Monday, January 31, 2022
The figures were disclosed in campaign finance reports the two filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday, the deadline for candidates to detail the money they raised and spent during the last quarter of 2021.
Gray launched her campaign on December 6 while Balint followed suit on December 13. A third Democrat, Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D-Chittenden), joined the race on January 13; her first campaign finance disclosure will be due April 15, after the first quarter of 2022.
Tags: U.S. House , Vermont , Molly Gray , Becca Balint , Kesha Ram Hinsdale , lieutenant governor , Senate , congress , Web Only , Image
Thursday, January 27, 2022
Burlington city councilors are poised to block Mayor Miro Weinberger’s nomination of acting Chief Jon Murad as the Queen City’s next top cop.
Just hours after Weinberger announced Murad’s appointment on Thursday afternoon, the council's six-member Progressive caucus issued a statement saying they'll vote against Murad at Monday’s meeting.
“We want to make it very clear that Mayor Weinberger does not have the votes in the City Council to confirm Acting Chief Murad as Burlington’s permanent Chief of Police," the Progs' statement says, calling the appointment divisive and controversial.
"Burlington needs a permanent Chief of Police who demonstrates a commitment to transforming public safety in Burlington," the statement continues. "Right now, Jon Murad is not that candidate."
Tags: Burlington , police chief , Jon Murad , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Web Only , Image
Four people with knowledge of the mayor's decision, but who were not authorized to speak about it, confirmed the news to Seven Days. The mayor has scheduled a press conference to announce his decision on Thursday afternoon.
Murad has been the city's acting chief since June 2020. He was one of two finalists in Burlington's search for a new chief — a position that's been filled on a temporary basis since December 2019, when former chief Brandon del Pozo resigned amid a social media scandal.
Tags: Burlington , police chief , Jon Murad , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
Under the measure, which the Vermont Senate approved on Wednesday, individual contractors would be required to show proof of liability insurance when they register.
The idea of a contractor registry has been circulating in Montpelier for at least 15 years, but this is the first time a registration requirement has made it through both chambers to Gov. Phil Scott's desk.
Scott, a former building contractor himself, has shown reservations about the bill, including the $3,500 threshold, which he thinks should be higher. His press secretary, Jason Maulucci, said Wednesday that Scott’s office reached out to Senate lawmakers recently to press for the higher amount, but they didn’t change it.
“He’s got serious concerns with the bill, “ Maulucci said. “We think it hurts contractors, specifically the small ones.”
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Weinberger said in a statement that his family returned home around 5 p.m. to find their home had been broken into. They immediately called the police.
"I am grateful to the officers who responded quickly and professionally, and who work every day to keep Burlingtonians safe," the mayor's statement said. "I am also heartened by the messages from many neighbors who have already shared concern for our family.”
Tags: Burlington , Mayor Miro Weinberger , break-in , vandalism , crime , police , Web Only , Image
The state logged an average of 1,121 new COVID-19 cases per day over the past seven days — far higher than most other times during the pandemic. But that figure has declined 27 percent in a week, and 37 percent over 14 days, giving officials like Health Commissioner Mark Levine reason for optimism.
“Cases appear to have peaked in the Northeast, and are on the downslope,” Levine said Tuesday at a press briefing. “We hope this will lead to lower rates of transmission here in Vermont over the next coming weeks, something we’d all very much welcome.”
Cases are dropping among both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents. However, cases among the unvaccinated are 2.7 times higher, according to data presented by Finance Commissioner Mike Pieciak.
Tags: Mike Pieciak , Mark Levine , COVID-19 , omicron , Web Only , Image
Dr. John Brumsted, president and CEO of the University of Vermont Health Network, will retire at the end of September.
Brumsted has been the network's first and only leader since it was created a decade ago. The health network says it has launched a national search for his replacement.
"We have experienced and accomplished so much together, and we created something new — an integrated health care system — to respond to the needs of the patients we are so privileged to serve," Brumsted said in a press release.
The decision comes at a tumultuous time for the health network, which has rapidly expanded under Brumsted to now include six hospitals in Vermont and northeastern New York.
Network hospitals have been struggling to keep pace with a prolonged surge of patients, COVID-19 and otherwise, while a number of pre-pandemic problems — including chronic staffing shortages and long patient wait-times — have metastasized into a full blown crisis over the last year.
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The bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by Welch and Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), cited reports of travel nurse staffing agencies doubling or tripling their rates during the thorniest months of the pandemic in attempts to profit off the crisis.
In a letter to the White House COVID-19 Response Team, the lawmakers asked for a federal investigation of these price increases to determine whether they violate any anti-competitive or consumer protection laws.
Tags: Vermont , Rep. Peter Welch , Price Gouging , Travel Nurses , Web Only , Image
Mayor Miro Weinberger has said the 4-cent tax rate hike is necessary to address revenue shortfalls, pay for city equity initiatives and combat record-high inflation rates.
Burlington city councilors also voted Monday to place two bonds on the March 1 ballot. A $23.8 million capital bond would replace aging fire trucks and shoddy sidewalks, and a $25.9 million spending plan would upgrade a large section of Main Street in the city’s downtown tax-increment financing district.
After some debate, councilors also approved a charter change that would remove the city’s authority to regulate sex work.
Voters will also consider elections in all eight city wards, and a $98.2 million school budget, which represents a 13.1 percent increase in per-pupil spending.
Despite this, school officials anticipate a 7 percent decrease in the education tax rate, which would offset the city’s increase and result in an overall tax decrease.
Tags: Town Meeting Day , ballot items , bond vote , Burlington , taxes , sex work , charter change , Web Only , Image
Friday, January 21, 2022
The Federal Highway Administration issued its final approval, called a record of decision, on Thursday. Work could begin as soon as this summer.
Envisioned as a four-lane highway in the 1960s, the modern Champlain Parkway is a low-speed roadway meant to improve traffic flow between the city’s South End and its downtown. The route would begin at the unfinished Interstate 189 interchange on Shelburne Road, extend from Home to Lakeside avenue, then jog down Pine Street to Main.
“It is time to get this project built, deliver its benefits to the people of Burlington and the region, and demonstrate that our systems for building new public infrastructure still function,” Mayor Miro Weinberger said in a statement Friday.
Tags: Burlington , Champlain Parkway , Vermont Racial Justice Alliance , Federal Highway Administration , record of decision , Web Only , Image