By Guy Page

500-700 tires found among flood debris were collected for recycling last Saturday in Barre. 

The collection initiative, which was supported by the governor’s office, solicited tires washed up as debris due to the flooding in July. Press Secretary Jason Maulucci said the tires will be sent to a recycling facility in Maine.

Grismore impeachment committee to meet tomorrow – The Special Committee on Impeachment Inquiry established to investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to impeach Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore will meet 9 AM tomorrow, Wednesday September 20 in Room 10 at the Vermont State House. Video shows that Grismore, then a sheriff’s department captain, in August 2022 kicked (or pushed) a manacled prisoner in the groin area. He was elected sheriff in November 2022. Tomorrow’s meeting will review Vermont’s police use of force law and policies.

VSC Chancellor to step down – The Board of Trustees of the Vermont State Colleges said yesterday Chancellor Sophie Zdatny will be stepping down at the end of the year.

Chancellor Zdatny has been with the system for nine years, initially as Associate General Counsel for three years, then General Counsel for three years before she was named Chancellor in April 2020, taking over from Jeb Spaulding in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. She will continue serving through the end of December 2023. The board anticipates announcing a hiring process for the next leader in the coming weeks.

The newly accredited and unified Vermont State University has an inaugural class of more than 1,400 students, meeting enrollment targets for first year and returning students. Vermont State Colleges annual state funding was increased by 57%, meaning more financial support for transformation, student scholarships, workforce initiatives, and campus capital funding. The system has received over 300 million dollars of state support since the pandemic and economic crisis of 2020, a board statement said. 

Vermont Almanac gets arts grant – The Corinth-based publishers of Vermont Almanac have received a $15,000 grant from a state fund designed to aid the creative sector, today’s newsletter from the Journal-Opinion reports. 

“In the age of artificial intelligence usurping all manner of media, it is gratifying to be supported in our art and work to keep the human voice alive in our communication about our rural life,” wrote For the Land Publishing’s Amy Peberdy in an email. “Keeping connection in the reporting on the working lands’ year in review, from Derby to Bennington, Dorset to Bradford, has never been more important to Vermonters’ collective sense of self.”

Volume IV will publish on Dec. 1, 2023.