Thursday, February 22, 2018
Secretary of Human Services Al Gobeille didn’t specify exact issues with the current arrangement, but he said Vermont officials aren’t happy with how it’s working. Officials plan to solicit proposals for a new deal.
“I think that issuing [a request for proposals] is an indication that we’re looking for something different than what we have,” Gobeille said. “We’re in the process of doing that. It has not been issued yet.”
Tags: Camp Hill , prison , corrections , Al Gobeille , Phil Scott , Pennsylvania , Image , Web Only
Friday, February 16, 2018
Eighteen-year-old Jack Sawyer of Poultney was arrested Thursday and, in an interview with police, outlined a detailed plan for shooting students — "as many as I can get," according to the arrest affidavit submitted in court — at Fair Haven Union High School. It seems clear from reading the affidavit that Sawyer would likely have carried out his plan, if not for private individuals alerting authorities on two separate occasions.
Scott appeared deeply shaken by this very close call as he addressed reporters Friday afternoon in his Montpelier office. "If we are at a point when we put our kids on a bus and send them to school without being able to guarantee their safety, who are we?" he asked.
"Just yesterday, I did an interview noting that we are the safest state in the nation," he continued, referring to remarks he made to Seven Days' Taylor Dobbs. "But the reality of how close we came to a devastating tragedy underscores the threat of violence that faces the entire country.
"As a result, I've been asking myself, 'Are we doing everything we can to protect our kids?'" Scott said. His change in heart, he added, means opening the discussion to such issues as mental health, school safety, gun safety and, potentially at least, some form of gun control legislation.
Tags: Phil Scott , Jack Sawyer , Todd Wilkins , Columbine , Taylor Dobbs , Fair Haven , William Humphries , Parkland , school shooting , Image , Web Only
Monday, February 12, 2018
Benjamin Gregware, 42, walked toward the officers and refused their commands to drop his gun after he was pulled over around 4 p.m. Trooper Chris Brown and Richmond Police Officer Richard Greenough fired 12 shots, hitting Gregware three times, State Police Col. Matt Birmingham said during a press conference Monday.
It was the third fatal Vermont State Police shooting in six months. Brown, who has been a trooper since 2012, fired his weapon in all three incidents.
Tags: Vermont State Police , Benjamin Gregware , Chris Brown , Richard Greenough , shooting , police shooting , Glenn Hall , Richmond , Sheldon , Melissa Gregware , Image , Web Only
Monday, February 5, 2018
Ismina Francois, a mental health specialist, made repeated complaints about the widespread use of racial slurs and racial insensitivities at the facility in Berlin but a culture of intolerance persisted, a commission investigator found.
For example — despite Francois' prior complaints — a hospital staffer assigned her to care for a racist patient with a swastika tattoo who had previously lunged at Francois and yelled "get that nigger away from me."
Traveling nurses who worked temporary stints at the hospital reported being surprised at how often patients used racial slurs. And other employees used terms like "nappy hair," "hood car," "fried chicken," "colored people" and speculated about Francois being on "welfare," according to the report.
"A reasonable person could conclude that the offensive jokes, slurs, epithets, name calling, insults and put-downs by patients and coworkers were pervasive," Human Rights Commission investigator Bor Yang wrote in the 35-page report finalized in January.
Tags: Vermont Department of Mental Health , mental health , racism , Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital , Ismina Francois , Tim McCants , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
During that time, cops had gotten tips that he'd hide out at a house on Thomas Street in Richford. Other leads indicated he'd fled to South Carolina.
But a crucial tip came in recently: Delisle, 47, would successfully use an "obscure hiding spot" to conceal himself whenever cops arrived at the Thomas Street home.
Determined to find their man, police showed up at the house on Monday with an infrared camera they borrowed from the Richford Fire Department. Firefighters use the cameras, which detect heat signatures, to find victims in smoke-filled buildings or to search for fire "hot spots" concealed in walls.
Tags: Vermont State Police , Swanton , fugitive , sex assault , Duane Delisle , search , infrared camera , Maurice Lamothe , Image , Web Only
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Burlington opioid policy manager Jackie Corbally, Deputy Police Chief Shawn Burke and Fire Chief Steve Locke will make up Burlington's new safe response team, which will launch February 1 as a four-month pilot.
The team will visit within 24 hours of an overdose — ideally on the same day, Corbally said. At each home, the team will offer resources for treatment, contact information for Corbally and the overdose-reversing drug Narcan. Corbally said she expects the team will respond to two to five calls each week.
“We’re going to be relentless,” she said. “We are going to find folks and let them know we care.”
Tags: Jackie Corbally , Shawn Burke , Steve Locke , Burlington Police Department , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Interim Washington County State's Attorney Rory Thibault has rescinded plea offers in criminal cases that his predecessor, Scott Williams, made before his abrupt departure in November.
Williams disappeared from public view to seek treatment at the Brattleboro Retreat, and then resigned on January 8. Earlier this month, Gov. Phil Scott appointed Thibault, who used to work for Williams as a deputy prosecutor, to the interim position.
Thibault wrote in a letter that he had "concerns over the content, structure, and basis" of some of Williams' proposed plea agreements. Thibault added that he was also rescinding felony plea offers made by prosecutors who filled in for Williams while the office was understaffed.
Tags: Scott Williams , Rory Thibault , Washington County , court , plea agreements , crime , Image , Web Only
Monday, January 15, 2018
Calling it a "10-year vision," Secretary of Human Services Al Gobeille emphasized that the complex would be constructed gradually over the course of a decade.
Legislators asked the Agency of Human Services to come up with a plan to address the state’s aging correctional facilities as well as shortcomings with its mental health care system. The recommendation is in a report from administration officials to legislators.
The facility would house male and female offenders, including those with mental health diagnoses.
Its construction would cost roughly $140 million, according to the agency’s estimates. A private company would build the facility and then lease it to the state.
Scott’s communications director, Rebecca Kelley, said the governor supports the “vision” laid out in the report and “recognizes there’s a lot of work to do to make it a reality.”
Tags: Phil Scott , Agency of Human Services , Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility , Northwest State Correction Facility , Image , Web Only
Monday, January 8, 2018
According to Pomerleau, two federal agents visited his Queen City home early last December to ask about Burlington College's 2010 acquisition of a $10 million North Avenue campus.
"They came up and talked with me for a few minutes to half an hour," the centenarian developer told Seven Days. He said he believed the men worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Pomerleau interview is the most recent action to come to light in the federal inquiry, which began roughly two years ago. VTDigger.org first reported Sunday that former Burlington College board member Robin Lloyd provided sworn testimony in the matter to a grand jury on October 26. Former board chair Yves Bradley told Seven Days he spoke to an FBI agent and a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation investigator in mid-October. (That interview was first reported in December by Fox News.)
Tags: Senator , Burlington College , Jane O'Meara Sanders , Bernie Sanders , Brady Toensing , Tony Pomerleau , Yves Bradley , FBI , Image , Web Only
Washington County State's Attorney Scott Williams has resigned, two months after going on health-related leave and seeking care at the Brattleboro Retreat.
In a statement released Monday by the Vermont Department of State's Attorneys and Sheriffs, Williams suggested that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and specifically mentioned the 2015 murder of Department for Children and Families social worker Lara Sobel.
"The office cannot function efficiently under reduced staffing, particularly in light of the significant number and the complexity of cases it handles. This decision will also allow me the time to focus on my health,” said Williams, who was first elected in 2014. He later added: “The effect of the murder of Lara Sobel requires that I focus on regaining my health."
Tags: Scott Williams , Lara Sobel , John Campbell , Washington County State's Attorney's Office , Image , Web Only