Monday, June 22, 2020
"While this fall will look much different than at any time in our history, I am grateful that we will be able to come together again in a way that upholds educational opportunity while maximizing the health and safety of the entire Middlebury community," president Laurie Patton said in a detailed campus letter.
Like the University of Vermont, Middlebury is planning for a semester in which in-person classes conclude before the traditional Thanksgiving break. On-campus classes will run from September 8 to November 20, and resume on November 30 for online instruction and remote final exams.
New policies intended to limit coronavirus exposure will affect every aspect of campus life, beginning with students' arrival.
Before coming to campus, students will be asked to quarantine at their homes for two weeks. They will arrive according to staggered move-in and orientation schedules. Upon their return, students will be tested for COVID-19 and quarantined in their dorm rooms until they get results. If negative, they will enter a weeklong "campus quarantine" period, during which they cannot leave campus property.
Additional tests may be administered throughout the semester, Patton said. The college is setting aside one residential building for "isolation housing" for any students who test positive.
Professors may decide whether or not to hold their classes in person; Patton wrote that initial responses from faculty suggested that a third of classes will be taught remotely.
Athletics and extracurricular programs are still up in the air, though Patton wrote that the school hopes to "provide meaningful experiences for our student-athletes."
Off-campus travel will also be limited, and the college will restrict guest speakers and other visitors.
Patton said the college's plan meets or exceeds all state and federal guidance. Gov. Phil Scott has not released specific reopening guidance for Vermont Colleges, "but we have been working closely with the state and have a good sense of what the new guidelines will say," Patton wrote.
Tags: Middlebury College , Laurie Patton , coronavirus , covid-19 , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
That prompted some attendees to swarm the truck. The driver, Jasper “Jay” Wright, stopped when people blocked the road. A 40-second video, provided to Seven Days and shared on social media, captured some of what happened next.
“Do you not think black lives matter?” a woman is heard asking Wright, who tries repeatedly to say something. “Do you not think black lives matter?” the woman asks again.
“Listen to m—,” Wright responds, before he yells, “No, I don’t! OK? Is that what you want? There!”
“Why don’t you get the fuck out of here?” another woman responds.
“Because she won’t fucking listen!” Wright says. “I didn’t start this conversation.” As the video ends, Wright says that he “does not have a problem with Black Lives Matter. I have a problem with what most of it stands for,” adding, “It should be about all lives matter.”
Tags: Craftsbury , racism , Pablo Coddou , Anne-Marie Keppel , Katherine Sims , Web Only , Image
Saturday, June 13, 2020
The group marched past the Hoagie Hut in Bellwood Plaza chanting, "Black lives matter" and "No justice, no peace!" before reconvening in a grassy area along Prim Road for rousing speeches about the legacy of American slavery in the country's criminal justice and economic systems.
"They are just a piece of the systemic racism, covert and overt, in our community," co-organizer Evelyn Monje, a 17-year-old Winooski High School student, said of the restaurant.
Saturday marked the third consecutive weekend of protests held in cities and towns across Vermont where attendees have called for a radical reimagining of public safety. Similar rallies have sprouted across the country in the weeks since police in Minneapolis killed George Floyd on May 25. Also on Saturday, hundreds of people in Montpelier helped paint Black Lives Matter in capital letters on the street in front of the Statehouse.
Tags: Evelyn Monje , Olivia Pintair , Mugabo Thierry Uwilingiyimana , Hoagie Hut , Colchester , Gary Vetters , black lives matter , george floyd , police reform , defund the police , police divestment , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
State lawmakers are scrambling before the session winds down to assemble a package of bills that could change how police use force, how agencies report race data and more. A key senator also said he plans a push to include funding for body cameras in the Vermont State Police budget, calling it long overdue.
"We must do it now," Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington) said Monday from the virtual Senate floor, referring to the body cams.
Tags: Vermont legislature , police reform , police use of force , deadly force , lethal force , H.808 , Dick Sears , Debbie Ingram , Anne Donahue , Tim Ashe , Mitzi Johnson , Vermont State Police , body cameras , race data , Web Only , Image
Sunday, June 7, 2020
University of Vermont student Noel Riby-Williams, 20, and recent Montpelier High School graduates MaryAnn Songhurst and Mandy Abu Aziz, both 18, organized the event. They set out to honor George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, who were both killed by police this year, along with others killed by law enforcement officers over the years.
Floyd died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest. Taylor was shot eight times by police who burst into her apartment in Louisville, Ky.
Protests have sprung up across the country since Floyd’s death, including many in Vermont. On May 30, protesters gathered in front of the Burlington Police Department. This past week, events have been held in Winooski, South Royalton, Newport, Milton, Springfield, St. Albans, Rutland, Essex Junction, Waitsfield, Bellows Falls, Morrisville, Colchester and other municipalities.
Tags: black lives matter , protest , george floyd , breonna taylor , montpelier , noel riby-williams , Web Only , Image , Slideshow
Friday, June 5, 2020
Shortly before the governor spoke in Montpelier, a handful of interpreters and members of Vermont's immigrant communities showed up to a separate press conference outside of Winooski City Hall to ask city leaders and Vermont Department of Health officials to do more to support New Americans affected by the outbreak.
"One of the reasons why people are so infected may be because they don't have the information," said Dr. Virginie Diambou, a member of a multilingual task force that has been translating public health information into at least 10 languages. "They don't speak English, they speak their own languages, and they are being told there are no funds to be able to hire interpreters or translators."
Tags: Winooski , covid-19 , coronavirus , outbreak , kristine lott , jessie bakervermont department of health , Virginie Diambou , Web Only , Image
Thursday, June 4, 2020
The recent cluster of COVID-19 cases in Winooski showed signs of a larger outbreak on Thursday, as health officials announced the biggest spike in new infections since the pandemic's April peak.
The Vermont Department of Health reported 36 new cases Thursday, with all but two of those new infections tied to Winooski. It's the sixth-largest single-day case total the state has announced since the first case was discovered in March.
Health Commissioner Mark Levine and city officials will hold a press conference at Winooski City Hall at 9:30 a.m. Friday morning to discuss the outbreak, shortly before Gov. Phil Scott is expected to allow some indoor dining to resume across the state.
Tags: coronavirs , covid-19 , winooski , mark levine , vermont department of health , cluster , outbreak , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
He will take over for Michele Asch, whose three-year term expires on June 30. Asch announced during the commission's monthly meeting that she did not plan to seek reappointment to her post, citing other professional endeavors.
Gamache told fellow commissioners that they would need to have "hard and uncomfortable conversations" in the weeks ahead.
"Frankly, enough is kind of enough," he said, an apparent allusion to the death of George Floyd last week in Minneapolis police custody, which has set off protests nationwide. "People are looking to us for leadership and accountability. We need to deliver."
The young bartender was one of three black men appointed to the commission last July in the weeks following allegations of Burlington police brutality against people of color. Their contentious appointments gave the seven-member panel a majority-minority makeup.
Tags: Jabulani Gamache , Burlington Police Commission , Burlington Police Department , Web Only , Image
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Harmony Edosomwan, who led a protest that drew a crowd of hundreds to Battery Park, stood in the bed of a pickup truck parked behind police headquarters at One North Avenue, which is next to the park. Demonstrators, like those in cities across the country, had turned out to protest police brutality after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Interim Burlington Police Chief Jennifer Morrison and Deputy Chief Jon Murad had come out in an apparent attempt to have a dialogue with protesters. Both of the top cops, like many of the protesters, wore face masks.
Morrison had previously released a statement condemning Floyd's death as "an atrocity." She added in her statement: "It is horrifying and a perversion of everything that American police are meant to do."
Tags: Harmony Edosomwan , Chief Jennifer Morrison , Deputy Chief John Murad , Burlington Police Department , One North Avenue , Web Only , Image , Slideshow
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Funded by Vermont's $1.25 billion share of the federal CARES Act, the first phase of the plan would allocate $310 million for "immediate relief ... to help businesses survive," Scott said at a press conference.
"I know there's too many small-business owners who are desperate right now," Scott said. "Family businesses that have been around for decades don't see a path out of the red. I know you're all scared, sad, and probably pretty angry."
The administration will detail how the remaining $90 million would be used in the coming weeks but hinted that it could include investments in broadband, housing and employee-training programs.
The plan is far from finalized: The House and Senate both have to sign off and could significantly revise the package before doing so.
"Hopefully they'll expedite this so that we can put it in the hands of Vermonters that need it right now," Scott said.
Scott's proposal would allocate $250 million for loans and grants to businesses, including:
- $150 million in "restart grants" to the food, accommodations, retail, and agriculture sectors for fixed costs such as rent and mortgage payments
- $80 million in "economic injury and disaster" grants and low- or no-interest loans for sectors not receiving restart grants
- $20 million in loans and grants for small businesses and nonprofits with less than $1 million in revenues and five or fewer employees
The remaining $10 million would be spent on programs to help businesses apply for financial assistance and on marketing campaigns to encourage Vermonters to shop local.
Tags: coronavirus , COVID-19 , stimulus , economy , Gov. Phil Scott , economic relief , dairy industry , housing , Web Only , Image