Vermont news

• Burlington mayor and police chief chastise Chittenden County State’s Attorney

  09-09-2018 21:20 via vtdigger.org
  Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George. Photo by Cory Dawson/VTDigger
  The Burlington Police Department publicly criticized Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George’s decision not prosecute a case related to a late-night shooting on Church Street earlier this year.
  George concluded in her review of the case that there were not sufficient grounds to move forward with prosecuting Carl Martin, who police had arrested in August on three charges related to his involve
  
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• Vermont bishop: ‘It is not enough to apologize’

  09-09-2018 21:07 via vtdigger.org
  Vermont Catholic Bishop Christopher Coyne addresses past child abuse by church personnel at an unprecedented Sunday press conference at Burlington’s St. Joseph Cathedral. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger
  BURLINGTON — Vermont Catholic Bishop Christopher Coyne held an unprecedented Sunday press conference to vow “concrete courses of action” in response to recent national news-making reports of past child abuse by church personnel.
  “As ministers of Jesus seeking
  
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• State mulls options if VITL fix doesn’t work

  09-09-2018 21:00 via vtdigger.org
  Mike Smith is the interim CEO of Vermont Information Technology Leaders, or VITL. File photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
  Even as officials try to fix Vermont’s troubled health information exchange, they’ve come up with a plan for what to do if those efforts don’t work out.
  A new report presents six options that state officials or Vermont Information Technology Leaders, which operates the patient-record database, could pursue if they are unable to meet reform mandates from the Le
  
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• Law allowing seizure of firearms from suspected abusers takes effect

  09-09-2018 20:45 via vtdigger.org
  Guns in the state’s possession are kept in a secure storage facility organized by local police department. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDiggerA new law went into effect at the start of this month that allows police to seize firearms from suspected domestic abusers at the scene of an arrest.
  “These are times that an abuser or a perpetrator is going to feel the most threatened, and it may be the time they are most likely to use a weapon at their disposal,” said Avaloy Lanning, execu
  
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• Scott says he supports Vermont lawsuit against Purdue Pharma

  09-09-2018 20:01 via vtdigger.org
  Gov. Phil Scott speaks to reporters in March. File photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
  Gov. Phil Scott said Friday he supports Attorney General TJ Donovan’s lawsuit against Purdue Pharma, the producer of the opioid OxyContin, but the governor’s campaign still refuses to return a donation from the company.
  “I look at this the same as I do with tobacco. That is, if there’s wrongdoing on anyone’s part, if there was any deception of any sort—these enterprises should
  
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• Mark Hughes: White people, break your silence

  09-09-2018 19:55 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Mark Hughes, of Montpelier, who is executive director of Justice for All.
  Racial hate and the systemic response to it (or lack thereof) are what recently forced an African-American political candidate to withdraw her candidacy. Our constitution says that “Every person within this state ought to find a certain remedy, by having recourse to the laws, for all injuries or wrongs which one may receive in person, property or character; every person ough
  
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• Allen Gilbert: End the school merger wars

  09-09-2018 19:05 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Allen Gilbert, who was chair of the Worcester School Board in 1995 when it joined the Brigham school funding lawsuit. He also chaired his supervisory union’s board, served as president of the Vermont School Boards Association, served on his regional high school board, and is serving again on the Worcester board. He retired in 2016 as executive director of the ACLU-VT. These views are his own.
  I’ve been reading about the “Vicious Act&rd
  
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• Judith Augsberg: Coventry landfill is Vermonters’ responsibility

  09-09-2018 18:00 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Judith Augsberg, of Randolph, who is a retired teacher.
  I am surprised and disappointed that the prospect of an enlarged landfill at Coventry, operated by the private company Casella, is not getting more attention and concern from Vermonters. The Coventry landfill is located on land a stone’s throw from the Black River which flows into Lake Memphremagog.
  Though there is evidence that groundwater near the facility is already polluted, Casella maint
  
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• If you've cared for a loved one as he or she died, what support would you have liked to receive? What advice would… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

  09-09-2018 17:38 via twitter.com
  If you've cared for a loved one as he or she died, what support would you have liked to receive? What advice would… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
  
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• Then Again: Plagued by adversity, Wolcott’s first settler persevered

  09-09-2018 17:00 via vtdigger.org
  This print accompanied the narrative Seth Hubbell published in 1824 about his years spent struggling to establish a farm in the wilds of Vermont in 1789. Courtesy of the Vermont Historical Society
  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.”Bad luck clung to Seth Hubbell and his family like burdock on wool as they tried to carve out a homestead in the Vermont wildern
  
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• Hermitage Club members OK deal to bring back the ski resort

  09-09-2018 17:00 via vtdigger.org
  The Hermitage Club in Wilmington. Photo by Kristopher Radder/Brattleboro Reformer
  Editor’s note: This article by Chris Mays was published by the Brattleboro Reformer on Sept. 7.
  DEERFIELD VALLEY — Hermitage Club members voted 209-165 to pay a higher annual dues and move forward with a deal that would bring a private ski resort back to life again this winter.RELATED STORIESHermitage Club’s uncertain future reverberates through Deerfield ValleyHermitage Club may have new lease on
  
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• Hallquist’s pro-labor message fails to win over the union she once worked with

  09-09-2018 15:49 via vtdigger.org
  Democratic gubernatorial candidate Christine Hallquist spoke to union organizers on the UVM nurses strike picket line in July. Every major union has backed Hallquist except the one representing her former employees at the Vermont Electric Cooperative. File photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
  In campaign videos and on the stump, Christine Hallquist talks about the importance of labor unions and recalls a positive relationship with her employees while leading the Vermont Electric Cooperative for more
  
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• Vermont prisoners to be moved to Mississippi prison run by CoreCivic

  09-09-2018 12:12 via vtdigger.org
  Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in northwest Mississippi. Photo credit: Wikimedia CommonsThe Department of Corrections finalized negotiations on August 27 with an out-of-state prison, according to officials.VTDigger has confirmed that once state officials and lawyers on both sides sign off on a finalized contract this week, more than 200 Vermont inmates will move in October to a facility run by private prison giant CoreCivic in Mississippi. Get all of VTDigger's criminal justice news.Y
  
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