Vermont news

• Rosemarie Jackowski: The dental crisis in Bennington

  04-08-2017 22:52 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Rosemarie Jackowski, of Bennington, an advocacy journalist and peace activist who is the author of “Banned in Vermont.” She has been the Liberty Union candidate for Vermont attorney general in the past few elections.
  More than five years ago the Vermont rural development agency held a series of meetings. In Bennington the meeting that focused on poverty was widely attended. During the citizen comment period the issue of the lack of affordabl
  
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• Tyler Resch: Tales of early blacks in Vermont

  04-08-2017 22:51 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This column is by Tyler Resch, who is the research librarian of the Bennington Museum. It is intended to revisit some of the books, past and present, that tell the history of Vermont, the 14th state. He can be reached at [email protected].
  Elise Guyette is a Vermont teacher, historian and author driven by a mission to explore and preach diversity in this mostly white state. Her book “Discovering Black Vermont” treats a subject long neglected in Vermont
  
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• Veteran Shelburne Police chief’s future could be decided soon

  04-08-2017 22:37 via vtdigger.org
  SHELBURNE — Weeks after a three-day suspension, longtime Shelburne Police Chief James Warden remains absent from the department he’s led for 30 years and his future appears on the line.
  Town fficials are tight-lipped about Warden’s future, but an agenda item on Tuesday’s Selectboard meeting calls for an executive session to discuss “Personnel Related to Possible Separation Agreement with a Town Employee.”
  Town Manager Joe Colangelo declined on Monday to commen
  
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• Comment sought on Bennington TIF district plan

  04-08-2017 22:29 via vtdigger.org
  A redevelopment project for the buildings around the historic former Putnam Hotel in Bennington would be the anchor for a proposed tax increment financing district. File photo by Holly Peczynski/Bennington BannerBENNINGTON — Town officials and consultants preparing Bennington’s application for a tax increment financing district for the downtown will unveil a draft proposal Monday and take questions and comments from the public.
  Assistant Town Manager and Planning Director Dan Monks s
  
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• Vermont Department of Taxes launches small business listening tour

  04-08-2017 21:46 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont Department of TaxesAugust 1, 2017
  Contact:Kate Strousse(802) 828-3763
  [email protected]
  Vermont Department of Taxes Launches a Listening Tour for Small Businesses
  Montpelier, Vt., August 1, 2017—The Vermont Department of Taxes is pleased to announce a statewide listening tour for small businesses. The public meetings, which will be held in St. Johnsbury, Montpelier, Burlington, Rutland and Bennington, are designed to let the department leadership hear f
  
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• Co-op raises funds in bid to buy Burlington Telecom

  04-08-2017 21:16 via vtdigger.org
  Burlington Telecom’s offices in Burlington. Photo by Erin Mansfield/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — A group of residents seeking to keep Burlington Telecom community-owned says it has raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars in just four days.
  The city is required to sell the municipally owned telecommunications company as part of a 2014 settlement with Citibank, the company’s main creditor. Burlington is expected to keep a greater portion of the proceeds if the sale can be compl
  
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• Sanders re-introduces bill to require fair drug pricing

  04-08-2017 20:51 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Sen. Bernie SandersJuly 31, 2017
  Contact:
  [email protected]
  Sanders Introduces Rule to Require Fair Pricing on Taxpayer-Funded Drugs
  WASHINGTON, July 31 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) proposed a rule Monday that would end price gouging on prescription drugs and other health care products developed with taxpayer money.
  Sanders and DeFazio reintroduced their bill, which they first proposed two decades ago with bipartisan supp
  
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• Philanthropist: Burlington College could have survived

  04-08-2017 20:47 via vtdigger.org
  Burlington College was sold at auction on July 12.A major donor to Burlington College said Friday the educational institution would have survived had its leaders followed through on plans to sell a portion of its new property.
  Crea Lintilhac said she was “disappointed and sad” the college had to close last year because of the debt taken on by a land purchase and significant expansion proposed by college leaders.
  Lintilhac told VTDigger she was interviewed by the FBI six months ago ab
  
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• National Institute of Health to fund Saint Michael’s College e-cigarette study

  04-08-2017 20:41 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Saint Michael’s CollegeJuly 31, 2017
  Contact:Mark Tarnacki802.654.2795
  [email protected]
  Major NIH grant to fund E-Cigarette study at Saint Michael’s College
  “E-cigarettes initially were developed as a cessation tool for tobacco dependence, but now it appears they are also a tool for introducing young adults to other tobacco products,” says Ari Kirshenbaum of the Saint Michael’s College Psychology Department faculty, who has received a $365,86
  
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• Regulators deny Blue Cross request to strike public comments

  04-08-2017 18:51 via vtdigger.org
   
  Green Mountain Care Board members hear public comment on Blue Cross Blue Shield premium increases in July. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDiggerHealth care regulators say public comments and statistics on wage growth must be part of the case in which Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont is seeking to raise premiums on Vermont Health Connect by more than 12 percent.
  The Green Mountain Care Board made the ruling Thursday, in response to the company’s effort to strike information that Vermont
  
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• SCOV Law Blog: Legislative intent

  04-08-2017 18:39 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This piece from the SCOV Law Blog is by Elizabeth Kruska. 
  State v. Joseph, 2017 VT 52
  Mr. Joseph owns some land in Bennington County. He had some trees he wanted to cut down. Unfortunately, he strayed onto his neighbor’s land and cut down three of his neighbor’s trees.
  He is all pine, and I am apple orchard.My apple trees will never get acrossAnd eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.— Robert FrostRELATED STORIESSCOV Law Blog: Settlement case retu
  
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• New Burlington bike lane eliminates parking spots

  04-08-2017 18:15 via vtdigger.org
  The existing bike lane (on the right), and the parking spots (on the left), will be eliminated to add a southbound bike lane. Photo by Alexandre Silberman/VTDiggerBURLINGTON – Despite resident concerns about the removal of 10 parking spots, a bike lane project in Burlington’s Old North End is underway.
  The transportation change will take place on North Union Street, between Loomis and Grant streets, an area which is designated as one-way. A bike lane will be added to allow for two-wa
  
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• YWP: ‘Searching Eyes’

  04-08-2017 18:00 via vtdigger.org
  Young Writers Project, an independent nonprofit based in Burlington, engages young people to write and use digital media to express themselves with clarity and power, and to gain confidence and skills for school, the workplace and life.Check out the most recent issue of The Voice, Young Writers Project’s monthly digital magazine. Click here.Each week, VTDigger features a writing submission – an essay, poem, fiction or nonfiction – accompanied by a photo or illustration from Yo
  
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• St. Michael's Prof Nets Grant To Study E-Cigarettes bit.ly/2v5AnTr https://t.co/07F9aXXEgI

  04-08-2017 17:15 via twitter.com
  
  St. Michael's Prof Nets Grant To Study E-Cigarettes bit.ly/2v5AnTr https://t.co/07F9aXXEgI
  
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• East Burke dam removal receives state funding

  04-08-2017 17:11 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Connecticut River ConservancyAugust 1, 2017
  Contact:Ron Rhodes(802) 457-6114
  www.ctriver.org
  East Burke dam removal project receives State funding
  Pomfret, Vermont – The Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) today announced that they have received $150,000 from the State of Vermont’s Ecosystem Restoration Grant to help fund the removal of the old dam on the Passumpsic River in East Burke.
  This funding, which is part of the State’s new Clean Water Initiative P
  
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• Kroll Bond Rating Agency donates to Vermont Foodbank

  04-08-2017 17:02 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont FoodbankAugust 1, 2017
  Contact:Nicole Whalen802-505-0123
  Tina Bukow646-731-2368
  Kroll Bond Rating Agency forgoes spending money on swag, donates to Vermont Foodbank instead
  BARRE, August 1, 2017– Today Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) announced that they will be making a donation of $2,500 to the Vermont Foodbank to help the organization fight hunger in the Burlington area. KBRA will be coming to Vermont in August to attend the Vermont Captive Insurance Associat
  
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• Vermont Economic Development Authority boots regional development projects

  04-08-2017 16:24 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont Economic Development AuthorityAugust 1, 2017
  Contact:Jo Bradley802-828-5627
  VEDA PARTNERS WITH RDCs TO BOOST REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
  Montpelier, VT – The Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) has approved nearly $6.6 million in financing to support several important economic development projects undertaken by Regional Development Corporations (RDCs) throughout the state.
  “VEDA works in partnership with our state’s Regional Dev
  
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• Hawken to keynote national climate innovation summit

  04-08-2017 16:10 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Leonine Public AffairsAugust 1, 2017
  Contact:Paul Costello
  [email protected]
  Paul Hawken, leading environmentalist, entrepreneur and author to Keynote the Catalysts of the Climate Economy: National Innovation Summit
  Montpelier, VT – Environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist and author Paul Hawken will be the keynote speaker at the Catalysts of the Climate Economy: National Innovation Summit, (cc:econ). The National Innovation Summit is a three-day even
  
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• Vermont Fish and Wildlife completes first moose study season

  04-08-2017 16:02 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont Fish and WildlifeAugust 1, 2017
  Media Contacts:Cedric Alexander802-751-0105
  Scott Darling802-777-1732
  Mark Scott802-777-4217
  Vt Fish & Wildlife Completes First Field Season in Multi-Year Moose Study
  St. JOHNSBURY, Vt. – The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department recently completed the first field season in a multi-year study to better understand the state’s moose herd. Beginning in January 2017, researchers placed radio-collars on 60 wild moose and be
  
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• Rep. @PeterWelch joins us live for the entirety of today's show. Have a question for him? Let us know: bit.ly/2hs0Yaf #VT #vtpoli

  04-08-2017 15:48 via twitter.com
  Rep. @PeterWelch joins us live for the entirety of today's show. Have a question for him? Let us know: bit.ly/2hs0Yaf #VT #vtpoli
  
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• Opioid Users Are Filling Jails. Why Don’t Jails Treat Them?

  04-08-2017 12:00
  Getting methadone in jail gave a Connecticut heroin user a firmer foothold in recovery. But less than 1 percent of jails and prisons allow it.
  
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• The Deeper Dig: Returning to Coventry

  04-08-2017 02:34 via vtdigger.org
  Coventry Selectboard Chair Mike Marcotte switches out the lock to Cynthia Diaz’s office the day she was removed as town clerk. File photo by Dan Schwartz/VTDiggerCynthia Diaz, the now-former clerk and treasurer in Coventry, admitted in civil court this week to destroying a thumb drive containing records of the town’s finances. Diaz still has not faced criminal charges over town officials’ suspicions that she embezzled roughly $1.4 million in public funds.
  Reporter Dan
  
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• LISTEN: 'Ahoy, Matey!': When Kid Pirates Sailed On Lake Champlain bit.ly/2hsknrB https://t.co/mFJePvOOLv

  04-08-2017 02:30 via twitter.com
  
  LISTEN: 'Ahoy, Matey!': When Kid Pirates Sailed On Lake Champlain bit.ly/2hsknrB https://t.co/mFJePvOOLv
  
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• ACLU sees rights at risk under new court recording rules

  04-08-2017 02:28 via vtdigger.org
  A crowd watches proceedings inside the Vermont Supreme Court early this year. New rules would prohibit most members of the public from taking or transmitting pictures and video inside Vermont courtrooms. File pool photo by Stefan Hard/The Times ArgusCivil liberties advocates are pushing back against proposed rules on digital recording in Vermont courts.
  The rules as drafted threaten the rights of the public and the media alike, while “ignoring the realities of modern journalism and storyte
  
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• LISTEN: To Bee Or Not To Bee: Becoming A Beekeeper bit.ly/2v4cz2r https://t.co/I72mtpgDFz

  04-08-2017 01:56 via twitter.com
  
  LISTEN: To Bee Or Not To Bee: Becoming A Beekeeper bit.ly/2v4cz2r https://t.co/I72mtpgDFz
  
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• Scott’s recreation initiative looks to link work and play

  04-08-2017 01:29 via vtdigger.org
  Gov. Phil Scott speaks to a group Wednesday at the Grafton Inn during the Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative meeting. Photo by Kristopher Radder/Brattleboro Reformer(This story is by Chris Mays of the Brattleboro Reformer, in which it was published Aug. 2, 2017.)
  GRAFTON — By Gov. Phil Scott’s count, about half of the state’s government was here Wednesday.
  “There’s a lot of exciting things that are happening down in this area,” said Scott, who c
  
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• David Deen: Shortnosed sturgeon and other threatened species

  04-08-2017 01:05 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by David Deen, who is an honorary trustee and former river steward of the Connecticut River Conservancy, formerly the Connecticut River Watershed Council. He is a state representative from Westminster and the chair of the House Natural Resources, Fish and Wildlife Committee.
  Recent research is warning that the rapid loss of wildlife in recent decades shows the sixth mass extinction in Earth’s history is underway.
  In the face of this warning of the si
  
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• Don Keelan: More important things to do

  04-08-2017 01:00 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Don Keelan, a certified public accountant and resident of Arlington. The piece first appeared in the Bennington Banner.
  The Bennington Banner and Manchester Journal recently reported that the Vermont Board of Libraries on July 11 postponed making a decision to rename the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award. The reason the board was meeting in the first place was due to the allegations by author/educator Judy Dow that 20th century Vermont icon Dorothy Can
  
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• ‘I should have stopped’: Hit-and-run driver sent back to jail

  04-08-2017 00:41 via vtdigger.org
  Christopher Sullivan, former city attorney in Rutland, appears in Rutland Superior Court on Thursday for his sentencing in a fatal hit-and-run crash. Pool photo by Robert L. Layman/for the Rutland HeraldRUTLAND — Saying she didn’t find him credible, Judge Theresa DiMauro sentenced a former municipal attorney for Rutland to the same prison term she handed down two years earlier for his role in a fatal hit-and-run crash.
  Christopher Sullivan’s attorney argued for a lesser prison
  
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• Rep. Peter Welch On Health Care And Partisanship, Live Friday At Noon bit.ly/2hs0Yaf https://t.co/rq695efTL8

  04-08-2017 00:11 via twitter.com
  
  Rep. Peter Welch On Health Care And Partisanship, Live Friday At Noon bit.ly/2hs0Yaf https://t.co/rq695efTL8
  
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