Tuesday, August 7, 2018
The super PAC, named A Stronger Vermont and funded by the Republican Governors Association, has spent $216,361 supporting Scott ahead of the August 14 primary.
Republican grocer Keith Stern is running against Scott for the party’s nomination, and the RGA spending days ahead of that vote suggests the national group is concerned that Scott is vulnerable. An RGA spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Tags: campaign finance , Republican Governors Association , Democratic Governors Association , Phil Scott , A Stronger Vermont , Our Vermont , Election 2018 , Image , Web Only
Monday, July 23, 2018
Vermont Superior Court Judge Robert Mello decided the case in favor of the city and against Da Capo Publishing, parent company of Seven Days.
The newspaper sought the email last year and challenged the city's denial in court.
Mello sided with city lawyers who said the email falls under a provision of the records law that shields communications between city departments when they are preliminary to policy determination or action.
Tags: Karen Paul , Seven Days , Judge Robert Mello , Jared Carter , Image , Web Only
The poll, commissioned by Vermont Public Radio and Vermont PBS, is the first conducted by in-state media organizations since the 2016 election. For that reason, according to Castleton University professor Rich Clark, it's difficult to determine how and why Scott's popularity has waxed and waned during his first term.
“This is what we miss by not having some regular polling in the state,” said Clark, who ran the Castleton Polling Institute until the university shut it down in March.
The public media poll surveyed 603 Vermonters on landlines and cell phones between July 6 and July 16. Its margin of error is plus or minus 4 percent, though the margin is greater for sub-groups of data, such as political party affiliation. VPR and Vermont PBS hired Clark to craft the questions and analyze the data; New Jersey-based Braun Research made the calls.
The poll suggests that Scott has little to fear in the August primary. Seventy-two percent of those surveyed had never heard of his sole Republican opponent, Springfield grocer Keith Stern. Among Republican voters, 10 percent said they had a favorable opinion of Stern, while 2 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion.
The four Democratic gubernatorial candidates on the ballot are also largely unknown. Fifty-nine percent said they had never heard of former Vermont Electric Coop CEO Christine Hallquist. More than 70 percent were unfamiliar with her primary-election rivals: Southern Vermont Dance Festival director Brenda Siegel, Lake Champlain International executive director James Ehlers and 14-year-old Ethan Sonneborn of Bristol.
Tags: Senator , poll , Vermont Public Radio , Vermont PBS , Phil Scott , Christine Hallquist , James Ehlers , Brenda Siegel , Ethan Sonneborn , Peter Welch , Patrick Leahy , Bernie Sanders , minimum wage , marijuana , firearms , gun control , gun legislation , Election 2018 , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Commissioner Kaj Samsom said that about 5,000 taxpayers were affected. In an interview, he emphasized that local officials were not responsible for the situation and said his department is working overtime to send corrected information to municipalities.
“We dropped the ball, frankly,” Samsom said. “I can’t put any better spin on it than that.”
Tags: tax , property tax , Department of Taxes , Kaj Samsom , homestead declaration , Image , Web Only
Friday, July 13, 2018
Members of the 1,800-member union walked off the job Thursday complaining that low wages have led to staffing problems. The union is seeking roughly a 23 percent wage increase for registered nurses over three years.
The hospital's chief operating officer, Eileen Whalen, called the union’s request “unrealistic” at a press conference Friday afternoon. Hospital spokesman Michael Carrese said it would cost $30 million over three years.
Meanwhile, the two-day strike cost the hospital about $3 million, according to Whalen. Much of that went to paying for nurses from out of town to cover for the strikers.
Tags: University of Vermont Medical Center , nurses , hospital , strike , labor , union , picket , wages , contract , Bernie Sanders , Senator , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
“I’ve never seen a president act as though the Supreme Court has to be a wing of the White House instead of an independent branch of government," Leahy said in an interview Tuesday. "And they made it very clear that the president expects it to be.”
Leahy is the longest serving member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is expected to hold confirmation hearings on the nomination. The full Senate must approve Kavanaugh's nomination before he can replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced his retirement at the end of June.
As special counsel Robert Mueller investigates whether Trump and his campaign were involved with Russian meddling in the 2016 election, Leahy said the independence of federal courts is as important as ever.
“We’ve got the Russia investigation, which is a significant one, and here we’ve got [a nominee] who said that the president should be above the law when they’re president,” Leahy said.
Tags: Patrick Leahy , Brett Kavanaugh , Donald Trump , Supreme Court , Image , Web Only
Saturday, July 7, 2018
No deal was reached during Friday night negotiations between the University of Vermont Medical Center and its nurses, and less than a week remains until nurses plan to strike. On Saturday, the union and hospital both released statements announcing that bargaining will continue Monday and Tuesday afternoons without a federal mediator.
Tags: UVM Medical Center , nurses , strike , University of Vermont Medical Center , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
Hotel Vermont general manager Joseph Carton said Tuesday morning that an agency tried to reserve 600 rooms in Burlington. Hotel Vermont, which has 125 rooms, could not accommodate the entire request. But the agency ultimately reserved 32 rooms between Hotel Vermont and the Courtyard Burlington Harbor next door, which is owned by the same company, Carton said.
Tags: University of Vermont Medical Center , strike , nurse , Hotel Vermont , Courtyard Burlington Harbor , Laurie Aunchman , Image , Web Only
Sunday, July 1, 2018
They joked among one another that they shouldn’t have expected a bus for a pot party to, well, be on time. One man offered the others hits on his doobie, and they smoked in a circle, debating whether the parking lot would count as a public place under Vermont’s new cannabis law.
Sunday, July 1 marked the first day cannabis was legalized in Vermont — though some aspects of the law remain open to interpretation. Approximately 1,000 celebrants gathered at the Heady fest at Willow Crossing Farm, while others in southern Vermont attended the Original Green Mountain Cannabis and Music Festival in West Dover.
Tags: Cannabeat , cannabis , Vermont , Willow Crossing Farm , Heady Vermont , marijuana , legalization , Vermont , Image , Slideshow , Web Only
Saturday, June 30, 2018
University of Vermont Medical Center nurses plan to serve the hospital on Monday morning with a 10-day notice of a two-day labor strike.
Keith Brunner, a spokesperson for the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, on Saturday announced a press conference at 11:30 a.m. Monday to reveal a “critical development” in contract negotiations. Prior to the press release, a UVM Medical Center nurse informed Seven Days that a strike notice will be served Monday. Brunner confirmed that Monday’s press conference is to announce that notice.
Tags: University of Vermont Medical Center , strike , nurses , Image , Web Only