck Joe Biden” chant overheard at an October 2 NASCAR event won by driver Brandon Brown. An NBC reporter who was interviewing Brown on air described the chant inaccurately as “Let’s go Brandon.”
Dame said the party’s new leaders chose the theme because they wanted to “start with a little fun” before digging into the policy issues facing the state.
Tags: otter , brandon , trump , biden , republican. Let's Go Brandon , Web Only , Image , Breaking News
The other plaintiffs are Florida osteopath Joseph Mercola and Organic Consumers Association founder Ronnie Cummins, who coauthored The Truth About COVID-19: Exposing the Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine Passports, and the New Normal, published in April by Chelsea Green. Robert Kennedy Jr., a prominent anti-vaccine activist who wrote the book's foreword, is also a plaintiff.
Warren wrote to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on September 7 to express her concerns that the online retailer was "peddling misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and treatments." She exhorted Amazon to review its search algorithms and take steps to reduce the visibility of books like The Truth About COVID-19, which still appears as one of the top results in an Amazon search using the term "COVID-19."
Tags: Chelsea Green , COVID-19 , Margo Baldwin , Amazon , Elizabeth Warren , Joseph Mercola , Web Only , Image
The windfall represents the biggest infusion of federal funding in Vermont's history, according to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and is in addition to more than $2 billion headed the state’s way thanks to a pair of federal COVID-19 relief packages passed over the last 18 months.
The latest federal investment, Sanders said in a statement, "will not just repair our roads and bridges, but will help clean up Vermont’s drinking water supply, increase access to affordable, reliable internet service [and] help transition our public transit systems away from fossil fuels."
At a press conference on Monday, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) hailed the bill as a historic investment in the nation’s future — one that will create thousands of new jobs in Vermont.
Tags: Vermont , Infrastructure bill , Bridges , Roads , Repairs , Federal funding , Web Only , Image
Saturday, November 6, 2021
The Vermont Republican Party on Saturday elected former Essex Junction representative Paul Dame to succeed Deb Billado, its Trump-loving chair.
The investment adviser from St. George easily won election over Essex resident James Sexton, a pro-life activist and vaccine skeptic.
Dame said he received 57 votes to Sexton's 25. Delegates from across Vermont gathered at a South Burlington hotel for the party’s biannual reorganization.
For four years, Billado sought to align the party with the polarizing president. Dame positioned himself as someone ready to rebuild the battered party.
He said he would work hard to get more Republicans elected. Despite modest gains in 2020, Republicans hold just seven of 30 seats in the Senate and 46 of 150 in the House.
Dame represented Essex Junction from 2015 to 2017. He lost a 2018 bid for Senate.
He argued that to grow the party’s influence, Republicans need to get more involved, appeal to younger voters and “be focused on the future, not stuck in the past."
Billado chose not to seek another term in order to focus on a new job, she said. The Essex Junction businesswoman won election to the post in 2017, beating a candidate backed by moderate Republican Gov. Phil Scott. She won reelection in 2019. While Scott and many elected Vermont Republicans distanced themselves from the president, Billado regularly defended Trump and repeated MAGA talking points. As the distance between her politics and of those of some Republican lawmakers grew, many increasingly began to worry about the party's viability.
In January, several GOP lawmakers called for Billado to resign after she refused to join calls for Trump’s removal from office for his role in inciting the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. She declined.
In a goodbye message, she suggested she had made the party stronger, and said she would continue to support "limited government, fiscal prudence, personal responsibility, and individual liberty."
Tags: Paul Dame , Phil Scott , Deb Billado , Republicans , Image , Web Only
Friday, November 5, 2021
In a press release Friday afternoon, Weinberger said members of the city's search committee had asked to advertise the position with a higher salary but that council Progressives didn't support the idea. The current ad offers a salary range of about $119,000 to just under $133,000, depending on experience.
Weinberger also blamed councilors for undermining "the effectiveness of our once world-class" police department by voting last year to reduce the officer headcount — a move they partially reversedlast month — and by supporting a police oversight model that would have removed the chief's disciplinary authority.
"Numerous times, I warned the Council that it was weakening the Department and risked creating an environment in which we would struggle to attract a permanent Chief," Weinberger wrote in a letter to councilors, which was attached to the press release. "This has now come to pass."
Tags: Burlington Police Department , police chief , police chief search , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Max Tracy , Burlington City Council , Web Only , Image
Superior Court Judge Martin Maley made the unprecedented move on Thursday by dismissing all criminal cases filed before January 1, 2021, involving six different charges: driving with a suspended license, misdemeanor drug possession, violating conditions of release, unlawful trespass, retail theft, or disorderly conduct.
Dropping such cases, Maley concluded, is necessary at a time when the court is struggling to wade through a docket that has ballooned to around 2,400 cases, up from an historical average of about 400. He justified the move by citing a clause in the Vermont Rules of Criminal Procedure that allows a trial judge to toss a case if dismissal "will serve the ends of justice." Some of the cases dated to 2017 and 2018.
"This court has never issued such an order, however, given the current circumstances, the court is persuaded that such action is necessary to allow the court to focus on the oldest and most serious cases on the docket, including cases involving defendant's [sic] incarcerated awaiting trial."
Tags: Vermont Superior Court , COVID-19 , court backlog , Martin Maley , Matthew Valerio , Rosie Chase , Jim Hughes , Franklin County State's Attorney , Franklin County Public Defenders Office , Vermont Defender General , Web Only , Image
Thursday, November 4, 2021
Vermont reported 487 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, shattering the previous single-day record of 347 and dashing any hope that the state had turned a corner amid the latest surge of infections.
The seven-day infection average now sits at 247, the highest ever, while hospitalizations are trending upward after a brief decline. Fifty-five people were in hospitals, with 19 in intensive care — one shy of the record. Deaths have also continued to mount: Fifty people have succumbed to the virus since the start of October, including 10 in the last week.
When Vermont reported what was then a record-breaking number of cases in mid-September, state officials partially blamed a computer glitch. State health department spokesperson Ben Truman confirmed in an email that Thursday’s case spike was not a similar mishap.
Tags: COVID , Record , Cases , Vermont , Infection , Health Department , Web Only , Image