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Monday, August 9, 2021

Posted By on Mon, Aug 9, 2021 at 6:09 PM

click to enlarge Winooski Cleaner Charged With Scamming COVID-19 Business Relief Program
File: Thomas James
The owner of a Winooski cleaning business  faces fraud and money laundering charges for allegedly forging documents last year to obtain a larger pandemic relief loan.

Dennis Duffy II, 38, pleaded not guilty in federal court Monday following an indictment that accuses him of grossly misrepresenting  his business, Night Owl Cleaning, in an application for a Paycheck Protection Program loan.

Duffy then used the $416,093 proceeds last summer to purchase a home in Milton, according to the indictment.

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Monday, August 2, 2021

Posted By on Mon, Aug 2, 2021 at 10:06 PM

click to enlarge Burlington Police Commission Recommends Raising Roster Cap
Colin Flanders ©️ Seven Days
Acting police Chief Jon Murad (right) listens as former Burlington city councilor Paul Decelles speaks in favor of raising the department's staffing cap
Burlington police commissioners voted unanimously on Monday to recommend that the city temporarily increase its police roster by eight officers, citing an unexpectedly high attrition rate in the year since the city council capped the department's staffing at 74.

The ultimate decision will lie with the city council, which is next scheduled to meet on August 9. It's unclear if the body will take up the issue then.

The vote marks the second time in several months that commissioners have called on the council to raise the staffing cap. And it comes as local business leaders have renewed their calls for an increased downtown police presence in light of recent violent incidents.

"We're losing a downtown for everyone because it does not feel safe and secure for people who want to come here," Kelly Devine, executive director of the Burlington Business Association, said prior to Monday's vote.

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Friday, July 30, 2021

Posted By on Fri, Jul 30, 2021 at 2:34 PM

click to enlarge Vermont Gun Importer Sued After Its Rifle Was Used in Mass Shooting
AP Photo / Jeremy Hogan
A Century International Arms booth at a National Rifle Association convention in Indianapolis
Victims of a 2019 mass shooting are suing the Vermont arms dealer that made the rifle a gunman used to murder attendees of a California garlic festival.

A dozen survivors last week added Century International Arms as a defendant in their pending civil lawsuit against the nonprofit that ran the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival, the City of Gilroy, Calif., and a private security contractor.

They say the gunmaker's business practices have funneled “uniquely lethal” semiautomatic rifles to criminals and “helped cause the mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival” that left three people dead and 17 wounded.

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Thursday, July 22, 2021

Posted By on Thu, Jul 22, 2021 at 10:52 PM

click to enlarge Essex Police Change Course After Charging Black Man Involved in Fight
Alain Lacroix | Dreamstime
Following public scrutiny, the Essex Police Department on Thursday apologized to a Black man and withdrew a felony assault citation it had issued him for his role in a brawl last week.

In a lengthy written statement Thursday, released an hour after activists were scheduled to protest outside the police station, Chief Ron Hoague said his officers were too quick to cite Brandon Williams.

The department "has been working with community members this past year in an effort to better serve everyone in our community, especially those most impacted by racism and inequity," Hoague wrote. "We have engaged our public in conversation and efforts like never before and we realize that incidents such as this indicate we have more work to do."

Williams was the only one charged of at least four people involved in the July 13 fight, which police said took place at the home of a man who Williams had hired to repair a motorcycle. Police had previously said their investigation was not over and that additional charges could follow.

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Saturday, July 3, 2021

Posted By on Sat, Jul 3, 2021 at 12:27 PM

click to enlarge Burlington to Pay $45K Settlement in Kilburn Wrongful Death Case (5)
File: James Buck
Protesters in downtown Burlington last summer
The City of Burlington has reached a $45,000 settlement with the family of Douglas Kilburn, who died in 2019 after a Burlington police officer punched him.

A city spokesperson confirmed the deal Saturday, which was first reported by VTDigger.org. The city's insurer will pay the settlement.

Kilburn's estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit last November, alleging that Officer Cory Campbell used excessive force when he punched Kilburn in the ambulance bay at the University of Vermont Medical Center, breaking several bones in his face. Kilburn was hospitalized, then found dead in his home a few days later.

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Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Posted By on Tue, May 25, 2021 at 3:36 PM

click to enlarge Vigil in Burlington Marks Anniversary of George Floyd's Death
Colin Flanders ©️ Seven Days
Attendees at a vigil for George Floyd on Tuesday
A solemn crowd of about 50 gathered in Burlington on Tuesday to honor the memory of George Floyd, a Black man whose murder by a white police officer in Minneapolis last year ignited a reckoning on race and policing.

The event marked the one-year anniversary of Floyd's death and drew elected officials, community leaders and others to City Hall Park, where attendees held a silent vigil lasting nine minutes and 29 seconds — the same amount of time that former officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck.

C D Mattison, who organized the vigil, briefly addressed the crowd to reflect on Floyd's final moments, which were captured on video by a 17-year-old bystander and quickly seared into the national consciousness.

"George Floyd should be alive today. We know that," Mattison said. "And what pained me so much for his family — and most certainly for George Floyd, as he cried out for his mother — was the gathering of people who were there in witness, and how excruciating it was for them that they felt they could not intervene on his behalf and save him, because their very own lives were at risk as well."

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Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Posted By on Wed, May 19, 2021 at 6:08 PM

click to enlarge Authorities Charge Activist Investigating Barre Man's Disappearance
Colin Flanders ©️ Seven Days
Lee Morrigan addresses a small crowd at Burlington's Battery Park during a demonstration for Ralph Jean-Marie last month
An activist investigating the April 2020 disappearance of a Barre man has been charged with criminal contempt for refusing to answer questions during a confidential hearing related to the case earlier this month.

Lee Morrigan, a Burlington activist who uses they/them pronouns, is scheduled to appear in Washington County Superior Court on Thursday morning. Prosecutors plan to ask that Morrigan serve a day or two in jail and pay a $500 fine, though a judge could impose a harsher penalty.

The charge stems from Morrigan's refusal to answer questions during a hearing that was part of an ongoing inquest — or secret investigatory proceeding — into Ralph "Rizz" Jean-Marie’s disappearance. Prosecutors are using the confidential court process to compel under-oath testimony from people they believe are withholding information that might help investigators. An unknown number of other people have also been subpoenaed.

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Friday, May 14, 2021

Posted By on Fri, May 14, 2021 at 12:52 PM

click to enlarge Weinberger to Restart Search for Burlington's Next Police Chief
File: Luke Awtry
Mayor Miro Weinberger and acting Chief Jon Murad
The City of Burlington will restart its search for a new police chief after suspending the hiring process due to the coronavirus pandemic a little over a year ago.

“We need structural and cultural transformation of law enforcement in this country and in Burlington, and to forge a new consensus on the future of public safety here,” Mayor Miro Weinberger said in a Friday press release. “Our new Police Chief will play an essential leadership role in that work.”

Weinberger pledged to involve residents in the hiring process. This month, the mayor will host a series of "stakeholder meetings" to help determine the chief's priorities in the first year on the job. He'll also visit each Neighborhood Planning Assembly meeting; consult with leaders in education, social services and business; and meet with organizations led by Black, Indigenous and other people of color, according to the press release.

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Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Posted By on Wed, May 5, 2021 at 10:33 PM

click to enlarge Driver Who Allegedly Rammed a Porch While Shouting Racial Slurs Charged
Vermont State Police
Anthony Mason
A white man shouted racial slurs as he drove a truck through a yard in Richford and rammed a porch where a Black resident was, that resident told police.

The truck driver, Anthony Mason, 27, was reported to have threatened to kill the resident during the incident, police said in a press release.

He was later arrested at his Richford home. He is expected to be charged with attempted second-degree murder, grossly negligent operation of a motor vehicle and unlawful mischief. The three charges will be filed with a hate-crime enhancement, police said, which can add more time to prison sentences.

Police said 27-year-old Michael Wilson called authorities shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday to report that Mason, whom he knew, drove over a dirt bike before hitting his porch near him and his dog. Police say Mason caused "considerable" damage to Wilson's dirt bike and yard.

On Wednesday evening, a judge ordered that Mason be held at the Northwest State Correctional Facility for lack of $10,000 bail. He’s scheduled to be arraigned at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Vermont Superior Court in St. Albans.

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Thursday, April 15, 2021

Posted By on Thu, Apr 15, 2021 at 11:11 PM

click to enlarge Soldier With Lengthy Criminal History Is No Longer in Vermont National Guard
Vermont State Police
Daniel Blodgett
Daniel Blodgett, the Vermont National Guard member who served despite a history of criminal offenses going back more than a decade, is no longer with the Guard, its commander told a legislative committee on Thursday. Adj. Gen. Greg Knight also briefly outlined strategies he said the organization is pursuing to better track criminal allegations involving its members.

On March 24, Seven Days reported that Blodgett had maintained his Guard status despite a criminal history that included eight misdemeanor convictions. He's currently facing multiple counts of sexual assault, including of two women who served in the Guard. The military org has wrestled for years with allegations that it has tolerated sexual harassment in its ranks.

Knight spoke before the House General, Housing and Military Affairs Committee on Thursday. VTDigger.org first reported his remarks.
"Daniel Blodgett, who was accused of sexual assault in February, is no longer a member of the Vermont National Guard," Knight told committee members.

He did not elaborate. Knight previously said the allegations against Blodgett were "repulsive," telling attendees at a town hall meeting: “Anybody who chooses to behave in such a way, they don’t deserve to be in uniform.”

Knight on Thursday told lawmakers that he is working to set up more rigorous systems for checking his members' backgrounds, including running more background checks. Members don't always report their arrests to military authorities, Knight said, a problem seen around the country.
Knight says he's working to address what he called "a gap in the information flow between civil law enforcement and the Guard." He said he has communicated with Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Michael Schirling, who has approached law enforcement leaders in the state about asking people, when they are charged with a crime, whether they are Guard members.

"That, in turn, should prompt communication to our provost marshal team and then allow us to ... expeditiously address adjudication on the military side," Knight told lawmakers.

Knight has previously acknowledged that the Guard has been "deficient" in training its leaders to punish lawbreakers. He said he would better educate them how to secure punishments, including discharges.

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