Vermont news

• Howard Dean will not run for governor of Vermont

  20-05-2024 15:46 via vtdigger.org
  
  Former Governor Howard Dean announces he will not be a candidate for governor at a press conference in Waterbury on Monday, May 20, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
  He’s out.After toying with the prospect of running for governor again, former Gov. Howard Dean said Monday morning that he would not challenge Republican Gov. Phil Scott this November.
  Dean announced his intentions at a press conference at the Waterbury town offices. Until he began speaking, it was unclear whether he woul
  
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• Vermont State Police arrest suspect in Massachusetts fatal stabbing

  13-06-2024 02:55 via vtdigger.org
  
  Vermont State Police say they have arrested a suspect wanted in Massachusetts on murder and other charges related to a stabbing that occurred there on Monday. Police arrested Kevin Digregorio, 33, of Randolph, Massachusetts, on Wednesday morning in Lunenburg, Vermont, after being notified by Massachusetts State Police that Digregorio was thought to be in the area of Waterford, according to a press release issued by Vermont State Police.Authorities found Digregorio sleeping in a vehicle on U
  
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• Prospects dim for property tax compromise after sour meeting between administration and lawmakers

  13-06-2024 01:31 via vtdigger.org
  
  From left: Gov. Phil Scott, Rep. Jill Krowinski, and Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth. Photos by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
  Negotiations between Gov. Phil Scott’s administration and legislative leadership soured after a Wednesday afternoon meeting to discuss the executive branch’s property tax and education finance proposal. The meeting and subsequent fallout followed Scott’s veto of the annual property tax legislation last week. If enacted, the legislation would incr
  
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• Margaret Anne Nourse

  13-06-2024 01:18 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born Feb. 9, 1944Cleveland, OhioDied April 20, 2024Richford, VermontDetails of servicesA mass of Christian Burial in Margaret’s honor will be held at Christ the King Church at 3001 Belmont Blvd, Nashville, Tennessee at 10 am on Friday, June 21.  In keeping with her wishes, smaller events to celebrate her life will be held by her daughters in California, Florida, Vermont, and Denmark in the future. Margaret Anne Nourse, (aged 80), a resident of Richford, Vermon
  
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• After more than a century, sturgeon return to Bellows Falls

  13-06-2024 00:39 via vtdigger.org
  
  A sign at Riverfront Park in Bellows Falls warns anglers to be on the lookout for sturgeon and to return them to the river if they inadvertently catch them.This story by Robert F. Smith was first published in The Commons on June 12.BELLOWS FALLS — It has taken two years since researchers first began accumulating evidence, but on June 7, scientists announced that shortnose sturgeon are living in the Connecticut River as far north as the hydroelectric dam in Bellows Falls.Sturgeon exist in
  
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• Vermont Conversation: How Rob Mermin ran away with the circus and spent a life under the Big Top

  12-06-2024 23:39 via vtdigger.org
  
  
  Rob Mermin and his new book “Circle of Sawdust: A Circus Memoir of Mud, Myth, Mirth, Mayhem and Magic.” Courtesy photos
  The Vermont Conversation with David Goodman is a VTDigger podcast that features in-depth interviews on local and national issues with politicians, activists, artists, changemakers and citizens who are making a difference. Listen below, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify to hear more.
  In 1969, with the country i
  
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• Vermont Supreme Court ruling reinstates murder charge against former Orleans County man

  12-06-2024 23:09 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Vermont Supreme Court in March 2020. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
  A divided Vermont Supreme Court has reversed a lower court ruling that threw out a murder charge against a former Orleans County man whose daughter died in 2016 from what police described as complications from an intentional injury he inflicted on her as a 1-month-old in 2001.The high court’s 3-2 decision, issued Friday in the case against Jason Roberts, stems from prosecutors’ appeal of the dismissal of the m
  
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• Authorities probe death of man shot and killed by state police trooper in Orange

  12-06-2024 22:57 via vtdigger.org
  
  A Vermont State Police cruiser. Photo courtesy of Vermont State Police
  Vermont State Police say they are investigating the death of a man shot and killed Wednesday afternoon by a state trooper in Orange. Few details related to the shooting were immediately available late Wednesday afternoon, including the identity of the man who was killed. State police said in a press release that the shooting took place around 1:25 p.m. outside a home on Spencer Road, and the man was pronounced dead
  
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• What happens if Vermont school districts can’t pass budgets by July 1?

  12-06-2024 19:18 via vtdigger.org
  
  High school student Aubrey Fadden of Enosburg Falls works with third-graders at the Richford Elementary School on Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMore than 100 school district budgets in the state have passed this year, but at least six still need voter approval, according to the Vermont Superintendents Association and the Vermont School Boards Association. Those half-dozen are quickly approaching a July 1 deadline, at which point districts face a slate of rarely used
  
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• VSAC helps an aspiring musician hit the right notes as he prepares for college and career

  12-06-2024 17:52 via vtdigger.org
  
  I wonder sometimes
  About the outcome
  Of a still verdictless life
  Am I living it right?-“Why Georgia” by John MayerThe song “Why Georgia” by John Mayer was a surprising choice for Blue Mountain Union senior Matt Webster to perform at his senior concert this spring. (If you don’t recognize the words of the chorus above, look it up on your streaming music service of choice; chances are, the tune will ring a bell.) Matt, who lives in Groton and has been playing guitar
  
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• Brian Searles, 2-time Vermont transportation secretary, dies at 77

  12-06-2024 17:14 via vtdigger.org
  
  Brian Searles died on June 5 in Tampa, Florida, at 77 years old. Courtesy photo
  During his nearly half-century career in Vermont, Brian Searles developed a reputation as a modest but brilliant public servant — capable of efficiently managing the wide variety of organizations he led.  Searles died on June 5 in Tampa, Florida, at 77 years old. He had been receiving treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia before his death, according to an obituary prepared by his family. Af
  
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• Marc Boglioli: UVM conference provided important context to debates over Abenaki identity

  12-06-2024 14:02 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor,It was with great interest that I read University of Vermont historian David Massell’s recent commentary in which he discusses his role in the 2022 “Beyond Borders” conference and provides historical context regarding the emergence of the Vermont state-recognized tribes.
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  I was reminded of how educational that conference had been. Despite the fact that my Ph.D. dissertation covered a fair amount of Abenaki history and I currently teach Native American studi
  
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• Graham Unangst-Rufenacht and Grace Oedel: Farmers support the pollinator protection bill

  12-06-2024 12:57 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Graham Unangst-Rufenacht, policy director at Rural Vermont, and Grace Oedel, executive director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont.
  In May, Gov. Phil Scott had the opportunity to sign into state law a landmark bill that would restrict uses of neonicotinoid insecticides (neonics) that are harming birds, bees and other insects that sustain Vermont’s agricultural economy and environment. Modeled after New York’s Birds and Bees Protection Act,
  
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• A Vermont GOP rule bars it from backing felons. The state party chair says that’s not a problem for Trump — yet.

  12-06-2024 00:09 via vtdigger.org
  
  Vermont Republican Party Chairman Paul Dame marches in the Essex Memorial Day parade in Essex Junction on May 28, 2022. File Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
  The bylaws of the Vermont Republican Party prohibit it from backing candidates who have been convicted of a felony. That could pose a problem for the party, given that its likely standard bearer, former President Donald Trump, was convicted last month of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 hush money paymen
  
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• David Stirling Peebles

  11-06-2024 23:39 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born 1947Died May 20, 2024.Berlin, VermontDetails of servicesPer David’s wishes, there will be no services. If you wish to celebrate David, he would love for you to send a donation to Montpelier’s Kellogg Hubbard Library, the Vermont Historical Society, in Barre, or the Outdoor Heritage Museum in Oquossoc, Maine. To send online condolences to his family and see photos of a joyful David, please visit awrfh.com.David Stirling Peebles, 77, passed away unexpectedly but peaceful
  
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• Vermont to get $3 million from nationwide settlement with Johnson & Johnson over products that may have contained asbestos

  11-06-2024 23:14 via vtdigger.org
  
  Attorney General Charity Clark discusses a settlement between Vermont and 42 other states with Johnson & Johnson during a press conference in Montpelier on Tues., June 11, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
  MONTPELIER — Attorney General Charity Clark announced Tuesday that Johnson & Johnson will pay Vermont more than $3 million to settle allegations the company long misled customers over the safety of its baby powder and body powder products that contained the mineral talc.&nbs
  
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• Pride flag goes missing at Harwood Union Middle and High School

  11-06-2024 22:21 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Pride flag flies on the flagpole at Harwood Union Middle/High School on Sat., June 8. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti/Waterbury Roundabout
  This story by Lisa Scagliotti was first published in the Waterbury Roundabout on June 11.The Pride flag flying for the past three weeks on the flagpole in front of Harwood Union Middle and High School was stolen over the weekend, school administrators announced on Tuesday.In a letter to school students, staff and families, Superintendent Mike Leichliter along w
  
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• Vermont’s brown pine trees aren’t dead. They’re just a little sick.

  11-06-2024 22:09 via vtdigger.org
  
  A tree gets rid of White Pine Needle Disease by shedding all the needles infected by fungi. Before the needles fall, they will turn shades of yellow and brown. Photo by Emma Malinak/VTDigger
  Drive around Vermont and you may notice that Eastern white pine trees have been turning shades of yellow and brown and shedding new needle growth. But the trees aren’t dying, said Savannah Ferreira, the forest health specialist for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. They&rsq
  
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• Rep. Rebecca Holcombe: Vermonters deserve affordability, but Gov. Scott has no ‘grand plan’

  11-06-2024 14:02 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Rep. Rebecca Holcombe, D-Norwich. She represents the Windsor-Orange-2 district and is a member of the House Appropriations Committee.
  It’s Groundhog Day. Gov. Phil Scott vetoed the yield bill, again leaving Vermont school districts adrift. The reason: the school budgets voters approved add up to more than Gov. Scott wants them to spend.None of us like an increase. Some legislators are leaving because they can’t afford to serve. We need people to call our commun
  
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• Kate O’Neill: Prevent suffering and death, override the overdose prevention center veto

  11-06-2024 12:58 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Kate O’Neill of Burlington. Her reported memoir about her family’s experience with addiction and the ongoing legacy of the drug war will be published next year by Knopf.
  I used to have two sisters. The youngest, Maddie, was whip-smart and hilariously funny. She was madly in love with her curly-haired son, who adored his mama in return. Her voice when she sang was like clear lake water you wanted to both dive into and float on, buoyed by the sound. She took walk
  
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• 6 bills — tackling municipal ethics, animal welfare and more — become Vermont law 

  11-06-2024 01:34 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Statehouse in Montpelier on May 3, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerGov. Phil Scott signed bills related to animal welfare, diversity in courts and addiction recovery support on Monday. He allowed bills related to cannabis, education and a municipal code of ethics to pass into law without his signature. The Republican governor signed H.626, a response to a number of animal cruelty cases across the state and the absence of a designated governmental entity to investigate and respond
  
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• 6 bills — tackling municipal ethics, animal welfare and more — become law 

  11-06-2024 01:34 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Statehouse in Montpelier on May 3, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerGov. Phil Scott signed bills related to animal welfare, diversity in courts and addiction recovery support on Monday. He allowed bills related to cannabis, education and a municipal code of ethics to pass into law without his signature. The Republican governor signed H.626, a response to a number of animal cruelty cases across the state and the absence of a designated governmental entity to investigate and respond
  
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• Richard Warden Sears

  11-06-2024 00:50 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born April 22, 1943ConnecticutDied June 1, 2024Albany, New YorkDetails of servicesCalling hours will be held on June 14 from 11:00am – 1:00pm at the E.P. Mahar & Son Funeral Home 628 Main Street in Bennington followed by a service at 1:30pm at the Old First Congregational Church at 60 Monument Avenue in Bennington.In lieu of flowers, please consider gifts and/or donations to: 204 Depot Street (Seall Inc.) Bennington, VTIt is with great sadness that we announce the death of ou
  
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• Vermont Supreme Court tosses out verdict that awarded $600k to fired prison superintendent

  11-06-2024 00:10 via vtdigger.org
  Mark Potanas in the solitary confinement unit at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield in early 2016, when he was superintendent there. File photo by Phoebe Sheehan/VTDigger
  The Vermont Supreme Court has thrown out a $605,000 jury award to the former head of the Springfield prison, who was fired in 2017.The high court ruled that the state’s whistleblower protection law didn’t apply to Mark Potanas because the concerns he raised about spending and care related to &ldquo
  
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• iSun, a major Vermont solar installer and the parent company of SunCommon, files for bankruptcy

  10-06-2024 23:47 via vtdigger.org
  
  Electricians install the last solar panels at the home of SunCommon’s 1,000th customer in Barre Town. Photo by John Herrick/VTDigger
  One of Vermont’s largest publicly traded companies has filed for bankruptcy.iSun, the Williston-based solar energy company, is seeking permission to sell off its assets after years of financial woes, according to federal bankruptcy court filings. iSun is the parent company of SunCommon, a solar panel installer that’s based in Waterbury. Jeff
  
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• Protests of president punctuate rainy graduation for Dartmouth’s Class of ’24

  10-06-2024 23:03 via vtdigger.org
  
  Abigail Bordelon holds up a red-gloved hand after opting not to shake hands with Dartmouth President Sian Leah Beilock while walking across the stage during the Dartmouth College commencement ceremony on the green in Hanover, N.H., on Sun., June 9. Photo by Alex Driehaus/Valley News
  This story by Christina Dolan was first published in the Valley News on June 9.HANOVER — The Dartmouth Green was the scene of celebration and defiance Sunday morning as the college awarded degrees to more than
  
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• Rev. Ken White: Christians insisting that the state conform to their beliefs is a moral error

  10-06-2024 22:54 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Rev. Ken White of Winooski. He has been an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ for 14 years, and is pastor at College Street Church in Burlington.
  I am writing in response to your recent article, “Families sue Vermont DCF over LGBTQ+ foster care requirements,” from my perspective as a Christian pastor.Growing up in a fundamentalist church smackdab in the middle of the Bible Belt, I remember there being some people in the church that people whispere
  
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• Rev. Karen A. Mendes: DCF is correct to protect children from the imposition of intolerant beliefs

  10-06-2024 22:30 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor, As a Baptist pastor, religious liberty is important to me. Intrinsic to religious liberty is freedom of conscience: that no person, religious establishment or civil government can interfere with or impede a person’s relationship to God. Each person is free to have their own relationship with the Divine (or no relationship).What they are not free to do is impose their religious understanding upon another person. 
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  Historically, Baptists have supported the rig
  
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• Mapping Vermont’s wildlife highway: how advanced data is helping species one road at a time

  09-06-2024 15:23 via vtdigger.org
  
  Robert Zaino, a biologist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, uses the BioFinder mapping platform in Barnet on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. BioFinder allows people to see connections between land that allow plants and animals to migrate as climate change continues.“High priority” wildlife road crossings are shown in dark purple. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerOn a recent weekday morning, two Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department staff members pulled to the side of a dirt road
  
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• Colchester Causeway now under state ownership

  09-06-2024 15:02 via vtdigger.org
  
  Cyclists pedal along the Colchester causeway, a path built on a former railway that connects Colchester and South Hero (far right). Seen on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
  The state of Vermont first purchased what is now called the Island Line Trail in 1963, before handing it over to the town of Colchester. Nearly 60 years later, it’s become one of the most treasured recreational paths in Vermont, and, as of last year, it’s back in the state’s hands.When
  
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