Monday, November 8, 2021
The other plaintiffs are Florida osteopath Joseph Mercola and Organic Consumers Association founder Ronnie Cummins, who coauthored The Truth About COVID-19: Exposing the Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine Passports, and the New Normal, published in April by Chelsea Green. Robert Kennedy Jr., a prominent anti-vaccine activist who wrote the book's foreword, is also a plaintiff.
Warren wrote to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on September 7 to express her concerns that the online retailer was "peddling misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and treatments." She exhorted Amazon to review its search algorithms and take steps to reduce the visibility of books like The Truth About COVID-19, which still appears as one of the top results in an Amazon search using the term "COVID-19."
Tags: Chelsea Green , COVID-19 , Margo Baldwin , Amazon , Elizabeth Warren , Joseph Mercola , Web Only , Image
The windfall represents the biggest infusion of federal funding in Vermont's history, according to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and is in addition to more than $2 billion headed the state’s way thanks to a pair of federal COVID-19 relief packages passed over the last 18 months.
The latest federal investment, Sanders said in a statement, "will not just repair our roads and bridges, but will help clean up Vermont’s drinking water supply, increase access to affordable, reliable internet service [and] help transition our public transit systems away from fossil fuels."
At a press conference on Monday, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) hailed the bill as a historic investment in the nation’s future — one that will create thousands of new jobs in Vermont.
Tags: Vermont , Infrastructure bill , Bridges , Roads , Repairs , Federal funding , Web Only , Image
Monday, November 1, 2021
Three Democratic state officeholders — Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D-Chittenden), Lt. Gov. Molly Gray and Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint (D-Windham) — have all confirmed to Seven Days their interest in running for Congress should a vacancy arise.
Gray hired a full-time campaign staffer in January, which sparked speculation about her intentions. Since August, Ram Hinsdale has had a full-time staffer of her own.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), 81, is expected to announce in coming weeks whether he plans to retire or run for reelection. Leahy's departure would have a domino effect on Vermont's political landscape. It could lead to a vacancy in the state's lone U.S. House seat were Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) to run for Senate.
"If a seat does open up, it's something I would actively consider and would be able to do with a lot more context from around the state," she said.
Janeway is a Colgate College graduate who worked as campaign manager last year for the successful run of Rep. Tiff Bluemle (D-Burlington). Ram Hinsdale also employs a paid intern through a program with the University of Vermont and has volunteers, whom she provides stipends, helping her with legislation ahead of the upcoming session.
“Showing people that you’re listening outside of an election year is really critical for them to feel like you’re having an authentic conversation with them and not just asking for their vote in the three months before an election,” Ram Hinsdale said.
Some of those conversations are about spending federal coronavirus relief funds.
“We have to build together, and that's why I'm getting much more organized than I have in the past,” Ram Hinsdale said. “We have people who really want us to get outside of Montpelier and listen to them.”
Tags: Senator , Kesha Ram Hinsdale , Becca Balint , Molly Gray , Vermont , Patrick Leahy , Peter Welch , Bernie Sanders , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Republicans are suing the cities of Winooski and Montpelier in an effort to strike down recent charter changes that allow noncitizens to vote in local elections.
The suits, brought by the Vermont GOP and the Republican National Committee, contend that the cities' new charters violate the Vermont Constitution, which limits voting to U.S. citizens 18 and over. In the complaints, attorney Brady Toensing wrote that the limit should apply to municipal elections, contending that in modern times, they are not distinct from their state and national counterparts.
"Over the years, the state has become more and more involved in what previously were strictly local matters, erasing distinctions that previously existed between local and state affairs," he wrote.
Both municipalities passed the charter changes by wide margins, and the Vermont legislature approved them earlier this year, too. But Gov. Phil Scott vetoed the measures on the grounds that “highly variable town-by-town approach” to local voting effectively creates “separate and unequal classes of residents.” The state House and Senate overrode Scott's veto in June.
Nikolas Kerest, who has worked in the office since 2010, is the nominee, the White House announced Tuesday. The post is subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
Kerest would replace Christina Nolan, a president Donald Trump appointee, who resigned in February as part of the presidential transition. Jonathan Ophardt has been serving as acting U.S. Attorney.
Kerest is currently an assistant attorney in the office's criminal division. Prior to that, he worked as an assistant attorney in the civil division from 2010 to 2014, and as the civil division chief from 2014 to 2019. Kerest was also the office's civil rights coordinator for several years.
Tags: Nikolas Kerest , Joe Biden , U.S. Attorney's Office , District of Vermont , prosecutor , Web Only , Image
Monday, August 16, 2021
Though the line is a lot shorter these days than it was a few years ago, Illuzzi said, the crossing goes much more slowly. And what used to take 30 seconds, he said, now eats up five minutes.
“I have to have my vaccination card, and I have to present a negative COVID test I took within three days," said Illuzzi. "They seem to be a bit more strict.”
As a student, Illuzzi has been able to cross the border throughout the pandemic. He’s exempt from the rules that have halted vacationers and many others whose travel is considered nonessential.
Tags: Canadian border , Lake Champlain Chamber , tourism , Web Only , Image
Thursday, August 5, 2021
Robinson, who led the marriage equality movement in Vermont, could become the first openly LGBTQ woman to hold a judgeship on any federal appeals court, the White House said. Her appointment must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Tags: Beth Robinson , U.S. Court of Appeals , Second Circuit , President Judge Biden , Judicial Nomination , Vermont Supreme Court , Web Only , Image
Monday, April 26, 2021
The department is reporting a huge increase in fraudulent claims this spring, part of a national wave. The scope of the fraud is “unprecedented,” said the U.S. Department of Justice, which has set up a task force to combat it.
As many as 70 percent of the claims filed this month in Vermont are fraudulent, state Labor Commissioner Michael Harrington said Monday.
Under the schemes — which are now being investigated by an alphabet soup of federal and state agencies, as well as banks and state attorneys general — scammers use unsuspecting people's personal information to collect benefits.
Tags: unemployment insurance , fraud , Howard Dean , Web Only , Image
The official tally of Green Mountain State residents was 643,077, up from 625,741 in the 2010 count, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. Vermont's growth lagged behind the 7.4 percent increase in the United States overall. The national growth, the New York Times reported, is the nation's most sluggish recorded population increase since the 1930s.
Aside from Massachusetts, which matched the national growth rate, New England states reported even smaller increases. Maine, with 2.6 percent growth, and Connecticut, with 0.9 percent, lagged behind Vermont. New Hampshire experienced 4.6 percent growth.
Gov. Phil Scott's office released a statement calling the bump a pleasant surprise, noting that 2019 estimates had suggested the state's population may have declined slightly.
"It is too early to see what might have driven that change, and we look forward to understanding why we outperformed the 2019 estimates," the governor's press secretary, Jason Maulucci, said in an emailed statement. "[B]ut one factor could be that Vermont’s leading response to the pandemic attracted people to move to our state."
Tags: U.S. Census , Vermont , population , increase , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Details are still in flux, but after arriving at Burlington International Airport on Wednesday morning, Emhoff may visit two sites in the Old North End, according to Jordan Redell, a spokesperson for Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger. Stops tentatively include the Community Health Centers of Burlington and the Old North End Community Center, Redell said.
Tags: Doug Emhoff , second gentleman , molly gray , miro weinberger , Web Only , Image