Wednesday, September 30, 2015
The store at 947 Shelburne Road is closing as part of a cost-cutting effort, according to a corporate spokesman. Some of the store's 66 employees will be offered severance. Some could be offered jobs at other Kmart stores or at Sears, which is owned by the same company.
"Store closures are part of a series of actions we’re taking to reduce ongoing expenses, adjust our asset base and accelerate the transformation of our business model," Howard Riefs, director of corporate communications at Sears Holdings, wrote in an email.
A liquidation sale will start October 25. Kmart's stores in Bennington and Rutland and the company's Sears store in South Burlington will stay open, according to Riefs.
Neighbors have long complained that the Kmart plaza is an eyesore with acres of pockmarked parking, boarded up retail spaces and graffiti. Last summer, fresh concerns arose over truckers who were using the lot as a free, unauthorized campground.
Tags: Kmart , South Burlington , sprawl , mall , retail , Image , Web Only
Monday, September 28, 2015
Bill Sorrell, the longest serving attorney general in the history of Vermont, said Monday he will not seek reelection next year.
"It has been my honor and pleasure to serve the people of Vermont as Attorney General for well over eighteen years," he said in a written statement. "I announce today that I will not be a candidate for reelection in 2016."
Sorrell, who faced a formidable electoral opponent and an independent investigation into his fundraising practices, said he would serve out the remaining 15 months of his term. During that time, he pledged, he would continue working on “the many important issues we confront.” The 68-year-old Burlington Democrat did not say what he planned to do next.
For a man who has spent much of his adult life in public service, Sorrell made his announcement in a remarkably low-key fashion. Rather than hold a press conference, he delivered the news in a terse, five-sentence statement emailed to reporters Monday afternoon.
"I am proud of my office and its many accomplishments," he wrote. "I am deeply grateful for the support I have received and continue to receive from so many Vermonters."
Tags: Bill Sorrell , T.J. Donovan , Peter Shumlin , Eric Lipton , David Cahill , Brady Toensing , Image , Web Only
Friday, September 25, 2015
A recent survey conducted by the Castleton Polling Institute found that just 40 percent of Vermonters believe the third-term Democrat is doing a good job leading the state. Forty-three percent think he's not.
The share of Vermonters who disapprove of Shumlin's job performance is slightly lower than last March, when a Castleton poll sponsored by VTDigger.org found that 41 percent approved while 47 percent disapproved. But the figures show that Shumlin still hasn't made much headway with voters since nearly losing his reelection bid last November.
Notably, the poll found that those most attuned to Vermont politics disapprove of Shumlin's job performance the most. Only 32 percent of those who say they follow state news "very closely" think he's doing a good job, while nearly twice as many of those, or 57 percent, do not. In contrast, a plurality of those who say they don't follow the news closely — or at all — think he's doing just fine.
Tags: Peter Shumlin , poll , Castleton Polling Institute , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
The Middlesex Republican has hired Brittney Larrabee Wilson, a Danville native and Groton resident, to serve as a "utility player," focusing on administration and finance.
"I think he's the type of leader we need in the governor's office to kind of restore trust and faith in government," Wilson says. "I think some of that has been lost over the past few years."
Wilson, who most recently served as executive assistant to the state librarian, starts her new gig October 5.
Tags: Phil Scott , Brittney Larrabee Wilson , Image , Web Only
A worker there who flies a large Confederate flag on a personal vehicle is upsetting some coworkers who don't want the flag in the department's employee parking lot.
City administrators, though, say the flag is within the boundaries of free speech. The Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union agrees.
When an employee started flying the flag recently, people noticed. It's a symbol of racism and hate, and it shouldn't be allowed in a city employee lot, said Tim Ahonen, a department code enforcement officer. He asked his boss, public works director Chapin Spencer, to order the flag removed.
Spencer replied that the employee has a right to fly the flag.
"I have checked with others in the city and we do not believe that we can prevent an employee from having a flag on their private car," Spencer told Ahonen via email. "The flag is a political statement that is in a public area as opposed to an enclosed work environment where employees are required to be to do their work. The analysis would be different if the employee wanted to put it on a plaque on his/her desk, for example."
Tags: Confederate , flag , Burlington , free , speech , Image , Web Only
Monday, September 21, 2015
Seventy-seven percent of those polled said they were familiar with the third-term Republican, who announced earlier this month that he'd seek the state's top office next fall. Of those who'd heard of Scott, more than 70 percent said they viewed him somewhat favorable or very favorably. Only 9 percent viewed him somewhat unfavorably or very unfavorably.
"He's in an enviable position," says Rich Clark, who directs the polling institute and conducted the survey.
Just 21 percent said they'd heard of Scott's sole Republican opponent, retired Wall Street banker Bruce Lisman. Of those, roughly a third viewed him positively while about a quarter viewed him negatively.
On the Democratic side, Castleton found that House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morristown) and Google executive Matt Dunne are far better known than former transportation secretary Sue Minter. Sixty-one percent said they'd heard of Smith, while 57 percent said they'd heard of Dunne and 38 percent Minter.
Tags: Castleton Polling Institute , Rich Clark , Phil Scott , Bruce Lisman , Shap Smith , Matt Dunne , Sue Minter , Image , Web Only
Friday, September 18, 2015
But when Correct the Record, a super PAC supporting Democrat Hillary Clinton, emailed opposition research on Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to the Huffington Post on Monday, it evidently failed to secure an agreement with a reporter that the source of the information would be kept off the record.
HuffPo wrote about the oppo dump — "A Pro-Clinton Super PAC Is Going Negative On Bernie Sanders" — and Sanders pounced.
"Yesterday, one of Hillary Clinton's most prominent super PACs attacked our campaign pretty viciously," Sanders emailed supporters Tuesday, adding that it was "the kind of onslaught I expected to see from the Koch brothers or Sheldon Adelson." He called on supporters to "make the super PACs pay for attacking us" by contributing to his campaign.
They did. Within 48 hours, Sanders' campaign announced Thursday, it had raised $1.2 million off the attack.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Presidential Campaign , Correct the Record , David Brock , Hillary Clinton , Huffington Post , government reform , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
Thursday, September 17, 2015
According to a new poll conducted by the Castleton Polling Institute, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is tied for first place in the presidential race among Vermonters who identify as Republican or leaning Republican. The poll, conducted over the past three weeks, found that Sanders, businessman Donald Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson each drew 12 percent of the GOP vote.
"He's the native son, so you expect a lot of support," institute director Rich Clark, who conducted the poll, says of Sanders. "But I didn't expect it to be as high among Republicans."
To be sure, Sanders is hardly walking away with the Republican vote. More than twice as many Vermont GOPers — 28 percent — say they're undecided. The rest are split between a fractured field, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who drew 8 percent, and former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who drew 6 percent.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , presidential campaign , Castleton Polling Institute , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
As Vermont's commissioner of finance and management, Reardon's the one who must ultimately balance the state budget. His is hardly a household name, but after more than a decade in the job, he knows better than most where the money is — and where it's not. Inevitably, as the governor and legislators haggle over the last million dollars' worth of budgetary disagreements, Reardon finds the cash under a couch.
Now, he's leaving.
Gov. Peter Shumlin announced Tuesday that Reardon will retire at the end of the month after nearly 30 years in state government. Replacing him will be Commissioner of Corrections Andy Pallito.
"I'm ready to do something else," the 57-year-old Essex Junction resident says.
Tags: Jim Reardon , Andy Pallito , Peter Shumlin , Image , Web Only
Monday, September 14, 2015
According to McCall, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sue Minter offered her a job as campaign manager over the weekend. The move came after Minter stepped down as secretary of transportation last Thursday to pursue a gubernatorial bid.
"I've just come to know Sue as an incredibly dedicated public servant and incredibly hard worker," McCall says. "I think she is the most qualified candidate in the race, and I look forward to helping her communicate her vision, message and issues to the voters of Vermont."
That won't start right away. McCall says she plans to stick with Emerge, which provides political training to Democratic women, a little bit longer as it seeks a new executive director. Minter says she hopes to bring McCall on board in the next few weeks — before she officially launches her campaign early next month.
Tags: Sue Minter , Sarah McCall , Image , Web Only