Vermont news

• Scorching temps to reach ‘dangerous’ levels

  30-06-2018 12:36 via vtdigger.org
  Public safety officials and meteorologists are encouraging Vermonters to take precaution as a looming heat wave moves in over the weekend.
  Potentially record-breaking temperatures, possibly as warm as 100, are expected to hit all parts of the state starting on Saturday, and last for an extended time period.
  Scott Whittier, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Burlington, said the length and temperature of the heat wave is something northern New England rarely experiences– only once
  
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• Democrats look for ways to oppose SCOTUS pick, but options are limited

  30-06-2018 02:22 via vtdigger.org
  Justice Anthony Kennedy swears in Justice Neil Gorsuch in April 2017, in the Rose Garden of the White House. Shealah Craighead/Official White House Photo
  BURLINGTON — As the White House gears up for the process of selecting a nominee to fill an upcoming Supreme Court vacancy, Senate Democrats are strategizing how to counter another conservative pick from President Donald Trump.
  But they may not have many options, according to experts.Get all of VTDigger's political news.You'll never miss a
  
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• Scott signs systemic racism bill after prior veto, executive order

  30-06-2018 01:19 via vtdigger.org
  ​Gov. Phil Scott​ speaks at a news conference last year. File photo by Erin Mansfield/VTDigger
  After vetoing an earlier version of the proposal and facing criticism over an executive order he issued to replace it, Gov. Phil Scott on Thursday signed into law a bill aimed at eradicating systemic racism in state government.The new law creates a five-member Racial Equity Advisory Panel and a cabinet-level Executive Director of Racial Equity tasked with identifying and combating systemic
  
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• Kevin Ellis: Vermont’s missed opportunity

  30-06-2018 01:05 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Kevin Ellis, a partner in Ellis Mills, a communications consulting firm in Montpelier. He is a member of the board of the Vermont Journalism Trust, the parent organization of VTDigger.
  David Hall’s decision to sell the more than 1,000 acres he owns in Orange and Windsor counties is a missed opportunity for Vermont and a bad omen for our future.
  (Disclosure – I was a paid consultant to Hall for a few months last year and lived in South Straff
  
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• Deborah Bucknam: The closer-to-home family separations

  30-06-2018 01:00 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Deborah Bucknam, of Walden, who was the Republican candidate for attorney general in 2016. She is a graduate of Vermont Law School in private practice in St. Johnsbury and past vice chair of the Vermont Republican Party.
  There has been an enormous outcry over the last several weeks over immigrant children being separated from their parents. Commentators have called family separations traumatic, abusive, inhumane, cruel and immoral. They have opined that
  
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• Bob Stannard: Local is the real solution

  30-06-2018 00:55 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Bob Stannard, an author, musician and former lobbyist. This piece first appeared in the Bennington Banner.
  The level of fear and anger in America may not be unprecedented but it sure is close. People are angry and the result of their anger is that we now find ourselves in arguably the worst position in modern times.
  For many years to come America will be known as the country that allowed kids to be torn from their parent’s arms.
  The administration
  
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• The Deeper Dig: How cannabis case law will shape legalization

  30-06-2018 00:38 via vtdigger.org
  Attorney Tim Fair specializes in marijuana-related cases, hoping to set new legal precedents around drug use. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
  The Deeper Dig is a weekly podcast from the VTDigger newsroom. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
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  Sundays only (Weekly Wrap) Email me stories on t
  
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