Vermont news

• Making the grade?

  15-12-2017 23:22 via vtdigger.org
  Read the story on VTDigger here:Making the grade?.
  
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• The Deeper Dig: Legislative leaders look ahead

  15-12-2017 23:13 via vtdigger.org
  Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe and House Speaker Mitzi Johnson discuss legislative priorities for 2018. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
  Vermont’s legislative leaders previewed their priorities for 2018 in a press conference this week. House Speaker Mitzi Johnson and Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe plan to advance legislation on a range of issues, including clean water, mental health and a $15 minimum wage.
  With Gov. Phil Scott’s administration maintaining a push for l
  
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• Nolan sworn in as U.S. attorney

  15-12-2017 23:13 via vtdigger.org
  U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont Christina Nolan. Courtesy photo
  Christina Nolan is officially Vermont’s new U.S. attorney.Nolan was sworn in by Chief United States District Court Judge Christina Reiss during a ceremony in the fifth floor courtroom at the federal courthouse in Burlington Friday morning. About a hundred people showed up, with many local and state officials in attendance.Nolan is the 38th U.S. attorney for Vermont, which is its own federal judicial district. The U.S
  
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• Spice Up Your Life: The Global Search For Seasonings Of The Season dlvr.it/Q693Cj https://t.co/OfvHzHb3ay

  15-12-2017 23:06 via twitter.com
  
  Spice Up Your Life: The Global Search For Seasonings Of The Season dlvr.it/Q693Cj https://t.co/OfvHzHb3ay
  
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• People’s Health & Wellness Clinic establishes Dr. Mark N. Yorra Legacy Fund

  15-12-2017 23:01 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — People’s Health & Wellness ClinicDecember 15, 2017
  Contact:Peter Youngbaer, Executive DirectorPeople’s Health & Wellness Clinic(802) 479-1229
  [email protected]
  The Board of Trustees of the People’s Health & Wellness Clinic has announced the creation of the Dr. Mark N. Yorra Legacy Fund in honor of the Clinic’s retiring Medical Director, and one of the founders of the Clinic back in 1993.
  Along with other community members, Dr. Yorra’s v
  
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• Annual winter manure spreading ban effective Dec. 15-April 1

  15-12-2017 22:57 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & MarketsDec. 15, 2017
  Contact:Ryan PatchVermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets802-272-0323
  [email protected]
  Montpelier, VT / December 15, 2017 – The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets would like to remind all state farm operations that the 23rd annual winter manure spreading ban is underway. As required by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets’ (VAAFM) Required Agricultural P
  
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• Green Mountain Care Board public hearing on 2019 hospital budgets is Jan. 3

  15-12-2017 22:53 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Green Mountain Care BoardDecember 15, 2017
  Contact:Conor KennedyGreen Mountain Care Board802 505 3055
  Montpelier, VT – The Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) will hold a public meeting on January 3, 2018 from 4:00pm – 6:00pm to solicit input from the public on the hospital budget review process. Act 48 provides the Board with regulatory authority over Vermont’s hospitals through the annual review of hospital budgets. Every year the Board reflects on the previ
  
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• Bennington social services organizations celebrate 3rd anniversary of Community Care Team

  15-12-2017 22:49 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Southwestern Vermont Medical CenterDec. 15, 2017
  Media Contact:Ashley Brenon JowettCommunications & Marketing SpecialistPhone: 802.447.5019 | Fax: 802.447.5214
  [email protected]
  svhealthcare.org
  BENNINGTON, VT—December 15, 2017—Last week Southwestern Vermont Medical Center hosted leaders from a dozen local social services agencies for a lunch in celebration of the 3rd anniversary of the Community Care Team. Those in attendance represented Southwe
  
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• Longtime Sanders staffer to retire

  15-12-2017 22:44 via vtdigger.org
  Phil Fiermonte, state director for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at a rally opposing GOP health care bills in Congress. Photo by Morgan True/ VTDiggerA longtime aide for Sen. Bernie Sanders is leaving his post at the end of the year after decades by the prominent Vermont independent’s side.
  Phil Fiermonte, Sanders’ state director, confirmed that he will leave the senator’s office at the end of December.
  Fiermonte has been a part of Sanders’ staff for 20 years, w
  
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• 2 Chittenden County mobile home parks working on cooperative park purchase

  15-12-2017 22:44 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — CVOEODec. 14, 2017
  Contact:Jonathan Bond802-660-3455×105
  [email protected]
  St. George & Hinesburg, VT – A coalition of two mobile home park cooperatives of St. George Villa MHP and Sunset Lake Villa MHP are working feverishly to purchase their respective parks from private ownership and have put forth their best offer to purchase the parks. At a public meeting Wednesday, December 13, 2017, residents heard from their cooperative board’s terms of making an
  
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• Comcast and Mobius announce nominees for the 2018 Vermont Mentor of the Year Award

  15-12-2017 22:40 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — MobiusDecember 14, 2017
  Media Contact:Benji Thurber
  [email protected]: 802-658-1888Cell: 802-249-8316
  Burlington, VT—Comcast and Mobius are excited to announce the opening of the voting process for the 2018 Vermont Mentor of the Year Award. Voters can read the full nominations for each candidate, and submit their choice for one of the 10 finalists by visiting: www.mobiusmentors.org/comcastmentoroftheyear. Public voting is open through Thursday, January 4, 2
  
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• VT legislative leaders want Lake Champlain cleanup plan

  15-12-2017 22:33 via vtdigger.org
  Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe and House Speaker Mitzi Johnson discuss legislative priorities for 2018. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
  House and Senate leaders have pledged to develop a long-term revenue source for cleanup of Lake Champlain this legislative session, since the Scott administration failed to come up with a proposal.Last year, lawmakers directed the administration to develop a long term-funding plan to fill a gap in the 20-year, $2 billion-plus cleanup effort. However, a group
  
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• Vermont legislative leaders want Lake Champlain cleanup plan

  15-12-2017 22:33 via vtdigger.org
  Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe and House Speaker Mitzi Johnson discuss legislative priorities for 2018. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
  House and Senate leaders have pledged to develop a long-term revenue source for cleanup of Lake Champlain this legislative session, since the Scott administration failed to come up with a proposal. RELATED STORIESVermont legislative leaders want Lake Champlain cleanup planSexual harassment complaint filed against unnamed state senator
  Last year, lawmakers di
  
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• Morrisville shelter scrapped even as homelessness on rise

  15-12-2017 22:04 via vtdigger.org
  Children play in a puddle outside the Econolodge in Barre. The state has placed homeless families in the motel.(This story by Kayla Collier was published in the News & Citizen on Dec. 14, 2017.)
  A battle that started fiercely in 2015 to build a shelter in Morrisville for Lamoille County’s homeless people has fallen by the wayside — even as homeless counts climb and winter sets in for the third time since talks began.
  “The Lamoille Valley Housing and Homeless Coalition wants
  
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• Significant Songs: What Music Held Meaning For You In 2017? dlvr.it/Q68gmF https://t.co/ZMSt0rSzzd

  15-12-2017 21:57 via twitter.com
  
  Significant Songs: What Music Held Meaning For You In 2017? dlvr.it/Q68gmF https://t.co/ZMSt0rSzzd
  
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• Drug sweep nets a dozen arrests

  15-12-2017 21:54 via vtdigger.org
  RUTLAND – A dozen people are facing a host of drug-related charges following a two-county police investigation that spanned four months.The Southern Vermont Drug Task announced Friday the arrests of the suspects stemming from investigations in Rutland and Bennington counties. Police said the investigations started in September and continued through this week.
  The operation involved numerous probes into selling of heroin and crack cocaine in the two counties, according to a statement from
  
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• Burlington police search for missing woman

  15-12-2017 21:33 via vtdigger.org
  Patricia Rooney, 57, went missing from her Fletcher Place home in Burlington on Dec. 13, 2017. Police are asking for help locating her. Photo courtesy of Burlington Police Department.
  BURLINGTON — Police are searching for a city woman whose family reported her missing Wednesday night, and officials are asking for the public’s help.
  Patricia Rooney, 57, was last seen at her Fletcher Place residence at roughly 10:30 p.m. Police said Rooney has a history of depression and was struggling
  
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• Waterfront denizens to Amtrak: Stop but don’t stay

  15-12-2017 21:05 via vtdigger.org
  The Vermonter. Photo by Mark Beeson.BURLINGTON — A proposed plan to service a future Amtrak train overnight on Burlington’s waterfront has business owners worried the trains will be an eyesore.
  Plans have been in the works between Amtrak and state officials for decades to extend Amtrak’s Ethan Allen Express line, which currently runs from New York City to Rutland, north to Burlington by 2020.
  The daily train would arrive in the evening and depart in the morning, and sit overnig
  
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• LISTEN: Drilling Into The New Carbon Tax Proposal dlvr.it/Q681yF https://t.co/ABvHfw8tP3

  15-12-2017 20:10 via twitter.com
  
  LISTEN: Drilling Into The New Carbon Tax Proposal dlvr.it/Q681yF https://t.co/ABvHfw8tP3
  
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• YWP: ‘Puffy Pink Glove’

  15-12-2017 16:48 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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• SCOV Law Blog: Structural problems

  15-12-2017 16:41 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This piece from the SCOV Law Blog is by Elizabeth Kruska.State v. Lampman, 2017 VT 114 
  Creative Commons photo by walknboston via FlickrAny time I see a last name ending with “-man” I tend to think that person might be some sort of superhero, like Spider-Man or Superman. I don’t know Mr. Lampman, but I immediately envisioned him like this: all dark clothing with red gloves, and an emblem of an old-timey gas lantern on his chest that has a yellow glow a
  
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• Sexual harassment complaint filed against unnamed state senator

  15-12-2017 12:05 via vtdigger.org
  House Speaker Mitzi Johnson and Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe discuss legislative priorities for 2018. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDiggerA sexual harassment complaint was filed against a sitting state senator last spring, and the identity of the lawmaker is being kept confidential. So is any information about the nature of the complaint and whether the senator in question has been reprimanded.That’s because, senators say, current Senate rules do not allow a special panel to reveal the na
  
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• UPDATE: Friends of Digger $10K match success!

  15-12-2017 10:37 via vtdigger.org
  Read the story on VTDigger here:UPDATE: Friends of Digger $10K match success!.
  
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• Michael Metz: VTDigger keeps us informed and connected.

  15-12-2017 10:35 via vtdigger.org
  VTDigger makes a point to partner with Vermont’s creative and business community as much as possible — including holding public conversations on important issues, like the state of the economy or our recent event on cleanup of Lake Champlain that was hosted by the Flynn Center.
  These public conversations, based in the news we report every day, are a vital part of our mission and they are supported by you — our readers. VTDigger relies on readers and underwriters to keep o
  
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• SLIDESHOW: Vigils mark Sandy Hook anniversary

  15-12-2017 01:56 via vtdigger.org
  About 40 people gathered in front of Montpelier City Hall at dusk Thursday to mark the fifth anniversary of the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
  The incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, which claimed the lives of 20 students ages 6 and 7, as well as six adults, is one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.
  The advocacy group Gun Sense Vermont organized the Montpelier vigil and nine other events this week in locations around the state.
  Kelly McCracken, a former Gun Sense
  
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• Lawmaker: Take water regulation away from Ag agency

  15-12-2017 01:49 via vtdigger.org
  Anson Tebbetts is sworn in as agriculture secretary. VTDigger file photoThe Agency of Agriculture may no longer be regulating water quality within the same farm industry that it’s responsible for promoting, if a Bennington lawmaker’s proposed legislation passes.
  The transfer of authority would represent a legislative rebuke to an agency that has allowed farming to pollute Vermont public waters, with some rendered unsafe for swimming and drinking for months at a time.
  But Agency of Na
  
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• Vermont officials vow action after FCC nixes net neutrality rules

  15-12-2017 01:17 via vtdigger.org
  Protesters rally Thursday outside the FCC in Washington in favor of net neutrality rules. Photo by Elizabeth Hewitt/VTDigger
  WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission repealed Obama-era internet neutrality regulations on a party-line vote Thursday.
  In the hours after the decision, many Vermont officials came out strongly against the move.
  All three members of Vermont’s congressional delegation signed on to legislation that would restore the regulations. Meanwhile, top Vermon
  
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• Ron Holland: OneCare launching before answers

  15-12-2017 01:05 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: Robert Ronald Holland is a physician and policy analyst who lives in Irasburg. He has no political party affiliation.
  The goal of health care reform is a successful and sustainable health system.
  Vermont’s health policy decision makers launched OneCare Vermont Accountable Care Organization LLC without telling Vermonters critical information about the problem they are attempting to solve. How high are Vermont’s health care costs? How fast have they grown? How good
  
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• Samn Stockwell: Rethinking the holiday toy drive

  15-12-2017 01:00 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Samn Stockwell, of Barre, who works at the Family Center of Washington County and teaches at Community College of Vermont. She has published essays, blogs and poems in many publications.
  A few years ago I was looking through a newspaper and saw a photo of a parent I know being given a surprise gift of toys and food for his family. The look on his face was one of both embarrassment and dismay. He had not asked for this, nor expected his photo to be taken
  
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• Cynthia Norman: Fleece microfibers a danger

  15-12-2017 00:55 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Cynthia Norman, of Burlington, who works for the Lake Champlain Basin Program and is a member of The Nature Conservancy.
  Plastic particles in Lake Champlain just got much more alarming. Polyester fleece sheds minute bits of fiber in the washing machine and a recent study found these microfibers in tap water from 90 percent of U.S. cities tested.
  Each time a fleece garment is washed thousands of invisibly tiny fragments of polyester are shed into the wat
  
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• Education board to lawmakers: ‘Tread lightly’ with demands, costs

  15-12-2017 00:48 via vtdigger.org
  State Board of Education member John Carroll. File photo by Bob LoCicero/VTDigger
  BARRE — The State Board of Education is asking lawmakers to put the brakes on new initiatives and think about price tags, saying schools and communities are overwhelmed and overtaxed. Board members also are questioning a policy that would keep some small schools afloat with state money.Wednesday’s monthly meeting came as the board prepared for the start of the legislative session and the next phase of s
  
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• U.S. attorney: ‘Safe injection’ sites likely to bring federal charges

  15-12-2017 00:45 via vtdigger.org
  Incoming U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont Christina Nolan. Courtesy photo
  BURLINGTON — The incoming U.S. attorney for Vermont issued a strongly worded statement Wednesday suggesting her office would prosecute and seize the assets of anyone operating safe injection facilities in its jurisdiction.
  The statement came in response to a commission report from the Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George, local police, medical professionals and social service providers endor
  
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