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.

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.

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.