Vermont news

• Welch focuses on Trump in second day of public impeachment hearings

  15-11-2019 23:12 via vtdigger.org
  
  WASHINGTON, D.C. — While President Donald Trump drew attention for his Twitter salvo on Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine, Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., refocused the House Democrats’ attack on the president during the second day of public hearings in the impeachment inquiry Friday.
  Welch, speaking after Trump loyalist Rep. Jim Jordan, D-Ohio, targeted the Democrats handling of the hearing, said the inquiry is about whether the president abused the power of his office fo
  
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• We have $17,000 to go to make the NewsMatch goal. Will you help VTDigger?

  15-11-2019 22:38 via vtdigger.org
  
  Thanks to readers who support our rigorous reporting, VTDigger has $17,000 to go to make the NewsMatch and friends challenge for our 2019 Annual Fund Drive.
  We are so are grateful to the 825 members who have helped us raise $48,000 since Nov. 1.For a limited time, every dollar donated to VTDigger up to $65,000 will be matched by the Knight Foundation, Democracy Fund, REI Co-op, and generous friends of VTDigger. New monthly contributions and one-time gifts of up to $1,000 count toward this match,
  
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• Vermont Gas commits to zero emissions by 2050

  15-11-2019 22:38 via vtdigger.org
  
  Vermont Gas headquarters in South Burlington. File photo by Bob LoCicero/VTDiggerSOUTH BURLINGTON — Vermont Gas has unveiled plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30% over the next 10 years and get to zero emissions by mid-century. 
  The state’s sole natural gas utility plans to achieve its ambitious reduction targets in part by selling less gas, utility CEO Don Rendall  said at a press conference Thursday.
  In a move indicating an intention to shift direction, the company
  
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• In New York Times op-ed, Del Pozo says police should use guns as a last resort

  15-11-2019 20:51 via vtdigger.org
  
  Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo speaks during a press conference in Burlington lastApril. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — Police Chief Brandon del Pozo has called for a shift in police training away from firearm use in situations where distressed individuals are holding knives.
  In a New York Times op-ed published Thursday, del Pozo wrote that police training around the country teaches officers to lead with a gun in those situations. “We tell officers that a
  
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• Del Pozo urges shift in way officers view use of guns

  15-11-2019 20:51 via vtdigger.org
  
  Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo speaks during a press conference in Burlington lastApril. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — Police Chief Brandon del Pozo has called for a shift in police training away from firearm use in situations where distressed individuals are holding knives.In a New York Times op-ed published Thursday, del Pozo wrote that police training around the country teaches officers to lead with the gun in those situations. “We tell officers that a
  
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• BPD disproportionately used force on black residents, new report shows

  15-11-2019 20:20 via vtdigger.org
  
  Burlington police at work along the Church Street Marketplace. Photo by Jim Welch/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — Black individuals were the subjects in more than a fifth of the cases where Burlington police used of force, despite making up only 6% of the city’s population, according to a report the department released Friday. 
  BPD used force in 1,639 incidents between 2012 and 2018 — during that same time, police made 14,068 arrests and responded to 240,137 incidents, according to t
  
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• Fire temporarily closes UVM buildings

  15-11-2019 19:07 via vtdigger.org
  
  Firefighters responded to a call about a small chemical fire in a lab at UVM Friday. Photo by Jacob Dawson/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — Multiple buildings in the University of Vermont’s STEM complex temporarily closed Friday because of a small chemical fire.
  Firefighters responded to the UVM campus just before 11 a.m. after receiving a call about a fire in a lab at the Innovation and Discovery Halls. The fire department cleared the scene and the buildings reopened about two hours later, thou
  
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• SCOV Law Blog: Denied early release, inmate appeals

  15-11-2019 18:21 via vtdigger.org
  
  Editor’s note: This piece from the SCOV Law Blog is by Elizabeth Kruska.Sullivan v. Menard 2019 VT 76Not everyone spends a lot of time in criminal court. Even fewer people spend a lot of time handling post-conviction issues that arise. You’d think with the rise of true-crime series, like Making a Murderer or podcasts like Serial and Undisclosed(and all the eleventy jillion others out there; I kid, many of them are interesting) that everyone and their sister is somehow suddenly involv
  
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• Scott announces phosphorus removal challenge finalists

  15-11-2019 17:38 via vtdigger.org
  
  Lake Carmi was closed for three months in late 2017 because of toxic algae blooms caused by pollution from local dairy farms.New pollution limits are aimed at keeping Lake Memphremagog from meeting the same fate. Photo by Mike Polhamus/VTDigger
  Gov. Phil Scott on Thursday announced five finalists who will receive $1 million in funding to further develop technologies to remove harmful phosphorus from Vermont’s environment. 
  Scott launched the Phosphorus Innovation Challenge, which aime
  
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• YWP: ‘I wish for the galaxies’

  15-11-2019 17:00 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 Y
  
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• Will you help VTDigger make the NewsMatch finish line? We have $18,454 to go.

  15-11-2019 10:38 via vtdigger.org
  
  Thanks to readers who support our rigorous reporting, VTDigger has $18,454 to go to make the NewsMatch and friends challenge for our 2019 Annual Fund Drive.
  We are so are grateful to the 815 members who have helped us raise $46,546 since Nov. 1.For a limited time, every dollar donated to VTDigger up to $65,000 will be matched by the Knight Foundation, Democracy Fund, REI Co-op, and generous friends of VTDigger. New monthly contributions and one-time gifts of up to $1,000 count toward this match,
  
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• Harwood school board votes to (sort of) close Fayston Elementary

  15-11-2019 02:39 via vtdigger.org
  The Harwood Unified school board voted to explore a plan to close the Fayston Elementary School. Photo via Fayston Elementary School’s Facebook pageA unified school board in the Mad River Valley has formally endorsed closing a local elementary school in the face of declining enrollments.
  The Harwood Unified school board voted 7-6 Wednesday night to explore a plan to close the Fayston Elementary School, and move all district seventh and eighth graders to Crossett Brook Middle School, along
  
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• Judge chastises boyfriend of accused killer: ‘There’s a human decency issue here’

  15-11-2019 01:57 via vtdigger.org
  
  Corey Cassani was sentenced to three to seven years in prison in St. Albans Criminal court on Thursday as an accessory after the fact in the killing of Troy Ford in Highgate. Pool photo by Tom Benton/St. Albans Messenger
  ST. ALBANS – A Swanton man who pleaded guilty to helping his girlfriend bury and hide in the northern Vermont woods the body of the man she is accused of killing will serve at least three years in prison.
  Judge A. Gregory Rainville admonishes Corey Cassani in court on Thur
  
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• Ben Cohen: Why Bernie and I agreed to disagree

  15-11-2019 01:05 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Ben Cohen, who is co-chair of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign and the co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.At the start of his presidential campaign, Sen. Bernie Sanders invited me to co-chair his campaign. Before I accepted, we agreed to disagree about one issue: the stationing of F-35 jets in Burlington. Bernie is against obscene military spending, but he has stated that if the F-35s must be stationed somewhere, Vermont is OK. I
  
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• Richard Davis: Disenrolling from OneCare not easy

  15-11-2019 01:00 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Richard Davis, of Guilford, who has been active in health care reform for 30 years. Semi-retired after a 40-year nursing career, he volunteers at the Brattleboro Walk In Clinic counseling people on insurance options. Three years ago Vermont started an experiment to try to improve the quality of health care and to lower costs. A for-profit entity called OneCare Vermont was created and, from the start, the organization’s complexity and lack of
  
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• Brad Smith: Anxiety and school

  15-11-2019 00:55 via vtdigger.org
  Editor’s note: This commentary is by Brad Smith, who is the director of the Vermont Learning-Support Initiative, a nonprofit supporting neurodiverse learners who aspire to college, and co-facilitates the St. Johnsbury Healing and Learning Synergies group.
  It’s not easy, going to school. I remember, a long time ago, being punched in the gut at recess, without warning, and going down like a sack of bricks. That was in second grade.
  A couple of weeks ago a teacher told me about a first
  
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• Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez pitch Green New Deal bill to revamp public housing

  15-11-2019 00:42 via vtdigger.org
  
  Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, unveiled a bill to upgrade public housing as part of the Green New Deal. Photo by Kit Norton/VTDigger
  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., introduced ambitious new legislation Thursday that would invest up to $180 billion over a decade into retrofitting America’s public housing, including upgrades to structures to withstand intense storms and climate catastrophes.
  
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