Wednesday, November 3, 2021
The money — an unprecedented amount for arts spending in Vermont — would be invested strategically and repaid by economic growth in rural areas, Jody Fried, executive director of Catamount Arts in St. Johnsbury, told the legislature’s Rural Economic Development Working Group on Tuesday.
Tuesday, November 2, 2021
Village residents, who make up about half of Essex’s 22,000 population, approved their secession plan 3,070 to 411.
The vote follows decades of acrimony between residents of the distinct-but-overlapping municipalities and could result in the breakup of Vermont’s second-largest town. State legislators and the governor must sign off on Essex Junction's proposed city charter next year before the split is finalized.
Taxes were top of mind for many heading to the polls on Tuesday. Essex Junction residents pay taxes into both the town and village, while non-village residents pay taxes only in the town.
A plan proposed earlier this year would have merged the two municipalities into one while spreading the tax impact over time instead of all at once. But voters shot it down twice — due in large part to immense opposition from non-village residents, whose taxes would have increased.
Tags: Essex , Essex Junction , Vermont , Divorce , Separation , Merger , Web Only , Image
Superintendent Tom Flanagan recommended the site following a six-month process led by real estate consultants White + Burke. The firm initially identified 16 possible locations, then whittled it down to three: two sites on the Institute Road campus in the New North End, and the downtown Gateway Block on Main Street.
"We did a serious review of the entire city and all the possible sites that were there," Flanagan said at Tuesday's meeting. "And we have weighed the site evaluations, feedback from the community, and our own assessment of the educational needs of the community."
Tags: Burlington School District , Tom Flanagan , Institute Road , Burlington High School , PCBs , Kids VT , Web Only , Image , Kids VT
The City of Burlington may proceed with disbanding the Sears Lane homeless encampment, a Vermont Superior Court judge ruled on Tuesday.
The decision comes days after camp residents Grey Barreda and Alexys Grundy appeared in civil court to ask the judge to stop the forced move-out. The residents had argued that the city's order violated its policy on camp removal, which was adopted in 2019 as part of a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont .
Judge Samuel Hoar wrote that unlike an ordinance, the city’s policy does not have the force of law.
“On its face, the document is more aspirational than binding,” Hoar wrote, adding that despite the policy being part of a court-approved settlement, “there is no evidence that it was ever incorporated into any consent decree or other court order.”
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Under pressure from two media organizations, the Vermont Principals' Association reversed a decision to ban the press from Tuesday's playoff semifinal soccer game between Winooski and Enosburg Falls high schools. The new decision, which was finalized Tuesday morning, allows members of the media to attend the match but not fans.
Winooski "thought not having the media there would calm things down," Nichols said. But "after a lot of thought," the Winooski School District, the Franklin Northeast Supervisory Union and the Vermont Principals' Association, which governs high school sports, "decided collectively that having the media there would be fine."
Tags: Winooski High School , Enosburg Falls High School , Vermont Principals' Association , Vermont Press Association , Jay Nichols , Mike Donoghue , Web Only , Image
Monday, November 1, 2021
No members of the public can attend Tuesday's state playoff semifinal between Winooski and Enosburg Falls "to ensure the physical and emotional safety of all student-athletes involved," the Vermont Principals' Association said in a statement on Monday morning. The group governs middle- and high-school sports in the state.
Only team members, coaches, officials and school administrators can attend the game. It will be played at Burlington High School because it is a neutral location.
The decision quickly drew pushback from Mike Donoghue, a longtime local journalist who serves as executive director of the Vermont Press Association and the Vermont Sports Media Association. In a statement Monday afternoon, he said the groups had jointly filed an objection to the ban, with support from "various individual members."
Tags: soccer , Winooski School District , Enosburg Falls High School , Franklin Northeast Supervisory Union , Vermont Principals' Association , Web Only , Image
Three Democratic state officeholders — Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D-Chittenden), Lt. Gov. Molly Gray and Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint (D-Windham) — have all confirmed to Seven Days their interest in running for Congress should a vacancy arise.
Gray hired a full-time campaign staffer in January, which sparked speculation about her intentions. Since August, Ram Hinsdale has had a full-time staffer of her own.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), 81, is expected to announce in coming weeks whether he plans to retire or run for reelection. Leahy's departure would have a domino effect on Vermont's political landscape. It could lead to a vacancy in the state's lone U.S. House seat were Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) to run for Senate.
"If a seat does open up, it's something I would actively consider and would be able to do with a lot more context from around the state," she said.
Janeway is a Colgate College graduate who worked as campaign manager last year for the successful run of Rep. Tiff Bluemle (D-Burlington). Ram Hinsdale also employs a paid intern through a program with the University of Vermont and has volunteers, whom she provides stipends, helping her with legislation ahead of the upcoming session.
“Showing people that you’re listening outside of an election year is really critical for them to feel like you’re having an authentic conversation with them and not just asking for their vote in the three months before an election,” Ram Hinsdale said.
Some of those conversations are about spending federal coronavirus relief funds.
“We have to build together, and that's why I'm getting much more organized than I have in the past,” Ram Hinsdale said. “We have people who really want us to get outside of Montpelier and listen to them.”
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