• Judge triples damages, orders Rutlander to pay state $1.8M for cleanup

    Rutland businessman John Ruggiero sits in Rutland Superior Court during a hearing Monday to determine how much he owes the state for the environmental cleanup of his Woodstock Avenue property. Photo by Alan J. Keyes/VTDigger.
    RUTLAND – A Rutland businessman has been ordered to pay nearly $1.8 million to the state for an “emergency” cleanup it did three years ago of his property contaminated from its days as a dry cleaning shop.And that bill may rise as John Ruggeiro will still
  • Judge orders owner of drycleaning site to pay $1.8M for cleanup

    Rutland businessman John Ruggiero sits in Rutland Superior Court during a hearing Monday to determine how much he owes the state for the environmental cleanup of his Woodstock Avenue property. Photo by Alan J. Keays/VTDigger.
    RUTLAND — A Rutland businessman has been ordered to pay nearly $1.8 million to the state for an “emergency” cleanup three years ago. The property was contaminated by dry cleaning chemicals.The total cost of environmental mitigation, however, will be higher
  • Police probe of Shrewsbury woman’s death continues

    SHREWSBURY – Vermont State Police say they are continuing to investigate the death of a Shrewsbury woman last week at her home.
    An autopsy was conducted on the body of Sara Reynolds, 32, last week at the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington
    State Police Maj. Glenn Hall, commander of the state police criminal division, said Monday that he is still awaiting the official cause and manner of Reynolds’ death from the medical examiner. No death certificate has yet be
  • Task force weighs pros and cons of lottery-liquor merger

    State officials explained Friday how a merger of the Vermont Lottery Commission with the Department of Liquor Control could work.
    A task force studying the merger took testimony on Friday. The six-member group was formed after lawmakers in April rejected Gov. Phil Scott’s executive order, which would have forced the merger of the two state entities. Scott has said a combined Liquor Control and Lottery Department could save money.Sabina Haskell, chair of the Vermont Lottery Commission, said
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  • Pros and cons of Lottery-Liquor merger discussed

    Department heads outlined the problems and opportunities of merging the Vermont Lottery Commission with the Department of Liquor Control in testimony Friday before a task force created by the Legislature.
    In some respects, combining the departments makes sense, supporters said, while others pointed out the move could require drastic changes.
    The task force was established by lawmakers after an attempt by Gov. Phil Scott to complete the merger by executive order failed.
    Combining the departments
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  • Jensen Beach wins third Vermont Book Award

    News release — Vermont College of Fine ArtsSept. 23, 2017
    Contact:Tim Simard
    [email protected]
    Montpelier, Vt.—Vermont author Jensen Beach has won the third Vermont Book Award for his collection of short stories titled “Swallowed by the Cold.” Beach received the award during the third annual Vermont Book Award Gala held at Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) on Saturday, Sept. 23.
    The intricate, interlocking stories of Beach’s extraordinarily poised st
  • ‘Blue Wrap’ and new app earn UVM Medical Center national awards

    News Release — UVMSeptember 24, 2017
    Contact:Michael Carrese(802) 847-2886
    Innovations in Recycling and Physician Involvement in Purchasing Are Highlighted
    (BURLINGTON, VT) The University of Vermont Medical Center is being recognized for creative initiatives to reduce operating room waste and lower the cost of medical devices by Vizient, Inc. – the largest member-driven health care performance improvement company in the country.
    Sustainability Excellence Award
    The sustainability awar
  • Vermont Teddy Bear reveals a nostalgic event: in honor of Kevin Lepage

    News Release — Vermont Teddy Bear Co.September 25th, 2017
    Contact:Mary SleeperWholesale Sales CoordinatorVermont Teddy Bear Company802.985.3001
    [email protected]
    Shelburne, VT – Vermont’s very own Kevin Lepage, a well-known local race car driver, is making an appearance at our factory in Shelburne, Vermont on September 29th. We will be honoring his last race at Thunder Road for the 55th Annual Milk Bowl. Vermont Teddy Bear was the first to sponsor Kevin in 1994, which then led t
  • Secretary of State Jim Condos announces fourth biennial statewide Transparency Tour

    News Release — Secretary of State Jim CondosSeptember 25, 2017
    Contact:Eric Covey, 802-828-2148
    www.sec.state.vt.us/
    Montpelier, VT—Secretary of State Jim Condos is pleased to announce the start of his fourth biennial Transparency Tour. The tour will stop at 12 locations across the state to discuss transparency and open government, Vermont’s Public Records Act, and Open Meeting Law with municipal and state employees and citizens who serve on local government boards. The public
  • ‘Kids Out Loud!’ to bring 1,000 Vermonters to Church Street Marketplace

    News Release — Let’s Grow KidsSept. 25, 2017
    Contact:Nicole HaleyCommunications ManagerLet’s Grow KidsCell: 802-391-0545Email: [email protected]://www.letsgrowkids.org/kids-out-loud
    Let’s Grow Kids, Vermont musicians team up for early childhood anthem & flash mob
    Burlington, Vermont— This Sunday, October 1st,1,000 Vermonters from across the state will convene on the Church Street Marketplace in Burlington in support of Vermont’s youngest children
  • Vermont Production Council aims to attract more film and television projects

    News Release — Vermont Production CouncilSept. 21, 2017
    Contact:Vermont Production Council
    [email protected]
    
vermontproductioncouncil.com
    Organization to Foster Film Productions in State
    MANCHESTER, VT: “We’ve Greenlit The Green Mountains” boasts the website of the newly-formed Vermont Production Council. The goal of the organization is to identify and promote resources from around the state and to connect them with content creators seeking l
  • Archer Mayor in Burlington Oct. 12 for book talk and signing

    News Release — Phoenix BooksSept. 21, 2017
    Contact:Kristen EatonPhoenix Books802.872.7111 (p)802.872.7112 (f)
    [email protected]
    www.phoenixbooks.biz
    Burlington, Vermont – September 21, 2017: Phoenix Books Burlington will host Archer Mayor for a book talk and signing on Thursday, October 12th at 7pm. 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.
  • Mayor Miro Weinberger’s public appearance schedule for Sept. 25-29, 2017

    News Release — Mayor Miro WeinbergerSeptember 22, 2017
    Contact:Katie Vane802.734.0617
    Mayor Miro Weinberger’s public appearance schedule for September 25 – 29, 2017:
    Monday, September 255:30 pm Special City Council Work Session re: Burlington Telecom (expected executive session) – Contois Auditorium, City Hall7:00 pm City Council Meeting – Contois Auditorium, City Hall
    Tuesday, September 264:00 pm Unveiling of Bobby and Holly Miller Plaque – Top Block of Churc
  • Highland Center for the Arts hosts the 2017 Governor’s Arts Awards

    News Release — Highland Center for the ArtsSeptember 25, 2017
    Media Contact:Katie Gilmartin
    [email protected]
    Highland Center for the Arts presents Rick & the All-Star Ramblers on Saturday, October 7 at 7:00 PM.
    A Rick & The All-Star Ramblers Western Swing Band performance is a trip back in time to when life in Vermont was filled with simpler, more musical day’s – a time of live radio and touring musical revues. This high energy, entertaining, and dan
  • Vermont school expands its view with Irish campus

    Champlain College students (from left) Charles Cox, Barry Huston, Matthew Wolf and Cara Johnson pose in a window of the Burlington school’s outpost in Dublin, Ireland. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerDUBLIN, Ireland — Ask Vermont student Charles Cox what brought him from the Green Mountains to the Emerald Isle and he could quip about an airplane. Instead, he remembers a bus ride when, feeling faint and breathless en route to a school rugby game last year, he landed in a hospita
  • Carbon tax No. 1 at climate hearing

    Dr. Alan Betts, of Atmospheric Research in Pittsford, speaks at the Governor’s Climate Action Commission’s public hearing at Burr and Burton on Thursday. Photo by Cherise Madigan/Bennington Banner(This story by by Cherise Madigan was posted Sunday in the Bennington Banner.)
    MANCHESTER — The implementation of a carbon tax was the No. 1 request at a public hearing of Gov. Phil Scott’s Climate Action Commission at Burr and Burton Academy Thursday night.
    Members of the commis
  • Airport officials anxious over federal funding

    WASHINGTON — The authorization for the Federal Aviation Administration is set to expire in just a week, and neither the House nor Senate has yet moved forward on legislation to extend it.
    The legislation is required to continue the work of the FAA, which regulates civil aviation across the country. But the bill has been stuck in limbo amid a few lingering disagreements, including over whether to privatize air traffic control services.
    Congress is likely to move forward with a short-term ex
  • Shelburne official questions hospital preparedness in filing in suit with Vermont Railway

    From left, Lydia Clemens, Selectboard Chairman Gary von Stange and Dave Connery applaud at a rally in May 2016 in Shelburne against a planned salt storage facility. Photo by Phoebe Sheehan/VTDigger(This story by Mike Donoghue was published in the Shelburne News on Sept. 21, 2017.)
    A Shelburne Selectboard member who is employed by the University of Vermont Health Network says she believes local hospitals “do not have the response capabilities to deal with a mass casualty event.”
    Dr. C
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  • Lawsuit: Jay Peak attorneys got $25,000 ‘kickbacks’ for each new investor

    Bill Stenger outside the Stateside Hotel at Jay Peak in September 2013. File photo by Hilary Niles/VTDigger
    Plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the state allege that Bill Stenger, the former CEO and president of Jay Peak Resort, paid $25,000 to immigration attorneys in “kickbacks” for each new investor the lawyers brought into the projects.New evidence shows that the $25,000 fee agreement was a fill-in-the-blank form Stenger sent to immigration attorneys. Payment was to be made within se
  • Walt Amses: A bridge too far

    Editor’s note: This commentary is by Walt Amses, a writer from North Calais.
    Is it really possible that Senate Republicans still don’t realize that President Donald Trump is more married to his ego than he’s ever been to any of his three wives or the GOP agenda? That POTUS collaborating with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi — anathema to the startled Senate leadership — seemed to be earth-shattering, was itself an indication that their self-serving mythology may final
  • Bill Schubart: Understanding and reducing poverty

    Editor’s note: This commentary is by Bill Schubart, a regular commentator for Vermont Public Radio and a former board member of the Vermont Journalism Trust, the umbrella organization for VTDigger.org. This piece was first aired on VPR.
    In Vermont’s early years, poverty was managed by an elected “overseer of the poor” until we passed the Social Welfare Act of 1967, which formally relieved communities of responsibility for care of their poor and ended the office of “

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