The State Legislature ended their session late last night. President Pro Tem Senator John Campbell says
Vermonters have won, adding lawmakers worked together across party lines to
improve the lives of the state's citizens.
The House worked very late, eventually passing a $1.4-billion dollar
budget and enacting dozens of miscellaneous taxes. The next session starts in January 2014, when
some supporters vow to bring back campaign finance reform.
A detective in the city of Barre
has been assigned to investigate allegations of criminal misconduct by current
and former leaders of the Rutland Police Department. The attorney general's office had received a
request for an investigation from the Rutland
police officers' union. That was sparked
by a lawsuit this year by Andrew Todd, a former Rutland
officer, against former and current department officials, including Chief Jim
Baker. Todd alleges he was subjected to
racial discrimination. Todd now works
for the Vermont State Police. The union
complained Baker and other current officials were remaining on the job, despite
a department policy that requires individuals go on paid leave while criminal
claims against them are investigated.
Gun owners in New York
will need to file forms with the state if they don’t want their information to
made public. Starting today, the records
of anyone who has requested an exemption from the state Freedom of Information
Law will be kept secret. But if gun
owners haven't filed the form with local authorities, the information will be
available. This is part of New
York 's new gun laws requiring registration of
military-style weapons.
The office of the Vermont Attorney General's Office is
warning businesses about a false advertising scam. The state has received multiple recent reports
of a scam company that hires sales people to sell ads to area businesses based
on the fraudulent claim that the ad cost will support the local school's drug
prevention program or other programs.
The attorney general's office says the school has not authorized this
ad, the sales person may not be paid, and the profits from the ad sales go
right to the scammers. Businesses in the
Morrisville area, Middlebury and Montpelier
have recently been targeted.
I-B-M workers are bracing for possible layoffs, with those
at the plant in Essex saying significant cuts are
imminent. The company would not confirm,
but did indicate in April cost-cutting measures would take effect after missing
their earnings targets in the first quarter.
The last major job cuts in Essex was in 2009,
when about 300 workers were let go.
There is a warning out about a financial scam targeting
Vermonters by text message. The attorney
general’s office says it has received a number of reports of fraudulent text
messages from the number 400999, saying there is a problem with the recipient's
debit or credit card. The text provides
a phone number to call to "unfreeze" the account. Like other so-called phishing scams, the
message seeks personal information.
Anyone who has responded to the text message should contact their
financial institution immediately to protect their accounts.
