Vermont news

• Prisons vying for Vermont’s inmates have troubled pasts

  29-06-2018 23:51 via vtdigger.org
  Laurel Harry, superintendent of the Pennsylvania state prison at Camp Hill, gives VTDigger a tour of the facility. Vermont inmates soon will be housed there. Photo by Jasper Craven/VTDigger
  The two prisons in the running to take in Vermont’s out-of-state inmates have faced problems over the past decade with understaffing, mistreatment of prisoners and inadequate medical services. One was found to have “critical issues” with inmate health care just last year.Vermont announced ea
  
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• Small school metrics set, potentially cutting funding from 3 schools

  29-06-2018 23:15 via vtdigger.org
  Krista Huling is chair of the State Board of Education. Photo by Bob LoCicero
  FAIRLEE — The State Board of Education reluctantly set new eligibility criteria for a funding program for Vermont’s smallest schools Wednesday. But the board hopes state legislators will reconsider the program entirely before their new policy takes effect next July.
  Under the 2015 education reform law Act 46, the board was tasked with setting up qualifying metrics for small schools grants, a decades-old fun
  
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• Island Line Rail Trail opens ahead of Fourth of July holiday weekend

  29-06-2018 23:06 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Office of the GovernorFriday, June 29, 2018
  Contact:Rebecca Kelley, Office of the Governor, 802-828-6403Joel Perrigo, Vermont Agency of Transportation, 802-595-4933
  South Hero, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott, Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn, representatives from the towns of Colchester and South Hero, Vermont Fish and Wildlife, Local Motion, local and state officials and supporters celebrated the official reopening of the Lake Champlain Island Line Rail Trail, several da
  
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• Vermont Economic Development Authority approves business and agriculture loans

  29-06-2018 21:30 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont Economic Development AuthorityJune 27, 2018
  Contact:Jo Bradley802-828-5627
  VEDA APPROVES BUSINESS AND AGRICULTURAL LOANS TOTALING $10.9 MILLION
  Montpelier, VT – The Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) recently approved $10.9 million in loans to help support commercial, agricultural, small business and energy projects throughout Vermont.
  “Vermont’s travel and tourism infrastructure will be enhanced with the addition of new and substantially
  
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• Cannabis Etiquette In The Age Of Legalization dlvr.it/QYyZmr https://t.co/rDaGxKHF7o

  29-06-2018 21:26 via twitter.com
  
  Cannabis Etiquette In The Age Of Legalization dlvr.it/QYyZmr https://t.co/rDaGxKHF7o
  
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• LISTEN: The State Budget Debacle Is Over — But Here's What It Could Mean For Campaign 2018 dlvr.it/QYyLyR https://t.co/EqWvOOUpH1

  29-06-2018 20:34 via twitter.com
  
  LISTEN: The State Budget Debacle Is Over — But Here's What It Could Mean For Campaign 2018 dlvr.it/QYyLyR https://t.co/EqWvOOUpH1
  
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• Alex Farrell: Missed budget opportunity

  29-06-2018 20:00 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Alex FarrellJune 26, 2018
  Contact:Alex R. [email protected]
  Budget Debate Displays a Missed Opportunity for LeadershipSenate Leadership Kill Negotiations Agreed upon by the Governor and House
  Burlington, VT – Despite a unique budget surplus of more than $50 million – and more projected in the near future, the Chittenden County Senate delegation pushed through a budget that raises property taxes.
  In response to Governor Scott’s announce
  
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• Vermont State Police to heighten enforcement of sober boating

  29-06-2018 19:29 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont State PoliceJune 26, 2018
  CONTACT:Trooper Chris [email protected]
  Vermont State Police will be on the lookout for drunk and impaired boatersOperation Dry Water – Nationwide crackdown on boating under the influence
  Williston, VT– The Vermont State Police will be conducting heightened enforcement targeting boating under the influence as part of the national Operation Dry Water campaign.
  Law enforcement will be focused on educati
  
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• Mosquitoes in Springfield test positive for West Nile virus

  29-06-2018 19:11 via vtdigger.org
  A dish of mosquitoes for sorting at the state laboratory in Berlin. File photo by Viola Gad/VTDigger
  This story was published by the Valley News on June 29.
  SPRINGFIELD — Mosquitoes in Springfield have tested positive for the West Nile virus, Vermont Health Department officials announced this morning.Get all of VTDigger's health care news.You'll never miss our health care coverage with our weekly headlines in your inbox.Daily
  Sundays only (Weekly Wrap) Email me stories on these subjects...
  
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• Jay Peak investors sue two Vermont attorneys

  29-06-2018 18:22 via vtdigger.org
  Jay Peak’s Tram Haus Lodge. Photo by Justin Cash/skivermont.com
  A group of Jay Peak investors is suing two Vermont lawyers, contending the attorneys had a conflict of interest.
  Edward Carroll and Mark Scribner, formerly of Carroll & Scribner, represented both the foreign investors and the resort, the lawsuit alleges.Get all of VTDigger's criminal justice news.You'll never miss our courts and criminal justice coverage with our weekly headlines in your inbox.Daily
  Sundays only (Weekly Wr
  
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• YWP: ‘Cages’

  29-06-2018 17:45 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: Examining the decision to allow Vermont Gas pipeline to run through Hinesburg park

  29-06-2018 17:30 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This piece from the SCOV Law Blog is by Thomas M. Kester. 
  In re Vermont Gas Systems, Inc., 2017 VT 83
  The question is whether land dedicated to public use may be condemned for another public use when the new use does not materially interfere with the prior use. Intervenors are a group of Hinesburg residents who use Geprags Park (“park”) and they are appealing a Public Service Board (“Board”) order. On the other side is Vermont Gas Systems Inc. (
  
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• SCOV Law Blog: Appeal sought to halt Vermont Gas pipeline in park

  29-06-2018 17:30 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This piece from the SCOV Law Blog is by Thomas M. Kester. 
  In re Vermont Gas Systems, Inc., 2017 VT 83
  The question is whether land dedicated to public use may be condemned for another public use when the new use does not materially interfere with the prior use. Intervenors are a group of Hinesburg residents who use Geprags Park (“park”) and they are appealing a Public Service Board (“Board”) order. On the other side is Vermont Gas Systems Inc. (
  
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• Shutdown averted, taxes increased — who came out ahead?

  29-06-2018 04:05 via vtdigger.org
  Gov. Phil Scott fields questions about his finance proposal last month. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
  Gov. Phil Scott said Thursday that he would have faced the brunt of the blame if he didn’t prevent a government shutdown and allow the third budget bill passed by the Legislature to become law.“The focal point would be on me,” he said during his first public comments since the political impasse ended on Monday. “I think we’d all suffer in some regards and it was
  
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• Leahy and Murray seek to restrict 100-mile border patrol zone

  29-06-2018 03:11 via vtdigger.org
  A U.S. Border Patrol agent checks a car on the I-93 southbound lane in September south of the Route 175 exit south of Lincoln. Photo by Geoff Forester
  Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., are seeking to limit the powers of federal border agents in areas miles away from the border.
  Current law gives federal border agents broad authorities within 100 miles of the border region. The bill would cut the border zone by three quarters.Get all of VTDigger's political news.You'll never
  
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• Bus driver charged with human trafficking, sexual assault of a minor

  29-06-2018 02:49 via vtdigger.org
  Douglas Hersey, 43, a bus driver and EMT worker in East Montpelier charged with child sex crimes.
  A Plainfield man pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to a series of charges related to his alleged online recruitment of a 15-year-old girl that he repeatedly had sex with and prepared to sell into prostitution when she was 16.Douglas Hersey, 43, a bus driver and EMT worker in East Montpelier, was charged with aggravated human trafficking with a child under 18, sexual assault with a with a child under 1
  
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• Anne Donahue: A night of rancor in the Statehouse

  29-06-2018 02:41 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Rep. Anne B. Donahue, R-Washington 1, who represents Northfield and Berlin in the Vermont House of Representatives. She wrote this piece on Sunday.
  Was it only insider baseball that doesn’t really matter?
  I don’t think so. I think voters need to know about the very sad – shocking, even — chain of events in our state’s House of Representatives last Friday night.
  Someone’s word has always meant something before. A commi
  
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• Elayne Clift: Following in the footsteps of MLK

  29-06-2018 02:40 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Elayne Clift, who writes about women, culture and social issues from Saxtons River.
  It wasn’t the first time the Rev. Dr. William Barber, a pastor in Goldsboro, North Carolina, and co-founder of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, landed in jail, but it was the first time in Washington, D.C. He was arrested in June while leading a peaceful protest in front of the Supreme Court advocating for the protection of Ameri
  
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• Mari Cordes: Standing for inclusion and compassion

  29-06-2018 02:38 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Mari Cordes, of Lincoln, who is a longtime nurse and former president of the nurses union at the UVM Medical Center. She is a Democratic candidate for the Addison-4 seat in the Vermont House of Representatives.Aren’t you afraid?
  That’s what a friend messaged me after they read my postings about helping Syrians, Afghanis and Iraqis out of flimsy “life rafts” and giving them medical care after they fled across the Aegean Sea. After
  
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