Thursday, April 8, 2021
South Burlington-based startup Beta Technologies has a deal with United Parcel Service to sell up to 150 of its experimental electric aircraft to the logistics company.
The agreement announced on Wednesday is a milestone for the Vermont company and for the emerging industry of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or eVTOLs, which promises to reduce fuel emissions and enable new methods of transport.
“A purchase order from UPS really gives the team here, who's really focused on the mission of the business, an opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the sustainability of aviation in the future,” founder and CEO Kyle Clark said in an interview.
UPS intends to use the aircraft for express delivery services in small- and mid-size markets, the company said in a press release, as part of an effort to transition away from fossil fuels.
Tags: Beta Technologies , United Parcel Service , eVTOLs , electric aircraft , Kyle Clark , Martine Rothblatt , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, April 7, 2021
Trooper Robert Zink, 39, is accused of "striking" a 41-year-old man who was handcuffed on the ground during a February 23 arrest, according to a Wednesday press release from the Vermont State Police. He was cited at the request of the Vermont Attorney General.
The suspect was "actively resisting" arrest, according to the release, but Zink's blows did not appear to be in response to the man's actions, the release stated.
Tags: Robert Zink , Vermont State Police , Vermont Attorney General , T.J. Donovan , Police Use of Force , Excessive Force , Assault , Web Only , Image
Cassandra Keating and Joel Fowler contend that the selectboard's decision to reveal their identities without their consent runs afoul of state public records law, which exempts from disclosure information that identifies someone who made allegations of wrongdoing against a public agency. They've filed a formal complaint against Bennington with the Vermont Human Rights Commission.
They say the town's "unwritten policy" of disclosing the identities of those who complain about police misconduct has a disproportionate affect on people of color, who are stopped by police at unequal rates.
Tags: Bennington Police , Bennington Selectboard , Stuart Hurd , Joel Fowler , Cassandra Keating , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, April 6, 2021
Cpl. Mark Schwartz, who resigned in March 2020, used the weapon on a man who was walking away from a bar where a glass door had been smashed. Schwartz deployed the stun gun within five seconds of stepping out of his cruiser, just as the suspect was asking him, "What'd I do?"
Tags: Mark Schwartz , TJ Donovan , St Albans Police Department , Gary Taylor , Taser , Police Use of Force , Assault , ACLU of Vermont , Web Only , Image
The strategy, dubbed Vermont Forward, will reopen the state in four steps that are staggered monthly until July 4, when Gov. Phil Scott expects to remove the mask mandate and restrictions on gatherings. Senior state officials characterized the plan at a press conference as gradual and said it will align with progress in the vaccination campaign.
"We're in the last laps of this very long and difficult race," Scott said. "This plan shows how we'll finish strong."
Tags: Gov. Phil Scott , Mark Levine , Vermont Forward , COVID-19 , COVID-19 vaccine , reopening plan , gathering restrictions , quarantine , cross-state travel , Web Only , Image
Monday, April 5, 2021
The declaration condemns racism and welcomes all, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity or expression, age, or disability.
So far, Pittsford, Brandon, Moretown, Waterbury and Middlebury have joined Franklin in adopting the page-long declaration. Middlebury has taken its declaration further with its own version that calls for staff training and oversight.
Now Harnish and his friend Al Wakefield of Mendon are asking Gov. Phil Scott to adopt the declaration statewide, “letting the world know that we welcome diversity.”
Thursday, April 1, 2021
The settlement came on the heels of a separate investigation by the judiciary last summer into allegations that the former clerk’s supervisor, Tammy Tyda, made racist comments about Black people while on the job.
Tyda is still employed as a court operations manager in Caledonia County following what the judiciary described as “appropriate” discipline, without releasing further information.
Tags: Vermont Judiciary , Caledonia Superior Court , Tammy Tyda , Employment Discrimination , Racism , Web Only , Image
Friday, March 19, 2021
Attorney General T.J. Donovan is pursuing murder charges against a mentally ill transient who is accused of fatally stabbing a man in downtown Burlington in 2017.
In refiling the first-degree murder charge against Louis Fortier, Donovan has now overridden Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George in all three of the high-profile cases she dropped in 2019 on the grounds that the state could not prove the defendants were criminally responsible for their violent acts.
Tags: TJ Donovan , Louis Fortier , Sarah George , first-degree murder , mental illness , criminally insane , Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital , Vermont Superior Court , Web Only , Image
Friday, March 12, 2021
The justices' ruling rejected Bourgoin's appeal following a trial held in May 2019, when a jury found him guilty of five counts of second-degree murder, one count of gross negligence and operating a vehicle without its owners' consent. The court sentenced Bourgoin to 30 years to life in prison.
Bourgoin had claimed he was insane at the time of the crash. In his appeal, Bourgoin contended that the prosecution, led by Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George, had failed to prove that he intended to kill the teens. He also took issue with the court's handling of certain testimony and the instructions given to the jury.
Tags: Steven Bourgoin , Vermont Supreme Court , Sarah George , second-degree murder , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Starting next week, BIPOC Vermonters eligible for a vaccine can bring household members to be inoculated, even if they aren’t otherwise eligible. The state employed a similar strategy for New American households.
The move comes in response to data that shows BIPOC Vermonters have been more likely to be infected with COVID-19, Health Commissioner Mark Levine said on Tuesday during one of two weekly briefings on the coronavirus. They are also less likely to obtain vaccinations than white, non-Hispanic Vermonters, he said.
BIPOC Vermonters make up only 6 percent of the state’s population but have had 18 percent of its COVID-19 cases, Levine said, with significantly higher rates of hospitalization. About 20 percent of white Vermonters have received at least one dose of the vaccine, compared to 9 percent of Black Vermonters and 3.8 percent of Indigenous Vermonters.
Tags: COVID-19 , vaccine , Vermont , BIPOC , eligibility , Web Only , Image