Interview: USS Constellation heads home
Steve Delaney talks with Rutland native Admiral Barry Costello, commander of the USS Constellation. The Constellation has been serving in the Persian Gulf for many months, and is now sailing home to California. (Listen to the interview online.) (VPR)
Development debate continues
Brattleboro is the latest town to engage in the long-running Vermont debate over national warehouse-style retail chains. There’s a Walgreens under construction and a Home Depot waiting to move in. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Fee bill deficit
Vermont’s judiciary and the Secretary of State’s office have a two million dollar gap in their budgets because the Legislature did not pass a bill to raise various fees. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
FCC rules change
When the Federal Communications Commission loosened media ownership rules on Monday, Vermont’s congressional delegation was quick to condemn the action. The new guidelines would allow a company to own more than one television station in a single market. They would also permit a single company to own television and newspaper outlets in a market. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
May free of traffic fatalities
Vermont highway safety officials announced on Monday that for the first time in over 50 years the state has recorded a month with no traffic fatalities. (VPR)
Homicide suspect search
The daughters of a man police are searching for Monday are pleading with their father to turn himself in. Hank Butson is suspected of fatally shooting Melvin McFarland and Karen Holderby in Danville on Sunday. (AP)
Vermont labeled ‘hostile’ to wealth
A financial magazine says Vermont is a state that’s hostile to wealth. The monthly Bloomberg Wealth Manager ranked the states based on how much families can keep of what they earn and what they own. (AP)
Brattleboro labor rally
About 80 people rallied in Brattleboro over the weekend in favor of union organizing drives at two companies. (AP)
Low-income home ownership
It could soon become easier for low-income Vermonters to buy their own homes. The Vermont Development Credit Union will be leveraging up to $8 million in lending capital to help make home ownership more affordable. (AP)
No Child Left Behind
Vermont is now the thirtieth state to have its plan approved for complying with a new federal education law. Monday Governor Jim Douglas and state education officials announced that the Vermont plan had been approved by the U.S. Department of Education. (AP)
College building plans
Two of Vermont’s state colleges have won funding approval for building projects. The Vermont State Colleges board Monday approved $12.5 million in borrowing to build new student housing, recreational facilities and meeting space. (AP)
Burlington budget
City Councilors in Vermont’s largest city have approved a nearly $90 million budget. Burlington’s budget represents a spending increase of 5%, and it requires an increase in the meals and alcohol taxes in the city, from 1.5% to 2%. (AP)
Heroin dealer sentenced
A 28-year-old Burlington man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for dealing drugs, including a nearly fatal dose of heroin. Edwin Laboy was considered one of the largest heroin dealers in Vermont. He pleaded guilty in September to conspiring to distribute heroin with serious bodily injury resulting. (AP)