Interview: Planned Parenthood leader speaks in Vermont
The national president of Planned Parenthood will be in Vermont on Friday, taking part in events sponsored by Independent Congressman Bernie Sanders and his annual statewide women’s forum. Mitch Wertlieb talks with Gloria Feldt about why she believes there’s a sense of urgency now concerning women’s reproductive rights. (VPR)
Historians rethink mythology of the Allens
Vermont historians say they’ve revised the way they view key figures in the state’s early history. (VPR)
Dr. Dynasaur enrollment
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee is trying to determine how many children have been removed from the state’s Dr. Dynasaur program because of the implementation of a new payment system for the program. Committee Chairman Jim Leddy says the impact of these cuts goes far beyond health care issues. (VPR)
EPA mercury rules
Vermont has joined nine other states to ask that the Environmental Protection Agency withdraw its proposed rules on mercury pollution. (VPR)
Touch-screen voting
The Vermont House approved legislation on Thursday that bans the use of computer touch screen voting machines in Vermont. (VPR)
Online criminal registry
A Vermont House committee is considering whether to make court records of state convictions available online. (VPR)
Hall’s nomination endorsed
Vermonter Peter Hall is one step closer to assuming a seat on one of the most important courts in the country. Hall’s appointment to the second circuit court of appeals won the unanimous endorsement of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. (AP)
Killington, New Jersey?
The Vermont House engaged in free-wheeling debate on April Fool’s Day, about the future of the town of Killington. (AP)
Fletcher Allen COO
An Ohio woman is poised to become the chief operating officer at Vermont’s largest hospital. Forty-six-year-old Angeline Marano has served as senior vice president and senior operating officer at the University Hospitals of Cleveland. She’ll start in June. (AP)
Guard members return from Balkans
About 15 National Guard members of the 86th Medical Company are back in Vermont after spending seven months in Bosnia. The soldiers spent maintained and flew Blackhawk air ambulance helicopters and providing medical evacuation and search and rescue support. (AP)
Dean at Dartmouth
Former Vermont Governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean has a summer job. Dean will spend time at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where he will be e a distinguished visiting fellow at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center. Meanwhile, the White House is dismissing criticism from Dean that President Bush’s credibility should be the top issue in the presidential campaign. Dean says the credibility issue is more important than anything. (AP)
Drunken snowmobiling
The Vermont House is cracking down on drunken snowmobilers. A bill that is expected to receive final approval on Friday would punish drunken snowmobiling as severely as drunken driving. The bill would increase fines and impose stiffer penalties for other infractions. (AP)
Substance abuse center loses staff
The Vermont Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services is trying to find other arrangements for the eight teenagers housed in one of the state’s few substance-abuse treatment centers for adolescents. About a dozen of the center’s 21 workers recently handed in their letters of resignation after a disagreement with the center’s parent company, Phoenix House of New England. (AP)
Union Institute
A freeze in federal financial aid for Montpelier’s Union Institute and University has been lifted, but that won’t change the staff reductions at the nontraditional university. Officials say other factors – including shrinking enrollment – also contributed to the decision to lay off seven staff at the school. (AP)
ER doctor of the year
A Rutland doctor is Vermont’s Emergency Physician of the Year. Forty-five-year-old Doctor John Hartmann works in the emergency department of the Rutland Regional Medical Center. (AP)
Narcotics support group
A Burlington woman is starting a support group for the friends and families of drug addicts. Kelly Brigham says the group, called Nar Anon, will meet for the first time on Monday. (AP)
Springfield downtown
A Springfield group is getting ready to remove a building long considered to be one of downtown’s worst eyesores. Officials say demolishing the River Street building will open up views of the Black River. (AP)