By Kirk Carapezza Inside a packed House chamber at the Statehouse, a joint session of the Senate Health and Welfare and Judiciary committees heard emotional testimony from the public Tuesday night on end-of-life issues. The often passionate testimony came as the Senate committees debate this week whether to approve a bill that would permit people [...]
VPR News Blog
From Vermont Public Radio
January
29 2013
Norwich Tower Up for a Vote – Again
By Ross Sneyd Voters in Norwich will have a second chance to weigh in on a plan to build a controversial tower designed to improve public safety communications. In August, they turned down a bond issue to help fund the tower. It’s currently supposed to be built by VTel, which would also be able to [...]
January
29 2013
Democrats Echo Republicans In Calling For Campaign Finance Reform
By Kirk Carapezza Democrats in Vermont today echoed their Republican counterparts in calling for campaign finance reform to increase transparency. The proposals follow a campaign season that saw hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in both primary and general elections. At a news conference at the Statehouse, Jake Perkinson, chairman of the Vermont Democratic Party, [...]
January
29 2013
Report Pushes For Support For Vermont Manufacturing
A year after Governor Peter Shumlin called for a meeting of the minds on how to improve Vermont’s manufacturing base, the Agency Of Commerce And Community Development has issued its report. While it’s partly prescriptive – in the form of recommendations – it’s also descriptive in its effort to paint a clearer picture of manufacturing [...]
January
29 2013
Legislature To Hear Testimony On End-Of-Life Issues
By Kirk Carapezza A Senate committee is set to take testimony on end-of-life issues at the Statehouse today. This morning at 11:30, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee will hear from Attorney General Bill Sorrell and former Gov. Madeleine Kunin. The committee will spend the week considering whether to approve a bill that would permit [...]
January
29 2013
VT Mayors Coalition Seeks Funding to Cities for Supervised Housing
By Amy Kolb Noyes Less than two weeks ago, all eight of Vermont’s mayors announced they are joining forces to “advocate for issues of common interest.” The newly formed Vermont Mayors Coalition also released a legislative policy summary calling for tax increment financing (TIF) reform, improved public safety, and enhanced state tax credits for “designated [...]
January
29 2013
Vt. Principals Ask Lawmakers To Make School Safety A Top Priority
By Kirk Carapezza The House Education Committee is taking up the issue of school safety more than a month after the schoolhouse shootings in Newtown, Conn. Across the state, educators are walking a sort of tightrope as they hope to strike a balance between school safety and creating a warm, welcoming environment for their students. [...]
January
28 2013
Vt. Lawmakers Consider Effects Of Climate Change and Renewable Energy
By Kirk Carapezza This week at the Statehouse, several committees of the Legislature will take a look at climate change and renewable energy. A joint meeting of the House Natural Resources and Energy, Agriculture and Commerce committees will hear testimony Wednesday morning on climate change and how it affects businesses in Vermont. “The goal is [...]
January
28 2013
Sanders Says Vt. Wind Moratorium Would Send ‘Terrible’ Message To Nation
By Kirk Carapezza Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Monday his opposition to a proposed moratorium on ridgeline wind power projects in Vermont, saying it would send the wrong message to people across the country who are trying to fight climate change. Sanders had told those who oppose ridgeline wind development that he would not get involved. [...]
January
25 2013
McKibben To Address Legislature On Climate Change
By Kirk Carapezza Speaker of the House Shap Smith announced Friday that he has invited environmental activist Bill McKibben to speak to the legislature about climate change and how it relates to Vermont. McKibben has been supporting a campaign to get resolutions on town meeting day ballots that would oppose the shipment of tar-sands oil [...]
Supported By
Kirk Carapezza, Vermont Legislature
Kirk blogs from the statehouse as part of VPR's news team in the capital. Follow Kirk on Twitter @kirkcarapezza and on VPR.net.
Vermont Legislature
Steve Zind, The Vermont Economy
Senior Reporter Steve Zind reports on the impact of jobs and the economy on Vermont. Follow Steve on Twitter and his reporting on The Vermont Economy at VPR.net.
The Vermont Economy
Amy Noyes, Public Post
Amy Kolb Noyes is VPR's Public Post reporter, using Vermont city and town government documents to source and research news stories and trends. Follow Amy on Twitter and at Public Post.