Vermont news

• Walt Amses: The agony in the garden

  02-03-2019 00:55 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: Walt Amses is a writer and former educator who lives in North Calais.
  While awaiting trickles of carefully spun news from the Vietnam summit between North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and our own Donald J. Trump, a deluge of tasty tidbits from Michael Cohen’s three days of congressional testimony, and some signs that spring is actually down the road somewhere, I’ve examined the president’s recent White House Rose Garden party to see if I’ve judged him un
  
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• Biden nominates Mary Kay Lanthier, Rutland County public defender, to Vermont federal judgeship

  23-05-2024 17:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  Mary Kay Lanthier in 2016. President Joe Biden announced Thursday, May 23, 2024, that he would nominate her to a federal judgeship in Vermont. Photo by Caleb Kenna.President Joe Biden plans to nominate Mary Kay Lanthier, the supervising attorney in the Rutland County Defender’s Office, to be the next federal judge for Vermont, the White House announced Thursday morning.Lanthier, who has served in her current role since 2007, would succeed Judge Geoffrey Crawford on the federal bench if co
  
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• Felicia Kornbluh and Matt Vogel: Jewish communities at UVM — and in Vermont — are diverse

  23-05-2024 13:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Felicia Kornbluh, professor of history and of gender, sexuality and women’s studies at the University of Vermont; and Matt Vogel, executive director of UVM Hillel. 
  An old Jewish saying has it that where there are two Jews, you get three opinions. When it comes to Israel and Gaza, the number of opinions in Jewish communities, and even in the minds of individual members of those communities, might be a lot higher. Every Jewish person feels something about the cur
  
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• In Cornwall, newly conserved grasslands are for the birds 

  23-05-2024 12:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  Jill Kilborn, right, and Will Duane, both of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, walk through the Lemon Fair Wildlife Management Area in Cornwall on Thursday, May 16, 2024. The open area provides habitat for grassland and shrub-dwelling birds. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerCORNWALL — Jill Kilborn spent the morning of May 16 in tall wading boots, roaming the wet, grassy expanses of a newly conserved, 110-acre piece of land and looking for birds. An abundant assortment of songbi
  
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• Child care program directors and owners: Act 76 is leading to newfound stability for child care programs and families

  23-05-2024 12:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by 15 child care program directors and owners from across the state. They are listed below the text of the commentary.
  Last year, we came together as child care program owners and early childhood educators from around Vermont to sound the alarm on the dire state of Vermont’s child care system. Pandemic-era federal funding was running out, and we were facing the impossible decisions of drastically raising tuition for families that already struggled with the cost, decreas
  
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• Vermont search and rescues are rising — and first responders fear more people are headed out unprepared

  23-05-2024 03:56 via vtdigger.org
  
  A member of Stowe Mountain Rescue with a person in a litter, a type of stretcher. Photo courtesy Stowe Mountain RescueLauryn Katz is a reporter with Community News Service, part of the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program.At any moment Drew Clymer could be pulled out of rest or running errands to answer the phone and listen to the anxious voice of a hiker on the other end, lost with daylight fading. Say the hiker is in good shape, has the right gea
  
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• Vermont Conversation: Journalist Jonathan Mingle on how a rural community defeated a major gas pipeline

  23-05-2024 00:24 via vtdigger.org
  
  
  Jonathan Mingle and his new book, “Gaslight: The Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Fight for America’s Energy Future.” Courtesy photosThe Vermont Conversation with David Goodman is a VTDigger podcast that features in-depth interviews on local and national issues with politicians, activists, artists, changemakers and citizens who are making a difference. Listen below, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify to hear more.
  “Im
  
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• Journalist Jonathan Mingle on how a rural community defeated a major gas pipeline

  23-05-2024 00:24 via vtdigger.org
  
  Jonathan Mingle and his new book, “Gaslight: The Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Fight for America’s Energy Future.” Courtesy photosThe Vermont Conversation with David Goodman is a VTDigger podcast that features in-depth interviews on local and national issues with politicians, activists, artists, changemakers and citizens who are making a difference. Listen below, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify to hear more.
  “Im
  
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• Families with kids at Vermont schools can now get money for summer meals

  22-05-2024 23:30 via vtdigger.org
  
  Photo via Pixabay
  Eligible Vermont families will soon be able to get federal assistance to help pay for their children’s meals during summer break, the state announced in a Wednesday press release. This benefit, called the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer, could provide up to $120 per child for low-income households as part of a new program launched by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In Vermont, the program is administered by two state agencies, the Agency of Human Services and
  
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• Report shows trooper driving 88 mph before crash into fire truck, and up to 86 mph at impact

  22-05-2024 23:27 via vtdigger.org
  
  Vermont State Police Cpl. Eric Vitali. Photo courtesy of Vermont State PoliceThe cruiser Vermont State Police Cpl. Eric Vitali was driving when he crashed into a parked fire truck on Interstate 89 in March was traveling at 88 mph just before the crash and between 79 mph and 86 mph at impact.That’s according to a standard crash report submitted by the Vermont State Police to the Department of Motor Vehicles and obtained Wednesday by VTDigger. WCAX and WPTZ had  reported on the documen
  
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• A state coordinator delves into Native American affiliation as part of child custody cases

  22-05-2024 21:58 via vtdigger.org
  
  Marshall Rich and Lindsay Barron, of Vermont’s Department for Children and Families. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Barron
  For about a year and a half now, Marshall Rich’s workdays have involved getting in touch with various Native American tribes to determine whether certain Vermont children are affiliated with them.He has sent out at least 150 inquiries to tribes around the country, following up with calls or letters, and sometimes reaching out to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs f
  
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• How do you choose a student loan? With eyes wide open!

  22-05-2024 18:05 via vtdigger.org
  
  For many students, attending college or training after high school likely involves taking out an education loan to help cover tuition bills, along with room, board, books, supplies, and transportation costs. Seven out of ten Vermont families need to borrow to help pay education costs. So, if your family is considering borrowing for college expenses, you’re not alone. Borrowing money to pay for education can feel overwhelming. But with a bit of background and some tips, you can go thr
  
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• Patrick Leahy: The Leahy law should be applied to Israel

  22-05-2024 13:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Patrick Leahy. He served as a U.S. senator from Vermont for 48 years.
  In the 1980s and ’90s, the United States gave training, weapons and ammunition to Latin American security forces with a long history of violating human rights. In Guatemala and El Salvador, soldiers trained and equipped by the United States killed hundreds of thousands of civilians with near-total impunity. I conceived and introduced the Leahy law in 1997 because our Latin partners, and security fo
  
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• Eve Frankel: Biodiversity is nature by another name 

  22-05-2024 12:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Eve Frankel of Waitsfield. She is the state director for The Nature Conservancy in Vermont. 
  Growing up as part of an immigrant family in Queens, New York, my childhood could be categorized as “nature deficient.” Aside from walks in the park or the special day trip to Jones Beach on a hot summer day, there was no camping, boating or hiking. When we moved to the suburbs, a sign of upward mobility that my parents strived for, I truly thought we were in the g
  
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• Mary Louise Sayles

  22-05-2024 02:03 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born Jan. 26, 1935Boston, Massachusetts
  Died May 16, 2024Lebanon, New Hampshire
  Details of servicesA visitation will be held Friday, May 24, 2024, at the Knight Funeral Home in Windsor from 4-6pm. A memorial service will be held On Saturday June 15, 2024, at Cedar Hill Community in Windsor at 11am. A private interment will follow in the Ascutney Cemetery in Windsor.Windsor, VT- Mary Louise Sayles died Thursday, May 16, 2024, at the Jack Byrne Palliative and Hospice Center in Lebanon, NH followin
  
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• Dozens of layoffs at former Vermont Teddy Bear distribution center due to start Thursday

  22-05-2024 00:37 via vtdigger.org
  
  A Vermont Teddy Bear worker uses a die and press to cut through multiple layers of fur to create the fabric pieces that will be sewn into bear parts. File photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
  Roughly 30 people will lose their jobs at a distribution center for the former apparel brands of the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, according to a letter the new owner sent to the Vermont Department of Labor. The first round of layoffs are expected to begin Thursday and proceed in stages until June 5, accord
  
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• Unhoused Vermonters get extra help in bitter cold but must largely manage extreme heat on their own

  21-05-2024 23:29 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Fletcher Free Library has served as a cooling site in Burlington available for people to seek relief from the heat. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
  This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.As Vermont sees temperatures spike for the first time this year, unhoused people who lack stable access to shelter face limited options as they try to stay cool.Amid a rise in homelessness, the state’s sh
  
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• State trooper receiving care for ‘severe’ traumatic brain injury from March crash

  21-05-2024 22:33 via vtdigger.org
  
  Vermont State Police Cpl. Eric Vitali. Photo courtesy of Vermont State PoliceA Vermont State Police trooper seriously injured in March when his cruiser slammed into a fire truck that had stopped at a crash scene is undergoing treatment for a “severe traumatic brain injury.”Mike O’Neil, executive director of the Vermont Troopers’ Association, provided an update on Cpl. Eric Vitali’s condition in a statement issued late last week. O’Neil said he did so at the r
  
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• Dartmouth faculty censures college president over response to protest

  21-05-2024 21:46 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dartmouth College President Sian Beilock takes selfies with students during a lunch event on campus in Hanover, N.H., on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Photo by James M. Patterson/Valley NewsThis story by Frances Mize was first published in the Valley News on May 20.HANOVER — Members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences have voted to censure Dartmouth College President Sian Leah Beilock, publicly rebuking her handling of a pro-Palestinian protest on campus earlier this month.The resolution pass
  
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• Gov. Phil Scott appoints Andy Julow to former Sen. Dick Mazza’s seat

  21-05-2024 18:15 via vtdigger.org
  
  Gov. Phil Scott on Tuesday appointed North Hero resident and former Democratic candidate for the Vermont House Andy Julow to the state Senate seat previously held by former Sen. Dick Mazza. Julow is the executive director of the Lake Champlain Islands Economic Development Corp. He’ll serve the Grand Isle Senate district, which includes the five towns on the Champlain Islands as well as parts of Colchester on the mainland. Andy Julow. Courtesy photo.
  Mazza resigned from the Senat
  
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• Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale: It’s time for the Vermont Kids Code

  21-05-2024 13:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden Southeast.
  As a Vermont senator and the mother of a toddler with a new baby on the way, I feel a deep personal responsibility to make sure the digital world our children grow up in is as safe and nurturing for them as the physical one. That’s why I’m grateful our Legislature came together at the end of this session to pass the Vermont Kids Code. I’m proud to have sponsored this bill, not only as a lawmaker but al
  
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• With prescription drug bills, Vermont lawmakers hope to lower pharmaceutical prices  

  21-05-2024 12:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  Stock photo via Pexels
  Vermont lawmakers are hoping that new legislation headed to the desk of Gov. Phil Scott will help patients afford prescription drugs, as rising pharmaceutical prices push up health care costs across the state. As legislators scrambled to wrap up the legislative session earlier this month, they passed two bills that aim to reform how prescription drugs are priced and distributed. “We’ve known about the impact that skyrocketing prescription drug costs
  
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• Lisa Jablow: Does the truth matter anymore?

  21-05-2024 12:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Lisa Jablow of Brattleboro. She is a longtime animal advocate and a board member of Protect Our Wildlife and the Windham Disaster Animal Response Team.
  The wildlife advocacy movement has never been stronger in Vermont. Over the past few years, the Statehouse has been bustling with bills seeking to improve wildlife protection and conservation, thanks to a completely dysfunctional, intractable and self-serving Fish & Wildlife Board. At this point, the only route to
  
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• Gov. Phil Scott signs bill limiting prior authorization, other health insurer practices

  21-05-2024 00:56 via vtdigger.org
  
  Gov. Phil Scott listens during a meeting at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Thursday, January 18, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
  Gov. Phil Scott on Monday evening signed H.766, a bill that takes aim at health insurance company practices such as “prior authorization” and seeks to free health care practitioners from burdensome paperwork. “The intent of this bill is to improve the health care outcomes of Vermonters — which could lower overall healthcare costs &m
  
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• Scott vetoes bill that would ban some uses of pollinator-harming pesticides

  21-05-2024 00:22 via vtdigger.org
  
  The yellow-banded bumble bee (Bombus terricola) nectars joe pye weed. Photo courtesy/copyright K.P. McFarland/Vermont Center for EcostudiesGov. Phil Scott has vetoed a bill which would ban the use of seeds treated with neonicotinoid pesticides in most instances.Many environmentalists and beekeepers have supported the legislation, H.706, because of research that shows the deadly impact of neonicotinoids on native pollinators and honeybee colonies.In his letter to lawmakers explaining his veto, S
  
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• Phil Scott vetoes bill that would ban some uses of pollinator-harming pesticides

  21-05-2024 00:22 via vtdigger.org
  
  The yellow-banded bumble bee (Bombus terricola) nectars joe pye weed. Photo courtesy/copyright K.P. McFarland/Vermont Center for EcostudiesGov. Phil Scott has vetoed a bill which would ban the use of seeds treated with neonicotinoid pesticides in most instances.Many environmentalists and beekeepers have supported the legislation, H.706, because of research that shows the deadly impact of neonicotinoids on native pollinators and honeybee colonies.In his letter to lawmakers explaining his veto, S
  
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• Vermont to see ‘unseasonably’ warm temperatures in coming days, weather service reports

  20-05-2024 20:42 via vtdigger.org
  
  High temperature predictions from the National Weather Service. Map from the National Weather Service
  Vermont is forecast to hit temperatures in the upper 80s in the next two days, far above normal for this time of year, the Burlington branch of the National Weather Service reported on Monday. Parts of the state, particularly the Champlain Valley and Connecticut River Valley regions, could see a high of 90 degrees on Wednesday, according to weather service meteorologist Brooke Taber. That&
  
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• UVM halts plans to build housing near Centennial Woods

  20-05-2024 20:19 via vtdigger.org
  
  A 2023 rendering of a proposed undergraduate housing project near Centennial Woods, which University of Vermont officials have said they are no longer pursuing. Image courtesy of the University of Vermont.
  The University of Vermont is stopping plans for a new undergraduate housing complex that would have accommodated about 540 students, citing soaring construction costs and a lack of available labor.“With interest rates where they are, and the competition for labor in the Burlington area
  
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• Brian Campion, Bennington state senator, won’t seek reelection

  20-05-2024 19:17 via vtdigger.org
  
  Sen. Brian Campion, D-Bennington, speaks on the Senate floor in the Statehouse on Tuesday, April 30. Photo by Natalie Williams/VTDiggerSen. Brian Campion, D-Bennington, won’t seek reelection.The chair of the Vermont Senate Education Committee has spent 14 years in the Legislature, first in the House before being elected to the Senate in 2014. “I’m proud to have made a real difference for the people from Bennington County and look forward to continuing to be involved in my
  
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• Rep. Larry Satcowitz: Gov. Phil Scott should sign the Flood Safety Act

  20-05-2024 17:45 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Rep. Larry Satcowitz, D-Randolph. He is a member of the House Committee on Environment and Energy.
  The Flood Safety Act, S.213, makes changes to Vermont’s statues to help Vermont become more resilient to future flooding. The massive flooding of recent years caused billions of dollars in damage, destroying homes, businesses, roads and other infrastructure. This bill is a response to those events by addressing flood management in our river corridors, floodplains a
  
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