A new coalition has formed
to oppose a new tax proposed on groceries at the Vermont State House. A press release says Vermont residents,
grocers, and beverage manufacturers launched the "Stop the Vermont
Beverage Tax" earlier today. The
coalition was formed in response to a legislative proposal to place a
penny-per-ounce excise tax on non-alcoholic beverages. The bill is currently being debated in the
Ways and Means committee. A new fund
would be created under the legislation called the Vermont Healthy Weight
Initiative Fund where half the revenues from the tax would go. The other half would go to the State Health
Care Resources Fund.
Vermont officials are
reminding anglers to remove ice shanties before the ice weakens. Vermont State law requires ice fishing
shanties to be removed before the ice becomes unsafe or loses the ability to
support the shanty out of the water or before the last Sunday in March,
whichever comes first. The fine for
leaving your ice fishing shanty on the ice can be up to $1,000.
Thanks to a "no"
vote, the debate will continue on the physician-aided suicide bill. The bill came to the Senate floor yesterday despite
the majority of the Judiciary Committee saying they see a bill with serious
flaws and that raises lots of questions.
What the Senate body had to vote on first was whether to reject it
outright, and that got the "no" votes. Then lawmakers spent hours debating the
different facets of the bill.
Senator Patrick Leahy says
the time has come to pass comprehensive immigration legislation with a pathway
to citizenship for the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants. Leahy made the comments as he opened the Senate's
first hearing of the year on immigration. This comes a day after President Barack Obama
used his State of the Union address to renew his call for sweeping immigration
legislation. Leahy questioned Homeland
Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on efforts to secure the U.S. borders and
improvements in deporting illegal aliens with criminal records.
Police are looking for a man
accused of assaulting and robbing two women in the area of Ray's Seafood in
Essex last night. Authorities say around
7 o’clock, the male subject stole one of the victim's purse containing an undetermined
amount of money. The male then left in a
silver truck. The male is described as
being white, 6'1", about 250 pounds with a small mustache. Police say no weapons were displayed during
the incident.
U.S. Census figures show
that for the first time in almost three-quarters of a century Vermont lost
population last year, a drop caused by more people leaving the state than
moving in. Even though last year's
population decline was small, just under 600, it's part of a broader trend that
has seen the state's population growth rate hover just above zero for several
years. The Census Bureau figures showed
that Vermont and Rhode Island were the only two states in the country to lose
population last year.
