Weekly Wrap: Thanksgiving food drive; Record voter turnout; Chelsea must rebuild board; Asylee’s deportation delayed; GlobalFoundries warns of layoffs

Vermont's online nonprofit news daily. Please support our reporting. 10,000 meals from 1,000 members by Thanksgiving Local news is essential. That's why we don't interrupt your access to the news during our membership drives. If you appreciate our unwavering commitment to public access to information, please support VTDigger's nonprofit journalism and help us send 10,000 meals to the Vermonters facing hunger by Thanksgiving. Donate and send 10 meals VTDigger is sending 10 meals to the Vermont Foodbank for every member donation we receive during our annual fund drive. Please give what you can during this special time of the year. Inside VTDigger One week left in VTDigger Thanksgiving food and news drive by VTDigger Member Team VTDigger's Annual Fund Drive is critical to sustaining the nonprofit news operation year round. Each donation will support local news and send 10 meals to the Vermont Foodbank. Read more... Looking for Vermont Covid-19 data? Visit VTDigger's Covid dashboard, updated on weekdays when new data is available. Health Care State Covid levels remain 'low' as hospitalizations decline by Erin Petenko Most metrics show Vermont's Covid levels to be low, even as levels in some states in the Southwest begin to rise. Read more... Politics Vermont sees record high midterm turnout in historic election year by Sarah Mearhoff The Secretary of State's Office on Tuesday certified Vermont's 2022 election results. Read more... Politics Becca Balint and Peter Welch to donate contributions from crypto exec Sam Bankman-Fried to charity by Sarah Mearhoff The 30-year-old billionaire and celebrity of the cryptocurrency world has found himself in hot water as the cryptocurrency exchange he helmed, FTX, collapsed. Read more... Politics Billionaire supporters of Balint's primary bid find themselves at center of cryptocurrency industry collapse by Sarah Mearhoff The crypto giant FTX has plummeted to bankruptcy after lending billions of customer dollars to an affiliated hedge fund. Several FTX executives at the heart of the scandal previously bolstered U.S. Rep.-elect Becca Balint's primary campaign. Read more... Politics Bernie Sanders in line to chair influential Senate committee on health, education and labor by Lola Duffort "As chairman of the committee, he will focus on universal health care, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, increasing access to higher education, and protecting workers' rights on the job," Mike Casca, a spokesperson for Sanders, said in a statement. Read more... Politics Democrats unanimously nominate Phil Baruth to serve as president of the Vermont Senate by Lola Duffort Even as Baruth celebrated his caucus' power, he sought to manage expectations. And he signaled that he was particularly sensitive to concerns that an "arrogant" supermajority would be oblivious to the "average Vermonters' lives, their pocketbooks, their wallets, their bills." Read more... Politics As federal housing assistance winds down — and needs ramp up — lawmakers ask about 'splitting the baby' by Lola Duffort "We just applied for a grant for survival gear," one agency leader told Vermont lawmakers. "I would have never thought in this day and age that we would be applying for survival gear just to keep people alive outside." Read more... Politics After 4 resignations, Chelsea officials announce plan to rebuild Selectboard by Dominic Minadeo After a chaotic week, Chelsea residents and officials agreed to get back on track with a plan to elect new Selectboard members. The town road foreman, whose disagreements with the board were at the center of the controversy, is said to have returned to duty. Read more... Education Voters said no to combining Addison Northwest and Mt. Abraham school districts. Now what? by Peter D'Auria The decisive vote was a victory for advocates of small elementary schools. But, amid declining enrollment and rising costs, it raises questions about both districts' futures. Read more... Politics Rep. John Palasik of Milton dies at 68 by Shaun Robinson "We will miss his voice and contributions in the State House," Gov. Phil Scott said. Read more... Politics Candidates call for recounts in 3 Vermont House races by Juliet Schulman-Hall Results of the recounts in the Rutland-2, Bennington-1 and Grand Isle-Chittenden districts are expected at the end of the month. Read more... Politics Orange County sheriff's race to get recount by Valley News Orange County Sheriff Bill Bohnyak, trailing in his bid for reelection as county sheriff by less than 1%, is petitioning the court for a recount of the recent election results. Read more... Crime and Justice Orange County sheriff faces potential reprimand for allegedly improperly delegating investigative work by Ethan Weinstein Bill Bohnyak is accused of allowing a deputy without the proper certification to investigate crimes, including child sexual assault. He had requested a recount this week after losing his reelection bid by 100 votes. Read more... Crime and Justice Newfane house explosion leaves man dead by Alan J. Keays Police and fire departments were called to the scene early Friday morning. Read more... Crime and Justice Defense for accused murderer in Burlington wants AG's office thrown off case over 'unethical conduct' by Alan J. Keays Louis Fortier is accused of stabbing and killing Richard Medina on Church Street in March 2017. His lawyer alleges the Vermont Attorney General's Office improperly contacted a potential witness. The attorney general's office calls the allegation "meritless." Read more... People & Places Ugandan asylee's deportation delayed for a year by Shaun Robinson In a letter Steven Tendo received Tuesday, a top U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official wrote that Tendo can remain in the U.S. until at least Nov. 12, 2023. Read more... Energy & Environment Hundreds of Bennington-area residents have received checks from chemical contamination lawsuit by Tiffany Tan Plaintiff attorneys said payments will be going out to about 1,500 more property owners in Bennington and Shaftsbury. They said the process has been disrupted by fraudulent claims and the role of an out-of-state company that unnecessarily offered to help beneficiaries for a fee. Read more... Inside VTDigger Vermont needs facts and food; You can give both by VTDigger Member Team Will you join and help send 10,000 meals to the Vermont Foodbank by Thanksgiving? Read more... Business & Economy Vermont minimum wage will increase in January but hasn't kept pace with living wage demands by Sarah Mearhoff Beginning on Jan. 1, Vermont's minimum wage will increase from $12.55 to $13.18 per hour. Read more... Business & Economy After debts and costs are paid, Jay Peak Resort's $76M winning bid leaves $67M for defrauded EB-5 investors by Alan J. Keays With the sale finalized, Pacific Group Resorts takes ownership of the Northeast Kingdom ski area as it emerges from a financial scandal that landed its past owner and company president in prison. Read more... Politics 1st candidate announces run for Burlington City Council by Patrick Crowley Jason Van Driesche will seek the Democratic nomination for the South District seat held by Joan Shannon during the party's caucus in December. Shannon said she intends to seek reelection. Read more... Business & Economy Plan would convert defunct White River Junction hotel to affordable apartments by Valley News New zoning changes in Hartford are facilitating a proposal to convert a defunct hotel off Route 5 into affordable housing for people with middle to low incomes. Read more... Politics Redistricting proves a challenge for Burlington City Council by Patrick Crowley The council hopes to put a new electoral map in front of voters for Town Meeting Day next March, but arriving at a consensus has been a struggle. Read more... Politics Some Burlington residents concerned about South End and Trinity Campus rezoning proposals by Juliet Schulman-Hall Residents question whether the rezoning plans would help deal with Burlington's housing shortage. Read more... Health Care New health care regulators ask OneCare executives for measurable results by Riley Robinson OneCare's CEO declined to share the organization's key performance indicators with state regulators when asked at a hearing last week. Read more... Health Care State announces new cold-weather policy for homeless Vermonters by Lola Duffort Despite the first snowstorm of the season being forecast by the National Weather Service to land early Wednesday morning, the policy offering shelter will not be in effect in 11 of 12 of the state's regions Wednesday, per the Department for Children and Families' website. Read more... Business & Economy GlobalFoundries warns employees of job cuts by Fred Thys The company is not saying whether employees at its Essex Junction plant will be affected. Read more... People & Places The Deeper Dig: What keeps Vermonters together across a widening income divide? by Riley Robinson A look at Facebook data, a Northeast Kingdom general store and "a geography to connectedness." Read more... People & Places 'People crossing paths': How Vermonters maintain social connectedness in unequal times by Erin Petenko Connections between lower-income and higher-income people can drive economic mobility, new research shows — but those connections are rare. Read more... Education With its bond approved, Burlington school district shifts focus to the Statehouse for aid by Patrick Crowley The Legislature set aside $32 million earlier this year to deal with PCBs in schools but has not directed where the money will go. Burlington school officials plan to make the case that $22 million should go toward Burlington High School. Read more... People & Places Burlington mayor announces completion of 'phase one' of Moran Plant renovations by Patrick Crowley The city envisions the former coal-fired power plant, now called the Moran Frame, as the centerpiece of a new waterfront park. An independent group will seek further improvements. Read more... Energy & Environment Casella moves to remove PFAS from landfill leachate, but Northeast Kingdom residents say they've had enough by Emma Cotton Residents say they're concerned that a new building for PFAS treatment would allow Casella to eventually discharge treated leachate into Lake Memphremagog. State officials say they haven't ruled that out. Read more... People & Places Want less graffiti and more local color? How Brattleboro hit on a wall-encompassing fix. by Kevin O'Connor A $25,000 downtown mural collaboration between local designers and newly resettled Afghan artists is set for public dedication this week. Read more... Politics Brattleboro proposes $4.3 million in recreation and park upgrades by Kevin O'Connor Sale of a potential 20-year bond would finance a new skating rink roof and refrigeration system, field lighting and a maintenance building at the municipally owned Living Memorial Park. Read more... Business & Economy New Hampshire firm buys historic Bennington mill complex for $5.75 million by Tiffany Tan The portfolio of the new owner, Chinburg Properties, includes multiple former mills that have been redeveloped into residential and commercial spaces. Read more... Energy & Environment Vermont's 1st comprehensive bee assessment finds 70 new species — and 55 that need more protection by Emma Cotton "I just find that to be really exciting — that we're starting to pay attention and learn about all the things that were buzzing around, and we didn't even notice them before," one biologist said. Read more... Energy & Environment Alpine plant believed extinct since 1908 in Vermont rediscovered on Mount Mansfield by Juliet Schulman-Hall Liam Ebner, a recent college graduate, rediscovered the purple crowberry plant while on a hike at a conference co-hosted by the Green Mountain Club. Read more... Energy & Environment Vermont's first snowstorm of the season is expected, and awaited, at Killington by Fred Thys Inspectors are expected to announce Wednesday whether Killington will have enough snow for world championship races Thanksgiving weekend. Read more... Education In Randolph, a young entrepreneur steps back from business to teach the next generation of manufacturing students by Ethan Weinstein Brian Kippen of Tunbridge founded KAD Models and Prototypes in California before expanding the advanced manufacturing business to Randolph. Now, he's teaching manufacturing and fabrication at the Randolph Technical Career Center, hoping to encourage young people to enter the field. Read more... Business & Economy Richmond company makes a bike bottle that uses no plastic by Fred Thys Bivo is marketing its products to avid cyclists, with an eye on expanding to other sports. Read more... People & Places Curriculum rooted in Sharon garden program pairs students with community food needs by Valley News The group hopes to foster students' "practical, regenerative land-based skills," an agricultural and ecological knowledge base, and community organizing experience. Read more... Politics Vermont Conversation: Barack Obama's speechwriter on 'the power of a president's words' by David Goodman Obama has had a silent partner in crafting his oratory. In 2006, a novice speechwriter named Cody Keenan joined his team. Read more... Politics Moats: Elder statesman Howard Dean calls for a new version of his younger self by David Moats His strategy remains: Politics that harnesses the energies of the younger generation and listens to people in all parts of the country. Read more... People & Places Then Again: A terrified boy's walk toward home spelled doom for wolves by Mark Bushnell The account of young Daniel Baldwin's run through the woods wasn't published until 64 years after the fact, when Daniel Thompson wrote it for the Argus and Patriot newspaper of Montpelier. Read more... Education 77 Questions: An opportunity for Vermont's students to report on their education by Underground Workshop An example article and an overview of the collaborative reporting process, from the student editors of the Underground Workshop. Read more... People & Places Young Writers Project: A special diner  by VTD Editor This week's Young Writers Project entry is "A special diner" by Hailey Hem, 13, of St. George. YWP Media Library photo by Eli Hoopengardner. Read more...   [News Briefs] Bennington shooting suspect accused of second-degree murder; girlfriend implicated BENNINGTON — A Bennington man accused of shooting and killing another man last month has been charged with second-degree murder, and his girlfriend with being an accessory to the crime. Authorities allege that Elliot Russell, 46, killed Ulysses Ivey, 39, at a Green Mountain Power substation in Bennington on the night of Oct. 26. He […]   Read more   [Obituaries] Philip (Peter) Peltz, state legislator, jack of all trades, grandfather Peter was a Vermont state legislator, a committed civic leader, an advocate for children and education, and a champion for Vermont and its natural environment.   Read more David Charles Melendy, 5th generation Vermont, Mayflower descendant, music lover He was a 5th generation Vermonter and a Mayflower descendant.   Read more Robert Mansfield Fiorenza, MIT alumnus, IBM career man, pilot, grandfather We believe he was the first person in history to play a full game of chess against the first credible computer chess program (the Kotok-McCarthy Program).   Read more   [Commentary] Mark Hage: Rebalancing Vermont's health care system and lowering health care costs Key steps: Bring more rationality and accountability to hospital prices and expenditures with global budgets, eliminate or curtail surplus accumulation by hospitals, reduce the volume of practices that land people in emergency rooms and hospital beds, and compel the drug industry to negotiate lower prices. Tom Evslin: Phil Scott (R) wins huge victory in dark blue Vermont, but a huger job lies ahead Hopefully Vermonters will let their legislators know that they do want thoughtful rather than ideological legislating. Hopefully we'll get the "moderation and balance" Scott talked about. And hopefully the rest of the country will, as well. Fred K. Baser: Vermont Republicans need to be a party of solutions If the Vermont Republican Party wants to grow its representation in Vermont, it needs to dump Trump, rip up the MAGA playbook, and write its own. Chip Filson: Is credit union merger the end of a movement? Should credit union leaders continually seek to acquire and merge sound, long-serving credit unions, like VSECU, to fulfill their individual ambitions, I believe this will lead to the demise of the cooperative credit union movement. Keith LaFountaine: I've lived In Vermont my entire life. Last week, I left. The state has bled young people as long as I can remember. That's nothing new. But I didn't fully appreciate the gravity of that migration until I was in the midst of my own. Stu Lindberg: Prop 2 won't help the 40 million enslaved people in the world Many of the comforts we enjoy as Vermonters and Americans come at the expense of our fellow brothers and sisters who toil and suffer in various forms of endless exploitative relationships. Tina Heywood: So many questions surround plan for new juvenile detention center Who made the decision that it was fundamentally sound to pursue a proposal littered with inconsistencies and half-truths? Who made the decision to allow taxpayers' dollars to be used to defend a private company against litigation? Avi Green: Vermont needs two senators. What happens if there's a vacancy? Let's change the law so that a governor making an interim appointment can only appoint someone aligned with the party that the voters chose for the U.S. Senate in the first place. Gov. Phil Scott: Vermonters called for balance. We all need to listen. We need to remember to view each other as people first — fellow Americans — and judge each other by our basic decency, kindness, and generosity toward each other — not political labels. Doug Rosien: What's Vermont's retail leakage to New Hampshire? By 2017, the Vermont sales tax resulted in $1.3 billion in annual retail sales — 4% of Vermont's economy — leaking across the border to New Hampshire. Susan Ohanian: Looking for children to change the world This is a good place for all tweens to start: When they go outside and take a close look at what's there, they've taken the first step in changing the world. Tim Stevenson: A climate activist's dark manifesto for our times Rather than trying to change people to politically correct behaviors, activism would render nonjudgmental service to all in need, instead, helping to mitigate some of their hardship and adversity as best we can. Richard Davis: Please, U.S. senators, help solve the heating problem We are now hearing from people who work two or three jobs and bring in yearly incomes of $50,000 to $60,000 for a family of four who just don't have the money to fill their fuel tank. George Plumb: Today, the world's population has hit 8 billion Earth Overshoot Day marks the date that all of humanity has used more from nature than our planet can regenerate in the entire year. Earth Overshoot Day has moved from late September in 2000 to July 28 in 2022. John McClaughry: Three useful election law improvements Single-member legislative districts, electing a governor-lieutenant governor team, and having only political party members vote in that party's primary are all ideas worth considering. Alis Headlam: The world has it wrong; women's rights are human rights Recognizing that denial of access to education is a way of silencing women and keeping them hidden, keeping them ignorant of their own potential is abusive. Scott Thompson: When war must be fought out Don't underestimate Washington's ability to fumble a golden opportunity handed to us on a silver platter by a lead-footed foe. Jennifer Lovett: Purple Paint Law should replace the annual posting of private property Posting with "signs" that are permanent and do not have to be updated every year would be beneficial for many landowners who wish to prohibit hunting on their property. Galina Chernaya: Numerous problems with the proposed Silver Lake hut There is no demonstrated need for a profit-making lodging in the Silver Lake area, which is located within the Green Mountain National Forest's Moosalamoo National Recreation Area. Rankin & Fillmore: What a telescope in Puerto Rico has to do with Vermont The plan not to rebuild the collapsed Arecibo radio telescope could have deep reverberations in the Green Mountain State. But Vermonters can help save it. Bob Stannard: What happened to America? Has America devolved to a place where people would rather believe in QAnon, the National Enquirer and Fox News over credible news sources? Apparently the answer is yes. John Bossange: Those 'alternative facts' have a destructive impact  Voting for a candidate who spread alternative facts supporting conspiracies and threats of violence did severe harm to our communities and to our democratic election process. Rachel Bogart: Sharing support for trans youth in Vermont schools We vigorously oppose the threats of violence associated with transphobia, and remind you of your legal right to exist and use bathrooms and locker rooms at school. State statute dictates, "No Vermont student should feel threatened or be discriminated against while enrolled in a Vermont school." Bock & Lawrie: Vermont should reject plan to buy natural gas from New York landfill Vermont needs to transition away from burning fuel of any kind to filling our energy needs with truly renewable electricity. The Vermont Gas contract does not do that.   [About VTDigger]   Our mission is to produce rigorous journalism that explains complex issues, holds the government accountable to the public, and engages Vermonters in the democratic process.  VTDigger is a project of the Vermont Journalism Trust, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our mailing address is VTDigger.org | 26 State Street, Suite 8 | Montpelier, VT 05602   Forward this email to a friend Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Copyright © 2022 VTDigger, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? Want to change how you receive our emails? You can manage your newsletter subscriptions or unsubscribe from all our newsletters.