Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Jabbar Chandler, serving time for his involvement in a drug-related robbery in 2014, wrote to Seven Days in December about the circumstances surrounding the death of a fellow inmate, Herbert Rodgers. A January 31 story in Seven Days quoted the letter from Chandler in which he described guards telling him that it “wouldn’t be smart” to contact the media about Rodgers’ death, and there would be “consequences.”
Seven Days was unable to independently verify his account, but Vermont corrections officials said they are in Pennsylvania this week reviewing the claim.
Tags: Pennsylvania , prison , corrections , Barry Kade , Jabbar Chandler , Laurel Harry , Amy Worden , Shannon Marcoux , solitary , segregation , the hole , disciplinary segregation , Image , Web Only
Monday, April 9, 2018
Victory Hemp Foods bought the facility from the Full Sun Company in February, the two sides confirmed Thursday. Full Sun, which opened in 2014 and produced cold-pressed canola and sunflower oils, shut its doors last August, according to company cofounder Netaka White. The deal with Victory Hemp, based about 40 miles outside of Louisville, Ky., came together in the following months, a bittersweet moment for White, an entrepreneur who lives in Salisbury.
“Sales lagged consistently,” he recalled. “We were successful in raising money to keep operations going and expand the business, but [there was] not enough money, not enough time to get Full Sun where it needed to be. Eventually, the decision was made to pull the plug.”
Tags: Cannabeat , business , Middlebury , Full Sun , Victory Hemp Foods , Netaka White , Chris Bailey , Chad Rosen , Image , Web Only
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Obeng said in a statement that he never filed a formal complaint but asked the board to investigate former chair Mark Porter's claims of racism involving board member Jeff Wick, who has repeatedly refuted Porter's allegations.
"I inquired as to if and how [the board] intended to respond to these statements and reminded them of their responsibility to ensure that they administered their board role within fair practices and principles," Obeng wrote.
The board responded by "trying to be fair to all parties" with an impartial investigation, he added.
Obeng said little else about the investigation itself. Seven Days has filed a public records request for the document, the tab for the investigation and any complaint written by Obeng.
Tags: Burlington , schools , racism , Yaw Obeng , Jeff Wick , Mark Porter , Stephanie Seguino , Burlington School Board , Image , Web Only
Friday, March 23, 2018
The bill, S.55, was hotly contested in a debate that began Friday at 9:30 a.m. and lasted well into the evening, with one break for a late lunch. A final 85-59 vote on the bill took place just before 7:30 p.m.
“The policies in this bill will keep firearms away from those who intend harm and reduce the lethality of firearms that may be misused,” said Rep. Martin LaLonde (D-South Burlington), who spent much of the day responding to questions and criticism from the bill’s opponents.
House Republicans vocally opposed much of the bill, arguing that it would be ineffective, unconstitutional, unduly burdensome on law-abiding Vermonters or some combination of the three.
“We are passing legislation today that does nothing, because it’s going to make a few people feel good,” said Rep. Patrick Brennan (R-Colchester).
Tags: guns , firearms , universal background checks , bump stocks , high-capacity ammunition , Martin LaLonde , Valerie Stuart , Patrick Brennan , Don Turner , Image , Web Only
Long Trail Brewing can’t sell its latest batch of beer infused with the hemp extract cannabidiol because of a hold-up with the feds.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is in the midst of reviewing the brewery’s label for its Medicator beer because of the “special ingredient” noted on the packaging, Long Trail spokesman Drew Vetere said Thursday. The CBD suds can’t be sold until the feds give the green light, known as a "certificate of label approval."
“It could be days or it could be months,” he said.
That means the brewery won’t be able to sell Medicator at Saturday’s Vermont Brewers Festival at Killington Resort, according to Vetere.
Tags: Cannabeat , cannabiz , CBD-infused beer , Long Trail Brewing , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Despite the testimony and his own support for some kind of safe storage policy in Vermont, Rep. Martin LaLonde (D-South Burlington) withdrew a proposal he'd made last week that would require guns to be locked up when the owner isn't in direct control of the weapon.
“It’s a little too broad,” LaLonde told the House committee Monday, noting that he wants to keep guns away from children and teens who shouldn’t have them but couldn’t find a policy that wouldn’t unduly limit home defense.
Tags: safe storage , guns , second amendment , Sarah Copeland Hanzas , Amy Sheldon , Jessica Brumsted , Lori Houghton , Maxine Grad , age limit , universal background checks , Image , Web Only
Monday, March 19, 2018
"This is just trying to intimidate the people in the Department of Justice and the FBI," Leahy said during a press conference at Burlington International Airport. "I don't think Bob Mueller will be intimidated by anybody."
Speaking two days after McCabe's dismissal, the senior member of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee also said that he was "concerned about the attacks now ramping up on" Mueller, comparing the situation to Watergate.
For the first time this weekend, Trump directly criticized Mueller's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, alleging that members of the special counsel's team were "hardened Democrats" and supporters of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The day before, Trump lawyer John Dowd called on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to shutter the Mueller investigation.
Asked if the special counsel's firing would provoke a constitutional crisis, Leahy said, "I think so." But the senator would not say how he would respond to such an eventuality. "You'll see that if [Trump] does attempt to fire him, I'll make some very strong stands on that," Leahy said.
Tags: Patrick Leahy , Donald Trump , Andrew McCabe , Robert Mueller , Jeff Sessions , James Comey , Rod Rosenstein , Image , Web Only
DiGenova, a prominent Washington, D.C.-based attorney, is the stepfather and law partner of Vermont Republican Party vice chair Brady Toensing. The Times report did not indicate whether Toensing or his mother and law partner, Victoria Toensing, would also represent the president.
Brady Toensing, who chaired Trump's 2016 Vermont campaign and lives in Charlotte, declined to comment Monday on whether he would be involved.
According to the Times report, which was attributed to three unnamed sources, Trump has not formally announced the hiring and could still change his mind. It said that diGenova would not play a "a lead role" but would be "a more aggressive player on the president’s legal team." DiGenova and his wife, who have also represented Blackwater founder Erik Prince and former Trump campaign chair Sam Clovis, are best known for their conspiratorial appearances on the Fox News channel.
Tags: Brady Toensing , Joseph diGenova , Victoria Toensing , Donald Trump , Image , Web Only
Saturday, March 17, 2018
The new proposals, from Rep. Martin LaLonde (D-South Burlington) would put a 10-round limit on magazines and require guns to be locked up when they’re stored outside of the owner’s control.
“To have more than 10 rounds, it makes a firearm a more lethal weapon — more of a killing machine,” LaLonde said. “It’s one of the areas that advocates for having safer gun laws are really pushing, and they’ve studied this and they believe that this is one of the best things we can do for these shooter situations.”
The safe storage provision, he said, is designed to protect children and teens from hurting themselves or others by getting their hands on a gun without supervision.
Tags: Bill Moore , Martin LaLonde , magazine capacity , safe storage , firearms , home defense , Image , Web Only
Thursday, March 15, 2018
In a scathing letter to Gov. Phil Scott, Mary Val Palumbo accused his administration of ignoring recommendations from the Governor's Health Care Workforce Work Group and attempting to squelch dissent.
"Our feedback does not align with the current [Agency of Human Services] stance and budget proposal, and we are being silenced," Palumbo wrote.
An associate professor at the University of Vermont's College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Palumbo has led the work group since then-governor Peter Shumlin established it in 2013. The panel, which includes roughly two dozen health care professionals and administration officials, is charged with recommending approaches to recruit and retain health care workers in Vermont.
Another member of the group, Stowe psychologist Rick Barnett, also recently resigned, expressing frustrations similar to Palumbo's.
Tags: Governor's Health Care Workforce Work Group , Vermont Educational Repayment Program , Mary Val Palumbo , Mary Kate Mohlman , Phil Scott , Al Gobeille , Rick Barnett , Image , Web Only