Vermont news

• A new Vermont law prevents hunters from selling bear paws and organs

  29-08-2024 23:55 via vtdigger.org
  
  A wild black bear in Yukon Territory during springtime after hibernation. Photo via Adobe StockBear hunting season begins on Sept. 1, and the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department is reminding hunters that a new law prohibits the sale of bear paws and organs, such as the animal’s gallbladder.In passing the law, Act 141, Vermont joined the vast majority of U.S. states that ban hunters from selling such bear parts, which are purchased at a premium, then sold on the black market and transpor
  
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• USDA secretary approves disaster declaration for 6 Vermont counties

  29-08-2024 23:36 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Huntington River destroyed corn crops that belong to the Taft family along Main Road in Huntington. Photo by Emma Cotton/VTDiggerU.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has approved Gov. Phil Scott’s request for a Secretarial Disaster Designation for six Vermont counties that were impacted by flooding this July, the governor’s office announced Thursday.The designation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture allows farmers in Caledonia, Essex, Orange, Chittenden, Lamoille and Wa
  
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• House Ethics Panel provided ‘restorative justice’ response to legislator’s bag-soaking scheme

  29-08-2024 23:08 via vtdigger.org
  Earlier this year, state Rep. Jim Carroll released two surveillance-style video clips — one dated April 23 and another April 26. Both videos depict a person walking up to Carroll’s white and green tote bag, looking over their shoulder, then pouring water from a plastic cup into the tote bag before leaving. Video courtesy of Jim CarrollAfter investigating accusations that a representative repeatedly bullied her district mate throughout the 2024 legislative session by secretly pouring
  
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• Hartland planners appeal farm store decision

  29-08-2024 21:57 via vtdigger.org
  
  A rendering of the proposed Sunnymede Farms Store on Route 5 in Hartland. Rendering Courtesy NBF ArchitectsThis story by Christina Dolan was first published in the Valley News on August 26.HARTLAND — In a last-minute change of course, the Hartland Planning Commission is continuing to press its appeal of an Act 250 permit for a farm store on Route 5, just outside the village center.In September 2023, Sunnymede Farms, a 600-acre cattle and maple sugaring operation near Hartland Four Corners,
  
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• Gifford Health Care taps former Shumlin health care hand as new CEO

  29-08-2024 21:03 via vtdigger.org
  
  Michael Costa, CEO of Northern Counties Health Care, seen in St. Johnsbury on August 5, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerA former health official in the Shumlin and Scott administrations will lead Randolph-based Gifford Health Care starting in October, the nonprofit’s board of directors announced in a press release on Thursday.Michael Costa will join the central Vermont health care provider on October 14, three days after the retirement of Gifford’s current president Dan Bennett,
  
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• School districts across Vermont struggle to find, retain bus drivers

  29-08-2024 13:11 via vtdigger.org
  
  School buses are parked outside Mt. Mansfield Union High School in Jericho on March 5, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerWhen the Peacham School lost its bus route last November due to a bus driver shortage, Principal Samuel McLeod was in a quandary.The Caledonia County K-7 school has about 70 students and most of them depend on a contracted bus service that runs a 30-mile rural route. The bus, only one, also helps out neighboring communities like Barnett and Danville, and takes Peacham stude
  
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• Sally Giddings Smith: In defense of Burlington’s cathedral and its parkland

  29-08-2024 12:51 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Sally Giddings Smith of Montpelier.I am not Catholic, nor am I a professional critic. However, I love great buildings and great parks, particularly when they go together, and especially in places which do not have many great buildings or much urban green space.The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes, is a grand example of a modernist building. Barnes used simple shapes and local materials in this building, just as he did at the Haystac
  
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• Dr. Stephen Leffler: Working together to address Vermont’s health care challenges

  29-08-2024 12:07 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Dr. Stephen Leffler, president and COO of the University of Vermont Medical Center.As Vermont’s population ages and in many places declines, we’re seeing the impact in all aspects of our daily lives — whether it’s housing, education or health care.What’s the core problem in Vermont’s health care system? At its most simple, the number of people paying for care through commercial insurance is going down (and getting older and sicker), while
  
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• FEMA gets to work helping Vermont recover from remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl

  29-08-2024 00:40 via vtdigger.org
  
  Church Street in Barnet is closed on July 15, 2024, after flood water from the Stevens River washed away the road. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerClose to 400 people working for the Federal Emergency Management Agency are delivering aid to flood-affected Vermonters, following President Joe Biden’s approval last week of a major disaster declaration for seven Vermont counties hit by the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl in mid-July.Alongside Republican Gov. Phil Scott and other state official
  
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• Suspect arrested in 2022 Springfield murder that police link to drug dispute

  29-08-2024 00:08 via vtdigger.org
  
  Photo courtesy of Vermont State PoliceVermont State Police said Wednesday that Paul Lachapelle Jr., of Littleton, New Hampshire, was arrested in that state, and charged with the 2022 murder of Justin Gilliam in Springfield, Vermont.“VSP’s investigation determined the homicide was related to a dispute among several individuals involved in illegal drug trafficking,” police wrote in a press release, noting that Lachapelle lived in Springfield at the time of the murder. State polic
  
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