by Guy Page

Newport is bringing its opposition to proposed changes at North Country Hospital directly to the Vermont State House.

October 18 at 11 AM Mayor Linda Joy Sullivan, Tom Frank (CEO of North Country Hospital), President of the City Council Chris Vachon and Council Member Clark Curtis will hold a press conference in Montpelier on the steps of the State House to address the Green Mountain Care Board’s consultant’s report that contained “alarming and ill-founded and misguided recommendations” that would affect our hospital and health care system.

A recent report, focusing on cost-savings, recommended moving surgical care and many other hospital services out of struggling local hospitals to new specialized care centers, effectively leaving small urban centers like Newport without a single, major hospital. 

Former Mayor Beth Barnes is taking names for those who need a seat on the bus to avoid driving on their own up to the Press Conference. “As your Mayor, it is my intention to be up in Montpelier in the Senate and House Committee rooms as they discuss our hospital and health care system. As a former legislator, I understand the ins and outs of how they push things through,” Sullivan noted in her weekly mayoral report.

Legislators and other state officials have so far responded with coolness to the report. 

Jack-O-Lantern Hike – The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department is inviting families to attend its annual Halloween Wildlife Festival and Jack-O’-Lantern Hike at the Kehoe Education Center on Point of Pines Road in Castleton on Wednesday, October 30, from  -8 PM. 

The festival highlights Vermont species through educational stations, crafts and campfire activities led by Vermont State University Students.  Kids will learn about the creepy, crawly critters that reside in Vermont and have a chance to get decked out in their costumes before the traditional trick-or-treat night. 

One of the other highlights of the evening is a jack-o-lantern lit nature walk.  Families will embark on a self-guided walk through the Kehoe trail system while admiring hundreds of carved jack-o-lanterns. (Donations of pumpkins accepted thru Oct. 25). 

Admission and activities are free and open to the public, and all ages are welcome.  No registration is required.  Costumes are encouraged, but not required.

Roper, Thayer hold forth on ‘super-duper’ majority’s tax hikes – Former. Lt. Gov. candidate Greg Thayer interviewed Behind the Lines columnist Rob Roper on his public access television show, “Conversations with Gregory.” 

“We discussed the last two years of the Vermont legislative session, and the super-duper majority’s excessive new taxes and assaults on working Vermonters,” Thayer reports. “They’re impacting hard working Vermonters’ family budgets and we deeply discussed Act 18, the Clean Heat Standard, and parts of the Global Warming Solutions Act.”

Thayer added, “‘We The People’ need to elect, no must elect common-sense real Republicans to the Legislature in Montpelier. The current regime, the Democrat-Socialist leadership is hurting every single Vermonter and our children’s future.”

Emergency communications listening sessions – The Vermont Public Safety Communications Task Force will host two virtual listening sessions, Oct. 22 and Oct. 24, to allow the public to influence the future of emergency communications in Vermont. 

Act 78 recognizes the critical need to safeguard public safety in Vermont. This legislation prioritizes the creation of a more reliable, secure, and interoperable public safety communications system, ensuring that every Vermonter has access to essential public safety services, Emergency Management spox Mark Bosma said. 

Click here to register for the sessions:

Virtual Session #1: Tuesday, October 22, 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM.

Virtual Session #2: Thursday, October 24, 6–8 PM.

Click here for more information on the work of the task force.

Beware election deepfakes – Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas, in collaboration with Attorney General Charity Clark, shared a new webpage and two PSA videos this week to warn voters about disinformation and ‘deepfake’ scams they may encounter this election season.

Copeland Hanzas and Clark’s webpage addresses the rising influence of “deepfakes” – images, videos or audio generated by Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) that seem realistic but are fake.

“Deepfakes make it difficult to distinguish between what is true and what isn’t, which can spread doubt and confusion. This is, of course, a threat to our democratic process,” said Secretary Copeland Hanzas. 

The webpage, a collaboration of both offices, also describes three kinds of election-season scams, with tips for how to stay away from them. The page describes voter registration scams, political donation scams, and fake surveys/petitions/polls, with best practices for protecting one’s information and links to helpful official resources.

The PSA videos can be found on both the Secretary of State and Attorney General’s social media.

DMV chief moves back to Buildings and Grounds – Wanda Minoli will become Commissioner of the Department of Buildings and General Services (BGS), effective today, Monday, October 14.

Minoli is the former Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Previously, she managed the State’s School Construction Program for over a decade. And for more than 20 years she worked inside BGS, rising to deputy commissioner before being promoted to DMV by Governor Scott in 2018.

Minoli replaces Jennifer Fitch who is stepping down as commissioner at the end of next week. Fitch has served as commissioner since 2021 after serving as deputy commissioner beginning in 2017. Prior to her roles at BGS, she worked for the Agency of Transportation as a project manager.