Friday, March 1, 2019
Ralph Moore of Brooklyn, N.Y., spent more than eight months in jail on charges that a Vermont judge eventually ruled stemmed from an unlawful search, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court.
The suit alleges unlawful search and seizure and a violation of equal protection rights by Officer Victor Bitca, former police chief Jennifer Morrison and the Town of Colchester.
Tags: Colchester , Colchester police , Victor Bitca , Ralph Moore , racial bias , traffic stops , Stephanie Seguino , Nancy Brooks , Robin Joy , Crime Research Group , Shamel Alexander , Bennington , Bennington police , Image , Web Only
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Out on the ice of Shelburne Bay Thursday, past the fishing shanties and frozen-in-place moorings, a burned-out mass of metal resembled a leftover prop from the set of Mad Max: Fury Road.
It was no prop. But the refuse was, in a sense, futuristic: It was the remnants of a 2019 Tesla Model X that went up in flames Sunday on Lake Champlain.
Shelburne Fire Chief Jerry Ouimet said his department could do little when members responded around 8:15 p.m. that night. The blaze was hundreds of yards from the nearest access point at the Shelburne Bay Boat Ramp and, while the ice was thick, "It's nothing we're gonna throw a 50,000-pound fire truck on," he said.
Ouimet called in the Charlotte Fire Department, which responded with an ATV equipped with a portable pump and hose, but the electric-powered SUV was already beyond saving.
"There was no way we could get anything out there," Ouimet told Seven Days. "As a firefighter, I've never felt so helpless before."
The operator told police and firefighters that he'd been driving in South Burlington when he thought he hit a rock or big piece of ice on the road. The man stopped to check for damage and couldn't see anything, though he thought he smelled something "strange," according to Ouimet.
The driver, whose identity Ouimet did not know, then drove his Tesla onto the bay to go ice fishing. He was out of the car when he heard a hiss, and the $82,000 vehicle went up in flames.
The man had gotten a ride to shore by the time police and firefighters spoke with him, according to Ouimet.
"He seemed ... more in shock than anything," the fire chief said. "He was hoping we could do something, but when we told him it was out of our hands, he was a little distraught."
The U.S. Coast Guard also responded to the scene, according to Ouimet, and the authorities called the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department to report the incident. Ouimet said it'll be the driver's responsibility to get the husk of the car off the ice.
It was still out there Thursday morning, not far from where two ice fishermen had set up. Erick Wallace told Seven Days he'd assumed the burned mass was the remains of some kids' driftwood bonfire. Dave Steele said he'd heard about the car fire and was concerned that pollutants from it would leach into the lake.
The Shelburne police officer leading the probe has spoken with the owner, according to Sgt. Josh Flore, but the incident remains under investigation. To try to learn the cause of the fire, authorities will need to take a look at the burned shell of the car once it’s removed from the bay.
"There’s a lot that plays into this. When’s the last time you heard of someone driving a Tesla out on the lake?" Flore said. "I think everybody’s trying to figure out what happened. Unfortunately, we won’t have more of an idea until the car’s off the ice."
Flore declined to identify the owner, citing the incomplete report.
"Could the guy have been going ice fishing? Maybe, maybe not — who knows," Flore said. "And we won’t know the answer to that until the investigation is concluded and the officer can make a good, informed decision on the path he’ll take."
The incident has gotten attention online after someone posted about it on the Tesla Motors Club forum. The website Electrek later picked it up, as did Jalopnik and Popular Mechanics.
For good reason. Ouimet said the call was unique for his department.
"It was an interesting situation," he said. "That was a first for us."
Tags: Tesla , Model X , Shelburne Bay , fire , Jerry Ouimet , chief , Shelburne Fire Department , Image , Web Only
Friday, February 8, 2019
The federal Department of Justice is withholding more than $2 million in law enforcement grants from Vermont pending a review of the state’s compliance with a federal law that requires local officials to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
“These grants are the DOJ Byrne JAG grant and the DOJ COPS Anti-Heroin Task Force grant,” VSP spokesman Adam Silverman wrote in an email to Seven Days.
The feds are refusing to pay the state a promised $1.3 million toward heroin enforcement until Justice Department officials are convinced that Vermont is in compliance with federal law, according to Silverman. Another two grants, for about $480,000 each, are also on hold.
Tags: Donald Trump , opiates , bias free policing , fair and impartial policing , police , heroin , Department of Justice , Adam Silverman , Jeff Sessions , Image , Web Only
Young’s legislation to establish a regulated retail cannabis market is similar in many ways to a Senate bill, S.54, introduced last month. But the House measure, H.196, would allow existing medical marijuana dispensaries to pay a $75,000 fee so that they could sell to the general public at the beginning of next year. The state would then continue to iron out details about the regulatory structure of the recreational market before other dispensaries could open in April 2021.
In addition to giving Vermont’s would-be cannabis customers an earlier start, Young said the licensing fees would “get some funds in order to create the board and the regulated market.”
Tags: Cannabeat , H.196 , Sam Young , cannabis , marijuana , retail , regulate , tax and regulate , Tom Stevens , Statehouse , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Tampa, Fla.-based company Greenway Health will forfeit $57.25 million to the U.S. government, the second-largest monetary recovery ever in the District of Vermont, U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan said Wednesday during a press conference announcing the settlement.
Greenway's alleged fraud is very similar to a 2017 case prosecuted by the district against another electronic health records provider, eClinicalWorks, that was resolved through the largest-ever recovery, a $155 million settlement.
Tags: electronic health records , U.S. Attorney , District of Vermont , Greenway Health , medicare fraud , Christina Nolan , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
The board of trustees for the private liberal arts college unanimously voted to divest January 26 as part of a sweeping sustainability plan dubbed Energy2028, according to a Tuesday press release.
Trustees had previously rejected students' divestment demands. The college's resistance was notable because scholar-in-residence Bill McKibben is a leading proponent of the international movement, as is the organization he and a group of Midd students founded in 2008, 350.org.
Tags: Middlebury College , divestment , climate change , fossil fuels , Laurie Patton , Divest Middlebury , Bill McKibben , Image , Web Only
Thursday, January 24, 2019
MassLive reported Thursday that the Massachusetts state medical examiner listed "consequences of septicemia in the setting of tricuspid valve endocarditis" as Linsenmeir's immediate cause of death.
Septicemia is a blood infection. Endocarditis is an infection of the inner lining of the heart. People who inject drugs are at an especially high risk for endocarditis because bacteria from skin or syringes can enter their veins and reach the heart.
Tags: opiate crisis , madelyn linsenmeir , aclu , springfield police , endocarditis , addiction , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Green Mountain College will shut down after graduation this spring, the private liberal arts institution in Poultney announced Wednesday.
"The decision to close Green Mountain College comes only after a tireless pursuit of multiple options to remain open, including the rigorous search for new partnerships and reorganization of our finances," president Bob Allen said, in a message posted on the college's website. "Despite our noteworthy accomplishments related to social and environmental sustainability, we have not been able to assure the economic sustainability of the College."
The Rutland Herald reported that Allen announced the closure during an all-hands meeting at the school's campus.
Tags: Green Mountain College , Bob Allen , higher education , liberal arts college , Prescott College , Hampshire College , Castleton University , Sterling College , Marlboro College , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
The route marks a new westernmost destination for BTV travelers and better access to the West Coast, said Nic Longo, the airport's deputy director of aviation.
Denver International Airport hosts nonstop flights to more than 200 destinations and is a hub for United Airlines and Frontier.
"It's huge for us to have that connection," Longo said.
Flights to and from Denver will run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, according to Frontier. The airline plans to use the 180-passenger Airbus A320 for the route. It's the same big-for-Burlington aircraft that Frontier is using for direct flights to Orlando, Fla., that begin in February.
BTV boardings increased by 14 percent last year, Longo said, after seven years of declining figures.
Tags: btv , Burlington International Airport , Nic Longo , Denver , Frontier Airlines , Image , Web Only
As the longest-ever government shutdown drags on, Vermont will defy the Trump administration by providing unemployment benefits to federal employees who are working without pay.
On Tuesday, Gov. Phil Scott directed the Vermont Department of Labor to treat so-called "essential" federal employees the same as furloughed workers, who are already eligible for unemployment.
"It just seems preposterous that these folks are forced to work without receiving a check and are not eligible for unemployment," Vermont Labor Commissioner Lindsay Kurrle told Seven Days.
Tags: government shutdown , Vermont Department of Labor , Lindsay Kurrle , Phil Scott , unemployment , Image , Web Only