At a Feb. 1 meeting of the Essex County supervisors, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-NY21, said her office had been in touch with the ferry company and reopening the Essex route was a priority. She said the company would be eligible for another round of stimulus — a previous allocation had helpedAlong with reduced business, Stefanik said the company had also had trouble finding adequate help needed to run all its boats. it maintain its routes last year.
On Town Meeting Day, March 2, voters in 20 Vermont cities and towns will decide whether to allow retail marijuana. The new state law says local voter approval is needed before a marijuana store can open. But what about towns that don’t want to vote on retail pot? 41 towns won’t even have the question on the Town Meeting ballot.
Attorney General T.J. Donovan has filed a lawsuit on behalf of State Auditor Doug Hoffer against OneCare Vermont after the accountable care organization breached its contract with the State by repeatedly refusing to provide accounting records to the State Auditor.
Would Phil Scott – lifelong Republican – pull a Jim Jeffords and leave the GOP? Ericka Redic discusses why voices from the left, right and media are talking about the Vermont governor leaving his party.
Vermonter’s are doing what is asked of us. We are wearing masks, not gathering, quarantining if we leave the state, limiting our children’s ability to go to school full time, etc. We are doing this all because you said we need to protect fellow Vermonter’s. It seems to me, you are asking a lot of us while turning the other way when it comes to protecting us from others.
Police have a tool they can use to immediately correct the problem of a person carrying a firearm into a prohibited place; it allows them to remove that person; it allows them to cite or arrest and at that point they can confiscate weapons. That’s current law today. To quote the lead sponsor one more time: “… if in fact there are other laws that do what S.30 purports to do, then I would say it is a strong argument for not passing it.”
The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) has received more than $26 million in federal funding through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) to support public transit across the state, Gov. Phil Scott said today.
Opportunity Vermont has released a petition calling on the Mayor and City Council to abandon any proposal that taxes residents who need gas for heat, hot water, or cooking.
A bill under review by the Senate Education Committee today at 1:30 pm seeks more data on whether Vermont schools unfairly discipline racial minorities. Sponsors want this information to “understand what strategies are effective and to encourage the adoption of these strategies at the local level.”
In February, Vermont House committees turn from January’s “welcome back, here’s what happened when you were gone” reports from state officials and lobbyists, settle into their seats, and begin to look at bills. This week, several bills of interest will come “off the wall” of introduction and get a serious look by committee members.
When Governor Scott declared a state of emergency on March 13, 2020, a whole new world of “small business challenges” landed on the backs of those small business owners from which they may not recover.
Vaccination Day +1: I planned on some cross-country skiing but didn’t have much energy. “What’s going on?” I asked my Chief of Intrapersonal Security.
Many of the cold-water swimmers in this month’s Seventh Annual Memphremagog Winter Swim Festival have been swimming in socially distanced “pods” regularly through the fall and winter as the sport of Winter Swimming has spread across the country and blossomed.
With a mortality rate rivaling that of baby sea turtles crossing the sand to the ocean, most bills proceed no further than introduction. For a list of all House bills, see the Vermont Legislature website. To contact media and lawmakers about legislation, see Vermont Daily media/legislator contact list in article and Google Doc formats.
“The breeding population of greater snow geese has grown from approximately 50,000 birds in the mid-1960s to 714,000 birds today,” said David Sausville, Vermont’s waterfowl project biologist. “This increase has resulted in damage to agricultural crops and marsh vegetation in staging and wintering areas from Quebec to North Carolina. Hunting pressure to date has aided in reducing the population from its high point of just over one million birds during the period of 2000-2010. The Atlantic Flyway has established a goal of 500,000 greater snow geese to bring populations in balance with their habitat and reduce crop depredation.”
Governor Phil Scott today announced that Vermont businesses will see another rate decrease in workers’ compensation insurance in 2021. This is the fifth straight year workers’ compensation rates have decreased, and when combined with decreases from 2017-2020, Vermont employers will pay an average of 36% less in workers’ compensation premiums than they did in 2016.
Many secular-minded parents have no interest in having their kids attend evangelical churches. Well, I have had the chance to get to know some of these young people at my church. I also had the chance to get to know some secular young people with whom I worked with at a store awhile back. I offer the following observations.
Rep. Peter Welch responds to election fraud petition: “The court system, members of Congress, and the former President should respect the American people’s decision. Undermining the results of the election with false claims of voter fraud is deeply irresponsible and damages the core of our democratic system honoring the will of the voters and the election outcome.”
The Vermont Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) cautions Vermonters about the significant risks associated with investing in publicly traded companies that are experiencing extreme price volatility due to stock speculation.
Gov. Phil Scott would consider expanding sales tax on services, products, but only to reduce the overall burden. Asked about a plan to reduce the percentage of the sales tax but expand the scope of taxable products and services, Scott said: “This isn’t the time to increase taxes on anyone….if the Legislature is talking about reducing the burden, I’m all ears.”
A bill sponsored by Sen. Philip Baruth (D-Chittenden) to prohibit carrying guns in some public places lacks support in the Senate Judiciary Committee, committee member Sen. Joe Benning (R-Caledonia) confirmed yesterday.
Ms. Billado: There is no need for you to respond to my request for confirmation of certain FB posts. They have been exposed by the full force of John Walters’ Vermont Political Observer, who, like so many others, if not burning Hester Prynne (I mean Ellie Martin) at the stake for witchcraft, are forcing upon her, and those who dare associate with her, the Scarlet Letter R, for Republican.
The following blog post by journalist/entrepreneur/cybergeek Patrick Byrne was posted January 27. It provides the first “insider” look at the president’s election fraud investigation handled (Byrne would say mishandled) by key top aides of President Trump.
The Vermont Tax Structure Commission released its 180 page draft report to the legislature, and one of the major recommendations it makes is to expand Vermont’s 6% sales tax, currently limited to goods and a few singled out services such as ski rentals, to everything but healthcare, and to reduce the overall rate to 3.6%.
Friedman is complaining – correctly IMO – that much of what is sold as recession relief is actually socialism for the rich at the expense of everyone else and at great long-term danger to the economy.
“Down 25 percent from the end of 2019, Vermont had the largest drop in construction employment out of all states,” Construction Coverage’s Brian Medina reported.
There can be large-scale test kit contamination, as both the US and the UK (and several African countries) discovered during the early phase of the pandemic.
21,000 Vermonters signed up Monday for Covid-19 vaccination on the first day of the 75 and over registration. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing.
All but two votes cast thus far by Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vermont) on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives have addressed the removal of office and/or impeachment of President Donald Trump, according to a review of the Vermont congressman’s voting record on http://www.clerk.house.gov. In each case he has voted against Trump and with the Democratic majority.
Governor Phil Scott Tuesday delivered his fifth budget address to the General Assembly, presenting a balanced budget that, with the help of federal stimulus, includes $210 million in bold new investments to strengthen the economy, create more and better paying jobs, and address big priorities, like downtown revitalization, infrastructure, broadband and climate change. All without raising taxes or existing fees or cutting essential services.
Being the Senate’s president pro tempore, Leahy is now third in line to the presidency. The president pro tempore has historically presided over Senate impeachment trials of non-presidents.
Bills related to prison sentencing and transition have been introduced into the Vermont Legislature.
He’s hearing it from the left and from the right: Phil Scott should leave the Vermont GOP.
The State of Vermont should tax fossil fuels to fund carbon reduction programs required by carbon reduction mandates, a Jan. 15 report by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) recommends. Estimated annual revenue from three proposed revenue sources would total $78 million.
In the second week of the new Vermont Daily video production, “The Ericka Redic Show,” host Ericka Redic reports on S30, a bill to ban carrying firearms in some public places. Its sponsor says it’s more necessary than ever because of more and more gun-toting citizens don’t want to wear masks and are intimidating those who ask them to do so.
Today’s headlines from Vermont media.
The feds sent little Vermont $4.8 billion dollars. That comes to $7,729 per person. That sum puts Vermont second among the 50 states, trailing only New York, which got $7,840 per person. Even so, the state budget department is projecting a $180 million General Fund shortfall for next year.
112 Vermont communities received ‘coronavirus response grants’ from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, a not-for-profit formed by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan to provide assistance to local election officials.
In June 2020, the City Council voted to reduce the number of police officers in Burlington from 105 to 74, without a plan in place for how the City would respond to the full range of calls with 30 percent fewer officers. Already, as a result of this vote, the Police Department has had to curtail services that include: the Community Affairs Officer who helped coordinate the City’s response to graffiti, the Emergency Response Officer who helped manage the innovative strategies that the Department uses to respond to acute mental health crises, the street crime team that responded to patterns of open-air drug activity and robbery, and foot patrols on Church Street.
73% of the unemployment claims made in Vermont are from women. That does not include individuals who have been pushed out of the labor force due to the shutdown of schools and closures of childcare facilities.
Who are the paid conservative editorial writers in Vermont media? What programs at public radio/tv speak deeply, intensely to conservatives? Where are Vermont media’s weekly paid conservative columnists? Conservatives say that you are more likely to find two unicorns mating in your backyard then a paid conservative news/editorial employee at any large Vermont media company.
For Addison Bowen of Wallingford, taking a pro-life stand has nothing to do with being religious or Republican. He’s neither.
The only real clue that something is amiss is if the real voter shows up on election day only to find out that a ballot has already been cast in their name. Senning testified, “We had instances of that this year.” We need to know exactly how many instances!
As a free service to our readers, Vermont Daily has assembled an online spreadsheet presenting, on one page, the names and email addresses of most Vermont media accepting letters to the editor and op-eds, and the email addresses and districts of all legislators. The list can be accessed from the Vermont Daily home page menu, by clicking on Media/Legislator contact list.
There are no reported cases of any Covid-19 variants in Vermont, Health Commissioner Mark Levine said. That’s the good news. However, a variant in California may be fueling the current Los Angeles epidemic, he said. Also, relatively unpublicized variants in Brazil and South Africa may not respond to the current vaccine, he said.
As the United States uses deficit spending to stimulate our economy, supporters of unprecedented borrowing refer to a relatively unknown economic doctrine called Modern Monetary Theory [MMT]. Here’s how it works – or, at least, how they say it works.
With this background of multiple factors leading to the commission of violent crimes against others, the focus has been concentrated on banning firearms from public ownership rather than understanding the reasons for this criminal behavior. Why? There is the overwhelming evidence that disarming the public from using firearms will not reduce violent crimes and will render people defenseless.
Vermont Right to Life will hold its annual Rally for Life Saturday, January 23 in Montpelier.
Republicans are committed to doing everything in our power to hold the line that our caucus did last year to make sure that as much money as is legally possible goes into the hands of those Vermonters who have been affected. We will avoid the temptation of some to use COVID funding as a way to channel that money back into existing state programs that have struggled because of prior financial mismanagement, not because of COVID and the response.
A bill sponsored by Rep. Brian Smith (R-Derby) would prohibit flags other than the U.S. flag and State of Vermont flag from being flown on public school property in Vermont.
Governor Phil Scott has tested negative for COVID-19. As his most recent potential exposure occurred at Tuesday’s briefing, in accordance with Vermont Department of Health guidance, he will continue to fulfill his duties while in quarantine and will be tested again on Tuesday, January 26.
A bill introduced this week into the Vermont House would reduce transportation carbon emissions by expanding public transportation, incentivize electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, and require some employers to take steps to reduce internal-combustion commuting.
A bill sponsored by Sen. Philip Baruth (D-Chittenden) to prohibit carrying guns in some public places won’t prevent gun violence, is already covered by other laws, and could end up harming the people it’s meant to protect, Vermont Public Defender General Matthew Valario told a Senate committee.
The first episode of “The Ericka Redic Show,” a Vermont Daily online video news program, is now available on YouTube. “We’ll be covering the news out of Montpelier and around the state, and why it matters to you,” host Ericka Redic of Burlington announced in the opening moments of Episode One.
Recommendations proposed by State Treasurer Beth Pearce would, if successfully enacted, reduce the pension fund shortfall and maintain defined benefits, she said in a January 15 report.
Robert Verrastro, 47, of South Burlington, has pled guilty to the charge of possession of illegal big game among other crimes in connection with a deer poaching investigation in Starksboro that took place in November of 2019, state Fish & Wildlife officials say.
This afternoon (January 19), Governor Phil Scott, Department of Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D. and other administration officials were informed that a contractor who provided services at the Governor’s coronavirus briefings on Friday, January 15 and Tuesday, January 19 has tested positive for COVID-19.
When I saw that Guy Page had republished some of my reporting in The Commons on Northeast Antifa (NEA) and the antifa movement in general, I offered to do a piece for him, since I recognize that there is a lot of mystery about the movement and it can seem threatening to people who believe in law and order and hold centrist or conservative views.
Anglers spent an estimated 2.1 million days fishing in 2019, and fishing quality throughout the state was rated higher in 2019 than in 2009, according to a Vermont Fish & Wildlife fishing survey.
Climate caucus to hold first meeting Thursday Press pursues Trump bus pandemic risk story Scott signs into law 2021 Town Meeting changes By Guy Page The Vermont Department of Health can’t say […]
Gov. Phil Scott said today he did not recommend language in a Senate bill that would seem to allow Big Marijuana companies to bypass local voters deciding whether marijuana retail stores may operate in their town.
The lesson here is clear. A political party spent several years gaining control of the government and then demanded complete conformity to their ideas. They implemented a concentrated ‘fake news’ machine which relied on the dictum that a lie repeated over and over becomes the truth. Anyone who opposed them were considered undesirable as members of society and were to be deplored and silenced. No dissent of any kind was tolerated.
Tuesday morning, January 19 2021, Marcus Szczecinski of Starksboro hefted an eight-foot-tall cross and spoke and prayed on the steps of the Vermont State House about love, forgiveness, unity and repentance. A knot of well-armed state police stood in the background. A small group of supporters listened as Marcus, a Church at Prison ministry volunteer and lay preacher, prayed and delivered a humble, timely message of relevance to Christians and non-Christians alike.
Vermont State Troopers carrying semi-automatic firearms were joined by Capitol police and other law enforcement Sunday, January 17 at the Vermont State House in Montpelier in anticipation of a rally of armed Trump supporters much-publicized by the FBI. Plenty of press appeared, too. Only the protesters were a no-show.
A Senate bill adding to the commercial cannabis law would require more funding for police training and substance abuse prevention, and would reduce licensing fees for minorities, among other proposed changes.
H67, introduced by Rep. Jim Harrison (R-Killington) would authorize a farmer to seek compensation from the Department of Fish and Wildlife for damage by a black bear to crops, fruit trees, or crop-bearing plants.
Thanks to a best-ever bow season, the final tally for the 2020 deer season will be around 18,000 deer, the second-highest total since 2000. Those deer will provide approximately 3.6 million servings of local, nutritious venison.
Governor Phil Scott recently attacked Vermont GOP leadership for “continu[ing] with what I perceive as white supremacy dominating, racial inequity, and so forth…” That leadership’s sole offense? — refusing to endorse the governor’s call for the President’s resignation. This impugns all Vermont Trump supporters as white supremacists.
Phase two of Vermont’s Covid-19 vaccination program – immunizing people 75 and older – begins next Monday. Here’s a quick look at Covid-by-the-numbers in Vermont.
What kind of future will we leave to our children and grandchildren? Right now we have a choice to fight back or not. By the way, Donald Trump rebuilt America’s military, uplifted the U.S. economy and strengthened the safety of Americans by constructing 450 miles of wall along the U.S.Southern border.
Bills introduced into the Vermont Senate would set a 48-hour waiting period for most firearms transfers, allow health care providers to notify police when a patient may harm self or others with a gun, and ban carrying firearms in some public places, Eric Davis of Gun Owners of Vermont (GoVT) reports.
Acceptance among senior home residents and staff and UVMMC hospital workers is hovering at about 80%.
Vermont Right to Life will hold its annual Rally for Life Saturday, January 23 in Montpelier.
Vermont’s policing and Act 250 decision-making will fall under more state control than ever, as a result of two executive orders issued by Gov. Phil Scott.
The pension funds are just 66.4% and 52.3% funded, respectively. The clock is ticking toward calamity, including downgrading the state’s credit ratings.
If this Resolution were to have condemned the rioters that breached the Capital, I would have gladly signed on. I also would have wanted condemnation of all the rioters and their actions that have been occurring across this country through all of 2020 that is happening in mainly Democratic-controlled cities that the Democrats refuse to acknowledge or condemn.
Preliminary numbers show that hunters took a record 914 black bears during the two-part early and late bear seasons. The previous highest harvest ever recorded in Vermont was 750 in 2019. Fish and Wildlife also says there were no hunting-related shooting incidents.
There seems to be a sad irony in the fact that on his way out of office, a former minority leader of the Vermont Senate would cast such a disparaging net of belittlement over fellow Vermonters and Republicans expressing concern and love for their country.
The successful new normal transit system provides door-to-door service.
The leftist organization Antifa did infiltrate the January 6 attack on the Capitol in Washington, D.C. – but only to monitor, not to instigate violence, a Northeast Antifa spokesperson told The Commons weekly newspaper in Brattleboro.
If a pro-Trump armed rally January 17 at the State House takes place as warned by police, any Republicans who attend will do so contrary to the wishes of party leaders. But the president of the ‘anti-fascist’ AFL-CIO of Vermont has urged his members to show up for a counter-protest.
“Anyone packing for Montpelier on the 17th ought to answer this question: Why would you arm yourself for a peaceable assembly?” Why indeed? Even as a non-gun owner, some rather obvious reasons come mind. First, Vermonters have the legal right to carry. Second, a firearm might come in handy if someone starts shooting at you or someone else.
Late last evening, prior to the anticipated conclusion of the investigation into his conduct related to the Capitol insurrection, Lucas Hall resigned his position, the Vermont Department of Public Service reports.
Vermont meme reproducer Vermeistan 2.0 tells the facts about protesters trying to take over the iconic home of a seat of U.S. government – the White House, last summer.
The House yesterday approved H48, a bill giving municipalities flexibility in holding this year’s Town Meeting amid the pandemic. It also empowers the Secretary of State to weigh in, for the health and safety of all concerned.
Gov. Scott answered: “I don’t believe President Trump will be declaring martial law.” Vermont Daily said, “Okay, say he does?” Scott replied: “I don’t want to play that game, because I don’t believe it will happen.”
The Vermont Climate Council has met just three times, but already concerns have surfaced about white supremacy and conflict of interest.
Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Michael Schirling and Montpelier Police Chief Brian Peete held a press conference this afternoon to discuss yesterday’s announcement that an armed gathering of protesters is expected at state houses across the country, January 17. Here’s what reporters learned (and what we didn’t).
One of the challenges is to debunk the many myths surrounding sex and labor trafficking. Human trafficking is often confused with smuggling, evoking ideas of an international slave trade that has little to do with Vermont’s small towns and cities. Victims of trafficking in Vermont, however, include our own neighbors.
An estimated 27 Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate did not join their legislative colleagues in co-sponsoring JRH #1 Friday, January 8, “condemning the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 as an attack on democracy” – and blaming it on President Donald Trump.
Of course the violence was appalling and indefensible. Just like the violence over the last four years.
Law Enforcement is aware of calls encouraging people to arm themselves and center at all State Capitols in the United States, to include Montpelier, specifically on the date of January 17, 2021. We are also aware of national trends warning of and encouraging an insurrection on January 20, 2021, the date in which President-elect Joseph R. Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President.
State snow plow drivers need not wear masks when driving alone, the Vermont Agency of Transportation decided this week. The decision reverses a mandatory masking policy.
Speaking hypothetically, if a citizen of Vermont traveled to Washington D.C. for the sole purpose of participating in a peaceful protest (legal conduct), but during that protest spontaneously decided to commit a crime against the United States, or other unlawful acts, that crime would be prosecutable in courts in the District of Columbia, not in Vermont.
A new House bill would create a 21-member council would make a plan for Vermont to grow the majority of its food within five years.
Governor Phil Scott today announced a handful of new appointments and promotions in the Agency of Administration, Agency of Human Services and on his senior staff.
The Northeast Antifa organization is looking in Brattleboro for recruits to its Vermont chapter.
Attorney General T.J. Donovan has requested that Acting U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen commence a criminal investigation into the activities of President Donald Trump and rioters in relation to the events occurring at the U.S. Capitol yesterday.
Were our people part of the storming of the Capitol Building? The short answer is “No”. To my knowledge, none of our party took part in “storming” the barricades or entering the building. Still, most of us were supportive of gathering at the Capitol Building at that critical time. It seemed important for our representatives in Congress to see the crowd that had gathered from all over the country to support our President.
A Vermont State Trooper has been suspended without pay, pending further possible discipline, for social media posts that “appear to support the criminal insurgency that occurred yesterday at the U.S. Capitol,” Public Safety Commissioner Michael Schirling said today.
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