Vermont news

• UVM hits contract stalemate with faculty union

  12-09-2017 22:01 via vtdigger.org
  BURLINGTON — The union representing faculty at the University of Vermont has reached an impasse in contract negotiations with the administration, according to both sides.
  The stalemate comes after seven months of talks failed to produce an agreement. In a statement Tuesday, United Academics said impasse is not an unusual step in the collective bargaining process. “Almost all of our previous contracts have come after impasse,” the statement said.
  There are two separate United Ac
  
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• National Guard weekly wrapup

  12-09-2017 21:40 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont Army National GuardSept. 11, 2017
  Contact:Staff Sgt. Nathan RivardPublic Affairs DeputyVermont National Guard
  [email protected]: (802) 338-3324
  Multiple events occurred this weekend for the Vermont Army National Guard. Below are links to a few different events that occurred at Camp Johnson in Colchester and Camp Ethan Allen Training Site in Jericho.
  The Vermont Best Warrior Competition concluded on Sunday afternoon after three days of events. Sgt. Kyla Wa
  
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• Green Mountain Power sends crews to Georgia to help in massive restoration work

  12-09-2017 21:36 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Green Mountain PowerSept. 12, 2017
  Contact:Kristin Carlson, Green Mountain Power1-802-229-8200
  [email protected]
  After Irma Causes Widespread Damage, Green Mountain Power sends Crews to Georgia to help in Massive Restoration Work
  Colchester, Vt – Green Mountain Power will be sending more than 30 lineworkers, supervisors, and mechanics to Georgia to help in the Hurrican Irma recovery efforts which wiped out power to millions and left historic damage
  
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• Vermont faith communities holding conference on local climate action on Oct. 21

  12-09-2017 21:35 via vtdigger.org
  News ReleaseSept. 11, 2017
  Contact:Contact:Betsy HardyVTIPL CoordinatorPO Box 209Richmond, VT 05477802-434-3397
  [email protected]
  Richmond, Vermont – September 11, 2017
  We can’t rely on national leadership to address climate change. Local action is more important than ever! Vermont Interfaith Power and Light’s annual conference, “Building Local Resilience-Inspiring Local Climate Action”, will focus on local resilience and climate action. It will be held Saturday, Octob
  
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• Grace Potter Comes Home For Grand Point North bit.ly/2vSiFTg https://t.co/BAoPh6UOBz

  12-09-2017 21:32 via twitter.com
  
  Grace Potter Comes Home For Grand Point North bit.ly/2vSiFTg https://t.co/BAoPh6UOBz
  
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• Author Michael Moss to speak at UVM Aiken Lecture Nov. 1

  12-09-2017 21:24 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — UVMSept. 12, 2017
  Contact:Katie AlbeeThe University of Vermont
  [email protected]
  Best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Moss will be the keynote speaker at the 2017 George D. Aiken Lecture Series on Nov. 1 at the UVM Ira Allen Chapel.
  Moss is the author of the New York Times’ bestseller, “Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us.” His writing focuses on the food industry in context of health, safety, nutrition,
  
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• Gov. Scott to appoint Lisa Senecal of Stowe to Vermont Commission on Women

  12-09-2017 21:23 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont Commission on WomenSeptember 11, 2017
  Contact:Lilly Talbert, VCW Staff802 828-2841
  (Montpelier) – Governor Phil Scott has appointed Lisa Senecal to serve on the Vermont Commission on Women (VCW), the state’s non-partisan commission working to advance rights and opportunities for women and girls.
  “Lisa’s background and commitment to raising awareness for issues of importance to women, and leadership in advocating to advance opportunities for wo
  
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• Vermont Clean Water Fund Board seeks public input on proposed budget

  12-09-2017 21:14 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Department of Environmental ConservationSeptember 11, 2017
  Media Contact:Kari Dolan, Manager, Clean Water Initiative ProgramPhone: (802) 490-6113Email: [email protected]
  Deadline for Comment is September 28
  Montpelier, VT – The Clean Water Fund Board is accepting public comments on their final draft recommended Clean Water Fund Budget (dec.vermont.gov/watershed/cwi/cwf) for the next State fiscal year. The Clean Water Fund supports municipalities, farmers, and othe
  
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• Leahy part of Senate coalition pushing Equifax to end use of consumer-harming forced arbitration clauses

  12-09-2017 21:13 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Sen. Patrick LeahySept. 11, 2017
  Contact:David Carle(202) 224-3693
  Senators Also Ask Equifax to Clarify if It Supports New Consumer Financial Protection Rule That Would Limit Forced Arbitration
  WASHINGTON (MONDAY, Sept. 11, 2017) – Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has joined Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) in a broad Democratic effort to push Equifax — the massive credit bureau that recently made public a data breach affecting 143 mi
  
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• UPDATED: Suspect held after Dartmouth-Hitchcock active shooter incident

  12-09-2017 21:09 via vtdigger.org
  A suspect in an active shooter incident at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center was pulled from a gray Ford Escape in Lebanon, N.H., on Tuesday. Photo by Jennifer Hauck/Valley News(This story is by Valley News staff. It was updated from the newspaper’s website at 4:30 p.m.)
  LEBANON, N.H. — One person is in custody after an active shooter incident Tuesday afternoon at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and police are searching the entire hospital, Lebanon police reported.
  Police said t
  
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• Mental health professionals gather to gear up for telemental health

  12-09-2017 21:02 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Lifemap CounselingSeptember 11, 2017
  Media Contact:Sarah White, Co-Director, Lifemap Counseling, LLC
  [email protected](802) 622-0683
  LifeMap Counseling and Coaching Services, LLC in Central Vermont is celebrating the passing of Act 64, signed by Governor Scott, June 7, 2017 with a workshop for mental health professionals at Capitol Plaza Hotel and Conference Center. The act expands the ability for mental health practitioners to see clients remotely, lifting the &ldq
  
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• Vermont Folklife Center announces Flanders Award for Traditional Vermont Music

  12-09-2017 21:01 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont Folklife CenterSeptember 12, 2017
  Contact:Bob Hooker(802) 388-4964
  [email protected]
  Created by Vermont musician, Deb Flanders to honor the work of her great aunt, Helen Hartness Flanders, the Flanders Award for Traditional Vermont Music provides a stipend to a Vermont musician aged 15-29 to support the perpetuation and performance of the traditional Yankee and Franco-American musical repertoire of the state.
  Award funds are intended to offset the cos
  
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• Burlington teachers won’t strike Wednesday, agree to mediation

  12-09-2017 20:56 via vtdigger.org
  From left: Fran Brock, Burlington Education Association president, Mark Porter, Burlington School Board chair, and Ira Lobel, a mediator, address reporters in October 2016 after reaching a tentative contract deal. The two sides will work with Lobel again this year to try to reach agreement. File photo by Morgan True/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — The union representing city teachers says it will delay a strike planned for Wednesday, and instead agreed to a meeting with the school board orchestrated
  
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• Vermont Housing Finance Agency seeks investors for history ‘Housing for All’ initiative

  12-09-2017 20:50 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont Housing Finance AgencySeptember 11, 2017
  Contact:David Adams(802) 652-3478
  [email protected]
  BURLINGTON-Executive Director Sarah Carpenter announced Vermont Housing Finance Agency seeks investors for historic “Housing for All” initiative. Proceeds expected to create or rehabilitate 650 homes statewide.
  Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) invited bids from investors Friday for the “Housing for All” initiative passed by Vermont lawmakers earlier
  
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• Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation welcomes wood energy coordinator

  12-09-2017 20:40 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & RecreationSeptember 11, 2017
  Media Contact:Emma HansonTel: 802-622-4187Email: [email protected]
  MONTPELIER, VT – The Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation (FPR) recently welcomed a new staff member, Emma Hanson, who will serve as Wood Energy Coordinator. She will be tasked with helping to implement the Vermont Comprehensive Energy Plan’s goal of doubling wood fuel’s share of building heating by 2035.
  
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• Gun control panel to launch Janus Forum Debate Series

  12-09-2017 20:28 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — UVMSept. 11, 2017
  Contact:Jeff Wakefield, [email protected], 802-578-8830
  The debate over gun control is one of the most polarizing in America.
  Proponents of stricter gun laws point to the fact that Americans are 10 times more likely to be killed by guns than people in other developed countries.
  Opponents counter that shooters will always be able to procure guns and that the right to bear arms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment.
  Three experts – a legal schol
  
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• Rebroadcast: The Secrets Of Spider Silk bit.ly/2vRKyuM https://t.co/gQ95u1zMJM

  12-09-2017 17:39 via twitter.com
  
  Rebroadcast: The Secrets Of Spider Silk bit.ly/2vRKyuM https://t.co/gQ95u1zMJM
  
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• LISTEN: Rebroadcast: The Secrets Of Spider Silk bit.ly/2vRKyuM https://t.co/glIOtiKMSd

  12-09-2017 17:36 via twitter.com
  
  LISTEN: Rebroadcast: The Secrets Of Spider Silk bit.ly/2vRKyuM https://t.co/glIOtiKMSd
  
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• Tickets going fast for third annual Vermont Book Award gala

  12-09-2017 17:22 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont College of Fine ArtsSept. 11, 2017
  Contact:Tim Simard
  [email protected]
  Montpelier, Vt.—The third annual Vermont Book Award Gala at Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is less than three weeks away and now is the time to get tickets. The winner of 2017 Vermont Book Award will be revealed during the evening Gala, which takes place on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m.
  The Gala will be a lively celebration of literature and creative culture, with distingu
  
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• Archer Mayor returns to Rutland for book talk and signing

  12-09-2017 17:18 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Phoenix BooksSept. 7, 2017
  Contact:Kristen EatonPhoenix Books802.872.7111 (p)802.872.7112 (f)
  [email protected]
  www.phoenixbooks.biz
  Rutland, Vermont – September 7, 2017: Phoenix Books Rutland will host Archer Mayor for a book talk and signing on Thursday, October 5th at 6:30pm. In Trace, the 28th Joe Gunther mystery novel, Gunther and the VBI are pulled into three different critical cases at the same time, each equally important, each potentially deadly.
  About
  
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• Burlington DPW underway with upgrades to 4+ miles of water main

  12-09-2017 17:09 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Burlington Department of Public WorksSeptember 7, 2017
  Contact:Robert Goulding540-0846
  [email protected]
  Re-lining Approach Will Reduce Disruptions; Information on Impacts Available
  Burlington, VT – As part of the $8.3M Water System Improvements revenue bond approved by nearly 90 percent of the voters in November 2016, the Department of Public Works (DPW) will be continuing its work to upgrade aging water infrastructure through November and beginning again in
  
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• Gardener’s Supply Company to expand into New Hampshire

  12-09-2017 17:00 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Gardner’s SupplySept. 8, 2017
  Contact:
  (Burlington, VT)Gardener’s Supply Company, the Burlington VT-based purveyor of great garden gear, is acquiring a third garden center, this one in Lebanon, New Hampshire.Longacres’ Nursery Center is the preeminent garden center in the Upper Valley and has been in the Longacre family for more than 40 years.“It was time to sell,” says Joe Longacre, one of three brothers who own the business and plan to retire.
  
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• LISTEN: Negotiations And Potential Strikes In Burlington, South Burlington School Districts bit.ly/2vRACRS https://t.co/glKggJLxTH

  12-09-2017 15:19 via twitter.com
  
  LISTEN: Negotiations And Potential Strikes In Burlington, South Burlington School Districts bit.ly/2vRACRS https://t.co/glKggJLxTH
  
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• Negotiations And Potential Strikes In Burlington, South Burlington School Districts bit.ly/2vRACRS https://t.co/FDMUHLaVrj

  12-09-2017 15:16 via twitter.com
  
  Negotiations And Potential Strikes In Burlington, South Burlington School Districts bit.ly/2vRACRS https://t.co/FDMUHLaVrj
  
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• Former Rutland mayor tapped for regional union job

  12-09-2017 12:32 via vtdigger.org
  RUTLAND – Rutland’s former mayor who was ousted from office earlier this year has landed a new job.
  Christopher Louras, who served five two-year terms as the city’s top elected official, is working for the union organization, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
  Louras, contacted Monday, referred any and all questions or comment to Steve Lyons, AFSCME Council 93 coordinator for New Hampshire and Vermont. Lyons did not return a phone call Monday seeking
  
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• Board fires Rutland Town administrator for ‘gross misconduct’

  12-09-2017 03:04 via vtdigger.org
  The five-member Rutland Town Selectboard. From left: Chris Kiefer-Cioffi, Joseph Denardo, Chairman Josh Terenzini, Mary Ashcroft and John Paul Faignant. File photo by Alan J. Keays/VTDiggerRUTLAND TOWN — The Selectboard voted unanimously Monday night to fire suspended Town Administrator Joseph Zingale, citing “gross misconduct” and “insubordination” in the motion to terminate his employment, “effective immediately.”
  Zingale, reached after the meeting, sa
  
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• State mulls suing Equifax over lag in data breach notification

  12-09-2017 02:40 via vtdigger.org
  Vermont’s attorney general is considering going to court to protect the more than 240,000 Vermonters affected by a data breach at the credit rating agency Equifax.
  The Vermonters affected are among the 143 million Americans whose information was exposed at Equifax, one of three major credit reporting agencies.Those Vermonters may have had their names, Social Security numbers, addresses and other personal information exposed to hackers. A subset of them may have had their driver’s lic
  
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• Medical student in Vermont under DACA: ‘This is my home’

  12-09-2017 02:19 via vtdigger.org
  First-year medical student Juan Conde, center, and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., appear at a news conference Monday urging Congress to extend legal protections for the children of unauthorized immigrants. Photo by Morgan True/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — Juan Conde, a 31-year-old first-year medical student at the University of Vermont, says he’s tired of living in fear about his immigration status.
  The Mexican native, who said he arrived in Texas with his mother and brother at age 9, is among the
  
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• Poultney man faces charge for allegedly hiding dead body

  12-09-2017 01:25 via vtdigger.org
  The scene in Poultney where Alexandra Rooker’s body was found March 15. File photo by Alan J. Keays/VTDiggerA Poultney man already facing federal drug and firearms charges after police found a dead woman on his property earlier this year has now been charged with hiding the body in his shed.
  Wayne A. Oddo, 53, pleaded not guilty Monday in Rutland County Superior Court to two new felonies: impeding a police investigation and unauthorized burial or removal of a dead body.
  Oddo was initially
  
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• In new book, Clinton praises Sanders

  12-09-2017 01:07 via vtdigger.org
  Hillary Rodham Clinton’s new book, “What Happened,” features 37 pages on her Democratic presidential primary challenger, Vermont’s U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerThe biggest surprise in Hillary Rodham Clinton’s new book, “What Happened,” isn’t the leaked criticism toward her Democratic presidential primary challenger, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.
  Instead, it’s the yet-to-be-reported compliments.
  “Nothing in
  
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• In new book, Clinton has good words for Sanders

  12-09-2017 01:07 via vtdigger.org
  Hillary Rodham Clinton’s new book, “What Happened,” features 37 pages on her Democratic presidential primary challenger, Vermont’s U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerThe biggest surprise in Hillary Rodham Clinton’s new book, “What Happened,” isn’t the leaked criticism toward her Democratic presidential primary challenger, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.
  Instead, it’s the yet-to-be-reported compliments.
  “Nothing in
  
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• Kirk Woodring: The one word that can help end an epidemic

  12-09-2017 01:05 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Kirk Woodring, who is the chief clinical officer at the Brattleboro Retreat. 
  “SUICIDE.” I intentionally write it in capital letters, and place it in quotes, because so many of us find the word extremely difficult to see and to say. And yet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified suicide as an epidemic in the U.S., with rates having reached a 30-year peak since they began to climb in 1999.
  Why are we so afraid to t
  
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• Nathan Suter: Economic evidence points to broad benefits of $15 minimum wage

  12-09-2017 01:00 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Nathan Suter, of Montpelier, who is an organizational development consultant and social entrepreneur with a background in nonprofit management and community organizations. He is a member of the board of the Peace & Justice Center and is the center’s liaison tothe Vermont’s Raise the Wage Coalition.
  With Vermont considering joining the other states and cities that are raising their minimum wages to $15 an hour, legislators are beginning t
  
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• John McClaughry: American politics gone insane

  12-09-2017 00:55 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by John McClaughry, the vice president of the Ethan Allen Institute.
  Jonathan Rauch is a senior fellow at the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution in Washington. He is himself a bona fide liberal, or at least, what passed for a thinking liberal a decade ago. He is a sharp commentator on American politics, and has given us a brilliant and timely essay in the July-August issue of The Atlantic entitled “How American Politics Went Insane.”
  Young A
  
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• Rutland hospital seeks approval for $21.7M makeover

  12-09-2017 00:43 via vtdigger.org
  Tom Huebner, the CEO of Rutland Regional Medical Center, speaks at the ribbon cutting in June for its renovated and expanded emergency department. The hospital is now looking for more room for its orthopedic surgery program. At right is Kevin Mullin, the chair of the Green Mountain Care Board. File photo by Erin Mansfield/VTDiggerVermont’s second-largest hospital is asking regulators to approve a $21.7 million expansion and renovation project to accommodate growing demand for orthopedic su
  
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