The Vermont Senate Finance Committee included language repealing a provision of a law passed earlier this session that would have subjected forgiven 2021 PPP-Paycheck Protection Program loans to Vermont income tax.
Paycheck protection tax dead
Burlington mandates rental housing weatherization
The Burlington City Council last night ruled last night that all rental housing must meet “stringent” weatherization standards.
Vermont Daily Water Cooler for Mon, May 10
Don’t miss breaking news! Vermont Daily Water Cooler is a roundup of important headlines from around the state.
Senator protests Corrections ban on ‘thin gray line’ flag
A Vermont state senator objects to a recent Vermont Dept. of Corrections ban on the ‘thin gray line’ flag meant to show support for corrections officers.
Scott admin would spend $200 mil on carbon reduction
Vermont will receive $1 billion through the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). This funding presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to immediately accelerate “no regrets” climate action work. Governor Scott’s proposed ARPA budget calls for $200 millionover three years to facilitate direct, strategic, and measurable emissions reductions.
Why turtles cross the road
Vermont’s turtles will be on the move this spring, and the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department is asking for the public’s help in keeping them safe. Female turtles will be looking for places to deposit their eggs, sometimes choosing to lay them along the shoulders of roads, which can bring them into the path of motor vehicles.
Gassetts: Non-citizen, 16-year-old voting bills violate Constitution
Some of our present Vermont lawmakers have proposed and voted on two bills that will change the Vermont State Constitution. Rather than following the lawful process laid out to amend the State Constitution, they are flagrantly usurping The people of Vermont, those they are elected to represent.
802 Freedom to hold picnic May 15
Saturday, May. 15 at 2:30 pm 802 Freedom will be hosting an event at the Vermont State House in Montpelier.
Fireovid: Petition opposes 16-year-old vote
You likely know that the Vermont House passed a bill (H.361) to allow 16-year-olds in Brattleboro to vote in municipal elections and to serve on town boards. Crazy?
Riley Allen named to energy court
Governor Phil Scott has appointed Riley Allen of Montpelier to serve as a member of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
Frenier: Pandemic exposes need for school choice
The forced remote learning fiasco imposed on Vermont public school students this past year highlighted the lack of common benefits available from the state’s education system.
House Committee relieves employers of heavy UI burden
Removing 2020 from calculation of the Unemployment Insurance fund will help to hold employers harmless from certain costs related to the pandemic and government-mandated shutdowns, while also ensuring the unemployment trust fund remains solvent and UI claimants are not negatively impacted.
Mother was not perfect
This is the first year in my adult life that I won’t be faced with a difficult, heartbreaking choice: picking out the perfect Mother’s Day card for my not-so-perfect mother.
Mazur: do BLM supporters know?
Liberals and Progressives herald Black Lives Matter (BLM) with signature flags and lawn signs. How many really know their ideology and how it’s deluding a whole generation?
Drive-through diplomas again this year in Charlotte
Not everyone’s happy with Charlotte Central School holding drive-through graduation ceremonies – again.
Vermont Daily Water Cooler for Fri, May 07
Don’t miss breaking news! Vermont Daily Water Cooler is a roundup of important headlines from around the state.
China biggest exporter of fentanyl, killer of 130 Vermonters in 2020
China – once the victim of foreign powers exporting opium – is now the biggest exporter of fentanyl, the synthetic opiate that killed about 130 Vermonters in 2020.
Vax discrimination suit goes to court May 10
On March 2, Jim Hogue of Calais, Emily Peyton of Putney, Karen Eddings, Morningstar Porta, Kathleen Tarrant, and Deborah Dailey filed for an immediate emergency injunction in US Federal Court against Gov. Phil Scott, Attorney General TJ Donovan, and Health Commissioner Mark Levine “to halt orders, rules and enforcement regarding the lifting of quarantine solely for those who vaccinate” and other measures.
2021 lawmakers claim $653,184 in at-home expenses
A $75/day home expense benefit created for the 2021 Zoom Legislature has resulted in $653,184 of claims through May 4, state officials say.
Shepard: RINOs for Biden – are you happy now?
I think it is time to check in with a few of those RINOs. We need to ask folks like Mitt Romney, Governors and former Governors Charlie Baker, Larry Hogan, Phil Scott, John Kasich, Rick Snyder and others, like John Bolton, Jeb and George W. Bush, Carly Fiorina, Jeff Flake, Colin Powell and Cindy McCain if President Biden has been their kind of Republican.
Legislature OKS minority student suspension task force, migrant child Medicaid
The Vermont House yesterday passed S16, creation of the Task Force on School Exclusionary Discipline Reform. The goal of the task force is to reduce minority suspensions and expulsions from Vermont schools.
Police still seek cause of Williamstown church fire
State police now know where it started, but they still don’t know what started the fire that destroyed a 250-year-old Williamstown church.
Richford man charged with hate crime after truck attack
A Richford man is facing charges including attempted murder with a hate-crime enhancement following an incident that occurred Wednesday morning, May 5, outside a private residence in town.
State protection of sex orientation/identity must continue, Scott says
“There is still more work to do to ensure all Vermonters, regardless of identity, feel safe and protected in our state,” Gov. Phil Scott said after signing the ‘gay panic defense’ bill.
Three Vermonters play for Lake Monsters
As the Vermont Lake Monsters inaugural Futures Collegiate Baseball League season quickly approaches, the former Minor League New York–Penn League team’s roster is beginning to take shape and the team posted its first three players all with Vermont connections: pitchers Leif Bigelow of Guilford, Owen Kellington of Plainsfield, and Middlebury’s Evan Stewart.
Vermont Daily Water Cooler for Wed, May 05
Don’t miss breaking news! Vermont Daily Water Cooler is a roundup of important headlines from around the state.
Election Integrity Forum May 18
The Chittenden County GOP will hold an Election Integrity Forum Tuesday, May 18 at 7 pm.
Bill would let candidates draw campaign salary
H363, a bill introduced into the Vermont House on Feb. 26, would “permit a candidate for statewide office to receive a salary from the candidate’s campaign funds.”
Police: father murders daughter
State Police say James Perry Jr., age 70, of Newbury, shot and killed his daughter Karina Rheaume, 38, of Newbury Monday afternoon, May 3.
Spearing and shooting fish a South Hero spring ritual
Islanders have been catching fish with spears and guns since those tools have been around. And while that may sound unorthodox to some, learning about these fishing techniques and the techniques used around them is quite intriguing.
Man falls 150 feet down mine shaft
CORINTH–A man who fell approximately 150 feet down a mine shaft on Saturday night was injured and taken to the hospital after emergency responders performed a technical nighttime rescue.
Would-be kidnappers of 13-year-old girl sought
At about 4:15 p.m. May 1, near the intersection of West Main Street and Canal Street in Vergennes, two unidentified males in a vehicle tried to abduct a 13-year-old girl as she was walking home.
Vermont Daily Water Cooler for Tue, May 04
Don’t miss breaking news! Vermont Daily Water Cooler is a roundup of important headlines from around the state.
How did YOUR representative vote on 16-year-old voting in Brattleboro?
H.361 would the Brattleboro charter to allow 16-17 years olds (and 15 years olds if they will turn 16 by election day) to vote in municipal elections and serve on town boards, such as the select board, according to an Ethan Allen Institute analysis.
Page: Uppity women speak out!
None of this cliquey high school drama stuff mattered to Lefebvre, who saw Vermont electoral integrity at stake and realized that she was elected for such as time as this. Worn out by her insistence, and desperately seeking a unanimous vote, Hanzas blinked first.
Explanation of “no significant abnormalities” in VT election audit
Secretary of State’s Office: “This audit, like those before it, shows clearly that there is no underlying manipulation of the programming or systemic inaccuracy in the tabulators. They were, again, shown to be extremely accurate when the ballot is properly marked by the voters.”
Lawmakers don’t trust towns with TIF
Last week, the Vermont House killed the project-based “Tax Incremental Funding” (TIF), a funding source for small towns.
Worker shortage due to pandemic, pot, depopulation
Everyone thought Vermonters would flock to these relatively high-paying, benefits-producing jobs. Compared to the long, irregular hours and low pay of farm labor and the service industry, these jobs were gold. But now, some employers who invested millions in Franklin County operations are looking elsewhere. There just aren’t enough workers.
Border Patrol reported forest fire approaching Franklin County
U.S. Border Patrol agents in mid-April reported a large forest fire in Canada rapidly moving towards the town of Franklin, VT.
Teen Challenge gives back on Green Up Day
On a cold, cloudy Saturday May 1, a group of women spread out across Hardwick’s Main Street picking up trash and exchanging banter. All members of Teen Challenge Vermont, an addiction treatment center in Johnson, they were more than excited to be outside helping the community.
Universal mailed ballot bill to get House vote
The House Government Operations Committee approved S15, the universal mailed ballot bill, by an 11-0 margin Friday after making changes meant to reduce potential for election fraud.
Rallyers seek change in VT education, government
Event co-organizer Greg Thayer spoke on how America is a “Constitutional Republic, not a democracy.” Thayer equated his premises to the principle of equality and that our Constitution is a representative form of government and not by a king or mob rule. Thayer continued “that the government gets its authority from the People, who can take it away too.”
McClaughry: Vermonter deep-sixed Roosevelt plan to pack Supreme Court
President Biden is under pressure to find a way to control a Supreme Court whose present majority may find constitutional limits to what the Democratic party’s left wing is urging him to do. He has created a 36-member Commission to cope with the explosive question of packing the Supreme Court with additional Justices in order to create a compliant 7-6 liberal majority to support his proposals.
Heroin, meth dealer busted
The arrest of Poole was the conclusion of a Vermont Drug Task Force investigation that began in July 2020 in cooperation with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department and South Burlington Police Department. The investigation revealed that Poole sold methamphetamine and heroin.
Ex-boyfriend torched car
Upon arrival troopers met with the Fairfax Fire Department and observed a vehicle in the driveway that had sustained fire damage from what appeared to be a plastic bottle containing gasoline that had been poured on the windshield and hood before being ignited.
Kinsley: Pandemic legislation reactionary
If you look at the list of bills the legislature has passed so far, you might be tempted to think they are focused on the pandemic. However, if you look a little closer, you can see that these bills are actually reactionary. They would direct federal funding to emergency housing, food banks, and childcare assistance; all worthy programs, but they serve the immediate need, not the future need six months to a year from now.
