Vermont news

• Branagan to retire; Parent hopes to pick up Franklin County Senate seat

  30-03-2018 23:03 via vtdigger.org
  Rep. Carolyn Branagan, R-Georgia. Courtesy photo
  Sen. Carolyn Branagan, a Republican lawmaker from Georgia, is retiring after 16 years. She says it’s time to hand off the role to someone new. And there is already a contender for her seat — fellow GOP member Corey Parent.
  “We’re supposed to be a citizen Legislature,” Branagan said. “We’re not supposed to be here for a lifetime.” Get all of VTDigger's political news.You'll never miss a political stor
  
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• 'Good Dog!': Training Your Pooch Properly dlvr.it/QMwqbD https://t.co/hMBQOxqmsW

  30-03-2018 22:30 via twitter.com
  
  'Good Dog!': Training Your Pooch Properly dlvr.it/QMwqbD https://t.co/hMBQOxqmsW
  
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• In final chapter of gun debate, Senate narrowly passes expansive restrictions

  30-03-2018 21:22 via vtdigger.org
  Meaghan Filkowski, a Harwood Union High School senior, was one of dozens of students who pressed legislators to tighten gun laws. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDiggerA landmark bill that would make a series of changes to the state’s gun laws and has led to two marathon debates in the House earlier this week cleared the Senate on Friday and is heading to the governor.
  The passage of that legislation comes on the heels of final approval earlier in the day of two separate bills that allows police
  
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• The Deeper Dig: Inside the CoverageCo collapse

  30-03-2018 21:03 via vtdigger.org
  CoverageCo antennas provide cellular service on rural roads. Courtesy photo
  Grace Cottage Hospital, at one time the only hospital in Vermont with no cell phone service, was finally connected in June 2017.
  The hospital’s patients value the ability to contact loved ones with medical updates, says Andrea Seaton, the hospital’s director of community affairs. Before its cellular antenna was installed, “We would often see people walking around campus holding up their cellphones, desp
  
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• Margolis: Gender in politics has been rendered inconsequential

  30-03-2018 20:36 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: Jon Margolis is VTDigger’s political columnist.Early next month a new United States senator will be seated.Get all of VTDigger's political news.You'll never miss a political story with our weekly headlines in your inbox.Daily
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• LISTEN: Can We Legislate Against Our Artificial Intelligence Fears? dlvr.it/QMw9LQ https://t.co/yvveLTJT6T

  30-03-2018 19:37 via twitter.com
  
  LISTEN: Can We Legislate Against Our Artificial Intelligence Fears? dlvr.it/QMw9LQ https://t.co/yvveLTJT6T
  
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• Vermont produce growers awarded $74K in second round of produce safety improvement grants

  30-03-2018 17:46 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, & MarketsMarch 29, 2018
  Contact:Dominique GirouxEducation & Outreach Coordinator (Produce Safety)Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, & Markets(802) [email protected]
  Montpelier – The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) awarded $74,000 to nine Vermont produce growers making on-farm improvements that prevent or reduce produce safety risks. Prompted by high demand, VAAFM’
  
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• YWP: ‘Remembering you’

  30-03-2018 17:30 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 fr
  
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• SCOV Law Blog: Arbitration initiation

  30-03-2018 17:00 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This piece from the SCOV Law Blog is by Eric Fanning. 
  Hermitage Inn Real Estate Holding Co., LLC v. Extreme Contracting, LLC 2017 VT 44
  If you can say that title five times fast I’ll give you the deed to my house. Just kidding — I rent. [Pause for laughter] … All jokes aside, we have a contract dispute to suss out folks, so let’s get serious.RELATED STORIESSCOV Law Blog: State seeks to collect income tax from unfiled returnsSCOV Law Blog: Proba
  
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• Stowe Bowl to host VBSR networking get-together, April 11

  30-03-2018 15:32 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont Businesses for Social ResponsibilityMarch 28, 2018
  Contact:Samantha SheehanVermont Businesses for Social [email protected]
  Burlington – Looking for a fun night out, local brews and a chance to network with forward-thinking business and nonprofit leaders? Stowe Bowl will host a Networking Get-Together for local business people and members of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) on April 11th. The event will run from
  
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• Vermont Conservation Voters joins partners to launch nationwide campaign for local progress on clean energy

  30-03-2018 15:27 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont Conservation VotersMarch 29, 2018
  Contact:Lauren HierlVermont Conservation [email protected]
  Montpelier – In the absence of federal leadership, and building on a string of clean energy policy wins in states across the nation, Vermont Conservation Voters is joining with the national League of Conservation Voters and other state affiliates in the Conservation Voter Movement to double down on the progress that can be made
  
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• Hartford committee suggestions include requiring officials to report racist remarks

  30-03-2018 15:24 via vtdigger.org
  Jameson Davis greets a voter at the polls at Hartford High School in White River Junction on Election Day in November. Cyndi Salazar, of White River Junction, is at left, and Selectboard candidate Mike Morris, of Quechee, is at right. Davis won the seat from the incumbent Morris. Photo by James M. Patterson/Valley News
  This story by Matt Hongoltz-Hetling was published in the Valley News on March 30, 2018.
  HARTFORD — As town and school officials consider sweeping recommendations meant to ad
  
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• Leahy and other appropriations leaders meet with NATO officials on national security threats

  30-03-2018 15:23 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Sen. Patrick LeahyMarch 29, 2018
  Contact:David Carle202-224-3693
  Washington, D.C. – Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and other members of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees will meet today and Friday with NATO officials, at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, about national security issues facing the United States and its NATO allies.
  The meetings come as the United States and the NATO allies are acting to counter a variety of security threats, especially from Russ
  
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• Racial disparity in property ownership subject of Williams Lecture at VLS, April 12

  30-03-2018 15:20 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont Law SchoolMarch 29, 2018
  Contact:Maryellen Apelquist, Director of CommunicationsVermont Law [email protected]
  South Royalton – Texas A&M University School of Law Interim Dean and Professor Thomas W. Mitchell will discuss “How to Address Racial Disparity in Property Ownership” during the 14th annual Norman Williams Distinguished Lecture in Land Use Planning and the Law at 5:45 p.m. Thursday, April 12, in Chase Community
  
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• Highland Center for the Arts presents Bread & Puppet Theater performance and gallery show

  30-03-2018 15:16 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Highland Center for the ArtsMarch 29, 2018
  Contact:Ryan UnserHighland Center for the [email protected]
  Greensboro – From now through May 28 Peter Schumann’s Post-Apocalyptic Woodcuts for the ¾ Empire will be exhibited at the Highland Center for the Arts. There will be a special event on Sunday, May 20 at 3:00 pm to celebrate the work, including an artist’s talk, music, and performances by Peter Schumann and Company. Per Bread &a
  
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• UPDATED: Quiros says state EB-5 officials have ‘unclean hands’

  30-03-2018 11:53 via vtdigger.org
  Ariel Quiros at a groundbreaking for AnC Bio Vermont in May 2015. File photo by Anne Galloway/VTDigger
  Ariel Quiros, the former owner of Jay Peak Resort, has filed a motion claiming that the state is partially responsible for allowing him to defraud investors.
  The Miami businessman says the state, which sued him in April 2016 for defrauding investors, comes to the case with “unclean hands,” a legal term that is used to show the plaintiff is also liable. RELATED STORIESCommissioner sa
  
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• Quiros: State EB-5 officials have ‘unclean hands’

  30-03-2018 11:53 via vtdigger.org
  Ariel Quiros at a groundbreaking for AnC Bio Vermont in May 2015. Photo by Anne Galloway/VTDigger
  Ariel Quiros, the former owner of Jay Peak Resort, has filed a counterclaim against the state.The Miami businessman says the state, which sued him in April 2016 for defrauding investors, comes to the case with “unclean hands.” RELATED STORIESCommissioner says probe into alleged China arrest turned up nothingScott won’t commit to an investigation into child sex claimsDonovan demands
  
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• Facing legal censure, Natural Resources secretary defends inaction

  30-03-2018 04:19 via vtdigger.org
  Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Julie Moore speaks at a press conference alongside Gov. Phil Scott, right. File photo by Bob LoCicero/VT Digger
  Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Julie Moore on Thursday offered senators her justifications for failing to finalize a “three-acre” pollution-control rule that was required of her by the end of last year.
  The rule is supposed to require pollution control for large developments with parking lots and other impervious surfaces in exce
  
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• State probing 911 system failure earlier this month

  30-03-2018 02:45 via vtdigger.org
  An ambulance pulls up to Grace Cottage Hospital in Windham County. Photo by Jacki Brown
  Vermont officials are investigating a 45-minute outage of the state’s 911 system earlier this month, which led to nearly a dozen failed emergency calls.
  The outage on March 19 was caused by human error while crews from Consolidated Communications were working on the public switch telephone network, a system that carries phone traffic, according to Barb Neal, executive director of Vermont’s E-911 B
  
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• Lawmakers advance two gun bills with unanimous support

  30-03-2018 02:12 via vtdigger.org
  Vermont students rallied at the Statehouse in February to push for stricter gun control measures. File photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
  Lawmakers advanced two bills Thursday that allow police to seize guns from people in certain situations, approving both with unanimous support.
  The House approved a bill, S.221, that allows law enforcement to confiscate weapons from people deemed to pose an “extreme risk” of danger to themselves or others on a vote of 136-0 Thursday afternoon.Get all
  
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• Hebert won’t seek new fifth term in House

  30-03-2018 01:42 via vtdigger.org
  Rep. Michael Hebert, R-Vernon, with his traditional end-of-session cigar.
  State Rep. Mike Hebert, R-Vermont, announced on Thursday he will not seek reelection this year so that he can devote more time to caring for his wife, who has been diagnosed with cancer.
  In announcing the decision, Hebert, a four-term Republican, recalled a time when he had been gravely ill, in the fall of 2015. All he really remembered of the worst days, he said, was the constant presence of his wife, Deb. And the time ha
  
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• Guy Page: A foundation for hope at Vermont Yankee

  30-03-2018 01:05 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Guy Page, of Berlin, who is the communications director of the Vermont Energy Partnership, of which Vermont Yankee is a member. He is also a member of the coordinating committee of the Consumer Liaison Group of ISO-New England, operators of New England’s electricity grid.
  On March 2, nine diverse organizations reached a settlement agreement to support NorthStar’s plan to decommission Vermont Yankee and restore the Vernon site for potential r
  
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• Jules Rabin: Schools’ expanding role requires spending

  30-03-2018 01:00 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Jules Rabin, who came to Vermont in 1968 to teach at Goddard College and 10 years later shifted to baking bread in a wood-fired oven. He lives in Plainfield.Dear Gov. Scott,
  I‘m writing you in connection with your frequent remarks about what you consider to be a lopsided student-teacher ratio in Vermont’s schools.
  I don’t question the fact that our student-staff ratio is high and may be among the highest in the nation.
  I do question yo
  
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• Lara Merchant: When is too much too much?

  30-03-2018 00:55 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Lara Merchant, of Montpelier, who is an early childhood special educator.
  Columbine, 1999. Two teens murdered 12 students, one teacher and wounded 21 others with multiple types of firearms in a 35-minute span.
  Aurora Movie Theater, 2012. A 24-year-old murdered 12 people and wounded 58 with multiple firearms, including a semi-automatic rifle in just seven minutes.
  Sandy Hook Elementary School, 2012. A 20-year-old murdered his mother at home. He went on t
  
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• Jay Craven: Listen to the young

  30-03-2018 00:50 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Jay Craven, of Peacham, a filmmaker and director of Kingdom County Productions. He teaches at Sarah Lawrence College. This piece first aired on VPR.
  The sudden surge of high school-driven youth activism, focused on issues of gun violence, reminds me of the 1963 Birmingham Alabama Children’s Crusade, which changed the course of history and moved President John F. Kennedy to take a dramatic stand against racial segregation which had refused to yield
  
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• Developer at center of court filings on solar project

  30-03-2018 00:40 via vtdigger.org
   
  Allco’s Sudbury Solar project in Vermont. Photo by Allco Renewable Energy
  BENNINGTON — Legal firefights continue to flash over the multiple solar projects Allco Renewable Energy proposes in Bennington.
  The developer’s latest salvo, filed in Chittenden Superior Court Civil Division, is a suit against the state and VTrans. Allco Renewable principals Michael Melone and Thomas Melone are seeking to overturn project setbacks the state agency is requiring between a planned sol
  
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