As drought conditions worsen in Vermont, state officials are asking residents to report the impacts.

On Thursday, the Agency of Natural Resources encouraged Vermonters to communicate information on dry wells and water supplies, farm losses, crop damage, low water levels in rivers, lakes and recreational areas, and other issues related to water quality or availability.

These reports help the state assess the severity of the drought, identify where and what type of assistance is needed, and make plans to address drought impacts.

The U.S. Drought Monitor shows that almost 60% of Vermont is in severe drought conditions, up from 34% last week. When people report drought impacts to state officials, the data also informs the drought severity to the U.S. Drought Monitor, which can trigger action from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Internal Revenue Service to support Vermonters who may be significantly affected.

“There are actually six types of droughts, and we’re in all of them right now,” said state climatologist Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux, a geography professor at the University of Vermont and chair of the Vermont Drought Task Force.

“The one that is particularly concerning right now is the hydrological drought, which is when we look at how dry the lakes, ponds, streams, and wells and groundwater supplies are because that’s the one that had been at these record low levels even going back to last fall,” she said. The state is now experiencing both short- and long-term hydrological drought, she added.

According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, this past August has been the driest on record in Vermont since 1895.

Occasional rains or thunderstorms won’t be sufficient to reverse the current conditions, as some areas of Vermont have seen nearly 8 inches less rain than usual in the past four months, and the soil moisture level is 60% to 80% below average, Thursday’s press release by the Agency of Natural Resources states.

The drought task force, composed of state and federal representatives, continues to meet regularly to monitor the situation and provide new recommendations.

People can consult the agency’s drought resources for a list of contacts to report drought conditions. The task force also recommends reducing water consumption at home.

“Any sort of drought-related impact, I think it’s important for us to hear about so that we can start deploying the resources that need to be deployed as a response,” Dupigny-Giroux said.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont officials ask residents to report drought impacts.

The Green River Reservoir in Hyde Park has long offered a true wilderness experience, with its undeveloped shorelines and remote campsites reachable only by paddling. But after years of back and forth between state officials and the owners of the dam that creates the reservoir, the future of this site still looks uncertain.

Before the state could consider acquiring the facility, it needed a comprehensive picture of the conditions of the Green River Dam and dike and the operational and maintenance costs. A long-awaited study commissioned by lawmakers provided those answers when it was released two weeks ago.

The hydro facility was built in 1947, which raised concerns about whether it would need expensive structural updates. The report finds that the hydro facility is largely safe and performs well and provides estimates for the initial project costs and annual maintenance costs. 

But Gov. Phil Scott made clear last week during a press conference that the state doesn’t have the resources to take over the dam.

The Green River Reservoir’s dam is owned and operated by Morrisville Water & Light, but the utility has been seeking a new owner for the dam, saying they can no longer make a profit operating the facility. The utility argues the state should take it because the state benefits when people visit the Green River Reservoir State Park.

In 2010, Morrisville Water & Light started the process of relicensing the dam with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a step required every few decades. During that process, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources issued new water quality regulations, which establish how the facility can be operated to align with the federal Clean Water Act.

Morrisville Water & Light claimed that operating the facility under the new permit would limit their power generation capabilities, as the water level in the reservoir would need to be roughly stable, impacting the utility’s ability to do drawdowns and resulting in financial loss. After years of litigation, a Vermont Supreme Court decision ultimately determined the regulations were necessary to meet Vermont water quality standards.

Scott Johnstone, general manager of Morrisville Water & Light, said the utility would no longer be able to operate the hydro facility if it’s not producing revenue through power generation, and it has been exploring options to sell the facility, but no other company has been interested in buying it, for the same reason.

The recent legislative report also states that generating power at the facility with the new water quality permit would result in financial loss.

However, Jon Groveman, policy and water program director of the Vermont Natural Resources Council, took issue with that finding. “There’s no analysis that I was able to see,” he said. “Maybe that’s accurate, maybe it’s not.” 

“But even if that is correct,” Groveman added, “it doesn’t change what’s needed to meet the minimum water quality standards.” Groveman emphasized the importance of these standards in maintaining healthy waters and fish habitats.

Julie Moore, secretary of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, said some hydropower facilities have experienced a reduction in maximum power production, but not to the extent that they wouldn’t be able to generate power without a financial loss. “This is the only instance my staff are aware of where our regulatory framework produced a result that effectively would not allow power generation to continue, at least not cost effectively,” she said.

But Johnstone said there are two reasons the Green River Dam situation may differ from the others. “The Green River Dam was built to fluctuate and draw down water as all reservoir-based dams do, and essentially the state is no longer supportive of that sort of flow regime even where there’s a reservoir,” he said.

Johnstone added that there are a few other dams in the state that rely on drawdowns from reservoirs, but most of them have bigger rivers flowing into them, whereas the Green River Dam relies mostly on the reservoir because it doesn’t have a significant daily flow.

Secondly, the relicensing process may occur at different times for different facilities, and according to Johnstone, the regulations become stricter as the years pass, and some facilities could have different permits.

According to the study, the most cost-effective option would be to maintain the dam and dike to preserve the reservoir but decommission the hydroelectric facility and cease producing power. In that scenario, the report estimates, the reservoir would generate $32.7 million in visitor spending and $1.5 million in state sales tax revenue over the next 20 years. 

Yet Moore highlighted that the facility is particularly complex to operate, so taking ownership of it would be a significant obligation for the state. “We already are responsible for 100 dams; many of which have costly maintenance needs that we are struggling to keep up with,” she said.

Gov. Scott said during last week’s press conference that he was willing to collaborate with the parties involved to find a solution. But what that solution could look like is still unclear.

“We’re not fighting about the permit anymore. We’ve kind of given up on that,” Johnstone said. Morrisville Water & Light is still following the old regulations, but when federal regulators issue a new license, the utility will have to comply with the new water quality permit.

In the meantime, the utility has started the process to receive federal approval to stop producing power at the Green River Dam.

“We’re going to take care of the facility during this, what we hope is a transition period, but our view is that if we are not going to generate power at that facility anymore, then the use of the dam that is left is to support the state park,” Johnstone said. “So our position is that the state of Vermont should now own that dam because it supports that state park.”

The process of transition could take years, so nothing is expected to change at the Green River Reservoir in the immediate future, but now that the legislative report has been released, the ownership of the dam is likely to become a topic of discussion in the next legislative session.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Future of Green River Reservoir remains uncertain as state declines dam takeover.

Following a monthslong investigation, federal immigration officers performed a targeted raid at Lamell Lumber in Essex on Saturday, arresting several migrant workers.

While U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has accelerated its arrests of migrants in Vermont in recent months, advocates say the raid marks a new tactic. 

“ICE arrests at the workplace are still not the norm,” said Will Lambek with Migrant Justice, a group that advocates for immigrant workers. “Most arrests are conducted in public places, so this is something of a departure from what we are usually seeing.”

According to Lambek, the officers arrested three men. The raid follows an investigation of Lamell Lumber’s employment practices, during which the federal Homeland Security Investigations unit in Burlington allegedly discovered counterfeit documents that led to the arrests.

Federal court records show that two men from Mexico — Alejandro Monfil Carballo, 40, and Artemio Cordova Mendez, 36 — have been accused of reentering the country illegally after being deported. They are currently being held at Northwest State Correctional Facility. 

A judge decided that the men must remain detained at Northwest while they wait for their trials.

The third man who was arrested has not been criminally charged, according to Lambek. He was originally detained in Northwest like the others, but Migrant Justice only became aware of his detention on Tuesday, Lambek said. By then, the man had already been transferred and is currently being held at Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts. 

According to Lambek, the man was unable to make a phone call in Vermont and could only alert his family when he was granted a phone call in Massachusetts.The Vermont Department of Corrections didn’t respond to an inquiry about whether the man was allowed to make an initial phone call. As of Thursday afternoon, the man had not been able to contact a lawyer yet, Lambek said.

The investigation and arrests come after lingering strife at the business related to workers’ rights.

On Feb. 7, migrant workers at Lamell Lumber staged a protest claiming the company fired them for demanding higher wages. When they asked to have their jobs back, the company allegedly  offered to rehire them at $14.50 per hour instead of the $16 they were paid before. According to Lambek, the workers involved in the protest took severance pay and left Lamell Lumber.

Monfil Carballo was hired by the company shortly after the protest, Lambek said, whereas Cordova Mendez had been working there longer but was not involved in the February protest.

The investigation began in February when the Homeland Security Investigations unit in Burlington received information indicating that Lamell Lumber employs and provides housing to their workforce through Agri-Placement Services, an employee placement company, according to affidavits submitted by border patrol agent John McGarghan.

In March, HSI submitted a notice of I-9 inspection and subpoena, requiring Lamell Lumber to submit original I-9 forms, which are used to verify identity and employment eligibility. Federal officials also asked for payrolls from January onward, lists of current and terminated employees from December 2024 onward and other personal information on the workers.

As a result of the investigation, HSI said it found fake documents that led to the arrest of the two men.

“This is the first, to our knowledge, set of arrests that followed an I-9 audit,” Lambek said. “In that sense, it is unique.”

Brett Stokes, director of the Center for Justice Reform Clinic at Vermont Law and Graduate School, agreed with Lambek.

“Is it possible that ICE could have been doing this before? Yes, absolutely. But the fact of the matter is they haven’t been,” Stokes said. “I certainly have never heard about it happening in Vermont.”

During the Biden administration, a Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement program allowed people to report workplace violations and abuse without fear of retaliation. Immigrants could request to defer removal and be legally present in the U.S. for limited periods while investigations into the companies moved forward. Many workers benefited from the program, but it was terminated after Trump’s inauguration, Lambek said.

“The threat of retaliation from ICE is something that can create a chilling effect for immigrant workers and prevent them from advocating for their rights and denouncing labor abuses,” Lambek said.

Neither Immigration and Customs Enforcement nor Lamell Lumber responded to requests for comment.

The next court hearing for Monfil Carballo and Cordova Mendez is scheduled for Aug. 18 in Burlington. Since they are facing criminal charges, the two were assigned a public defender.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Federal immigration officers arrest migrant workers during targeted raid at Essex lumberyard.

In mid-July, a group of attorneys and legal workers visited Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington to meet with women in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention for a legal orientation. 

The visit brought into focus a reality the lawyers have become familiar with: without legal representation, immigrants face steep odds, and ICE’s frequent transfer of people between states makes access to legal counsel increasingly challenging.

The group found nine women in ICE detention, twice the number they expected. Most of the women weren’t represented by an attorney or weren’t sure if they had a lawyer.

Some women had been arrested in Vermont, while others had been transferred from facilities in other states, said Jill Martin Diaz, executive director of the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project, who organized the visit.

“Close to half the women didn’t know where they were,” said Emma Matters-Wood, a law fellow with VAAP.

Matters-Wood spoke with five women during the visit, she said, and three of them said they had been moved every few days. One said she had been detained for a week and transferred four times, with two of the trips lasting about 16 hours. The woman couldn’t name the states where she had been detained before, but said this was the first time she could speak with a lawyer, according to Matters-Wood.

The encounter highlighted the troubling lack of legal representation many people in immigration detention face at a time when they need it most. 

Only a small number of attorneys in Vermont practice immigration law, and even fewer take cases of removal proceedings, but the sharp rise in immigration cases in recent months has stretched their capacity to the limit. Left unrepresented, people who are detained are more likely to lose their cases and be deported and less likely to be released while their cases play out, experts say.

The group’s goal at Chittenden was to help the women understand their basic legal rights. Martin Diaz said some of the women didn’t have immigration paperwork with them during the visit, and some had never seen their paperwork or received a translation of the documents, so they didn’t know why they were detained. One of the women had already been granted release on bond a few days earlier and the bond was paid, but she hadn’t been released yet, according to the group. 

The day after the visit, the lawyers learned that five of the women they spoke with had been moved from Chittenden — two of them were later rebooked in the facility. The lawyers don’t know where they were transferred or why some were rebooked.

“The biggest takeaway for me,” Matters-Wood said, “was just, this is a very, very effective system for disappearing people before they have any opportunity for any kind of defense or any real substantive due process.”

Rapid transfers raise concerns about legal access

When federal immigration officials shuffle people from one detention center to the next, Matters-Wood said, those who are detained often lose access to their immigration paperwork, which has their identification number, information about their case, potential charges, and if they received a notice to appear in court.

“It’s actually pretty significant and important for people to know that information,” she said.

“This sort of shuffling people between facility to facility really is a very effective way to deny people their due process rights because it’s impossible to adequately state any form of defense or have any contact with the outside world when you’re being moved so frequently,” Matters-Wood said. 

People are also deprived of their right to request a bond hearing in this situation, she added, because if they are moved frequently and don’t know where they are, they don’t have enough information to complete and submit a bond request.

Andy Pelcher, a pro bono attorney working with VAAP, said the federal government has “no rational basis” for moving detained immigrants from facility to facility “other than to hinder access to counsel and frustrate their ability to successfully defend themselves.” 

He said he thinks the administration is trying to ramp up deportation proceedings to unprecedented levels, producing a caseload that the legal system is not designed to handle. Pelcher is trying to open a private practice specialized in immigration matters in the near future. 

Two of the women Matters-Wood met during the visit, who had been in Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility for longer periods, told her they had to wait more than three days to make a phone call, she said. So if people are transferred sooner, they may not be able to contact anyone in the meantime.

Kristen Connors, a private attorney focusing on immigration cases, said she has heard from clients and colleagues that people in immigration detention were held at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility or Northwest State Correctional Facility for a few days without being able to speak with a lawyer. Nathan Virag, an attorney with the Association of Africans Living in Vermont, also said his clients reported being denied an initial phone call.

Haley Sommer, director of communications at the Department of Corrections, responded to VTDigger’s inquiries on the matter saying that any individual who enters a DOC facility can make a phone call immediately upon intake. Incarcerated individuals can make requests to add someone to their phone list, and generally requests are reviewed daily. But if someone has just arrived, it may take days for the request to be processed, she said.

“Time is really of the essence,” Martin Diaz said. “Every day that a person spends in detention without counsel is a day that ICE is scaring them in bad conditions, in literal prison conditions, with the purpose of motivating people to self-deport.”

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, denied the claim that the government is intentionally making it harder for detained immigrants to access legal counsel.

“Any allegations that ICE is transferring illegal aliens to make the legal process as grueling as possible are FALSE,” she said in an emailed response to VTDigger. McLaughlin claimed that all detainees have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and family members, then outlined a current Trump administration policy that encourages self-deportation as an alternative to detention.

An immigration system under strain

Unlike in criminal cases, immigrants facing deportation aren’t guaranteed a public defender, so many people end up going through these complex proceedings alone. 

According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, based on data collected through June, there are 852 pending immigration cases in Vermont. Of those, 365 people  — or 42.8% of cases — officially have legal representation.

Chittenden County has the highest number of pending immigration cases in Vermont, but only 39% have legal representation.

Right now, a rough patchwork of legal groups across the state are anchoring the legal response to the climbing numbers of immigration detainments and deportation cases. The Vermont Asylum Assistance Project, in addition to Martin Diaz, staffs three attorneys and has about five to 10 pro-bono attorneys each month who provide limited or full representation. At the Center for Justice Reform Clinic at the Vermont Law & Graduate School, director Brett Stokes takes active removal cases while teaching law students, who work with him on some cases. 

Nathan Virag with the Association of Africans Living in Vermont is taking removal cases for the first time due to the greater demand of representation in this field, while in the private sector, Connors seems to be the only attorney providing removal defense at the moment.

The lawyers agreed that when people have an attorney representing them, their chances of success increase dramatically. A 2016 nationwide study by the American Immigration Council showed that represented immigrants were twice as likely as unrepresented immigrants to achieve the legal result they sought, and the immigrants in detention who had a custody hearing were four times more likely to be released if represented.

Immigration lawyers have found that filing a habeas corpus petition with a federal district court is the best approach, Pelcher said, because it forces the government to provide legal justification for keeping an immigrant in custody.

Lawyers can also submit a request to prevent their client from being moved to another state and then make a request for bond. In recent cases of immigration detention in Vermont, such as the ones of Heidi Perez and Jose Ignacio “Nacho” De La Cruz and Esther Ngoy Tekele, the lawyers successfully prevented the transfer or their clients and obtained bond releasing them from jail to ensure they could be with their family while their cases move forward in court, which can be a lengthy process.  

In addition, attorneys can file a motion to request an online hearing to avoid traveling to Boston, where the closest immigration court is. However, people without legal representation are automatically required to attend in person and may have more difficulties understanding how to file the motion to change hearing format and gathering the information to make that request.

In January, President Donald Trump also signed an executive order to expand expedited removal proceedings for undocumented immigrants who can’t prove they have lived in the U.S. for at least two years, including individuals who entered the country unlawfully or those who had their parole status revoked.

Often, people meet border patrol agents before they have a chance to file an asylum application since the process might take time given the shortage of asylum lawyers, Martin Diaz said. When these encounters happen, immigration officers can decide to place the person in expedited removal before they get in front of a judge. Immigrants placed in expedited removal cannot be released on bond.

“The resources are so constrained. It’s only when someone is detained and, like, at risk of immediate removal, then they finally make contact with a lawyer,” Martin Diaz said.

An overstretched legal community

With more cases of removal proceedings against immigrants, the few lawyers practicing immigration law in Vermont have seen their caseload grow exponentially. 

“I think I probably had three or four clients who were in removal proceedings pre-January,” Connors said. “Now I have about, I would say, 15 clients who have active removal proceedings.” 

While Vermont has allocated funds to civil legal aid in the past, it has never appropriated money for immigration legal aid, according to Martin Diaz.

The state’s reliance on the law school clinic to provide a high volume of legal support is unsustainable, Martin Diaz said. Law school clinics have limited intake parameters and their priority is teaching students, who need guidance and don’t necessarily have the capacity to take too many cases, they added.

One reason for the shortage of immigration lawyers in Vermont, Connors said, is that the nearest immigration court is in Boston and, before the COVID-19 pandemic, most hearings occurred in person.

“The immigration legal services sector in Vermont was not developed in tandem with how quickly our communities diversified,” Martin Diaz said. “We’re welcoming all of these new communities, and the challenge is that we did not invest in the legal support that they need to achieve long-term stability and safety at a proportional rate.”

Attorneys have increasingly volunteered to receive training and take on immigration cases, but the demand is still too large, Martin Diaz said. 

Expanding the immigration legal sector in Vermont is going to take time. Meanwhile, legal visits to the facilities where immigrants are detained may be the only way unrepresented people in immigration detention have access to some form of legal counsel, or contact with the outside world in general.

Martin Diaz and the other volunteers said they spent about four hours in the law library of Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility speaking with the women in ICE detention, the first time they were able to hold a legal training in the facility. 

“The initial feedback we got was just one of emotional, overwhelming gratitude,” Martin Diaz said. “Everyone wanted to talk all at once because this is the moment that they’ve been waiting for.”

Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Emma Matters-Wood’s name.

Read the story on VTDigger here: As cases surge, the few immigration attorneys in Vermont struggle to keep pace.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Charity Clark announced a $210,500 settlement with St. Albans Creamery over alleged violations of the pretreatment permit at its milk and dairy processing facility in St. Albans.

The Creamery has a pretreatment discharge permit with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources that authorizes it to discharge wastewater that it pre-treats at the dairy into the St. Albans wastewater treatment facility.

But the Agency found that the Creamery violated the permit multiple times from 2021 to 2024. The alleged violations include release of a substantial amount of raw milk and cream into the town’s wastewater facility, which interfered with normal operations and led to contamination of Stevens Brook, which empties into Lake Champlain. Other violations relate to excess flow limits, phosphorous limits and biological oxygen demand, pH levels, and inadequate staffing of the facility.

“We all treasure our environment and natural resources in Vermont. Environmental permits are designed to protect our natural resources,” Attorney General Clark said in a press release. “I am very pleased that St. Albans Creamery has made a commitment to take the necessary actions to prevent further harmful discharges of raw milk wastes.”

Clark filed the proposed settlement in Franklin Superior Court on July 28.

The Creamery committed to pay the state a civil penalty of $210,500 and implement corrective actions. Within 60 days after the order is officially entered by the court, the Creamery will be required to submit a compliance plan to the Department of Environmental Conservation, including a staffing plan to employ sufficient licensed operators.

Dairy Farmers of America, the St. Albans Creamery’s parent company, wrote in a statement that they made significant investments to upgrade the facility’s wastewater treatment system. “The upgraded system is better equipped to effectively manage and treat wastewater in compliance with the facility’s Pretreatment Discharge Permit,” the statement reads.

Dairy Farmers of America declined to comment further on Thursday.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont Attorney General settles with St. Albans Creamery over wastewater violations.

In Rutland, the Jamestown Canyon virus has been detected in mosquitos for the first time in state history, the Vermont Department of Health announced Friday. Health officials also detected West Nile virus in St. Albans.

There have been no human or animal cases of mosquito-borne illnesses reported this season, but health officials are urging people to protect themselves by preventing mosquito bites. Jamestown Canyon virus can cause similar symptoms to other mosquito-borne diseases. Mosquitoes are being tested for West Nile virus, Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus — which last year caused two people to get ill and one of them to die — and Jamestown Canyon virus starting from this year.

“Every mosquito group is tested for all three viruses now,” said Natalie Kwit, a public health veterinarian at the Vermont Department of Health. “We added it (Jamestown Canyon virus) because it’s something we knew that’s been circulating in the Northeast, and we had a cost-effective test available that we switched to that included all three viruses.”

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets and the Vermont Department of Health decided to continue allocating funding to mosquito surveillance this year over tick surveillance to track illnesses like Eastern equine encephalitis after the cases occurred last year. The mosquito surveillance program generally runs from June to mid-October when mosquitos are more active.

Kwit said most people who become infected with these viruses don’t get sick, but some may develop symptoms a few days, or even weeks, after the mosquito bite.

Symptoms may include fever, body aches, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, rash and joint pains. The viruses can also lead to more serious illnesses like meningitis or encephalitis — an inflammation of the brain that can cause brain damage, stroke and death.

Cases of mosquitoes testing positive to Eastern equine encephalitis have increased significantly in recent years. According to data from the health department, in 2023, 14 groups of mosquitoes across three Vermont towns tested positive for EEE, whereas in 2024, 86 groups of mosquitoes across 16 towns tested positive.

Kwit said only about 5% of people infected with EEE develop a more serious illness. “The thing that worries us the most about Triple E is that about 30 to 40% of people with that severe form of illness die from the disease, so this one tends to be the most severe that we know of,” she said.

There are no vaccines to prevent Eastern equine encephalitis and Jamestown Canyon virus, nor medicines to treat them. The best way to limit the risk of infection is to prevent mosquito bites, according to the health department.

Recommendations from the Vermont Department of Health include wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, limiting time outside at dawn or dusk when there are more mosquitoes, using insect repellent — the Environmental Protection Agency has a tool to help people identify the right repellent for them — fix holes in screens attached to doors and windows and get rid of standing water that might attract mosquitoes.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Mosquitoes test positive for Jamestown Canyon Virus for the first time in Vermont.

BURLINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called President Donald Trump’s recently signed “Big Beautiful Bill” the “worst and most destructive legislation in modern history of this country,” saying it could lead to higher health care costs for Vermonters, among other issues.

At a press conference at his Church Street office on Monday, Sanders criticized H.R.1, which was signed into law July 4. The Vermont senator underlined it gives tax breaks to the wealthiest people in the country while making cuts to health care, education, food assistance programs and public media.

“Some 45,000 people in our own state are going to lose health insurance,” he said. “The cost of health insurance for the average person is going to go up. It will be devastating for hospitals, for nursing homes and for community health centers.”

A recent report released by Sanders and based on responses from more than 750 health care providers across the U.S., estimated that the rate of uninsured people in Vermont could rise from 3.3% to 6% in a 10-year span. In other states, the effects might be even starker, with a predicted increase from 16% to 20% in Texas over the same period.

“I have very great fears that, under Trump, this country is moving toward an authoritarian society,” Sanders said. “Maybe the most dangerous is a very aggressive attack against the media in this country.”

Trump has pushed to reduce funding for public broadcasting and brought lawsuits against media outlets like ABC, The Wall Street Journal and CBS.

Sanders said he worked with U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to release about $6 million for Vermont summer and after-school programs and $17 million for school districts across the state. 

“We’ve had some success and are proud of that. We’re going to continue to work on that, but most of the money is still being held illegally by the administration,” he said. He did not elaborate on what laws he believed the administration was breaking by withholding the funding. 

The senator said he plans to continue to work on increasing funding for community health centers to mitigate the impact of the legislation.

“In Vermont, we are paying some of the highest rates in the country for health care, and this terrible piece of legislation is going to make a bad situation worse,” Sanders said. “So, I would hope, and I’m happy to play a role in that, that we sit down with the leaders in the health care community, the state government and figure out the best that we can do.”

The bill also cut clean energy incentives and could lead to a surge in annual electricity costs per household, affecting energy efficiency and sustainability efforts. Sanders also expressed concern over multiple years of flooding in Vermont and in other states — and how it could get worse in the future. 

“The idea of dismantling FEMA or cutting back is, at a time when communities are going to see more and more flooding and other types of disasters, is a terrible mistake,” he said.

The bill also provides Immigration Customs & Enforcement $45 billion to expand detention, a three-fold increase to the agency’s budget. 

Sanders said Trump’s immigration strategy is “what authoritarians have always done” — target a minority and foment hatred against them. “Meanwhile, 17 million people lose their health care, kids are not going to have a decent diet because we cut back on nutrition, young people are not going to be able to go to college,” Sanders said.

In a statement to VTDigger on Monday, U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., called the Republican bill “the cruelest piece of legislation I’ve seen in my career. It’s an utter moral failure.” 

“I’m horrified to see the Republican party almost unanimously support propping up billionaires at the expense of their own communities,” Balint said. “But I’m not giving up hope. It’s going to take all of us fighting together to work to reverse some of the worst policies passed in this bill,” Balint wrote.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Bernie Sanders warns 45,000 Vermonters could lose health insurance under the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’.

Esther Ngoy Tekele — a 23-year-old Congolese woman who has been held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for over a week — was ordered to be released on bond on Thursday.

Tekele is a lawful permanent resident and has been living in Vermont for four years, according to her brother and her attorney. 

At the time of her arrest on July 6, Tekele was crossing the Canadian border with her family to re-enter Vermont after attending a wedding in Canada. Coco Ngoy, Tekele’s brother, said they were stopped by Customs and Border Protection agents at the Highgate Springs border crossing and waited for about three hours. When he asked for an explanation, an officer told him they were free to go except for Tekele. 

Ngoy said he left briefly to get food after hours of waiting, and when he came back, he was told his sister was no longer there, so he reached out to the Association of Africans Living in Vermont, or AALV, for help.

Nathan Virag, the attorney representing Tekele, said he wasn’t able to get in touch with his client for about two days. He said Tekele was questioned by Customs and Border Protection agents for hours before being transferred to ICE custody. “They were not giving us information, they were not letting her call us, none of that,” he said.

The first time Virag was able to speak with his client was July 8 when he visited her at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility. 

“We were successful in getting a temporary restraining order to prevent ICE from being able to transfer out of state because that’s what ICE has been doing,” Virag said.

Tekele is a green card holder with no criminal record, according to Virag and Ngoy. She has a 2-year-old child and also takes care of her mother. Ngoy said they had crossed the Canadian border many times and never had any problems before.

Federal immigration officers had alleged that Tekele lied about her marital status and entered the country declaring to be unmarried, but instead she got married a few days earlier.

At a bond and master hearing in Chelmsford Immigration Court on Thursday, Virag denied the allegations and asked for his client to be released on bond, claiming she doesn’t have any criminal charges, has stable employment, and she plans to stay in the U.S. and apply for citizenship.

Judge Natalie Smith ordered Tekele be released on a $7,500 bond. An attorney for the federal government waived the right to appeal the judge’s decision. 

“It’s a relief for us,” said Ngoy. “At least Esther will be able to see her son and take care of my mom.” 

“Wrongly detaining lawful permanent residents at a standard crossing speaks to the lawless and inhumane immigration agenda coming from the White House,” U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., who helped locate Tekele after her arrest, wrote in a statement to VTDigger. “I’m so happy to hear Ms. Tekele is headed back with her family at home in Vermont but nobody with legal status in this country should have to live in fear of being held in a jail cell at any moment.” 

The government must submit evidence for Tekele’s removal by July 31, when the next hearing is scheduled. 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to a request for comment. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to VTDigger’s emailed questions by the time of publication.

“She’s a great mother. She loves her child. She’s helpful in the Congolese community here in Vermont,” Virag said, “This is just a hardworking mother that’s fallen victim to a messed-up immigration system.”

Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont woman arrested by ICE to be released on bond.

BURLINGTON — Emergency maintenance at the city’s Main Wastewater Treatment Plant has led to the closure of several beaches since Monday, with solids and sludge contaminating the water. 

Blanchard Beach, Oakledge Cove, Blodgett Access Area, the Coast Guard ramp and Perkins Pier are some of the closed beaches, according to a Monday statement by the Department of Public Works. Signs have been posted at beaches and public access areas.

The contamination occurred when workers removed one of the plant’s clarifiers for maintenance, as the other tanks couldn’t handle the extra sludge. The Main Plant will have a fifth final clarifier that will make the plant more resilient, lowering the risk of similar issues in the future, the statement read.

Officials tested the water for E. coli contamination and decided not to re-open the beaches Tuesday afternoon. Results showed a concentration of 260 colonies per 100 milliliters of water, exceeding the EPA’s acceptable limit of 235 colonies per 100 milliliters.

The department stated the beaches will likely reopen around 6 p.m. Wednesday. 

People are advised to refrain from swimming and check water quality updates on the Swim Water page of the Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Burlington beaches close after wastewater treatment leak.

Invasive plants, new housing development and climate change are boosting tick populations in Vermont, officials say, prompting new concerns about diseases the tiny arachnids carry. 

Although ticks have been present for a long time in Vermont, the population has grown substantially, said Patti Casey, environmental surveillance program director for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets.

The blacklegged tick, or deer tick, is the type most frequently spotted in the state and responsible for 99% of the tick bite illnesses reported to the Vermont Department of Health.

“We are a high-incidence state for several blacklegged tick-driven tick-borne diseases,” said Natalie Kwit, public health veterinarian for the state Department of Health. “For Lyme disease, we have had over 1,000 cases in 2023.”

According to the 2018-22 Tick Pathogen Surveillance Report by the Department of Health, more than half of the blacklegged ticks analyzed carry Lyme disease, an infection that can be transmitted to humans and cause symptoms like fever, fatigue, headache, skin rash, and if left untreated can affect heart, joints, and the nervous system. In Vermont, Chittenden, Windsor and Rutland counties had the highest prevalence of blacklegged ticks infected with the disease.

Ticks can be found any time of the year when the temperature is above freezing, with their peak activity being in May and June and then again in October and November. Ticks survive by biting their host for blood, which leads to the transmission of diseases.

Other tick bite illnesses recorded in Vermont are anaplasmosis, babesiosis, hard tick relapsing fever, and Powassan virus disease, which is very rare.

Since 2015, Vermont has had the nation’s highest annual number of cases of anaplasmosis. Symptoms are similar to those of Lyme disease except for the skin rash. The most common effects are fever, muscle aches, chills, malaise and headaches, but the disease can also cause people to develop anemia, low white blood cell counts, low platelet counts and elevated liver enzymes. The illness can have serious consequences if not treated, especially for old patients or people with health problems.

The American dog tick, brown dog tick, squirrel tick and woodchuck tick are other common ticks found in Vermont. The lone star tick, which carries alpha-gal syndrome, an illness that leads to the development of a red meat allergy, is not fully established in Vermont.

“We’re not seeing any of the lone star tick-driven tick-borne diseases in Vermont in humans, so we’re pretty confident that they’re not here, but it doesn’t mean that they can’t geographically expand to be in Vermont in the future,” Kwit said.

To prevent tick bites, Casey suggests wearing long pants tucked into socks and long-sleeve shirts when spending time outdoors in areas where ticks prosper to spot ticks more easily if they end up on clothes. Spraying EPA-registered repellents or treating clothes with permethrin is also recommended to keep ticks away.

Once home, it’s advisable to put the clothes in the dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill potential ticks and take a shower, checking the body and scalp to spot bumps. 

In case there is a tick, it should be removed quickly using tweezers, grabbing the tick as close as possible to the skin surface and pulling upward steadily, and then cleaning the area with rubbing alcohol, soap and water. The Vermont Department of Health provides detailed guidelines on how to remove ticks.

The Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets allows people to send ticks to be identified. The agency doesn’t test the ticks for diseases, but it will inform people of the species, sex and age of the tick, giving them information they can tell their doctor to assess the best course of treatment in case they later develop symptoms.

Since many people don’t realize they have been bitten by a tick, experts recommend being on the lookout for potential symptoms, especially after outdoor activities.

The agency also conducts a tick surveillance program in collaboration with the Vermont Health Department and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, collecting ticks across Vermont to test them and gather data on tick species, their habitats and the diseases they may carry. 

Casey said the program has been temporarily suspended this year due to uncertainty surrounding funding. The priority has instead shifted to mosquito surveillance to track illnesses such as Eastern equine encephalitis.

“Most of us live in Vermont, in part, because it’s so beautiful, and we like to be outdoors in it. And it’s just that things have changed a little bit, and now we need to be very vigilant about interactions with ticks to try to avoid tick bites,” Casey said. “The good news is that if we’re careful, we can really drastically lower our risk for contracting a tick-borne illness.”

Correction: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this story incorrectly described ticks.

Read the story on VTDigger here: As tick populations rise in Vermont, health officials urge precautions .

Vermont State Police are investigating a suspicious death that occurred in the town of Pittsford.

Police received a call from a resident at a home on Hollister Quarry Road about the death of an individual, and they began the investigation at about 2:10 a.m Wednesday, according to a press release from state police. 

The death is considered suspicious, and the person’s identity has not been released yet. The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington is expected to conduct an autopsy on the victim’s body to determine the cause and manner of death.

The results of the autopsy haven’t been released, and police did not have anyone in custody as of Thursday afternoon. 

Adam Silverman, a spokesperson for Vermont State Police, said he did not have any additional information to release as of 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont State Police investigate suspicious death in Pittsford.

Updated July 10 at 3:21 p.m.

After more than 50 years, investigators have identified a woman whose body was discovered in Marlborough, New Hampshire, back in 1974. The woman is Nancy Gale Erickson, 21, a former nurse from New York who lived in Tampa, Florida, and then in Brattleboro, Vermont, before disappearing.

“After years of work on this case, putting a name to Nancy Gale Erickson is incredibly meaningful. It’s more than solving a mystery — it’s restoring her identity and honoring the life she lived. She was never forgotten,” New Hampshire State Police Detective Sgt. Kelly LaPointe said in a Wednesday news release. “We’re deeply grateful to everyone whose efforts made this possible. Now the focus turns to understanding how and why she died.”

According to the release, the unidentified body was first discovered in a wooded area off New Hampshire’s Route 124 on April 16, 1974. Forensic analysis revealed she had died the previous fall. Investigators didn’t find any identification, the release said, and the cause and manner of death was undetermined. Her identity remained unknown for nearly 50 years.

In 2021, Nancy Gale Erickson’s family reported her missing to the Brattleboro Police Department. Between 2022 and 2024, forensic testing determined that the DNA of Erickson’s siblings matched with the remains found in Marlborough.

Erickson was born in Bay Shore, New York, in 1951 and grew up in Elmira, New York. She later moved to Tampa, Florida, and worked as a nurse at Tampa General Hospital. She abruptly left in 1973; according to her siblings, the emotional toll of her work may have played a role in her departure, the release said.

She was later arrested in Vermont for stealing a car. The release cited an article published at the time, which said Erickson told a judge the car had run out of gas, and that she was going to visit friends in White River Junction. The family remembers receiving a call about her arrest, but didn’t know who Erickson may have known in Vermont, according to the release. She received probation and stayed in Brattleboro, where she started working at the Brattleboro Retreat, a private mental health hospital, while living at the Community House, a nonprofit organization offering short-term residential stabilization and assessment programs for children. 

On Oct. 30, 1973, she left her job and residence, and remained unaccounted for until investigators identified her.

“The investigation is active and ongoing,” Christopher Knowles, assistant attorney general in New Hampshire, told VTDigger. “Since 1974, when Ms. Erickson’s body was found, all leads have been followed up by multiple law enforcement agencies, and ultimately, that’s led to our identification today.”

Investigators are asking people who knew Erickson from her college years and colleagues in Brattleboro and Tampa to contact them. Anyone with relevant information can reach out to the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit tip line at 800-525-5555 or coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov, or submit a tip online.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Woman found dead in 1974 in New Hampshire identified as Vermont resident.

The Corrections Monitoring Commission, established in 2022 after allegations of sexual misconduct in Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility came to light, quietly expired on July 1 without fulfilling its mandate.

In 2020, the Vermont Agency of Human Services contracted the law firm Downs Rachlin Martin to conduct an investigation into sexual misconduct at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility — the only women’s prison in Vermont — following a series of stories by Seven Days detailing allegations of sexual misconduct, retaliation and drug use at the facility. 

The articles described instances where Department of Corrections employees preyed on current and former incarcerated women, female officers endured sexual harassment, and those who raised concerns were disregarded or faced retaliation.

As a result of the investigation, the law firm released a report that addressed the shortcomings of the Department of Corrections and provided a series of recommendations to address sexual abuse, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. One of the recommendations was to create a monitoring committee to oversee reporting of sexual misconduct, ensure implementation of anti-retaliation policies and improve transparency and accountability.

While the Department of Corrections has taken some steps by creating an independent hotline for reporting sexual misconduct and expanding resources related to the Prison Rape Elimination Act, the Corrections Monitoring Commission was the primary independent body specifically tasked with overseeing the department’s handling of sexual misconduct.

The Vermont Legislature established the commission in January 2022, requiring its compositon of eight members: a former judge, a retired attorney, a former corrections officer, two formerly incarcerated individuals, the executive director of the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence or a designee, a former management-level employee of the Department of Corrections, and an individual with knowledge and experience in the correctional system. None of the members could be actively employed by the Department of Corrections.

In the first few months, the group developed a governance document and a work plan, but quickly their work started slowing down.

The Corrections Monitoring Commission was supposed to provide advice to the commissioner of corrections in monitoring reporting of sexual misconduct, implementing policies related to misconduct and anti-retaliation, and reviewing disciplinary actions. 

The commission was also tasked with drafting annual reports that would provide insights on the work of the Department of Corrections, including the way it handled allegations of sexual misconduct and complaints of retaliation; compliance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act; maintenance of an independent hotline to the State Police for the women at the facility; adhereance to anti-retaliation policies; and investigations of employee misconduct, contraband, threats to personal safety and more.

But the reports were never produced, according to members of the commission, and the group struggled to understand how to carry out the work mandated by the bill.

“The commission had a lot of difficulty getting a quorum together to actually hold meetings, so that was really a major obstacle in the success of the commission,” said Timothy Burgess, the group’s co-chair, an advocate for incarcerated people and himself formerly incarcerated.

In April 2024 testimony to the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions, Karen Tronsgard-Scott, executive director of the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, and Ashley Messier, co-chair of the commission, said some members of the commission resigned in the first months, and the appointing bodies responsible for assigning new members never replaced them. Other members simply stopped attending the meetings.

With scarce attendance, the group couldn’t reach the quorum necessary to continue their work, so by June 2023, they had stopped meeting altogether.

The commission faced a number of structural difficulties, Tronsgard-Scott said. She pointed to the broad scope of the bill, the fact that members of the commission didn’t have enough experience in a monitoring capacity and the lack of legal counsel or resources.

Another challenge, according to Burgess, was collaboration and information exchange with the Department of Corrections. Burgess said more interaction with the department would have helped identify problems and draft the reports.

“The Department of Corrections has really implemented systems to address the issues that were the reason for the commission. However, there is no insight outside of the Department of Corrections to oversee what the implementation is, how effective it is, etcetera,” Burgess said.

Isaac Dayno, executive director of policy at the Department of Corrections, said the department was quite transparent with the commission but couldn’t share confidential information on personnel issues. 

“DOC is actually not involved with personnel investigations,” he said. Under a policy within the Agency of Administration, all complaints of employee misconduct have to be immediately reported to the Department of Human Resources. 

Changes and next steps

After the sexual misconduct allegations emerged in 2019, the Department of Corrections implemented some of the recommendations of the Downs Rachlin Martin report, including creating and maintaining an independent hotline that women in the Chittenden Regional Facility could use to report such incidents to the state police.

The bill that established the Corrections Monitoring Commission also created the Corrections Investigative Unit within the department to ensure compliance with federal law and conduct internal investigations on incidents such as deaths, escapes, contraband, threats and safety issues, and allegations of violations of the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act. 

“The legislature authorized the program, but they didn’t appropriate any funding for it or positions for it, so it took a little bit of time for the department to have to do that work on its own,” Dayno said.  

The unit, composed of a director of investigations and two investigators, has been operational for about a year and does not carry out misconduct investigations, according to its website. 

In April 2024, Burgess, the Corrections Monitoring Commission co-chair, submitted testimony to the Legislature asking to remove the sunset and extend the duration of the Corrections Monitoring Commission for five more years. Tronsgard-Scott and Messier also proposed to modify the commission’s mandate to state more clearly its purpose and authority and ensure the involvement of the Department of Corrections. But the topic wasn’t further discussed in the Legislature, and the commission expired. 

“We had a lot of brand new people in the Legislature as a whole,” said state Rep. Alice Emmons, D-Windsor, chair of the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions. As the members of the House committee changed in the last legislative session, they had to familiarize themselves with the new work and the Department of Corrections, she explained.

“We looked to see if we had any reports given to us this year, and we couldn’t find anything,” Emmons said. “And that’s not to say that we couldn’t start conversations about it come next session.”

State Rep. Eric Maguire, R-Rutland, a former member of the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions, also expressed interest in making a proposal to the Legislature to revive the commission. 

“Even though it’s sunsetting, I believe there’s still an opportunity to get this work back into place,” Maguire said.

“The commission would need a better formation to work effectively,” Burgess said. “More exchange of information on what the department sees as problems, more information from the commissioners and interaction with the commissioners on creating the reports. Those things were not done.”

Read the story on VTDigger here: Commission meant to oversee sexual misconduct in prison sunsets quietly.

Vermont schools are slated to receive $17 million in federal Covid-19 funds that were canceled by the Trump administration in March. 

The U.S. Department of Education reversed its decision to cancel the funding after a lawsuit led by 16 states and the District of Columbia, according to a Friday press release from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. The decision also reinstates about $2.5 billion in K-12 funding for schools across the nation derived from the American Rescue Plan Act.

“This means that 19 school districts in our state will now receive funding that had been denied so that they can go forward with a wide variety of projects: summer programs, afterschool programs, school renovation,” Sanders said in a video message.

Sanders, who serves as the top Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said he spoke several times with Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, urging her to reverse the cuts. He also worked with 19 school districts in the state to present 88 appeals to the fund cancellations.

“The (Vermont Agency of Education) is encouraged by this development and is working diligently to confirm allowable project costs and next steps associated with the announced changes in process. We are committed to continuing to partner closely with every impacted district and will be providing more details and next steps to the field through our weekly office hours,” Toren Ballard, director of policy and communications at the Vermont Agency of Education, told VTDigger following the announcement.

The money, originally allocated through a Covid-19 grant — the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, or ESSER — had to be spent by Sept. 30, 2024, but the Biden administration approved an extension, so schools could continue using the remaining funds during the 2025-26 school year.

“We used the funds for specific purposes including employing targeted staff for instructional interventions and we also used a considerable portion to fund our summer academy program for students as we were placing an emphasis on learning loss as a result of COVID,” Harwood Unified Union School District Superintendent Mike Leichliter wrote in a statement to VTDigger.

Leichliter said the previously allocated funds have already been used, but the school district is waiting to receive the final $502,000 ESSER grant payment. 

“During a time of tremendous financial stress on our education system in Vermont, if the originally promised federal funds were not released, it would have led to increased pressure on our schools,” he wrote.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Nearly $17M in federal money headed back to Vermont schools.

BURLINGTON — The City Council unanimously approved a $107.1 million budget Wednesday for the 2025-26 fiscal year, closing a nearly $10 million gap through workforce reductions, new investments and a municipal tax increase. 

The new budget also addresses a $1.8 million shortfall discovered last week by increasing municipal taxes by $115 on a $500,000 home. However, Progressive Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak said the hike will be offset by a reduction in education taxes.

“This budget reflects an unwavering commitment to affordability for residents here in the city of Burlington,” Mulvaney-Stanak said Wednesday. “It contains very critical investments in key priority areas for my administration, largely community safety and housing.”

The Howard Center Street Outreach program, which provides support for people in need of mental health, addiction, housing and social services, received increased funding. The council also allocated $50,000 to support senior programming.  

To balance the budget, Mulvaney-Stanak and her administration reduced the city workforce, which the mayor said grew unsustainably in the past nine years — adding 98 new full-time positions, including 37 funded with one-time money and no long-term plan to maintain them. The mayor also gave up her own cost-of-living salary increase in the next fiscal year, and her department heads won’t receive it for the first six months.

Mulvaney-Stanak mentioned inflation, cost-of-living adjustments, health care increases and possible tariffs among the challenges the council had to address to close the budget gap. 

“We were able to deliver you a budget that is decreased or reduced by more than 1%. When you compare the total to fiscal year (20)25, that is pretty rare out there in government,” Mulvaney-Stanak said.

City councilors expressed appreciation for the efforts to close the budget gap and the new investments, but also expressed unease about layoffs.

Councilor Carter Neubieser, a Progressive, advanced a motion to cut $100,000 allocated to the University of Vermont Health Network, presenting data on profits and assets to show that the hospital network would have enough money to cover this expense.

Councilor Evan Litwin also presented a motion to move $7,500 from the Howard Center Street Outreach program to the Turning Point Center of Chittenden County, dedicated to addiction recovery programs. 

Both motions were rejected by the rest of the councilors, who claimed these proposals required a more in-depth discussion and that it was too late to make new changes to the budget.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Burlington City Council passes $107.1M budget.

Burlington’s City Council voted unanimously Monday to move forward with an ordinance banning public nudity following complaints from local businesses and residents.

The proposal now heads to the Ordinance Committee for review before going back to the council.

Vermont law generally allows public nudity in cases where the person leaves their house naked, though removing clothes once outside is prohibited. According to the proposed city ordinance, however, Burlington is looking to classify showing one’s “genitals or anal region” as public indecent exposure even if it’s not lewd in nature.  

The ordinance states that public exposure may interfere with people’s right to enjoy public areas without being unwillingly exposed to nudity and discourage community members from visiting spaces where these incidents occur. During the Monday meeting, councilor Becca Brown McKnight said the ordinance could help prevent incidents of indecent exposure that happened near schools and playgrounds. 

Ordinance violations could result in a $100 fine for the first offense and a $200 fine for the second offense if it occurs within six months of the first. A third violation would be considered a criminal offense and carry a $500 fine if it occurs within six months of the second. Partial waivers are available for the first two offenses.

“The intent of this ordinance to ban public nudity has nothing to do with suppressing anyone’s freedom of expression,” Brown McKnight said Tuesday. “We’re hoping the Ordinance Committee can have some kind of a flexibility in there for some of the historical events that might involve nudity in the city.” Brown McKnight said the Ordinance Committee will determine if the ordinance will be citywide or focus on specific areas.

One of the exceptions may be the naked bike ride by University of Vermont students, a longstanding tradition that takes place at the end of each semester near the campus.

“I think no matter if they have a law in place to protect it or disband it, I feel like the naked bike ride would somehow come up again,” said Claire Conklin, a recent University of Vermont graduate who participated in the event in the past. 

Conklin said the way the bike ride is currently organized allows people to express themselves and feel safe, and since it’s publicized in advance, people can decide not to join if they feel uncomfortable. 

“I feel like it kind of goes against the UVM spirit and Burlington as a whole of banning something that other people enjoy,” she added.

The proposal is the result of regular complaints from residents and business owners in downtown Burlington. Around 100 business owners sent a letter to Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak in May expressing concern over the conditions of the city center and requesting action on several items, including a plea for a public nudity ordinance.

“We have observed an increasing trend of individuals engaging in deliberately inappropriate behavior in public spaces, which is causing alarm among families and negatively impacting Burlington’s reputation as a welcoming environment,” they wrote.

“I don’t really think it’s a public safety issue,” councilor Melo Grant said. “These men who have done this have never hurt anyone. … But it is a situation where some people are concerned.”

The public will have the chance to weigh in on the proposal in the coming weeks. Brown McKnight said it might take up to two months before reaching a final resolution, but she doesn’t expect the ban will receive pushback from the community. 

Grant said she will pay attention to the final text of the ordinance before deciding how she will vote on it.

“I wanted to be really cautious about how we proceed. I just don’t want anything that’s going to be weaponized against people,” Grant said, expressing concern that the new ordinance could be used to discriminate against people experiencing homelessness or limit freedom of expression for the LGBTQ+ community.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Burlington advances public nudity ban after complaints from businesses and residents .

The Burlington High School community is mourning the loss of student Eljak Menjwak, who drowned Saturday at Bartlett Falls in Bristol.

The 18-year-old senior jumped from the falls into the New Haven River around 5:10 p.m. He immediately began to struggle in the water, and bystanders were not able to pull him out, according to a press release from Vermont State Police.

Multiple fire and rescue agencies responded to emergency calls, including Bristol Rescue. Menjwak’s body was recovered around 8 p.m., the release said.

State police do not consider the death suspicious or criminal in nature, department spokesperson Adam Silverman said.

“Eljak was a bright light in our school district,” Schools Superintendent Tom Flanagan wrote in a letter to the school community Sunday. “He was deeply loved by his peers, teachers, and mentors, and his presence will be profoundly missed.” 

Counseling services would be available to students and families at Burlington High School on Monday, at Champlain Elementary on Tuesday, and Edmunds Middle School on Thursday, Flanagan’s statement said. Support for staff members will be provided through the employee assistance program. Community members have also started an online GoFundMe fundraiser to support the family.

A viewing is planned for 5 p.m. Friday at the Cathedral of St. Joseph, and the burial will be the following day, school district spokesperson Russell Elek said.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Burlington schools mourn death of student who drowned at Bartlett Falls.

BURLINGTON — City leaders hope a new program aimed at responding to low-level crimes will help increase public safety. 

At a City Hall press briefing on Wednesday, Burlington Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak introduced City Circle, a community-based initiative designed to respond more effectively to minor criminal ordinance violations and reduce repeat offenses downtown. The violations could include littering, public possession of alcohol, unlawful trespass, disorderly conduct and unlawful mischief, among others.

People who commit these violations would have the chance to discuss their offense with the community.  The program would discourage disruptive behaviors by holding people accountable for their actions.

“The goal is to connect and engage with people and provide them with the support that they need to build their capacity to be accountable for any harm that their behavior is causing in the community,” City Attorney Jessica Brown said. 

If someone accused of a criminal ordinance violation decided not to join in the program, they would receive a court summons. The city attorney’s office would file charges in the Vermont Superior Court and could request a warrant if they failed to appear.

City Circle would be run by the Burlington Community Justice Center and involve law enforcement or community service officers, volunteers who live or work in the downtown center, and the victim of the crime, if they chose to take part.

Brown said the ordinance to establish City Circle still needs feedback from different stakeholders and will be presented to the City Council and Ordinance Committee in the next few months. The goal is to have it take effect by the end of September.

“Based on some initial conversations with a couple of city councilors, who both expressed enthusiasm about the City Circle concept, we’re also confident that the Ordinance Committee and City Council will approach this project with a spirit of collaboration toward passage,” Brown wrote in a statement to VTDigger. “Generally I think there is enthusiasm among many stakeholders for trying something new when what we’ve been doing within the system has not been particularly effective.”

The mayor also presented another initiative called Situation Table, which is meant to complement City Circle. The program would bring together different organizations, city agencies and police officers to share expertise and provide services based on people’s specific needs. Focus areas would vary in different communities but could include services related to mental health and addiction, housing, education, health, and child and family services.

Situation Table is already widely used in Canada and the U.S., including four tables in other Vermont communities. 

Read the story on VTDigger here: ‘City Circle’ aims to address low-level crimes in Burlington through community engagement .

BURLINGTON — City property taxes are set to rise more than expected due to a $1.8 million budgeting error, Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak said this week — though she noted the increase could be offset by a drop in education taxes. 

In the mayor’s initial $106.6 million budget — first presented to the Board of Finance on June 2 — property taxes were expected to increase by just $35, or less than 1%, over the current year. Three days later, however, Mulvaney-Stanak said a $1.8 million gap was discovered, stemming from an overestimation of tax revenue from commercial properties and a miscommunication between the Clerk/Treasurer Office and the Assessor’s Office.

To close the gap, the mayor said the city’s property taxes would instead have to increase by around $100 per year, or 2.5%, on a $500,000 home, bringing in around $831,000 in revenue. 

Mulvaney-Stanak said most property owners will still experience an overall tax decrease in fiscal year 2025-26 due to a projected drop in the education tax rate.

“That was something that was, again, important to me so that, at the end of the day, people had a more affordable bill,” Mulvaney-Stanak said during a Tuesday press conference at City Hall. 

Burlington School District’s Executive Director of Finance and Operations Nathan Lavery said the city’s education budget is expected to decrease by 4.5%, or about $360 on a $500,000 house.

Mulvaney-Stanak also said she would not receive a cost-of-living salary increase in fiscal year 2026, and other department heads would not receive it for six months. 

“This is a very hard decision because my department heads work incredibly hard for this city,” she said. “This is why in six months I want to restore the 3% [cost of living adjustment] that we were originally budgeting for fiscal year [20]26 for department heads.”

The budget error also means that new roles — including a deputy city attorney and a housing-related position — will be put on hold, and the upcoming police academy class will be cut from four recruits to two. These reductions come on top of the 25 positions already cut across various city departments. 

“That is important for us to actually structurally start to fix our budget because if we continue to have more employees than we could really financially sustain, that continues to make that gap grow over years,” she said.

Other expected revenue sources include a 25-cent tax increase for Uber and Lyft rides, $250,000 in anticipated development permits fees, and an estimated $200,000 from the hotel occupancy tax tied to a new hotel opening in downtown Burlington. 

The mayor also highlighted two budget revisions: the restoration of $100,000 for UVM Health Network Home Health & Hospice and an adult programming position in the Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department.

Mulvaney-Stanak said she is committed to transparency and informed Democratic and Progressive city counselors of the budget error on the same day it was discovered. To prevent similar errors from happening in the future, the mayor said the Clerk/Treasurer Office and the Assessor’s Office will create new procedures to outline the process for submitting grand list figures, and the City Assessor’s Office will move under the Department of Finance and Administration starting July 1.

Final budget numbers have not yet been determined. 

“The administration is still working with City Council on a revised budget that identifies exactly how much of the $1.8 million will be in new revenues versus cut expenses,” Burlington Chief Administrative Officer Katherine Schad told VTDigger. 

The budget may evolve slightly after consultations with city councilors. “I’m confident that we’re going to have an agreement with the City Council, both the Progressive caucus and Democratic caucus,” Mulvaney-Stanak said. 

Read the story on VTDigger here: Burlington property tax hike grows after $1.8M budget error.

Vermont is in for a stretch of intense summer weather, with forecasters warning of heat, humidity and potential thunderstorms.

The National Weather Service is expecting potentially hazardous weather for the state through Wednesday. Seth Kutikoff, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Burlington, said temperatures are projected to reach the mid- and upper 80s on Thursday. Thunderstorms are expected in the afternoon and evening that should help bring down the temperature on Friday, but hot weather is expected to return this weekend.

“The risk today of damaging wind with the strongest thunderstorms: We want people to pay attention to any severe thunderstorm warnings that may be issued,” Kutikoff said. 

People can sign up with VT- Alert for updates related to weather, roads or emergencies.

Kutikoff said Friday’s temperatures will be much lower, with widespread west wind, whereas weekend temperatures will be moderate with a risk of severe thunderstorms, particularly on Saturday night.

Meteorologists expect high temperatures to continue into next week. 

“This is the time of year that it’s common, but at the same time, the degree of heat that we’re expecting early next week is unusual,” said Kutikoff, adding that the forecast for Burlington is projected to be around 97 degrees.

“The temperature of 97 degrees would tie for the second warmest June temperature over the last 30 years,” Kutikoff said.

The heat will affect the entire state, with the Champlain Valley, Winooski Valley and other areas with towns at lower elevations experiencing higher temperatures.

Kutikoff advised people to be prepared for the heat, finding cooling centers if needed and avoiding activities during the hottest parts of the day, especially on Monday and Tuesday.

Jared Ulmer, climate and health program manager at the Vermont Department of Health, said its cooling centers map will also be updated — likely the day before extreme heat is expected to hit — with additional resources highlighted on the map. Cooling centers at some libraries and fire stations will be open to the public, providing relief from the heat for people experiencing homelessness and without access to air conditioning. 

According to the latest state air conditioning data report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Vermont has the fifth-lowest rate of air conditioning in the U.S., with 67% of homes equipped with air conditioning. Of those, 60% have single-room air conditioning units and only 7% have central air — the lowest number in the country after Alaska.

“Heat is a growing concern in Vermont and will continue to be more of a concern into the future,” Ulmer said.

As human activities drive climate change and lead to higher global temperatures, heat-related risks in Vermont are increasing as well, according to the Vermont Climate Assessment. The 2021 study found that “Vermont already is seeing more heat stroke and dehydration from high temperatures and an associated increase in heat-related (emergency department) visits since 2003.”

According to a hot weather preparedness guidance by the Vermont Department of Health, the number of people who visit the emergency room or call 911 for heat-related illnesses is similar to the number of people doing so for cold-related illnesses.

The Department of Health has also compiled a list of heat safety tips available in different languages and specific guidance for caregivers. 

“We’ve done a lot of work just trying to raise awareness about the health impacts of heat, recognizing symptoms, how to prepare and respond, because it really is just a new topic for a lot of people in Vermont to grapple with,” Ulmer said. 

Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont faces stretch of high heat and thunderstorms.

Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark announced Monday that she and 54 attorneys general from U.S. states and territories agreed to sign on to a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma, maker of the painkiller OxyContin, and the Sackler family, owners of the drug firm.

If the bankruptcy court approves the agreement, Vermont will receive up to $21.85 million to  support opioid prevention, treatment and recovery programs. The settlement would also make public more than 30 million documents related to Purdue and the Sacklers’ opioid business.

A bankruptcy court hearing is scheduled on June 18. If the settlement is approved, the case would go to state court for approval as well, according to the attorney general’s office.  

This settlement was reached after the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned the previous settlement, which would have provided about $6 billion to treatment programs and victims of the opioid epidemic but also shielded the Sackler family from future opioid-related lawsuits.

Purdue and the Sackler family agreed to the new settlement in January with a bipartisan coalition of states, including Vermont. The settlement, which resolves litigation over the role Purdue and the Sacklers had in the opioid crisis and ends their ability to sell opioids in the United States, is the nation’s largest to date with individuals linked to the opioid epidemic.

“Purdue and the Sackler family created and perpetuated a crisis that has stolen the lives of our loved ones, neighbors, and community members,” Clark wrote in a press release. “This settlement will never undo the suffering that has touched nearly every Vermont family, but it will hold Purdue and the Sacklers accountable for causing the devastating opioid crisis.”

According to the Vermont Department of Health, the wide majority of accidental and undetermined drug overdose deaths in the state involve opioids. The number of opioid-related fatal overdoses peaked in 2022 with 244 deaths, and then decreased by 22% between 2023 and 2024. 

The settlement agreement states that Vermont’s funds would be divided to allocate 15% to the state,15% to municipalities, and 70% to the State Opioid Abatement Fund to tackle the opioid crisis.

“While we can never be sure about delays or complications that may arise, the parties worked very hard to address the concerns raised by all constituencies to the bankruptcy and the US Supreme Court,” Amelia Vath, outreach and communications coordinator for the attorney general’s office, wrote to VTDigger. “We feel confident about the prospect of approval.”

Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont attorney general signs on to $7.4B national opioid settlement with Purdue Pharma.

BURLINGTON — Vermonters turned out in force around the state Saturday as part of the nationwide “No Kings Day” protests, championing myriad causes but generally united behind opposing President Donald Trump.

As Washington, D.C., geared up for a military parade to commemorate the 250^th anniversary of the Army and celebrate Trump’s 79th birthday, 1,800 events unfolded across the country to protest the Trump administration as part of the “No Kings Day” of national mobilization.

Burlington saw one of its biggest protests in recent years. Geri Peterson, lead organizer with the activist network 50501, said 8,000 people signed up to participate in the rally on the Burlington waterfront. But as everyone gathered in front of the stage set up for the event, she said the crowd grew to more than 16,000 people, based on the group’s drone footage.

People showed up for different reasons: protecting democracy, standing up for immigrants, protesting the Trump administration’s budget and program cuts, showing solidarity with Palestinians, upholding LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights, and more.

“I’m scared that we’re going to lose democracy and we’re going to be under an authoritarian regime, and I don’t get scared easily,” said Brant Dinkin from Williston.

“I have a pent-up sadness about what’s going on in the country and taking action is the antidote to sadness, so I get up, I stand up and I show up, and that’s what we’re all doing here today,” Dinkin said.

Jennifer Overton from West Berlin said she is worried about potential cuts to Medicaid, a government program providing health insurance for people with limited resources, as both her personal health and work as a therapist depend on it. 

“I’m on Medicaid, and I will most certainly lose it, and that could be a death sentence for me,” Overton said. She said she’s diabetic and most of her clients are on Medicaid, so she would lose a big part of her income if the program was cut.

“I fear for my country. I deeply fear. I fear for her,” said Lorraine Zaloom, a resident of Essex, pointing to her niece. “She’s adopted. She’s done everything right. She has to carry her documents around.”

The protest in Burlington unfolded peacefully Saturday. Around noon, more people marched to the waterfront holding Palestinian flags and chanting “from Palestine to Mexico, those border walls have got to go.” As the lawn filled with people, speakers began taking the stage.

Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian activist and Columbia University student previously arrested by ICE during an interview to obtain U.S. citizenship, shared his experience growing up in a refugee camp under the Israeli government and witnessing the killing of his best friend. He said the solidarity and love of Vermonters helped him heal from the trauma he experienced.

“We see the fires in California and the violence, and it’s like a spark, and if we don’t put it down, any spark of violence here, the fire will spread,” Mahdawi said. “We have to put it down with love and care. We have to keep guarding our communities.”

Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., Vermont’s lone member in the U.S. House of Representatives, also spoke to the crowd: “Today is an urgent call for every American, no matter who you voted for, no matter if you voted at all,” she said.

Balint referenced how Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was recently taken to the ground and zip-tied by Homeland Security agents after interrupting a press conference hosted by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

“He was doing his work — his responsibility to do oversight over Homeland Security,” Balint said. “If they will do that to a man with that much power, what are they doing to the least among us?”

Balint denounced the threats and harassment faced by students, residents and migrant workers and encouraged people to continue organizing and resisting. 

“We, today, are creating community by doing this important work together” she said, “and we will use it to push back against policies that don’t serve us, against politicians who divide us, against people who want to keep us down. That’s why we are out here today.”

Meanwhile, in Montpelier, the Statehouse lawn was teeming with more than a thousand people attending the capital’s “No Kings” protest.

Organizers from Montpelier Strong Indivisible and Calais Indivisible substituted speakers for singers and asked the crowd to sing along to protest songs and religious hymns performed by Solidarity Singers, a political music group.

The rally remained peaceful throughout as organizers urged the crowd to remain nonviolent and to not engage with any potential hecklers or counter-protesters.

Ron Dufresne, a veteran, said attending the rally was part of his military duty.

“I came to the protest today because we have to reclaim our country,” Dufresne said. “I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution as a U.S. Army officer, and I take that oath very seriously. I see this administration trampling on the Constitution. Our country will only be strong if we, the people, reclaim our devotion to the Constitution and rule of law.”

Toward the back of the protest, Mackenzie Kovaka had a small easel set up in front of her as she painted a miniature watercolor portrait of the day’s events. 

“I paint a lot. It’s part of being present and here, and it’s the way that I like to experience things,” Kovaka said. “I’m really concerned about the direction of the country.”

For Kim Rae, protesting was personal. Her son Ash has used a wheelchair since he was 8 years old. Ash relies on Medicaid dollars to provide a home health aid to help him in his daily life. Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” now making its way through Congress, would cut an estimated $600 billion from Medicaid, according to PBS.

“If Medicaid gets cut he won’t be able to survive independently in his own home,” Rae said.

The rally ended with organizers leading a large march toward downtown Montpelier, calling for people to join them later on at the Burlington protest if they could.

More than 40 events were held around the state Saturday, including a border-to-border anti-Trump flag parade that traveled up Route 7 from Massachusetts to Canada. Vermonters honked and waved along the route as the parade passed by. At least 15 communities outside of the parade route held their own anti-Trump protests.

Read the story on VTDigger here: ‘No Kings Day’ draws more than 16,000 to Burlington to protest Trump and authoritarianism.

A Vermont dad took the Burlington Free Press to court for not covering his son’s basketball games, but a judge recently tossed out his lawsuit, citing the state Constitution’s protection of press freedom.

On May 20, Vermont Superior Court Judge Benjamin Battles dismissed Robert Lafayette’s suit against the newspaper and its subsidiary, Vermont Varsity Insider, a platform created in 2018 to provide coverage of high school sports. 

Lafayette sued the paper and two of its employees, Alex Abrami and Judith Altneau, accusing them of failing to cover high school sports outside of Chittenden County, particularly his son’s basketball games.

Lafayette alleged the Vermont Varsity Insider has focused predominantly on Chittenden County Schools — some of which have advertising and commercial interests with the news organization — despite claiming to provide statewide coverage. He claimed his son’s performances were not featured during the 2024-25 season. According to Lafayette, this hurt his son’s college prospects and caused him stress and anxiety, gastrointestinal distress and panic attacks that he had to treat with medication. 

Lafayette sued for compensatory and punitive damages for violation of the Consumer Protection Act, breach of contract, negligent infliction of emotional distress and unjust enrichment.

Battles dismissed Lafayette’s complaint, upholding Article 13 of the Vermont Constitution, which protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press, including editorial decisions on the material included in a newspaper. 

Given that Vermont Varsity Insider reported on games throughout Vermont, the judge did not find validity to Lafayette’s allegations that its coverage was not truly statewide. 

A future hearing will determine whether Lafayette will face sanctions for using fake case citations and quotes in his filings, the judge ruled. The newspaper is also entitled to attorney fees under a Vermont law known as an anti-SLAPP statute (for strategic lawsuits against public participation), which allows defendants to file a motion to strike a complaint if the lawsuit arises from the exercise of the right of free speech.

The attorney for the Burlington Free Press declined to comment Wednesday, citing pending litigation.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Court dismisses father’s lawsuit against Burlington newspaper over lack of basketball coverage.

After nearly 15 years working in the food industry, Deven Bora, owner of Early Bird Catering in Colchester, has been handed an unexpected opportunity: filming a pilot episode for Eat This TV, an online network featuring culinary content. The chef has now launched a GoFundMe hoping to bring the project to life. 

The 30-year-old started his journey in the food industry at age 16, working in a fast-food restaurant. At first, he was just trying to earn some money, but as he continued working at sandwich and bagel shops, restaurants like Applebee’s and Buffalo Wild Wings, and catering events, he became more interested in the industry.

“I got to either decide to finish college, or I got to go in a different direction, which was take the experience that I did have, working in the food industry and try and make something of that. So that’s the path I went down,” he said.

That’s when Bora started the Community Kitchen Academy, a nine-week course to learn culinary skills, including fundamentals of food safety and sanitation, labeling and repurposing food to avoid waste.

Community Kitchen Academy tries to gather produce from grocery stores, farms and food service companies to prevent waste, and after students have used the ingredients to prepare meals, the academy distributes them to shelters and meal sites.

A study conducted by the University of Vermont in 2022 showed that 2 in 5 Vermonters experienced food insecurity. 

“It was kind of nice that I was able to have that opportunity but also give back to the community,” Bora said.

In March 2022, Bora decided to start a catering business. He began by catering for small events, like bachelorette parties and family dinners, while working at Goodwater Brewery. Then he was subcontracted to provide meals for local army bases, allowing him to focus on his business full time and open a physical location in Colchester.

Early Bird Catering specializes in various cuisines, including Italian, Greek, American and Mexican dishes. Bora also uses seasonal produce from local farms whenever possible.

“We’ve started featuring a fall seasonal menu for weddings this year,” he said. “For the months of August through October, we have specifically catered menus that are highlighting the best of available products and produce for those months in Vermont.”

When he received a call from Eat This TV asking him to participate in a pilot episode for the show, Bora said he was surprised. 

“I didn’t sign up for anything, so I didn’t know if it was just like a spam call kind of thing,” he said. But after learning more about the network and the pilot opportunity, he got excited.

While the network will cover production costs, Bora is financially responsible for the renting the test kitchen, the ingredients for his dishes, and travel and lodging costs during the episode’s filming in New York. 

“I felt that the GoFundMe was the easiest way to help raise some of this money,” Bora said. “I really want to make the opportunity happen.” 

If the pilot receives good ratings, Bora said, the network might ask him to develop a 12-episode series.

Bora has until the beginning of July to raise enough money and confirm his participation in the program. In the meantime, he is already thinking about the recipes he wants to use in the 30-minute pilot. He is certain that he wants the dishes to showcase some Vermont ingredients and products. 

“I thought if I got the opportunity, it would be a great way to just kind of tie where I’m from into it and make it a little more special,” Bora said. “That way, in the pilot episode, I can kind of pay a little homage to Vermont.”

Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont chef launches fundraiser to bring local flavors to online food show.

Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark celebrated a court order Thursday that paused some of the Trump administration’s cuts to AmeriCorps programming. The federal agency facilitates national volunteer service through grants and job placement in six areas: education, environment, disaster preparedness, health, economic opportunity, veterans and military families.

In April, President Donald Trump’s administration terminated nearly $400 million in AmeriCorps grants and ordered the reduction of its professional workforce. The agency placed 85% of its federal workforce on leave and informed its professional employees their contracts would be terminated on June 24. 

In Vermont, the terminated grants accounted for $2.4 million in funding, impacting 200 AmeriCorps volunteer positions related to housing services, food security, school programming, flood recovery and more. Also, the administration dismissed volunteers with the National Civilian Community Corps, which impacted work at a Habitat for Humanity project in Bennington. 

The cuts prompted Clark to join a coalition of attorneys general from 22 other states and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania in a lawsuit, arguing that the Trump administration acted unlawfully.

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman of Maryland temporarily blocked the termination of grants and ordered the agency to restore AmeriCorps and VISTA volunteers, who work to alleviate poverty by supporting local organizations, within all the states that brought the lawsuit. The judge also stated that the agency must follow legal requirements to provide the public advance notice and the opportunity to comment before major service changes are made.

“I am pleased that the Court affirmed our argument that the Trump administration lacks the authority to unilaterally cut AmeriCorps programs. This is a win for the rule of law as well as for Vermont communities, which have been well served by AmeriCorps volunteers for decades,” Clark wrote in a statement.

The judge required that AmeriCorps notify award recipients of the order by the end of Friday.

Boardman did not provide all the relief that the states sought in their lawsuit. Her order did not affect the Trump administration’s order to put the AmeriCorps’ professional workforce on forced leave or the planned cuts to those federal positions. Also, the court ordered the Trump administration to restore one group — National Civilian Community Corps volunteers, who focus on disaster relief — “to the status quo” prior to April 15. But the order limited the restoration of grants and volunteers through other AmeriCorps programs to those in states that are parties to the lawsuit. 

In 2024, AmeriCorps volunteers served at over 300 locations across the state, including homeless shelters, youth centers, food banks, schools, veterans’ facilities and other organizations.

SerVermont, the State Service Commission for Vermont that oversees the bulk of AmeriCorps programs in the state, declined to further comment Friday.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Federal judge protects AmeriCorps volunteers in Vermont and 22 other states from Trump cuts.

Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak plans to nominate Samantha McGinnis as the next director of the Church Street Marketplace in Burlington, according to a Monday press release.

The City Council plans to discuss the appointment at a meeting on Monday night and, if confirmed, McGinnis will start the new role on July 1. McGinnis has worked with Burlington since 2019 and is currently the assistant director of downtown projects and programs for the Department of Business and Workforce Development.

“I believe Samantha’s skills and experience make her the right person to steward the Church Street Marketplace into the future,” Mulvaney-Stanak said in the release.

McGinnis holds a bachelor’s degree in community and international development from the University of Vermont and a certificate from the Institute of Nonprofit Management and Leadership with Boston University‘s School of Management. She has led efforts to hold over 100 events and public programs at Church Street Marketplace and City Hall Park, including the launch of the winter market during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If confirmed for the position, McGinnis will succeed Kara Alnasrawi, who currently serves as director of the Church Street Marketplace and the Department of Business and Workforce Development. Alnasrawi will soon assume a new role as director of the Community and Economic Development Office. These changes are part of a broader restructuring plan to help close the city’s $8 million budget gap ahead of the 2026 fiscal year.  

“After nearly six years on the marketplace team, I understand the importance and complexity of this role,” McGinnis said in the release. “I’m committed to honoring its historic legacy while guiding its future as Burlington and our downtown continue to evolve.”

McGinnis and Mulvaney-Stanak could not be reached for further comment on Monday.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Burlington mayor nominates new director of Church Street Marketplace.