Vermont Nursing Home Residents Begin Getting Vaccines

by Derek Brouwer Posted on December 22, 2020 at 3:46PM

Vermont began receiving shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine last week, and distribution of the vaccine is ramping up this week in hospitals and long-term care facilities around the state. Health commissioner Mark Levine said Tuesday that 3,141 Vermonters had gotten their first vaccine dose as of last week.

Media Note: Veteran Journalist Dave Gram to Revive Seven Days' Fair Game Column

by Colin Flanders Posted on December 22, 2020 at 2:00PM

Seven Days had published the weekly column since the paper's founding in 1995 starting with the late Peter Freyne’s Inside Track. Andy Bromage, Shay Totten, Paul Heintz, and John Walters all had a turn at Fair Game, until the paper  discontinued it late last year.

Vermont Inmate Dies of Suspected Suicide in St. Johnsbury Prison

by Sasha Goldstein Posted on December 21, 2020 at 8:23PM

In light of the suspected suicide, Baker said he had directed staff to check on isolated inmates every 15 minutes. “I talked to Defender General Matt Valerio today, and we’re going to start a conversation about bringing some experts together in the field of mental health treatment to try to talk about taking a look at our process, and the isolation that people end up in when they’re by themselves entering into the system,” Baker said.

Attorney General Settles With Man Who Sold Masks at Huge Markup

by Derek Brouwer Posted on December 21, 2020 at 5:59PM

Vermont Is Not Joining the Transportation and Climate Initiative

by Kevin McCallum Posted on December 21, 2020 at 5:44PM

 “Because we don’t need to make a determination right now, it behooves us to continue to evaluate information and policies that are coming out of the federal level and things that the Climate Council is considering,” Walke said. States committing to the effort would adopt a “cap-and-invest” strategy to reduce emissions by charging gasoline distributors a fee based on the amount of pollution created by the fossil fuel they sell.

Court Rejects Claim That Women's Prison Showers Are Unsanitary

by Paul Heintz Posted on December 18, 2020 at 6:11PM

Built in the early 1970s, Chittenden Regional is one of the oldest facilities in the state prison system. In 2012, community leaders issued a report decrying its conditions and documenting the presence of "worms and sewer flies in the shower drains" of the facility.

Commuters Unhappy About Plans to Again Suspend Charlotte-Essex Ferry Route

by Alison Novak Posted on December 18, 2020 at 3:51PM

Dr. Jess Veltkamp concurs. The obstetrician-gynecologist lives on Ferry Road in Charlotte and has been commuting to her private practice at Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh via the Charlotte-Essex ferry since 2014.

Progs Say Weinberger Can't Be Trusted; Some Dems Shrug

by Courtney Lamdin Posted on December 17, 2020 at 9:07PM

sets of eyes looking at these types of issues so we can be sure the public's interest is being safeguarded." The lawsuit that led to del Pozo's damning deposition is forging ahead.

UVM Faculty and Students Reel From Proposed Cuts

by Chelsea Edgar Posted on December 17, 2020 at 8:18PM

Jessica Penny Evans, a lecturer in the classics department at the University of Vermont, has had a rough few weeks. On December 3, the day after the administration announced that her department would be eliminated in a series of proposed cuts to the school’s liberal arts offerings, Evans stood in front of her students and tried to talk about gender and sexuality in ancient Rome. 

Vermont House Expects to Meet Remotely Until at Least March

by Colin Flanders Posted on December 17, 2020 at 2:23PM

the right decision," Donahue said. The Senate Rules Committee also met Thursday to discuss that chamber's plans for the upcoming session.