Attorney General T.J. Donovan has announced the launch of a permanent unit within his office known as the Elder Protection Initiative. This unit will focus on supporting and protecting Vermont’s aging population. The unit is the result of a listening tour that solicited ideas from stakeholders on how best to assist older Vermonters. The announcement…

By Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Bridgewater, Chittenden, Killington & Mendon All was quiet last week at the State House with the full House and Senate off (except for some committee meetings on Friday, June 15), waiting on what Gov. Phil Scott would do with the new budget, H.13. As expected, Scott vetoed it last Thursday June…

By Katy Savage QUECHEE — Joel Parker and his family lived near Boston but they drove two hours to Vermont every weekend. They skied in the winter and cycled in the summer. “Then we got the idea of why don’t we just live here,” Parker, 39 said. Parker, his wife and children, ages 11 and…

By Rep. Jim Harrison, Chittenden, Bridgewater, Killington and Mendon Following vetoes on the $15 minimum wage, paid family leave, increased liability on outdoor recreational operators and medical monitoring, Governor Scott vetoed the education funding and the state budget last Friday, May 25. While the initial bills may have been political statements by the Legislature, it…

By Xander Landen, VTDigger As a budget impasse in Montpelier drags on into another week of negotiations, an uncommon threat looms over the Statehouse: the possibility of a government shutdown. Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Phil Scott, who fundamentally disagree over the use of a budget surplus and a property tax rate hike, would have to iron…

PAWLET—Edgar Cleveland, a lifelong resident of Pawlet, has declared his candidacy for the House of Representatives for the Rutland-Bennington District. Cleveland, 67, is campaigning to represent the towns of Middletown Springs, Pawlet, Rupert, Tinmouth and Wells. “There is a need for change in Montpelier,” said Cleveland, “and I know that I can help drive that…

Tobacco use is the No. 1 preventable cause of death. Vermont’s Department of Health estimates that each year smoking results in about 1,000 smoking-related deaths in Vermont. It also costs $348 million in medical expenses. Second hand smoke affects countless other lives – children, friends and family are all impacted. Tobacco, physical inactivity and poor…

By Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Bridgewater, Chittenden, Killington & Mendon A scant couple days passed after the Legislature adjourned before Governor Scott issued his highly anticipated call for a special session to redo the education funding and budget bills. Scott has suggested that with advance leadership meetings the return to Montpelier could wrap up in just…

Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Chittenden, and Sen. Dave Soucy, R-Rutland County, teamed up to get an amendment passed in both chambers of the Legislature to give the Wooden Barrel, a country store in Chittenden a potential option to keep selling gas. The narrowly crafted amendment applies to only two stores in the state and would allow…

By Xander Landen/ VTDigger Vermont Life, the state’s signature regional magazine which in recent years has faced financial woes and racked up millions in debt, will shutter its doors in June. The Scott administration announced Thursday that it will cease production of the 72-year-old state-owned publication after it reviewed the latest financial reports and learned…

The 100th anniversary of the Vermont Supreme Court Building is being commemorated with a special centennial celebration in Montpelier on Friday, May 18, 2018. The program, Celebrating the Bench and Bar and Their Role in Preserving the Rule of Law, will take place on the front steps of the Vermont Supreme Court Building at 111…

By Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Bridgewater, Chittenden, Killington & Mendon The regular session of the 2018 legislative session was gaveled down at 12:18 a.m. Sunday morning, the conclusion of the 18 weeks allocated in the current year budget. The last few days, especially Saturday, May 12, were at times intense and emotional. When lawmakers arrived back…

By Senator Alison Clarkson, Windsor-5 The 2018 Legislative session adjourned very late Saturday evening May 12. It always ends after about two weeks of intense negotiations between the House and the Senate resolving our policy differences in committees of conference. And, it is always a bit of a shock, after such focused work, to end…

By Tom Benton, St. Albans Messenger staff writer ST. ALBANS — Police transported Erika Guttilla, who allegedly murdered her Highgate family’s drug dealer, and Swanton resident Corey Cassani, her boyfriend accused of helping her get rid of the remains, to Franklin County Superior Court Tuesday afternoon, May 8. Public defenders Steve Dunham and Rory Malone…

By Tom Benton, St. Albans Messenger Staff Writer HIGHGATE — Carmen Guttilla, 60, of Charles Circle, pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder Monday afternoon, May 7. The state alleges that Guttilla helped her daughter Erika, 31, kill a man staying in the family’s home last November, 35-year-old Troy Ford, whose remains walkers…