Vermonters crowdsource legal funding for gym owner’s battle with Donovan
A crowd-sourced funding page for Club Fitness, the Rutland gym embattled in a legal tussle with Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan, had raised $3,060 as of Friday morning.
Fitness club owner faces jail time for attempting to care for family in defiance of lockdown orders
A fitness club owner who took a stand against Gov. Phil Scott’s economic shutdown is facing a lawsuit from Vermont’s attorney general, and the consequences range from fines to contempt of court, which could land him in jail.
Did Planned Parenthood in Vermont get paycheck protection?
Thirty-seven Planned Parenthood affiliates nationwide have applied for and received $80 million in Small Business Administration (SBA) loan funding from the Paycheck Protection Program.
Sporting goods store forced to shut down, owner says lockdown must stop
Retail business Green Mountain Sporting Goods has been forced to close for the governor’s economic shutdown and the owner says she doesn’t have enough money for her business or family, including her four children.
Senate committee not excited about Act 250
During a May 13 meeting, the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee showed little enthusiasm for a thorough review of the Act 250 revision approved by the House earlier this year.
Commercial cannabis would increase budget deficit
Vermonters asking the Legislature “buddy, can you spare a dime?” for basic education, housing, food and employment assistance may wonder at a Legislature willing to front almost $1 million to create a legal industry surrounded by so much controversy and so many question marks.
Towns can mandate wearing masks in public, Scott says
In this week’s Covid-19 related news, municipalities may require masks to be worn in public, Gov. Phil Scott wants a school budget vote do-over, and the state of emergency can be extended as many times as necessary.
VTC Randolph campus may have missed business opportunity
Business entrepreneur David Hall, a resident of Provo, Utah, offered to set up a business incubator at the Randolph campus of Vermont Technical College, but opposition from the community shut him down, and now financial troubles threaten to close the campus.
Town clerk: ‘You’re not gonna know’ if mail-in ballot fraud occurs
While Secretary of State Jim Condos says Vermont’s vote-by-mail system has a safeguard in place to ensure that people casting ballots are who they say they are, town clerks on the front lines of elections say it’s not routine to check.
Vermont Senate returns to climate change legislation
On Thursday, for the first time since adjourning in March in the early days of the pandemic, the Vermont Senate considered a slate of non-pandemic related bills.
Secretary of state responds to questions about mail-in voting and election security
Is vote-by-mail secure voting? Can election officials really know who casts votes in a mail-in election? Vermont’s secretary of state responded to questions from True North about his plan to have ballots automatically sent to all registered voters for the general election.