Vermont news

• Bennington runway project on pace to meet late July deadline

  28-05-2018 18:13 via vtdigger.org
  Crews remove surface material and begin grading work as part of a complete reconstruction of the runway at Morse State Airport in Bennington. Photo by Holly Pelczynski/Bennington Banner
  BENNINGTON — A $4 million reconstruction of the Morse State Airport runway, scheduled to finish up by July 30, appears on pace to meet that deadline.
  Crews working under contractor Markowski Excavating Inc. began work in late April and soon after removed the surface of the entire 3,704-foot runway, which wi
  
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• Ethan Allen, ‘loudmouth opportunist’?

  28-05-2018 17:47 via vtdigger.org
  Retired New York Times reporter and current-day Vermonter Christopher S. Wren is author of the new book “Those Turbulent Sons of Freedom: Ethan Allen’s Green Mountain Boys and the American Revolution.” Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger
  Christopher S. Wren retired more than a decade ago as a New York Times reporter in such places as Beijing, Cairo, Johannesburg, Moscow and Ottawa. But as readers are discovering, the current-day Vermonter is still asking questions.
  “Yo
  
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• Key trade agreement for Vermont falls behind schedule

  28-05-2018 17:12 via vtdigger.org
  North American Free Trade Agreement logo. Creative Commons
  WASHINGTON — An international trade agreement that Vermont officials say is crucial to the state is still under discussion, though congressional leaders say time is running out to complete a deal this year.
  Republican congressional leaders warned that a new version of the North American Free Trade Agreement would have to be completed by mid-May in order to give lawmakers time to pass it by the end of the year.
  If negotiators from t
  
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• Colin Meyn, Jim Welch, Ellen Bartlett join VTDigger editing team

  28-05-2018 15:38 via vtdigger.org
  Front row: Mike Dougherty, Cate Chant, Anne Galloway; back row: Colin Meyn, Ellen Bartlett, Jim Welch. Missing from photo: Mark Johnson, Dave Gram. Photo by Bob LoCicero/VTDigger
  VTDigger welcomes three new editors to the newsroom team: News Editor Colin Meyn, Projects Editor Jim Welch and Environmental Editor Ellen Bartlett.
  Colin Meyn, news editor, spent most of his career in Cambodia, where he was a reporter and editor at English-language newspapers The Cambodia Daily and The Phnom Penh Post.
  
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• Russell Barr seeks to intervene in state case against Ariel Quiros

  28-05-2018 14:04 via vtdigger.org
  Russell Barr speaks to reporters outside the Lamoille County Courthouse in Hyde Park last summer. Photo by Anne Galloway/VTDigger
  An attorney for a group of EB-5 investors has taken a new legal tack since a judge threw out his case last month.Russell Barr, of the Stowe-based Barr Law Group, filed a recent motion in Washington County Superior civil court to intervene in a lawsuit brought by the state more than two years ago against Jay Peak’s former Ariel Quiros.Get all of VTDigger's crimin
  
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• Threat of government shutdown looms over budget impasse

  28-05-2018 12:49 via vtdigger.org
  Gov. Phil Scott meets with Senate leaders to discuss expectations for the special session starting this week. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
  As a budget impasse in Montpelier drags on into another week of negotiations, an uncommon threat looms over the statehouse: the possibility of a government shutdown.
  Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Phil Scott, who fundamentally disagree over the use of a budget surplus and a property tax rate hike, would have to iron out a deal and pass a budget by July 1 i
  
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• Valley News: More grandparents raising their grandchildren

  28-05-2018 12:25 via vtdigger.org
  Tygen Bailey, 1, and his mother lived with his grandmother Angi Markert, in Springfield until he was five-months-old. When his mother’s mental health and romantic relationships made the home an unsafe environment for Bailey, Markert evicted her daughter and sought to become his legal guardian. Bailey looks out into Markert’s yard. Valley News photo/James M. PattersonEditor’s note: This story by Nora Doyle-Burr first appeared in the Valley News on May 26, 2018.SPRINGFIELD &
  
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• Gov. Phil Scott’s public schedule May 26-June 1, 2018

  28-05-2018 05:24 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Gov. Phil ScottMay 25, 2018
  Contact:Kelley, [email protected]
  Governor Phil Scott’s Public Schedule: 5/26/18 – 6/1/18
  Saturday, May 26
  No public events scheduled at this time
  Sunday, May 27
  No public events scheduled at this time
  Monday, May 28 – Memorial Day
  3:30 – 4:30 PM
  Dedication of Swanton Village Bridge to Vietnam War Veterans
  Route 78 Bridge (Located at the bottom of Merchant’s Row), Swanton, VT
  Tuesday, May 29
  7:30 &ndas
  
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• Rural cell service down in key areas after landline carrier cuts access

  28-05-2018 01:44 via vtdigger.org
  CoverageCo radio devices provide cellular service on rural roads. Courtesy photo
  A company trying to expand cellular telephone coverage in rural Vermont may have suffered a fatal blow with a decision by the state’s largest landline carrier to cut off Vanu CoverageCo’s access to most of its network.
  CoverageCo late Friday filed an emergency petition with the state Public Utility Commission asking for an order that Consolidated Communications restore service to about 130 CoverageCo mic
  
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• Robby Porter: The free market ideology

  28-05-2018 01:38 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Robby Porter, of East Montpelier, a self-employed woodworker and the owner and partner in small scale hydroelectric projects. He is the author of “Doodlebug, A Road Trip Journal,”.
  Like a lot of Americans, I drive around wondering what it would take to feel as though we were all in this together, one country instead of red against blue, liberal against conservative, rich against poor.
  I got a little insight on a cold, rainy Friday while I wa
  
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• Brad Peacock: A gay soldier’s story

  28-05-2018 01:32 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Brad Peacock, of Shaftsbury, who is an independent candidate for U.S. Senate in November. He is a farmer at Clear Brook Farm in Shaftsbury, where he was born, raised and has spent most of his life. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and a graduate of the University of Vermont.
  This past year, we have all seen the disgraceful instances of discrimination emanating from this president and his White House. One such instance of division has now come into
  
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• Karen Gross: Words vs. action

  28-05-2018 01:30 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Karen Gross, the former president of Southern Vermont College, who is now an author and educational consultant in Washington, D.C.
  I can’t do it anymore. Something has to change. Now.
  I have been attending a number of meetings, webinars, events, symposia and convenings in the last several weeks on topics about which we should care deeply: race relations; shootings in schools; sexual abuse on campuses (and off); developments in how technology can i
  
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