Current News

The Center for Lawful Access and Abuse Deterrence (CLAAD) sent a letter to Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin on Thursday urging him to use concerns over Zohydro ER, a new opioid pain medication, "as a lightning rod for change."

The American Academy of Pain Management and National Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain Association co-signed the letter asking the governor and health commissioner to participate in a "multi-lateral meeting to develop a more thorough approach" to stemming Vermont's prescription drug abuse epidemic.

Drug overdoses kill over 38,000 Americans per year -- more than car crashes or incidents involving firearms. Of those deaths, more than 22,000 involve prescription medications, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Eight Vermonters and Vermont organizations have been nominated for the 2014 GMP-Zetterstrom Environmental Award, which will be presented May 6 at a ceremony in the Vermont Statehouse.

"Nominations for the Zetterstrom Environmental award ranged from an individual who volunteered for an environmental organization for 40 years, to small organizations spearheaded by one very active person, to well-organized groups that have operated for years,” said Mary Powell, President and CEO of Green Mountain Power. “What they all shared was dedication, optimism and an abiding interest in protecting Vermont’s environment.”

Vermont Law School has partnered with Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1837 as the Institute for Colored Youth and recognized as the nation’s oldest historically black institution of higher education, to continue its effort to expand racial and ethnic diversity in the legal profession.

In addition to Cheyney, Vermont Law has partnership agreements with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Morehouse College and Spelman College in Atlanta, Ga., and Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio.

Vermont Law School is mourning the passing of Bernard Lisman, who served as a Vermont Law trustee from 1974-1993 and trustee emeritus since 1993. Lisman was one of the law school’s earliest supporters in the Vermont legal community.

“I had the good fortune to work alongside Bernie as a student trustee in the eighties,” said Edward C. Mattes ’83, chairman of the Vermont Law School Board of Trustees. “He was a kind and thoughtful man from whom I learned a great deal. He cared deeply about justice, the law and this law school.”

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Anya Rader Wallack, the former chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, may accept a consulting job with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center to work on multistate payment reforms in northern New England.

“(Dartmouth-Hitchcock) is looking at potential models for health care payment and delivery cost containment and population health management across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont,” Wallack said Tuesday.

Though she has not signed a contract with the health system, Wallack felt it was necessary to make public that she is in talks with Dartmouth-Hitchcock.

Anya Rader Wallack

After continued investigation through Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, detectives with the Vermont State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations preliminary investigation has revealed that at approximately 8:30 pm Tuesday Gregory Filo, age 42 of Bennington, walked into the lobby of the Bennington Police Department and was acting erratically. A friend of Filo's also entered the lobby. A BPD dispatcher observed Filo with a knife making a stabbing motion at the friend. Believing that the friend had been stabbed, the dispatcher communicated this information with BPD police officers within the police station.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org The state has spent two and a half years and $66 million on Vermont Health Connect, the mandatory state health care exchange system.

But despite huge state and federal investments in the exchange website and a call center to handle interactions with the public, the system still has significant problems.

Lawmakers on the House Health Care Committee heard testimony Friday from Shumlin administration officials who attempted to answer two questions: What problems remained, and what lessons the state can take forward before the Shumlin administration launches two, even larger IT projects and moves toward a universal health care system over the next several years.

The lesson period on Friday, however, was brief, and the extent to which the Shumlin administration is addressing ongoing problems with the exchange was only partially explored.

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain College has announced plans to appeal the April 3 decision of the Burlington Development Review Board (DRB) that denied a land-use application submitted on its behalf to construct a mixed-use student apartment project known as Eagles Landing.

According to David Provost, senior vice president for Champlain's Finance and Administration, "We are filing this appeal in order to protect our legal rights as prescribed by State statute. We are also hopeful that College and City can quickly agree on a path forward that will allow for a reconsideration of the two adverse findings made by the Board, thereby permitting the construction of badly needed student housing in our community."

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org A bill that would mandate the consolidation of Vermont’s 270-plus school boards has been on life support for weeks, but there are signs that H883 will re-emerge this week on the floor of the Vermont House.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin today signed into law legislation to protect Vermonters’ hard-earned pensions against predatory lenders. In addition, recognizing the skills, education level and value of Vermont’s older workers, the Governor announced the release of a report from the Governor’s Commission on Successful Aging and initial steps to implement some of its recommendations to expand and improve employment opportunities for those 55 and older, an important demographic contributing to the health of Vermont’s economy.

The bill, S.223, the first of its kind to pass a state Legislature in the nation, requires that any person offering a loan that is secured by a pension be licensed with Vermont’s Department of Financial Regulation, and be subject to the state’s consumer protection laws.

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org Employers planning layoffs in Vermont would be subject to new state notification requirements, under legislation going to a preliminary Senate vote this week.

A bill under consideration closely resembles federal rules that mandate 60 days notice before companies implement mass layoffs of 50 or more employees. The Vermont legislation would require 45 days advance warning to state officials and 30 days notice to local leaders, employees and any unions whose membership would be affected.

The advanced warning could give state agencies time to help prevent the layoffs from occurring, Labor Commissioner Annie Noonan said by email Monday.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org House Speaker Shap Smith told representatives Tuesday that the General Assembly is on target for a timely adjournment May 9.

The House will wrap up all committee work by Friday and next week will meet each morning to take up legislation on the floor.

Lawmakers are expected to be in session Monday, May 5, and there will be a token session April 28.

Smith said that a Friday adjournment on May 9 could bleed over to Saturday, May 10. “You may want to reserve a room on May 9,” he said.

Otherwise, Smith quipped that he knows of a house in Morrisville (his own) that could offer inexpensive rooms for rent.

In other business, a vote on the Senate-passed genetically modified organism labeling bill was delayed by one day.