Friday, November 12, 2021
On Friday, Skoda, 27, and several others graduated from Construction 101. He’s headed for a temporary position weatherizing houses for Capstone Community Action; if he’s hired permanently, he expects to make $18 an hour.
Skoda, who has a psychology degree from Castleton University, saw an ad for the free four-week construction program on Front Porch Forum, and considered it a good opportunity to learn new skills in a short period of time. After working for several years in community mental health, and then in an array of short-term jobs, he decided he needed more skills.
“I find myself at a juncture where my partner and I are looking to buy a house and have stability in our lives,” Skoda said.
Tags: Serve , Earn & Learn , job training , workforce development , Becca Balint , Jane Kitchel , Rhoni Basden , Tom Longstreth , Vermont Audubon , ReSOURCE , Vermont Works for Women , Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. , Web Only , Image
Thursday, November 11, 2021
Updated 5:28 p.m.
Since October 14, Brenda Siegel and Josh Lisenby have kept constant vigil outside the Vermont Statehouse for a single purpose: to pressure state officials to fully restore the pandemic-era motel voucher program, which provided free rooms for anyone experiencing homelessness between March 2020 and July 2021.
On Wednesday, after their 27th consecutive night on the Statehouse steps, Siegel and Lisenby achieved a momentous, if partial, victory. From November 22 to March 1, 2022, the Department for Children and Families will open motels to anyone in need of shelter who earns less than $24,000 a year.
Tags: Homelessness , Brenda Siegel , motels , COVID-19 , Web Only , Image
Monday, November 8, 2021
Party chair Paul Dame, who was elected Saturday, on Monday announced a “Let’s Go Brandon” rally to be held November 13 in the Rutland County town of the same name.
The phrase has gained viral popularity in certain conservative circles as a coded insult toward Biden. It’s a stand-in for the "Fuck Joe Biden” chant overheard at an October 2 NASCAR event won by driver Brandon Brown. An NBC reporter who was interviewing Brown on air described the chant inaccurately as “Let’s go Brandon.”
Dame said the party’s new leaders chose the theme because they wanted to “start with a little fun” before digging into the policy issues facing the state.
Tags: otter , brandon , trump , biden , republican. Let's Go Brandon , Web Only , Image , Breaking News
Wednesday, November 3, 2021
The money — an unprecedented amount for arts spending in Vermont — would be invested strategically and repaid by economic growth in rural areas, Jody Fried, executive director of Catamount Arts in St. Johnsbury, told the legislature’s Rural Economic Development Working Group on Tuesday.
Thursday, October 28, 2021
Vermont Daily Chronicle, an online media outlet, broke the news on Thursday, reporting that Billado was stepping away from the unpaid position so she could focus on a new job.
“I have committed 40 to 60 hours a week for this position for four years,” Billado told the outlet. “With new job responsibilities, I am no longer able to give the time and dedication this political job requires.”
The article did not reveal her new gig, and Billado did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday. The state party plans to elect a new chair at a November 6 meeting in Montpelier.
Tags: Deb Billado , Election , Vermont GOP , Vermont Republican Party , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
The figures are just some of the news from a highly anticipated report the board released last Friday. The 64-page document lays the groundwork for state regulation of a legal market starting next year. The board is proposing rules and fees, subject to legislative approval, for those who will grow, process, test and sell the weed.
The report was filed to several House and Senate committees that may hear testimony in the next several weeks, before the full legislature reconvenes in January, said James Pepper, chair of the Cannabis Control Board.
There’s a reason to hurry: The rules must be in place in time for Vermont’s medical marijuana dispensaries to begin selling recreational pot by the May time frame established in previous legislation. That’s also when small growers, defined as operations with 1,000 square feet or less, could get their licenses and start planting.
“Whatever happens in the legislature, we need them to pass our fee bill pretty quickly,” Pepper said. “They have to deal with it sooner or later if they want us to be on time for that May 1 deadline.”
Tags: Cannabeat , Vermont , cannabis , weed , Cannabis Control Board , Web Only , Image
Monday, October 18, 2021
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program has housed many of the state’s homeless population in hotels and motels. But once the pandemic state of emergency expired on June 15, the state has been trying to transition as many people as possible out of the program, known as the General Assistance (GA) Emergency Housing Program.
As of October 15, the program was providing housing for 1,500 people in lodgings around the state.
Finding other suitable housing has proven challenging, however, and homeless advocates have opposed eligibility restrictions that would force vulnerable residents back out on the stress or into unhealthy living environments
Tags: homeless , Phil Scott , housing , emergency housing , Web Only , Image
Friday, October 15, 2021
Commissioner Chris Herrick, who lives in South Hero, will head a department responsible for the management and conservation of wildlife and their habitats, including protection of endangered species and enforcement of hunting, fishing and trapping laws.
Herrick replaces Louis Porter, who is leaving after seven years to be general manager of Washington Electric Cooperative.
It’s the second time in a week that Scott has appointed a new commissioner with experience in fields outside the departments that they will lead.
Tags: Chris Herrick. Louis Porter. Fish and Wildlife. Phil Scott. , Web Only , Image
Friday, October 8, 2021
Mike Smith, secretary of the Vermont Agency of Human Services, announced Friday that Scott had selected Nick J. Deml as the commissioner of the Department of Corrections.
“Nick is an accomplished and experienced administrator, advisor, and attorney,” Scott said in a release. “We are fortunate to attract leaders with such skill and experience to our state, and I look forward to working with him.”
Since 2014, Deml has served in various CIA positions. Before that, he worked in the U.S. Senate from 2011 to 2014 as national security and foreign policy aide for the Office of the Assistant Majority Leader. He also worked as an aide on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights.
“I want to thank Governor Scott for this opportunity,” Deml said in a release. “I look forward to joining the Department and working alongside so many dedicated Vermont DOC staff.”
Tags: Gov. Phil Scott , James Baker , Department of Corrections , Web Only , Image
As secretary of administration for the past five years, Young has wielded tremendous power in state government. Though technically on a par with the five other cabinet secretaries, Young’s long, diverse career in public service and key role crafting the annual budget made her first among equals in Scott's inner circle.
In a press release announcing Young's pending retirement, Scott lauded her as one of the “most distinguished public servants in Vermont history.”
“She has been at the center of our efforts to make Vermont more affordable and deliver Vermonters a more efficient and responsive state government,” Scott said. “Susanne’s expertise, dedication, common sense and humor will be sorely missed, but I wish her the very best in her well-earned retirement.”
Before joining Scott’s administration in 2016, Young was deputy treasurer and legal counsel to governor Jim Douglas and a deputy attorney general under AG Bill Sorrell.
“Susanne is a role model for public service; her energy, competence and ethics are second to none,” Douglas said in the release. “It was a privilege to work with her.”
Young graduated from Northfield High School in 1974, the University of Vermont in 1978 and Vermont Law School in 1981. Then she began her career with the state. In addition to serving as deputy attorney general and deputy treasurer, she was general counsel for the Vermont Department of Corrections and other departments within the Vermont Agency of Human Services. Her current salary is $154,461.
Young called the role of secretary of administration the most challenging of her career but also the most rewarding.
“I am proud and humbled by the opportunity to be part of an incredible team of dedicated, focused individuals who have worked to achieve Governor Scott’s goals while meeting the unexpected challenges presented by the pandemic head on,” she said in the release.
Her last day will be November 6. Deputy Secretary of Administration Kristin Clouser will serve as interim secretary.
Tags: Susanne Young , Gov. Phil Scott , Web Only , Image