A prominent world-renowned doctor based in Burlington is suing the University of Vermont Medical Center for medical negligence and wrongful death for the fatal overdose of his adult son five years ago.
Prominent doctor sues UVMMC for negligent treatment of drug-addicted son
VT Headlines: Missing woman found, hospital may close birthing center
A regional hospital may cut its birthing center due to the endemic budget crisis.
ICE detains construction workers in Newport
Mow later, save the birds. Vermont housing shortage #2 worst in nation. Cows healthy, though.
CLG: Multiple people injured in ‘targeted terror attack’ in Boulder, Colorado
Suspect in Boulder terror attack determined to be Egyptian man in U.S. illegally – FBI
Without school $$ bill, House out until June 16
House Speaker Krowinski announced the full House would come back on June 16, which was the date previously put on the calendar for a potential session to address any bills that the Governor vetoed. The plan is now for the education conferees to continue meeting over the next few weeks to hammer out an agreement that can also satisfy Governor Scott. Stay tuned.
Dame: VTGOP condemns Rep. Balint’s “wiping” comment as demeaning towards immigrants
Last week, Vermont’s sole Congresswoman, Rep. Becca Balint, held a town hall where she stated that if we don’t increase immigration, “we’re not gonna have anyone around to wipe our asses.”
Education finance impasse: “More time is needed”
Negotiations on school finance reform will go on into June.
Governor Scott’s office insists Vermont is in full compliance with federal immigration law
“Advocates with the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project said 10 construction workers were detained by ICE in Newport on Thursday,”
Podcast: Feds go after ‘Sanctuary’ VT /Property taxes / CHS vampire
The undead Clean Heat Standard
Rob Roper on today’s Vermont Podcast
We will also discuss:
-DHS citing Vermont as a ‘sanctuary jurisdiction’
-Vermont’s potential new health commissioner
-Clean Heat Standard is now ‘Dead’ ?
We will also discuss:
-DHS citing Vermonts as a ‘sanctuary jurisdiction’
-Vermont’s potential new health commissioner
-Clean Heat Standard is now ‘Dead’ ?
And more!
BREAKING: State of Vermont cited by Department of Homeland Security as ‘sanctuary jurisdiction defying federal immigration law’
The entire state of Vermont and the cities of Burlington, Montpelier, and Winooski have been labeled as ‘Sanctuary Jurisdictions’ by the department of Homeland Security, and now face federal funding cuts under Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown.
Roper: PUC thumbs nose at legislators over Clean Heat Standard
Refuses to enforce stupid, unworkable law.
Five-time felon admits violating probation by doing no community service in drug case
Michael V. Larrow Sr., 67, of Grand Isle had no intention of doing the 200 hours of community service ordered by Judge Sam Hoar Jr. in September 2023, State’s Attorney Doug DiSabito told the court last week.
Breaking: Education finance bill compromise under discussion – Legislature could adjourn today
A House Education Committee member this morning told VDC that the H.454 Conference Committee is taking seriously Gov. Phil Scott’s concerns about affordability and implementation timeline in the current House/Senate versions of this session’s landmark legislation: transformation of Vermont’s public education financing and governance.
Police nab MA suspect in St. J shooting
At about 4:45 PM Thursday, Berlin police were told of a vehicle that was in the area of Burger King located on US Route 302 in Berlin. Guichard was believed to be in the vehicle.
VT Headlines: Renewable energy plant in St. Albans celebrates grand opening
Johnson General Store gets warm welcome; Vermont’s craft beer industry shifts from booming to ‘maturing’; Tensions rise in Essex over prospective Amazon facility construction
Scott’s press secretary stays rooted in Bradford
Amanda Wheeler hopes to show you don’t have to leave home to make an impact.
Church to break ground on NEK’s first hospice house
A groundbreaking ceremony will be held Saturday for Living Waters Hospice House, the first dedicated hospice residence serving Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.
Hartford CT gang member gets 10 years for Brattleboro drug, gun crimes
Barbosa, a member of a violent gang in Hartford, Connecticut, called “GMS,” was trafficking large quantities of drugs to Brattleboro.
Tariffs in American history
Being one of the earliest forms of taxation, it is not surprising that tariffs produced one of the earliest forms of tax evasion: smuggling.
Man charged with Colchester killing got deferred sentence for 2024 assault at request of Sarah George
A Colchester man, who was charged this month in the fatal stabbing of a Milton woman, is also now facing a violation of probation case for an attack last summer on another woman as she walked in the city of Essex Junction.
Study: Wildlife underpasses save amphibians
Amphibian road mortality drops by over 80% with wildlife underpasses, study shows.
Scott to Legislature: your school funding bill costs property taxpayers too much
Rather than let a minority of Democrats and every Republican pass the Senate Education bill, Senate leaders scrapped it and successfully pushed a more House-friendly version.
VT Headlines: Waitsfield targeted in sophisticated financial hack for $81,000
Vermont Veterans Outreach Program to face shutdown without congressional funding; Federal judge in Vermont orders release of Russian-born Harvard scientist; Rutland City school board and union ratify a teachers’ contract; Essex Development Board resumes public review of Amazon warehouse proposal
McCallum: Should I stay, or should I go?
Most of the people who go to college in Vermont — 57 percent — leave the state after graduation. That’s more than any other state.
Federal Judge says Murder-for-Hire civil lawsuit can resume
A federal judge has agreed to allow a long-stalled wrongful death lawsuit to resume against a California scientist convicted last month in Burlington for being the mastermind in a cross-country murder-for-hire-case seven years ago in Danville.
Hornblas: Life, death, and a new Vermont Health Commissioner
The increase in deaths is only the tip of the iceberg. We are also failing in all of our health outcomes, across the board. Schools and businesses have struggled to find enough staff who are healthy and able to work, and health facilities are flooded with patients.
Digital wildfire: NotPetya, the most destructive cyberattack in history
How Russia weaponized America’s hacking tools to burn down the internet, and how Vermont lays vulnerable
Rally for African incarcerated by ICE
As NEKASAN members waited outside, they were informed only that “things have changed.” Lamidi, it turns out, was handcuffed upon entering the building and taken into custody.
House passes Gender X license bill
This Vermont bill is a response to a January 20 executive order issued by signed by President Donald Trump, mandating that federal agencies, including the State Department, recognize only two sexes (male and female) based on biological sex assigned at birth, effectively eliminating the “X” gender marker option for passports and prohibiting gender marker changes that do not align with birth certificates.
Police seek MA ‘career criminal’ in St. J shooting
tate police say Ladjuan Anthony Guichard, 27, of Dorchester, Massachusetts is wanted on a charge of attempted second-degree murder arising from the shooting of 30-year-old Adam Belliveau on Concord Avenue.
Clean Heat Standard dead without another vote, PUC states and House chair agrees
The Clean Heat Standard can’t be implemented without additional legislative approval, a key House committee chair concedes.
Veterans’ Place helps homeless vets find independence
The Veterans’ Place in Northfield has begun their 2025 fundraising campaign and they are seeking your support!
Senate leaders avoid GOP-led school reform vote
Voting on the Senate Education Committee bill might have gone 18-12 with all 13 Republicans voting in favor – creating a new GOP/blue dog coalition unacceptable to Senate Dem leadership.
VT Headlines: VT’s community radio stations get state funding for disaster response work
Rutland City School Board ratifies teachers’ contract in unanimous vote; Killington Select Board candidates call for financial audit to move forward
Roper: Democrats go full partisan on education reform
Kill bipartisan bill in favor of special interests.
Former Senate pro tem hangs art in State House cafeteria
A former Senate leader who took up painting during Covid now has an art show in the State House cafeteria.
Klar: Vermont’s Middlebury College should not receive Federal funding
DEI, CRT, and anti-Semitism must go!
Samets and Feldman: Vermont legislators have a chance to save Jewish lives—now
Vermont is the only state in New England without any Holocaust education standards, despite bills being introduced seeking this change since 2017. By equipping Vermont’s educational institutions to confront this hatred directly, H.310 not only offers protection but also affirms the dignity and identity of Jewish Vermonters.
Soulia: S.124: A decade of drowning in Vermont’s water policy
Ten years and over $200 million later, Vermont is right back where it started—struggling to comply with the Clean Water Act, while farmers, taxpayers, and lawmakers all try to catch their breath.
Klar: What’s controversial about the MAHA commission report?
Conflicting reactions suggest it hit the sweet spot.
Youth internet bill passes House, goes back to Senate
Intended to protect teens from predatory online practices, S.69 also would prevent youth online presence on business-related sites that also cater to adults.
Letters: Bruner and Mazur on anti-semitism
This is a classic example of an unhinged, white female liberal who sits in her cozy home reading the leftist propaganda known as the “failing New York Times”.
Unpaid leave, corpse abuse bills signed into law
No person shall, knowingly without legal authorization, intentionally burn, mutilate, disfigure, dismember, or destroy the dead body of a person.
Vermont third in northern border encounters during Biden admin
Vermont had 59,298 encounters during that period, compared to just 82 in New Hampshire, which has a narrow border with Canada and no cross-border interstate highway. Vermont has two interstate crossings.
When Vermont barn dances were all the rage
Someone’s grandparents always seem to remember one, and sometimes you can still find the scruffs and scrapes of shoes and boots on the floors. But where’d those hoedowns go? What were they like? And what did they do for small, rural communities?
Teenager surprises grandfather veteran with Memorial Day honor
Ed was seriously injured in a catastrophic fire and series of explosions in 1967 while aboard the USS Forrestal in the Gulf of Tonkin.
VT Headlines: Burlington man credited with saving woman from burning condo
Vermont, state officials honor fallen veterans for Memorial Day; Burlington businesses feeling strain from downtown construction; Route 5 reopens after tractor crash in Hartland
Fernandez: Behind Hamas, you will find BLM
Shalomyah Bowers, a leading administrator with BLM Global Network Foundation, was sued by the organization for “siphoning millions “from the group into his own “personal piggy bank.”
Police investigate fatal shooting in Brandon
Vermont State Police officers are investigating a suspicious shooting death of a 46-year-old Brandon man over the weekend. The victim, Brian Bailey, was found unresponsive inside his home on Champearl Road shortly after 7 a.m. Saturday, state police said in a news release. Bailey was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders, police said in the release.
Harrison: Sausage-makers grinding out housing, school funding bills
The legislative process is sometimes likened to sausage making, not pretty to watch. That was certainly true last week at the State House with education reform and a major housing bill being considered.
Despathy: VT media’s climate propaganda strikes again
Vermont Public’s propaganda superficially simplifies a complex issue into ‘the Democrats want climate policy and the Republicans are pushing back’.
Legislature honors Vermonters who served and died
“In our own body we have in our midst two members who have lost family as a result of service to our country during conflict,” Morgan said.
Deal: On guard, and for our Guard, on Memorial Day
Let us today never forget what such a memorial means for our freedoms, and for those we love. Let us never stop striving to do better for those who have given everything imaginable to us all.
Congress kills California/VT gas car ban
Congress has passed a measure to overturn California’s phased-in 2035 ban on the sale of new gas cars.
Bernie bashes Dem overuse of identity politics
Bernie: “And then you get to what we call identity politics. You’re black?, ‘you’re wonderful, you’re tremendous.’ You’re gay? ‘You’re the greatest human being on earth…’ Rather than say ‘what do you stand for?’ You’re gay? That’s fine, who cares?”
Roper: Unless it lowers taxes, vote NO on the education “reform” bill
Don’t just do something for the sake of doing something.
VT Headlines: Vermont’s Jewish community reacts to Israeli Embassy staffers killed in DC
Vermont state auction draws deal-hunters from across the Northeast; School board ratification vote on Rutland teachers’ contract postponed, rescheduled for next week
Men charged with gun, sex crimes, woman with hammer threat
Troopers investigating the incident determined that Mclain had fired a gun several times in the direction of Sirois’ residence.
State housing authority says no new vouchers
Portability will now only be permitted to areas where the Voucher Payment Standards are less than or equal to VSHA’s highest standard.
Jesses: Young people need civics
Upon graduation, our students need to be aware of how steeped our country is in values that recognize both the uniqueness of our form of government and how exceptional our country is in offering Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness to all without regard to religion, race, sex, ethnicity, or other demographic factors.
Balint fights ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ all night, but it passes at 6:56 AM
Reconciliation bills are considered by Congress using expedited legislative procedures that prevent a filibuster and restrict amendments in the Senate.
Klar: The vindication of Dr. Bhattacharya
Banished by the medical establishment for resisting Covid policies, he now runs the agency that made them
Sims: Trans anger at our protest of biological male Levine’s address to Smith College grads
They call us the haters and the unkind people but they always show their true colors. We did not have to do anything. The proof is in the video.
Train collision victim ID’d
Essex Westford School District was notified and requested to advise families and students to avoid the area while the scene was processed. The accident scene was blocked off from public view by black screens.
VT Headlines: Rutland teachers union votes to ratify new contract with city school district
Wild lake trout populations have rebounded in Lake Champlain. But scientists don’t know why; 120-mile kayak trip across Lake Champlain to benefit athletes with disabilities
CLG: Biden officials hid deadly health risks of COVID vaccines, bombshell Congressional report reveals
U.S. launches doomsday Minuteman III nuclear-capable missile in dramatic show of force; Senate votes unanimously to eliminate federal taxes on tips
Most fentanyl and terrorists enter through northern border, FBI Director Patel says
The majority of illegal border crossers were reported in New York, Washington and Vermont, The Center Square reported. In addition to arresting human traffickers and violent criminals, U.S. authorities have arrested alleged Islamic terrorists, including an Iranian with terrorist ties living in Canada and a Canadian woman who tried to poison President Donald Trump, The Center Square reported.
Soulia: Is 600,000 too small to count?
In a recently released open letter to Governor Phil Scott, health educator and Vermont Stands Up director Amy Hornblass raises a stark question: why has Vermont’s Department of Health not investigated the state’s persistent surge in excess deaths since the onset of COVID-19 restrictions?
Feds DOGE $4 million earmarked for City of Montpelier
The city was notified that $2.5 million for water main replacement and $1.5 million to elevate a 20-unit building on Elm Street damaged by 2023 floodwaters will not be funded.
Chittenden: School funding reform must balance freedom and unity
This bill would drastically shift the balance in our education system away from Freedom (local control) towards Unity (centralized state oversight) in ways I fundamentally do not support.
Report: VT fentanyl deaths drop 22%
While fatal overdoses involving fentanyl decreased by 25% between 2022 and 2024, fentanyl continues to be the number one substance involved in opioid-related deaths, accounting for 93% of opioid fatalities in 2024.
Breaking: Scott vows veto of Burlington gun ban
Phil Scott waves his veto pen over two bills still in the Legislature.
Vermont seniors poorer but healthy
Poverty increased 57% from 6.1% to 9.6% of adults age 65 and older between 2019 and 2023.
Person struck, killed by train in Essex Junction
Details are sketchy, but police report a person died in a Wednesday morning collision with a train in Essex Junction.
Bean: Mad River devastation and the growing geoengineering dilemma
In conversation over the weekend many Vermonters pointed out that it seems to be rainy every single Saturday! While this may seem like a classic complaint during mid-May, this recent flood in the Mad River Valley certainly triggers memories of floods in Vermont in recent years.
VT Headlines: One person hit and killed by train in Essex Junction, police say
Public meeting to discuss VT’s environmental protection rules this Thursday; Susan Stock: Proposed SNAP cuts would hit Vermont hard; Can U.S. residents get vaccines in Canada: Experts say yes, but at a cost
Mills: A new IEA report and the Iberian Blackout end dreams of an ‘energy transition’
Systems that can deliver reliable power at the scales necessary for robust growth remain anchored in precisely the fuels the transitionists want to abandon.
SCOTUS restores Rep. Laurel Libby’s floor privileges, enjoins Maine Dems’ censure of her
Late last month, Rep. Libby filed an emergency petition to the United States Supreme Court, asking for their intervention in her lawsuit against Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford) over the fallout from her party-line censure earlier this year that stripped her of her rights to speak on the floor or vote in the legislature.
CLG: Trump says U.S. close to a nuclear deal with Iran
Joe Biden diagnosed with ‘aggressive form’ of prostate cancer that has metastasized to the bone; Trump accuses Biden’s advisors of treason; Israel may strike Iranian nuclear facilities
McGuinness: S.28 legalizes modern-day equivalent of coat hanger abortions
Vermonters were told passage of Article 22 would keep abortion rare, safe, and legal, yet this new law opens the floodgates to unsupervised chemical abortions, making them common and dangerous, yet still legal.
Legislators preview enviro bills for next year
A House committee recently heard the introduction of seven new bills covering five topics legislators hope to tackle.
VT CO2 emissions down 20%, but it’s still not enough
State misses emissions goal, despite fossil fuel use and pollution reduction, report says. Lawmakers earlier this month listened to the report.
Roper: Unpaid Leave Bill comes with a cost
Another unnecessary hit to small businesses.
Keelan: A college education — How it has changed
What has happened in the last two or three decades that has put college operations on the front page?
House OKS lifting ban on switchblades
Repealing the switchblade ban has long been the goal of Sen. Pat Brennan (R-Colchester/Grand Isle), who introduced (unsuccessfully) similar legislation as a member of the House of Representatives.
Climate Superfund repeal introduced
Democrat leaders of the energy and environment committees this year have declined to consider other climate change repeal legislation.
VT Headlines: Hazardous materials spill closes Williston roadway for five hours
Freed from ICE custody, Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi graduates from Columbia; Fewer Vermonters are dying from opioid overdoses, mirroring national trends
Letters: Edmunds on surviving a system of advocacy
Pratt on “The Trillionaires Are Coming,” and Jablow on banning hounding.
Livingston: Government corruption is educating future generations
Forget textbooks. The actual civics lesson kids are absorbing is that accountability is for the weak. That truth is optional. That the loudest person wins. This isn’t some abstract worry—it’s cultural conditioning.
Bossange: Speak out before it’s too late
Trump’s MAGA Party took over the entire Republican Party and enforced internal party discipline by using political threats and intimidation to stamp out all dissent
Update: Smugglers Notch stuckage driver ticketed, company fined $2347
Boima claimed he saw a sign telling him he could drive through.
Shorts: cybersleuth honored, new UVM clinic, tree sex mystery
Though the trees can reproduce asexually, scientists still don’t understand why the male satiny willows are so scarce.
VT school sidelines fire-prone electric school buses
The Huntsville, Ontario school bus built by Lion Electric of Quebec was packed with students when the driver began to notice problems. He ordered the kids off the bus.
Education, housing reform bills unresolved
But even among supporters, there is an acknowledgment that much of the proposal includes placeholder language likely to require substantial revision—either in a forthcoming Committee of Conference or in future legislative sessions.
Three-time Bradford felon facing murder charge for missing friend
James D. Nickles Jr., 42, is now facing a charge of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Corey Crooker, 43, of Bradford, according to records in Vermont Superior Court in Chelsea. Judge Daniel Richardson also found probable cause for a felony charge of unauthorized removal and disposal of a body without a state permit and with a misdemeanor count of false information to Vermont State Police.
Burlington gun ban bill now in House
S.131 and the end of Dillon’s Rule? Burlington gun ban tests Vermont’s Constitution and State authority
VT Headlines: Severe storms leave several roads washed out, rivers rising in Vermont & New York Saturday
‘Let’s get back to work’: Greensboro grapples with vote against affordable housing project; Former AHS Secretary Mike Smith shares plans for reviewing UVM Health Network costs; Middlebury women’s lacrosse punches ticket to NCAA semifinal
Kinsley: YIMBY, not NIMBY
We have become better at stopping things from being built than actually building them. Klein contrasted this with China, a country that seems to have an insatiable appetite for building things and the political will to make it happen.
Fireovid: HHS says puberty blockers high-risk, low benefit
This comprehensive review prioritizes evidence-based medicine and questions the treatment of minors with irreversible medical interventions such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries.
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