Thursday, April 14, 2016
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday accused a pair of Vermont developers and the companies they run of committing massive fraud in the state’s rural Northeast Kingdom.
The civil case, which was unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Miami, alleges that Jay Peak Resort owners Ariel Quiros and Bill Stenger misused hundreds of millions of dollars they raised from foreign nationals through the federal EB-5 investor visa program. Of the more than $350 million they collected to build hotels, ski resort improvements and a biomedical research facility, the SEC said, more than $200 million was misappropriated.
Tags: Jay Peak , Burke Mountain , SEC , Ariel Quiros , Bill Stenger , Image , Web Only
WCAX-TV reported Wednesday evening that unidentified officials had changed the locks at the resort and appeared to be seizing evidence. Q Burke president Ariel Quiros told the station he was cooperating with an unspecified "oversight team" that arrived around noon Wednesday.
State and federal officials were tightlipped Wednesday night and most declined to comment. Shumlin spokesman Scott Coriell said that his office was "aware of the situation in the Northeast Kingdom."
"This is a coordinated effort," he added. "We are unable to comment until relevant information is made public."
Tags: Q Burke , EB-5 , Bill Stenger , Ariel Quiros , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
A longtime Clinton supporter, Leahy indicated at a February press conference that he would cast his superdelegate vote for the former secretary of state — even if Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) won Vermont’s primary. A political aide walked that position back in March and said Leahy would vote for whichever presidential candidate won a majority of pledged delegates. The aide, Carolyn Dwyer, has since claimed that reporters were confused and had misinterpreted Leahy’s comments.
Pomfret Republican Scott Milne, who has been eyeing a challenge to Leahy, sees it differently.
“Team Leahy’s flip-flop on his promise to Secretary Clinton that he was going to support and vote for her at the convention — just because the going’s getting a little tough in Vermont — is an insight into the way Washington works, the way Washington is so dysfunctional,” Milne said Wednesday. “I think it screams out that Vermont can be a part of fixing Washington by replacing our U.S. senator in 2016.”
Tags: Senator , Patrick Leahy , Scott Milne , Bernie Sanders , Hillary Clinton , presidential campaign , superdelegate , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
That changed Wednesday when Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) threw his backing behind his colleague from Vermont.
Writing in the op-ed pages of the New York Times, the second-term senator said former secretary of state Hillary Clinton would be “a strong and capable president.”
“But Bernie Sanders is boldly and fiercely addressing the biggest challenges facing our country,” he wrote.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Hillary Clinton , presidential campaign , Jeff Merkley , endorsements , Image , Web Only
Saturday, April 9, 2016
With a victory at the Wyoming caucuses Saturday afternoon, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) extended his winning streak to eight of the last nine Democratic presidential contests.
Sanders won 55.7 percent of the vote, while former secretary of state Hillary Clinton took 44.3 percent.
According to press reports, the Vermont independent was campaigning at New York’s LaGuardia Community College in Queens when his wife, Jane Sanders, interrupted a speech to share the news.
“Alright, news bulletin,” he told a cheering crowd. “We just won Wyoming.”
Only 14 delegates were at stake in the country’s least populous state. Though Sanders won by more than 11 percent of the vote, it appeared that he and Clinton would split Wyoming’s delegates — seven apiece.
Tags: Senator , Wyoming , Bernie Sanders , Hillary Clinton , presidential campaign , New York , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
Friday, April 8, 2016
By Friday evening, more than 3,000 had signed.
“It’s been pretty incredible the number of people,” said James Haslam, the group’s executive director. “People were just fundamentally upset.”
The letter specifically targets four Vermont superdelegates who have said they plan to vote for Clinton at the convention: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Gov. Peter Shumlin, former governor Howard Dean and Democratic National Committee member Billi Gosh. It notes that Sanders defeated Clinton 86.1 to 13.6 percent in the state’s Democratic primary.
“Vermonters are disappointed that, despite our popular support for Sen. Sanders, in your capacity as superdelegates, you continue to pledge your support for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton,” it reads. “We call on you, to [honor] democracy in action by casting your superdelegate vote for our fellow Vermonter Bernie Sanders.”
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Hillary Clinton , Howard Dean , Peter Shumlin , Billi Gosh , Patrick Leahy , superdelegates , Rights and Democracy , James Haslam , presidential campaign , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
Lt. Gov. Phil Scott announced Friday morning on the Senate floor that, in addition to serving on the Natural Resources and Energy Committee, the South Burlington Republican will sit on the Education Committee. There, she’ll replace Sen. Dustin Degree (R-Franklin), who was shifted to the powerful Senate Finance Committee.
The changes, which were approved in secret by the Senate’s three-member Committee on Committees, took at least one member by surprise. After Scott made the announcement and the Senate adjourned for the week, Sen. Ann Cummings (D-Washington) confronted Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell (D-Windsor) on the floor.
“It would have been nice to know. That’s all,” she told Campbell, who serves with Scott on the Committee on Committees. “I’m learning a lot about being a team player.”
Tags: Committee on Committees , Vermont Senate , Phil Scott , Dick Mazza , John Campbell , Image , Web Only
Immediately after debating former secretary of state Hillary Clinton in Brooklyn next Thursday, he’ll hop off the campaign trail to speak at a conference hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, Sanders’ campaign announced Friday morning. New York’s primary, in which 291 delegates are at stake, is scheduled for the following Tuesday.
“I am delighted to have been invited by the Vatican to a meeting on restoring social justice and environmental sustainability to the world economy,” Sanders said in a written statement. “Pope Francis has made clear that we must overcome ‘the globalization of indifference’ in order to reduce economic inequalities, stop financial corruption and protect the natural environment. That is our challenge in the United States and in the world.”
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Pope Francis , Vatican City , presidential campaign , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Minter and her husband, David Goodman, reported $152,068 in income last year. The candidate made $67,891 in her position as state transportation secretary before resigning last September to run for office. Goodman, a journalist, reported $42,738 in earnings. According to the campaign, their combined assets are worth $1.37 million.
Galbraith and his wife, Dr. Tone Bringa, reported $571,133 in income in 2013 and $599,609 in 2014. His campaign manager, Ian Moskowitz, said the candidate planned to file for an extension for his 2015 returns but would release his estimated tax payments before then.
A former ambassador and state senator, Galbraith listed assets totaling $18.3 million.
Tags: Sue Minter , Peter Galbraith , Vermont gubernatorial race , tax returns , assets , Image , Web Only
The plan that the board’s majority approved was essentially what hospital officials put forward two weeks ago. As partners in the University of Vermont Health Network, the hospitals submitted the proposal jointly. The board deleted a proposed $3 million investment in health payment reform initiatives, redirecting that money to rate reduction.
The board wrestled for nearly two hours over what the two hospitals should do with their excess revenues. “We have been together, some of us, for five years, and we have never been at this point,” chair Al Gobeille said of the stalemate. “The real question is, can the two camps come together?”
The answer turned out to be no.
Tags: Green Mountain Care Board , University of Vermont Medical Center , Central Vermont Medical Center , Rutland Regional Medical Center , Al Gobeille , Image , Web Only