More construction is expected to begin Monday on the Burlington Bike Path as the city launches a six-month project that will detour cyclists to North Avenue during the height of tourist season.

The phase two rehabilitation will repave a 3.3-mile section between the North Beach Campground and the Winooski River, where a bridge connects Burlington's New North End to Colchester. The first phase, from the waterfront to the North Beach Campground, was completed this spring.

Cycling advocacy organization Local Motion is concerned about the work's impact on tourism and cyclist safety during the high summer season, according to executive director Jason Van Driesche — though the group supports the upgrade.

"For most people, there's no good time to do a project like this," acknowledged project manager Jon Adams-Kollitz of the Burlington Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department. The long-term benefits are worth it, he said. "All we can do is ask for forgiveness in terms of the inconvenience."

Authorities in Texas arrested a former Champlain College student on Monday and charged him with murdering a Burlington man in January 2015, officials said.

Richard Monroe, 24, carried out the "execution-style killing" of Kevin DeOliveira, 23, over a cocaine debt, federal prosecutors said in a prepared statement.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Monroe in Western Texas on Monday. He was scheduled to appear in federal court in El Paso, Texas, on Monday and could be transported to Vermont soon, prosecutors said.

The New York Times profiled the Burlington Police Department's efforts to battle the scourge of opiates in a story posted online Monday morning.

The article, entitled "When Opioid Addicts Find an Ally in Blue," details the efforts of Chief Brandon del Pozo and other members of his department in tracking specific drug users, collaborating with health officials, and deploying computerized systems to disrupt the "constant flow of illegal drugs" arriving from New York.

Lt. Michael Warren took the Times reporter on a tour of the Old North End, "tracing a path of wreckage," including the Ward Street home where two brothers profiled in Seven Days died of overdoses in June 2015.

The city received eight bids for Burlington Telecom — and none came from the 10 biggest national telecoms, officials said Wednesday.

Some city residents had objected to the idea of selling to a major outfit, said Burlington Telecom Advisory Board member David Provost. That fear won’t be realized based on the letters of intent the board received ahead of Monday’s deadline.

“The process has worked,” Provost said during a BTAB meeting Wednesday at Burlington City Hall. “The criteria set forth by the BTAB after public input, as well as the strategy to implement a deliberative sales process, have proven beneficial to position Burlington to find the right partner.”

As the bidding deadline for Burlington Telecom neared Monday evening, the utility’s general manager said he hoped to get written interest from three to six potential buyers.

Sorting through the “letters of intent” — which include a proposed purchase price and descriptions of how bidders will meet the city's sale criteria — is the first step in a process that will continue through the summer, Stephen Barraclough told Seven Days at 4 p.m., an hour before the bids were due.

“We’ve had a number of pretty meaningful conversations, but until it's in writing you really don’t know,” the GM said. “And if you say 5 o’clock, people leave it to the last minute or ask for an extension.”

The identity of at least one of the bidders is common knowledge. Keep BT Local, a cooperative aimed at — you guessed it — keeping the utility locally owned, submitted a bid late last week, co-op chair Alan Matson said Monday.

The 2nd Time Around shop will close by the end of the month and might not pay consignors who are owed money for clothing sold at the Burlington store.

"I'm upset," said Juliana Taylor after leaving the Church Street resale outlet Monday.

The Burlington woman says 2nd Time Around owes her $200 for clothing the store sold on her behalf. So far her efforts to collect have been futile.

"Sometime, maybe around March, they stopped issuing checks," she said. When she asked about it, Taylor was initially told there was a bookkeeping delay. Now she said, "It's pretty clear that that wasn't it."

The store is part of a national chain based in Massachusetts that once had 40 locations in a dozen states. Over several decades it became known for putting a high-end spin on thrift, with sales of gently used designer duds.

But some locations were padlocked this spring, and the company announced over the weekend that all stores would close, including the one in Burlington, due to financial problems.

"Because of a convergence of market forces hitting all brick-and-mortar stores — including increased competition from online retailers combined with skyrocketing rents — we have made the difficult decision to close our stores," a company statement reads.

The store typically pays consignors 40 percent of an item's sale price and keeps the rest. Now that agreement might not be honored.

The announcement on the company website said consignors would be reimbursed for sales that took place after May 1. But money from prior sales might not materialize.

"At this time, the company cannot commit to paying consignors whose items were sold prior to May 1. Further communications will be forthcoming as more information becomes available," the statement advises.
Monday, the Burlington store announced its pending demise with a large "Going Out of Business" sign in the front window.

Inside, a few shoppers looked at frothy summer tops, jeans, boots and soft leather handbags — all gently used. Brands ranged from high-end designers such as Boden and Joie to J.Crew, Ralph Lauren and the more budget-conscious Loft.

Liz Stanley, acting manager of the Burlington store, said Monday she could not comment on the reimbursement problems. A "handful" of employees work at the store along with her, she said, and everyone will be out of a job by July 1 when the business closes.

A liquidation sale could be coming in the next week or so, but hasn't started yet. The closing date isn't yet set. "Our final date is dependent on when we can clear our merchandise," Stanley said.

Taylor visited the store to pick up some of her unsold clothing Monday, and to seek more information on recovering her $200.

When Taylor called the line set up by the company for inquiries about funds owed, she waited on hold only to hear a recording of the statement she'd already read on the company website.

"It was totally unhelpful," said Taylor.

She's not the only upset consignor. Olivia Bartelheim of Burlington is out about $250 for clothing the store sold on her behalf.

“I entered in this agreement with them assuming that it would be honored," she said. "It's very frustrating to me. I feel like I was stolen from." Bartelheim said. "It's bad business practice, very shady.”

A lawsuit filed on behalf of a Burlington man who claims that city authorities persuaded his landlord to evict him because he repeatedly called the police for help cleared a key hurdle in federal court this week.

Joseph Montagno says that Burlington authorities, without his knowledge, classified him as a "public nuisance" for the number of calls he made to police. Officials then successfully pressured the owner of his Church Street apartment to evict him, the lawsuit alleges.

U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss rejected most of the city's claims to have the lawsuit dismissed, clearing the way for it to proceed to trial.

It is self-evident "that filing a criminal complaint with law enforcement officials constitutes an exercise of the First Amendment right to petition the government for the redress of grievances," Reiss wrote in a 36-page ruling.

Updated at 4:15 p.m.

Acting U.S. Attorney Eugenia Cowles announced Wednesday that her office had reached a $155 million settlement, the largest of its kind in state history, against an electronic health records company accused of widespread fraud.

The lawsuit alleged that eClinicalWorks, one of the country's largest vendors of electronic health record software, falsified its capabilities to pass tests required for government certification. The lawsuit also accused eClinicalWorks, based in Westborough, Mass., of failing to adequately test software before it was released, failing to quickly correct urgent problems and paying kickbacks to some customers in exchange for promoting its software.

"This resolution demonstrates the government's coordinated effort to protect programs like Medicare and Medicaid that millions of Americans rely on every day," Cowles said during a news conference touting the settlement.

As reported by Seven Days this week, the program, which was launched in 2012, may run afoul of a 2004 law that forbids the DMV from implementing "processes for identifying applicants for licenses ... that involve the use of biometric identifiers."

Additionally, documents obtained by the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union suggest that the database of 2.7 million images has been widely shared with federal and local law enforcement — despite prior assurances from the DMV that it would not be.

"The ACLU raises good concerns," Donovan said in a brief interview Thursday. "The privacy concerns are, in addition to the legal question, the most pressing matter."

A judge from the environmental division of the Vermont Superior Court has cleared another obstacle in the effort to redevelop the Burlington Town Center. On Monday, Judge Thomas Walsh denied a request to delay construction by a group that opposes the project.

With the ruling, developer Don Sinex plans to move ahead with the project and begin construction in midsummer, according to spokesperson Liz Miller.

"I am pleased with this decision denying a stay; it is a good step forward for the Burlington Town Center redevelopment," Sinex said in a statement. "Rather than fight, we wish [the opponents] would join with us and the many Burlington residents who already support this project."