Vermont news

• Regulatory approach to limiting opioid prescriptions sparks debate

  03-06-2018 23:58 via vtdigger.org
  A poster from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont at an opiate conference in Burlington in May, touts reductions in prescription opioids due to new state regulations. Photo by Mike Faher/VTDigger
  In 2016, as the number of fatal drug overdoses spiked, Vermont officials enacted a law calling for new limits on opioid prescriptions.
  Two and a half years later, the law and its new prescribing rules are having the desired effect: New statistics show that the amount of opioids dispensed in the state has
  
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• Federal government responds slowly to Juuling, leaving it to local action

  03-06-2018 23:06 via vtdigger.org
  The JUUL doesn’t look like a cigarette but it still delivers nicotine. Photo courtesy of Uh-oh Photo.
  WINOOSKI – The booming e-cigarette market got a little bigger — and more attractive to young users — with the addition of a JUUL, a product that doesn’t resemble a cigarette, but still delivers the nicotine.With popularity among teens soaring in the past year, Vermont schools like Winooski High are starting to grapple with a new class of young nicotine users.“
  
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• Shaftsbury Rep. Alice Miller to retire after 11 terms

  03-06-2018 22:40 via vtdigger.org
  After 22 years in the Vermont Legislature, Rep. Alice Miller, D-Shaftsbury, has decided not to seek another term. Photo by Dave LaChance/Bennington BannerSHAFTSBURY — Longtime Shaftsbury Rep. Alice Miller said a House colleague once told her she would know when it was time to retire from the Legislature.
  That time has come, she said this week, announcing that she won’t seek a 12th term in November.Get all of VTDigger's political news.You'll never miss a political story with our weekl
  
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• Historic district will expand to include ‘Little Italy’

  03-06-2018 22:18 via vtdigger.org
  Amtrak’s southbound Vermonter leaves the station that is in the heart of White River Junction. File photo by Mike Schafer/White River Junction Productions
  This story by Matt Hongoltz-Hetling originally appeared in the Valley News on May 30, 2018.
  WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — In a move made in part to honor this river town’s Italian-American past, the town Selectboard last week voted to expand the downtown historic district to include a residential portion of South Main Street.
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• Then Again: Vermonters set sail to seek fortunes in China

  03-06-2018 20:00 via vtdigger.org
  Chinese and European boats mingle on the Pearl River near the factories of Canton (Guangzhou) in a painting from the early 1800s. Wikimedia Commons photo
  Editor’s note: Mark Bushnell is a Vermont journalist and historian. He is the author of “Hidden History of Vermont” and “It Happened in Vermont.”Amos Porter dreaded the voyage, but determined to make it anyway, he boarded the ship Amethyst in Boston and set sail on April 1, 1802.RELATED STORIESThen Again: Father of
  
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• Will nukes accompany F-35s to Vermont? No one’s saying

  03-06-2018 18:00 via vtdigger.org
  F-35A Lightning II aircraft. Defense Department photo
  In an undated internal analysis of press coverage tied to the proposed basing of F-35 fighter jets at Burlington International Airport, Vermont Air National Guard leaders detailed five potential media questions “We Hope We Don’t Get.”
  The first four dreaded questions were often asked throughout the years-long debate over the controversial plane’s basing, and included “Why is the F35A four times louder?” and
  
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