In 2014, both child abuse and neglect are on the rise in Vermont. Calls to Vermont’s child protection hotline, a part of the Department for Children and Families (DCF), have overwhelmed DCF social workers and staff. The death of Dezirae Sheldon in February and the death of a 15-month-old boy in April, ...
On May 5, the Vermont Senate passed a four-year, multi-tier plan to raise the minimum wage in Vermont to $10.50 per hour by 2018. In 2019, annual cost-of-living wage adjustments will resume. The bill is just one example of the flurry of legislative activity due to the Senate’s self-imposed May 10 ...
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has indicated in recent interviews that he is considering a presidential bid in 2016. “We need candidates who are prepared to represent the working families of this country, who are prepared to stand up to the big money interests, who are prepared to support an aggressive ...
On April 23, the Vermont House approved GMO labeling bill H112 by a margin of 114-30 and Governor Shumlin promised to sign the bill into law. The bill will require genetically modified food products (GMOs) sold in Vermont to be labeled. “I am proud of Vermont for being the first state in the nation ...
One chilly September morning in 2011, Kristin Lundy heard someone ascend her front steps and knock on her door. When she opened it, police Sgt. Mike Fish asked her to gather everyone living in the house. "Your son is dead," he said. "I ran up the stairs," Lundy later recalled in an interview with ...
The Vermont Senate gave preliminary approval to a bill that would protect medical professionals from prosecution by state regulators for prescribing long-term treatment for Lyme disease on Thursday, April 10. The vote, 27-0 in favor of the legislation, followed a unanimous precursory vote by a Senate ...
On Wednesday, April 9, Vermont Senate Government Operations Committee considered new legislation that would regulate taser use across Vermont. Bill H.225, already passed by the house, would implement statewide training standards for all law enforcement officials armed with electronic control devices ...
On Friday, April 4th, Chittenden County Transportation Authority (CCTA) buses resumed their regularly scheduled routes. This decision came after a tense, 18-day standoff between CCTA management leaders and drivers came to an end. The CCTA board of commissioners and representatives of the bus drivers ...
Vermont’s education may be in for an historical overhaul if legislation passed in Vermont’s house of representatives last month passes at the end of this legislative cycle. The proposed bill, H.883, would radically consolidate public education in Vermont by reducing the number of school districts ...
Roughly 140 employees at IBM's Essex Junction plant lost their jobs this month, the most recent bout of layoffs in the company's billion-dollar restructuring. The company currently employs over 430,000 people worldwide, but some analysts expect that number to shrink by roughly 13,000. Many of these ...
Alexander Twilight Hall — the austere brick building separating the town from Middlebury College — is named for Alexander Twilight, the 1823 Middlebury College graduate who is known today as the first American black college graduate. Today, Twilight is widely touted as an example of Middlebury’s ...
Upon opening her inbox, Reverend Stephanie Allen noticed one unread email from an interesting source: Middlebury’s Memorial Baptist Church. The email turned out to contain a job offer, which Allen decided to take, and thereby become the town’s first female pastor. Allen’s role at the church ...
Last week, the towns of Cornwall, Shoreham and Monkton voted against a plan to extend a Vermont Gas pipeline from Middlebury to Rutland. The pipeline would pass through their town land. The non-binding votes, held in town meetings, showed strong opposition to the project. Cornwall’s vote was 126-16, ...
Chittenden County Transportation Authority (CCTA), and the Teamsters Local No. 597 reached a settlement last Sunday, narrowly avoiding a strike that would have shut down Vermont’s largest bus service. The nineteen-hour-long negotiation session occurred in the CCTA headquarters and was mediated by ...
This Sunday, the streets of downtown Middlebury overflowed with hungry patrons at Middlebury’s sixth annual Chilifest. The booths, run by professional chefs and amateurs alike, dished out over 50 kinds of chili for the annual event. For just five dollars, attendees enjoyed a variety of chilis, which ...
A hotly debated proposal to relocate the Middlebury Town Hall passed in a vote taken this Tuesday, March 4th. The decision comes after weeks of debate in the Middlebury community as to the relative merits and drawbacks of the proposal. Proposal 6, the controversial plan, represents an endeavor to move ...
For most of us the Mead Chapel bells are background noise to our daily activities, so when we hear them ringing our impulse is not to stop and listen. Accordingly, one might take for granted the immense skill of George Matthew Jr., the College’s carillon player. The carillon, which is often mistaken ...
Within 16 months of graduation, only 60 percent of Vermont’s high school graduates enroll in post-secondary education. In an effort to increase attendance, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin introduced his early start degree program this December, which allows high school seniors to enroll at one of six ...
Earlier the current session, State Sen. Robert Hartwell introduced a bill that would impose a a 10-cent fee on all disposable shopping bags at Vermont retailers. The bill would also prohibit the sale and distribution of non-recyclable bags, and ensure that the all bags meet certain environmental standards. The ...
Six years ago, Lisa Bernardin read a newspaper article that would alter the course of her life. It was during a state of “oscillation,” as she said, that Bernardin came across an article about the winner of the International Brain Bee. The Brain Bee is an international neuroscience competition ...