Thursday, April 7, 2016
Jerman, 67, announced his retirement Wednesday evening at Essex Junction’s annual village meeting.
“It’s been six terms of service, the most rewarding professional experience of my life,” he said in an email to supporters later that night. “It’s been an honor to work alongside so many great people from all parties to enact meaningful laws which make Vermont a better place.”
Tags: Tim Jerman , Vermont House , Image , Web Only
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), the former mayor of Newark and a potential vice presidential pick, is scheduled to headline a reception May 2 at the Burlington home of Sarah Muyskens and Michael Green. According to Leahy aide Carolyn Dwyer, the senators plan to “promote their work on criminal justice reform” while collecting cash for Leahy’s eighth Senate campaign.
“There is no question Sen. Leahy’s leadership in the fight to secure a vote on President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee makes him a target for the conservative super PACs that have already spent over $2.5 million on the New Hampshire Senate race,” Dwyer says, referring to her boss’ role as ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Sen. Leahy has never taken an election for granted and will raise the resources necessary to respond to whatever his opponents and the conservative groups throw his way.”
Hosts of the reception include many members of Chittenden County’s political elite, according to an invitation obtained by Seven Days: Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, Chittenden County State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan, Rep. Mary Sullivan (D-Burlington), City Councilor Karen Paul, former gubernatorial chief of staff Liz Miller and former Vermont Democratic Party chair Jake Perkinson among them. The suggested donation is $100 to $250 per guest.
Tags: Patrick Leahy , Cory Booker , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
The chemical, a possible carcinogen, has already been detected in dozens of private drinking water wells in North Bennington, the former home to a plant that used PFOA to make Teflon products. Subsequent tests found amounts exceeding the state’s standard of 20 parts per trillion in a creek and a pond near the closed plant. A municipal water source in Pownal showed PFOA levels of 26 parts per trillion, slightly above the guideline set by the Department of Health.
Alyssa Schuren, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, said her staff researched the industries in Vermont that might have used PFOA to make Teflon, wire coatings or nonstick fabrics. The state plans to coordinate testing of ground and drinking water at and around each of the 11 sites they identified, Schuren said. The federal Environmental Protection Agency will pay for most of the testing.
Tags: PFOA , IBM , Alyssa Schuren , Department of Environmental Conservation , Department of Health , Saint-Gobain , Image , Web Only
VTrans says it will show the tally throughout the state every Wednesday in an effort to encourage safe driving. The agency is modeling the program on similar initiatives in Tennessee and Colorado. Boards were set up in Waterbury, Milton, Richmond and other locations.
Thirteen people have died in Vermont highway accidents this year, and 57 died in 2015.
VTrans also created a new application for exploring detailed information about the locations and causes of Vermont highway crashes.
“Most highway deaths are preventable and can clearly be connected with driver behavior,” said VTrans chief engineer Kevin Marshia. “Speed, distraction, remembering to wear seat belts, and not driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol are all things that drivers can control, and we hope that this sobering reminder will help everyone become more aware of the consequences of these behaviors.”
Tags: Vermont Agency of Transportation , fatality , highway , Kevin Marshia , Image , Web Only
Monday, April 4, 2016
The two candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination will face off April 14 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard — their first engagement in more than a month. CNN, which first reported the agreement, will host the debate with NY1.
The setting is significant for both candidates: Sanders was born in Brooklyn, while Clinton runs her campaign out of the borough and represented New York for eight years in the U.S. Senate.
Since last Monday, the Sanders and Clinton campaigns have been squabbling over when and where to stage the event, which was agreed to in principle in January. Sanders had hoped it would take place on one of four days prior to the 14th, because he had scheduled a rally that night in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Hillary Clinton , New York debate , presidential campaign , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
After 16 years in the Vermont Senate and six as its president pro tempore, Sen. John Campbell (D-Windsor) will not run for reelection this fall.
“We’ve done a lot of good for the state of Vermont and, I think, for my constituents in Windsor County, but I think it’s time for there to be a new view on where this state is going,” Campbell said Monday afternoon. “It’s time to get a new set of eyes and ears here.”
The 62-year-old Quechee lawyer said he was stepping down to take a new job as executive director of the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs. In that role, he will report to and advocate for county prosecutors and law enforcement officials.
“It’s a good fit,” said Campbell, who got his start as a Florida police officer and currently serves as a deputy state’s attorney in Windsor County.
Campbell said he plans to leave his old job and start his new one next month, once the legislature adjourns for the biennium. He said he intends to serve out the remainder of his two-year term, which expires in January, and continue on as president pro tem until then.
VTDigger.org’s Mark Johnson broke the news of Campbell’s plans Monday morning.
The pro tem’s departure will complete a highly unusual changing of the guard in Vermont politics. Gov. Peter Shumlin, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morristown) all previously announced they would not seek reelection.
Tags: John Campbell , Vermont Senate , Image , Web Only
Thursday, March 31, 2016
The two hospitals — which are affiliated under an umbrella organization called the UVM Health Network — posted jointly nearly $30 million in surplus revenues for the fiscal year that ended September 30. UVMMC's excess was $22 million, or 2 percent over budget, while CVMC's was $6.9 million, a 4.2 percent variance.
A week ago, network officials proposed giving $12 million of the combined surplus to community health programs and $3 million to health-payment reform initiatives. They said they would address the remaining $14 million when they submitted their 2017 budgets to the regulatory board for approval in the summer, intending to lower rates for commercial insurance.
Tags: Al Gobeille , Central Vermont Medical Center , Copley Hospital , Green Mountain Care Board , Rutland Regional Medical Center , Sen. Richard Westman , University of Vermont Medical Center , UVM Health Network , UVM Medical Center , Image , Web Only
"I just proposed that we take it out because I actually am not comfortable saying that anyone with a contract can't donate to a gubernatorial candidate," the committee's chair, Sen. Jeanette White (D-Windham), explained Wednesday.
By Thursday, White had changed her mind.
"I do philosophically support it," she said. "I think we didn't have enough time for a detailed conversation."
Now, even though her committee has sent the ethics reform bill to its next destination, the Senate Appropriations Committee, White and her committee colleagues plan to author a floor amendment that would restore the pay-to-play ban.
"We got some more information," she said Thursday. "Isn't that the way things happen around here?"
Tags: Ethics , pay-to-play , Jeanette White , Joe Benning , Paul Burns , Bill Sorrell , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
After swearing in South Burlington City Council Chair Helen Riehle as the newest member of the Vermont Senate, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott met in his Statehouse office with the two other members of the Senate's powerful Committee on Committees: Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell (D-Windsor) and Sen. Dick Mazza (D-Grand Isle). A Seven Days reporter attempted to cover the meeting but was asked to leave.
"We're talking about personnel issues," Scott explained before a Senate aide closed the door.
Ten minutes later, the three men emerged and said they had made two changes to the Senate's committee assignments in response to Diane Snelling's resignation from the Senate the day before. Scott said they had appointed Riehle to Snelling's seat on the Natural Resources and Energy Committee and Sen. Richard Westman (R-Lamoille) to her seat on the Appropriations Committee.
Tags: Committee on Committees , Phil Scott , Sen. John Campbell , Vermont Senate , Image , Video , Web Only
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Brian Searles, former secretary of transportation, noted two promising developments in recent weeks — the introduction of a bill in Congress that would enable negotiations to begin, and a promise from new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his U.S. visit that Parliament would pass similar authorization this spring.
Amtrak’s Vermonter, which now runs between St. Albans and Washington, D.C., used to go to Montréal, until 1995, Searles said. But requirements for crew changes and a border stop created lengthy delays “that basically rendered it noncompetitive with the auto,” he said.
Tags: Brian Searles , Vermonter , Amtrak , Sen. Dick Mazza , Image , Web Only