Friday, November 15, 2019
An official city notice hanging against the building's south wall warns that "no camping is permitted at this location at any time."
Posted November 1, the notice says that any belongings found on the site after 8 a.m. November 4 would be removed.
"If you do not stop camping or if you return to camp at this spot after it is cleaned up the city may pursue legal action against you," the notice added.
Burlington City Attorney Eileen Blackwood said the advisory was posted after someone used the code enforcement website SeeClickFix to report blankets, a lawn chair and trash in the bushes next to city hall.
In an email, Blackwood said that "individuals known to be homeless had been gathering in that area earlier in the fall but the items had been left unattended."
Tags: Burlington , City Hall Park , homeless , Dragon , encampment , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Weinberger appointed Kara Alnasrawi to succeed Ron Redmond, who has managed the downtown shopping district for the last 20 years.
The announcement came at the beginning of the Marketplace’s busiest season and just a few weeks before Redmond’s last day, December 1. Assuming the Burlington City Council confirms her on Monday, Alnasrawi will be the Marketplace’s fourth director in its 40-year history. Her first day would be November 19.
Tags: Burlington , Church Street Marketplace , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Kara Alnasrawi , Ron Redmond , Vermont , Web Only , Image
Friday, November 8, 2019
The Burlington police officer who punched a man who later died will not face criminal charges, Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan said at a press conference Friday attended by the man’s family.
Donovan said Officer Cory Campbell was legally justified when he delivered three blows to Douglas Kilburn's face during a March 11 argument outside of the emergency room at the University of Vermont Medical Center.
The attorney general called the case “troubling,” however, and faulted the cop for “antagonistic” actions that provoked Kilburn, in poor mental and physical health at the time, to lash out. Donovan called for continued police training on ways to deescalate tense situations.
The AG said he based his decision on conclusions by a national use-of-force expert, who found that Campbell had acted in self-defense because Kilburn swung at the officer first.
“This was a tragic situation that, frankly, could have been avoided,” Donovan said.
Tags: Cory Campbell , Douglas Kilburn , T.J. Donovan , Brandon del Pozo , use of force , medical examiner , Burlington Police Department , Web Only , Image
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Students at the state college in southern Vermont began reporting and writing stories this fall with the hopes of landing bylines in newspapers including the Rutland Herald and the Mountain Times, as well a website called the Community News Service.
The University of Vermont in Burlington launched the site this year, when it began offering students a new minor — reporting and documentary storytelling. UVM also created an internship for its students to learn news and feature writing and work with a professional editor who vets stories for publication in area newspapers.
Students' stories have appeared in outlets including the Shelburne News, the Waterbury Record and the Other Paper.
Tags: Castleton University , University of Vermont , Burlington , journalism , David Blow , Richard Watts , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
The superintendent of Burlington schools will step down when the current fiscal year ends on June 30, 2020.
In a brief interview, Yaw Obeng told Seven Days that he had been thinking about career options last year, and he'd had "some opportunities." But he stayed to see some initiatives through, including a bond vote.
He wanted to give the school system ample notice, Obeng said: "I wanted to be fair to our staff and the board, and not to all of a sudden say, 'See ya, here's two weeks,' or something like that. Just to be upfront and fair with them."
Obeng announced his decision Wednesday morning in an email to parents and teachers, calling it a privilege to serve as leader of the city's schools. He was hired in 2015.
"I am writing today because these last few months of conversations and reflections have also led me to believe that the systemic foundation has been laid to allow me to explore other personal and professional opportunities," Obeng wrote.
He explained further that he'd submitted his resignation, effective the end of the fiscal year.
"I had contemplated waiting to make this announcement until January but ultimately decided that by informing the board, staff, and community now, Burlington School District will have the best opportunity for a successful transition," Obeng wrote.
He said the decision had not been an easy one, but that he felt he would leave the district on a stronger financial footing and with a capital plan in place to address the district's space constraints and aging infrastructure.
Tags: Burlington , Yaw Obeng , schools , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
To make the Y more accessible, membership rates will drop. A single adult membership will cost $49 per month, down from the current $70. A two-adult family membership will decrease from $98 to $84 per month. One-adult families will pay $74, down from $82. A financial assistance program will provide scholarships to those who demonstrate need.
The current Y, a 1934 red-brick structure at 266 College Street, is “a rabbit warren” of rooms and stairs where few spaces serve their original purpose, said Bishop. The new facility, just 150 steps from the old Y at the former Ethan Allen Club, will use space more efficiently and purposefully. It complies fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act, equipped with an elevator, wide doors and hallways that can accommodate wheelchairs. Both the lap pool and program pool will be equipped with lift chairs. Young children can enjoy a new "splash pad."
Tags: Greater Burlington YMCA , childcare , pools , Web Only , Image
A report released earlier this summer named Burlington's Union Station as the best place to overnight trains once Amtrak's Ethan Allen Express begins service to the Queen City in 2021 or 2022. VTrans and the for-profit Vermont Rail System also intend to build a second rail line between King and College streets regardless of where the trains are stored, Burlington's Public Works Department Director Chapin Spencer told the council.
The new track would displace a section of Burlington bike path, which would need to be rebuilt on the west side of the train tracks and on the city's dime, according to Spencer.
The proposals have drawn ire from residents who say the study was flawed and that a second track will bring noise and pollution to Burlington's waterfront.
"Once the second track is built ... the railroad will do whatever it wants, and we’ll be powerless to stop it," resident Ritchie Berger said, adding that Burlington's waterfront could become a second rail yard.
Tags: Burlington City Council , Vermont Rail System , Amtrak , Vermont Agency of Transportation , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Presenting at a Burlington City Council meeting, executives from Brookfield Asset Management pledged to start construction next year.
Gone are the soaring 14-story structures originally proposed. In their place are two towers. One, on the Cherry Street side of the property, would rise 10 stories and hold 280 to 300 apartments — the same as the original proposal. Twenty percent would be "affordable," as required by Burlington's inclusionary zoning ordinance.
A 175-room hotel of similar height would occupy the Bank Street side of the downtown parcel. Retail space would fill the first floor of each building, and levels of parking would fit between — and below — the structures.
Tags: CityPlace Burlington , Brookfield Asset Management , Burlington , Burlington City Council , Web Only , Image
Thursday, October 24, 2019
"Cut consumption, not foreskin!" is painted in big letters across the front of the house. Fat pink polka dots against a purple background float from foundation to roofline.
The colors, and the exhortation, have faded since they went up a dozen years ago and turned the house on the busy corridor into a local conversation piece. Home owner and polka dot maestro Jerri Kohl couldn't bring himself to paint over the unique façade before he put the house up for sale earlier this week.
"I don’t really want to see it go," he said about the façade — but not the house, which is priced at $325,000.
Tags: Burlington , circumcision house , 276 Colchester Avenue , Kampus Kitchen , Jerri Kohl , for sale , foreskin , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Owned by Atlanta-based Cox Automotive, the company declined to give a specific number of jobs eliminated, describing the cuts as fewer than 15. About 1,100 employees work at the Pine Street campus, the spokesperson said.
In an emailed statement, Dealer.com vice president and general manager Wayne Pastore said the company is "100 percent committed" to Burlington.
"We are continuing to evolve our businesses at Dealer.com and Cox Automotive as the automotive industry continues to shift and change," Pastore said. "While we are making small reductions in some areas of our business, we are hiring aggressively in many others at Dealer.com and Cox Automotive to deliver on the most relevant products and services for our clients and the industry."
Tags: Burlington , Dealer.com , layoffs , Web Only , Image