Vermont leaders prepare for the worst. State leaders laid out guidelines for a possible lockdown situation at the State House in case of an active shooter.
Capitol Police says there are at least four unsecured points of entry when the legislature is in session.
The state wants to change that in case of an active shooter situation.
"We're being proactive about it. We've asked that locks be installed on all of the doors that come into the State House," says Rep. Alice Emmons, (D) Windsor 3-2. The hope is to have the locks installed by January, so Capitol Police could initiate a remote lockdown when needed.
"Capitol Police could say well, this could be a threat, we're in session, the legislatures is here, this could be threat that comes into the building, lets lock those doors," says Emmons. She is a member of The Capitol Complex Security Working Group. It brings together state leaders with security and safety officials, including those from VSP and Vermont DMV. Referring to law enforcement and safety personnel, Sen. Peg Flory , (R) Rutland said "We know when we see some problems that you guys know who to fix them." One thing that's still a problem is radio between different levels of law enforcement covering various state buildings, including the Pavilion building which is home to the Governor's office. "What we have found that is their radio frequency are not connected, they can't speak to each other sometimes, so that's one thing that's come to light," says Emmons. "BGS has already started the process of upgrading our radio system to be able to if we have an incident, be able to hear and be able to co mmunicate with everybody ," says Paul McManus who is the Head of Security for the Department of Buildings and General Services. " The cost to install the locks fall under the $145,000 appropriated for the State House security for fiscal year 2017.
BGS Commissioner Michael Obuchowski did not return our request for a dollar amount for radio upgrades, but Emmons say upgrades to improve the radio frequency shouldn't cost much at all.
"Those are those little things that don't cost money, but let's get this in place so people are safer." New security cameras and lockdown training are also covered by the State House security funding approved for fiscal year 2017.
Democratic candidate for governor Sue Minter unveiled plans Monday on how she'd help the manufacturing industry if elected.
She met with workers at Twincraft Skincare's liquids manufacturing facility in Essex.
Minter says she wants to create a micro-grid manufacturing hub. Those manufacturers would share energy use and also store energy for use during peak demand.
In her first 90 days, Minter says she will create four manufacturing-related task forces.
She says prior governors have not been able to connect business leaders in that way.
"I'm going to ask the leaders of these industries to come together, in a very intensive way, to establish goals and benchmarks for government to partner with them, to leverage our ingenuity, creativity and resources to drive innovation," said Sue Minter (D - candidate for VT Governor).
Minter also repeated her proposal to provide two years of free tuition at Vermont community or technical colleges.
She says she will pay for that using an expanded franchise fee on large banks.
Minter also denounced a new ad by the Republican Governors Association that says she would add a sales tax on all services, including haircuts and accounting services.
According to reports, Minter said she would consider doing this during an interview with WDEV in Tunbridge.
After continuous requests from reporters to explain her tax code reform, Minter kept repeating the phrase: "I will not add new taxes to services or sales that hurt middle class Vermonters."
Hundreds of people held a "blackout" on the University of Vermont campus in Burlington Monday afternoon.
The advocates, wearing all black, gathered with a message of unity, solidarity and peace.
This comes days after UVM's Student Government Association hung a "Black Lives Matter" flag outside the Davis Center.
It has since been taken down, as scheduled. The first flag was stolen Sunday.
Sunday's "black out" involved a moment of silence to honor African Americans killed in officer-involved shootings.
University of Vermont police officers were on hand.
Co-organizer Akilah Ho-Young told the crowd: "Until black lives matter, the statement 'all lives matter' is invalid."
Ho-Young and her roommate Haydee Miranda, both UVM sophomores, began organizing the event in their dorm room.
It was sparked after the SGA hung the "Black Lives Matter" flag on campus late last week.
"I think that for this campus in particular, since we have such a small community of people of color, it was really empowering," said Haydee Miranda, event co-organizer. "So we felt like we wanted to give them that motivation and empower back."
"The purpose of this event is to be peaceful, but also to stand in unity. And that's how we're gonna do it here today, stand in unity," said Ho-Young.
"A lot of people misconstrue this as just a black issue, but it's a social justice issue, so although I'm not in the undergrad community, once I heard news of it, of course I'm gonna come support it because that's important to me, because that affects my life," said Asia McCleary-Gaddy, a UVM graduate student.
UVM Sociology professor Kathy Fox wore all black today as well, in solidarity.
Fox says the movement needs to involve more than just black people, more than just minorities.
She says, it's an issue that affects everybody.
"If you study Criminal Justice, you can't help but find over and over and over again, the evidence is so overwhelming, that there is racial disparity that is not explained by factors other than some kind of racial bias," said Fox.
There was also a small counter-protest, involving a man holding a "Blue Lives Matter" sign.
With apple picking season here, it was another busy day for Ron Hackett at his family orchard in South Hero.
He says while the weekend's chill did reach sections of his orchard, it had no impact on his apples.In fact the apples can withstand a hard freeze.
"Because of the sugar content of the fruit. In the past years we have had extreme cold and I have seen the apples in the morning frozen solid on the trees," Hackett said.
This summer's lack of rain though, did affect his crop. You will notice apple's will be a bit smaller than normal.
Hackett says he'll harvest 25% less bushels this year, but don't worry those Macintosh apples will taste just as sweat.
But the dry weather has been beneficial for Ben Durant's vineyard just across town from Hackett's Orchard.
"You get grapes that come in a little dehydrated in a way, and they are the richest fruit. The most dense and concentrated that you will get, and you get the best flavor out of dry grapes," Durant said.
For now Durant is working with his crew to harvest his grapes before the first hard freeze of the season.
"We can lose the crop if the frost is too hard, it's a huge factor especially in the spring and also anytime of year you get a frost," Durant said.
It was cold Monday morning! Lows in most places fell into the 20s & 30s, including the Champlain Valley. Essex county Vermont had a widespread frost signifying the end of the growing season. Frost was more patchy and isolated everywhere else. Monday turned out to be a pretty decent day with highs in the 60s but we watched clouds get thicker as the day went on. A round of showers will move across the northeast overnight and linger through early Tuesday. Overnight lows will be 15-20° warmer Monday night compared to the weekend; no frost!
Tuesday, rain will hang around a bit during the morning but we should gradually clear out as morning turns into afternoon. Rain won't add up to much, most get around .1" - .3"; we could use a lot more! Highs will be pleasant, reaching into the upper 60s & low 70s. We'll stay dry and quiet on Wednesday, it'll be the flawless day of the week under mostly sunny skies and highs in the low 70s; overnight lows will be near 50°.
Thursday through early next week we get slightly unsettled. A sluggish area of low pressure will meander around the northeast. It'll be responsible for periods of clouds and showers through Sunday and Monday. It won't be raining all day or all the time and we're not looking at any major soakers. An early estimate at 5-day rain totals Thursday to Monday is about .5"-.1". That's not much when it's spread across multiple days. Meanwhile, temperatures each day will be pretty much the same with highs in the upper 60s and lows near 50°. There is a chance at Sunday and Monday trend dry, it all depends on where the low is at that point. Given that it's going to be left on it's own, it won't be steered by the jet stream, it's exact location is difficult to say at. For now, I'm leaving in a few showers and lingering clouds.
You've heard the saying "They don't make them like they used to'. It may be true in some cases, but in others, they can get pretty darn close. With that in mind, it was an exciting and emotional day for one Burlington area church.
"It was devastating. It was very, very sad," recalled Rita Myers, a 25 plus year congregation member at the College Street Congregational Church.
Nearly 3 years ago, a fire tore through the steeple at the church. The blaze was set by then Burlington resident Alaiksandr Bychkou. According to court records filed in 2013, Bychkou claims voices told him to go to the church to look for treasure. He pled guilty to arson in Vermont Superior Court December 13th, 2014.
Myers says it was a tough couple years for the congregation and church staff.
"It was hard, it's hard. One of the jobs I do for the church is to take care of the clock which is a 19th century mechanism that needs to be wound and tended to. It had a special place in my heart. For a lot of folks in town they'd walk by it everyday," said Jonathan Farrell. He's a member of the church and has served on the Restoration Committee. He says the group has worked for years behind the scenes to reach this day. "The middle stage is getting ready to go up. We'll have to hooks on the crane and this will first lift the piece up to vertical then it will pick it up and carry it up and place it on the base section," explained Farrell.
As a crowd gathered Monday, crews worked to raise 3 sections of a newly built steeple for the church. The middle section Farrell spoke about, weighed a whopping 16 thousand pounds.
"After the fire was out I measured all the parts carefully as they came down. Then did drawing for the new steeple. Trying to make it look as much like the old steeple as possible," stated Architect Ann Vivian. She was walking by that October morning, 2013. She's proud to be a part of this come-back effort. "They're {historic landmarks} sort of our grounding of community. They're our center points that our lives kind of revolve around and we're only a passing generation," she said.
College Street Congregational was built in the 1860's. The fire caused the closure of the church for 6 months following that event.
The new steeple was built by a group in barre at a cost of nearly 600 thousand. Despite some wind, workers were able to lift each piece into it's resting place, avoiding trees, and power lines. "It's a great symbol of everything the church stands for, all of the stands the church has taken in terms of social justice in the last 150 years. We're very pleased to get it back and in it's spot on the corner here," said Farrell. "I'm exhilarated. We've waited 3 years for this and it's wonderful. Just wonderful," added Myers.
Farrell says the church was able to salvage the finial from the original fire. That's the decorative metal piece at the very top. As well as the clock faces. Those will be installed and brought back to working order in the next few weeks.
On Monday New Hampshire's Department of Health announced a program that will check the area near the town of Merrimack's potential exposure to perfluorochemicals (PFCs).
At the request of Merrimack Town Administrators, the study will conduct two hundred random blood tests for customers of Merrimack's Village District Water Works, they will be looking for levels of PFOA and PFOS .
This is to help access exposure, as community concerns have risen. The health department says there is known PFCs contamination in groundwater wells that meet the MVD system in neighboring private wells.
Randomly selected households will be mailed by letter during the week of October 3 that will offer customers a chance to participate. Once 200 customers have registered, they will be sent information where to get their blood drawn.
"The Department understands the concerns expressed by the community, and we have developed this PFC sampling program to help assess MVD customers' exposure to PFCs," said Dr. Benjamin Chan, New Hampshire State Epidemiologist.
"The blood testing will provide more information to the Department and residents in the community about potential levels of exposure to PFCs among MVD customers," added Chan.
A summary of the community's results will be shared with participants and the public. You can find out more information by clicking here.
New legislation has been passed in New York enabling owners to be buried in the same cemetery as their pets.
According to the bill, which Governor Andrew Cuomo signed on Monday, the owner must obtain written consent to be buried with a cremated pet.
Cemeteries must also place pet internment in their maintenance funds.
The legislation applies to not-for-profit cemeteries, but not cemeteries owned by religious groups or institutions.
"For many New Yorkers, their pets are members of the family," Governor Cuomo said.
"This legislation will roll back this unnecessary regulation and give cemeteries the option to honor the last wishes of pet lovers across New York," added Cuomo.
New York's Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation on Monday that will help protect consumers when they are using gift cards.
According to the release the bill will increase the time folks will have to use the card before they have to pay a user fee. Consumers will have 25 months instead of 13 months before the monthly service fee would kick in.
The bill will also put more restrictions on user fees, and will make the expiration date later to help protect consumers. Cards won't be able to be expired for at least five years from when it was purchased.
"These new protections will help prevent New Yorkers from being nickeled and dimed by hidden costs and fees," Governor Cuomo said.
"No one expects an asterisk when buying a gift card and I'm proud to sign this legislation to help ensure consumers get their money's worth," added Cuomo.
For the second year in a row, Vermont has been ranked number one in the nation for its Election Division being the most accessible.
According to the release the report from Ballotpedia, measures state election agencies in how accessible agencies are, the quality of the information, and how fast agencies respond.
The report says Vermont was on the top of the list because it was given 49 out of a total of 50 points
"I am very proud to see that our Vermont Elections Division ranked so favorably. It is a direct result of all the effort our team has put into ensuring election information is accessible to all Vermonters," states Secretary Condos.
"Our office will continue working hard to ensure we are available and responsive to the public we serve. This includes quick response times to emails and phone calls, maintaining convenient websites for the public, and ensuring transparency in all we do," added Condos.
Police say a man in Barre warned them that a Barre apartment building had a bomb that he had seen "in the past, future, and that he had watched the building blow up as a child."
Barre City Police they received a complaint of a man telling residents at North Barre Manor that there was a bomb in the building.
Police identified the man as 47-year old Edward Gauthier who had a trespass order against him.
Gauthier then went to the Barre City Police Department to report the bomb but wouldn't tell police where in the building he had seen it.
Police searched the building but didn't find anything.
Gauthier was charged with aggravated disorderly conduct, false alarms to agencies of public safety, false public alarms and violation of conditions of release.
He was held overnight and will be arraigned Monday at 1:00 PM.
"It's the Beer Talking" is a new podcast collaboration between Free Press Media and Farrell Distributing. Its hosts include Farrell Distributing's Jason Strempak and Jeff Baker, and the podcast is produced by Farrell's Director of Marketing, Ryan Chaffin, with technical support from members of the Free Press Media.
The podcast is a fun, light hearted and educational series aimed to teach people about the local craft beer scene while bringing another level of expertise to your palette. Interview subjects include chefs, brewmasters and people on the street to get their take on the latest trends and beer styles.
The podcast is free to download and can be found on several platforms. Check it out on ITunes, Sound Cloud and YouTube. Below is the ITunes Link to download. Cheers!
Nancy Mock, Colchester, Vt. mom and food blogger shares some great, unique ideas for care packages to send to your college kid. You can find her blog here: http://hungryenoughtoeatsix.com/
Mock suggests common pantry items, such as spices, that students might not have on hand. She also reminds parents to keep in mind that often a microwave is the only appliance available to students in a dorm room; so pre-packaged and prepared meals are appreciated!
By midterm or final exam time, the stress and lack of sleep may be taking its toll. Mock suggests cold and flu remedies and preventatives, like tea or throat lozenges.
For a more personal touch, home cooking or baking cannot be beat. Mock reminds parents or relatives to have their students check with the mail room frequently, to avoid goodies spoiling. Also, pack carefully! Use balls of wax paper or aluminum foil to fill empty space.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are squaring off in their crucial first presidential debate, a battle that's 18 months in the making and is emerging as one of the most hotly anticipated showdowns in modern US political history.
The Democratic nominee and her Republican rival strode to center stage and shook hands before stationing themselves behind their podiums at Hofstra University on New York's Long Island for the 90-minute clash, which could become a turning point in their ferocious battle for the White House.
Clinton won the right to take the first question on a coin toss. She'll answer before a television audience expected to approach 100 million, with tens of millions more watching around the world, lured by the extraordinary drama of the 2016 campaign.
Former President Bill Clinton is in the debate hall, as is Trump's wife, Melania.
Campaign at a critical point
Trump and Hillary Clinton are facing off with the campaign at a critical point, as the race is a dead heat just 43 days before Election Day.
But under the relentless spotlight of the presidential debate stage, the real estate billionaire faces his toughest examination yet of whether he has the knowledge and temperament to be president. Any gaffes or emotional eruptions by Trump could play into Clinton's claim he would be a dangerous risk in the Oval Office.
Clinton, meanwhile, faces the vexing assignment of fact-checking Trump's often outrageous statements while making an emotional connection with voters and building enthusiasm for her candidacy, especially among millennials.
She also is likely to face a barrage from Trump on her ethical vulnerabilities, including the controversies over her private email server and the Clinton Foundation.
The rivals spent the day preparing for their big battle.
Clinton participated in mock debates with her tart-tongued former aide Philippe Reines playing Trump. In one practice debate, Reines assumed the character of the unpredictable nominee by praising Clinton for her role as a pioneer for women, campaign sources said.
Reines even wore the kind of signature red tie that Trump favors and adopted his characteristic hand gestures in a bid to fully prepare Clinton for her unpredictable foe.
The Republican nominee has watched videos of Clinton, but his preparation has been less intense than his opponent's, in keeping with his more freewheeling style. He did not hold mock debates, for instance, with someone standing in for Clinton.
Latest polling
Latest polling shows the stakes for the debate are monumental.
A CNN/ORC poll released Monday found Trump edging Clinton 42% to 41% in the crucial battleground state of Colorado among likely voters in a four-way race. In Pennsylvania, another key state, the poll found Clinton in a virtual tie against Trump among likely voters at 45% to 44%.
The former secretary of state is relying on both states to help pave her way to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.
Nationally, CNN's Poll of Polls finds Clinton and Trump neck-and-neck 44%-42%.
The Clinton campaign is already raising concerns that due to his inexperience on the national stage and low expectations for his performance, Trump will be judged more favorably -- whatever happens in the debate.
"We want these candidates to be judged fairly," Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook told CNN's Jake Tapper on "The Lead." "Do they both have specific plans to make people's lives better? Do they both have a real command of the issues?"
Trump, meanwhile, faces the challenge of bringing his unconventional style to one of the most-traditional venues of a presidential campaign. His outsider campaign represents a repudiation of US domestic and foreign policy, and if the debate helps convince Americans to elect him, he will lead the nation on a sharply different course than the one President Barack Obama has charted for nearly eight years.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Trump's running mate, said the debate is a chance for the candidates to make their case directly to voters.
"You know when those two candidates take the stage for the first time in the same place, no more media filters, no more parsing of words," Pence said at a town hall in Milford, New Hampshire. "The American people are going to be able to hear from two candidates and they're going to hear about two futures for this country."
Clinton and Trump are making political points with their choice of guests for the big event.
Clinton has invited billionaire businessman and prominent Trump critic Mark Cuban; 9/11 survivor Lauren Manning; Maxine Outerbridge, who benefited from a children's health insurance program the Democratic nominee backed as first lady; Anastasia Somoza, a disability rights advocate; and Aleatha Williams, her longtime pen pal.
Boxing promoter Don King, no stranger to big heavyweight fights, is in the audience and is backing Trump. The Republican invited two former members of the military brass who have backed his campaign, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg. He has given great seats to Karen Vaughn, who lost her Navy SEAL son in Afghanistan, and Mark Geist, a survivor of the attacks on a US compound in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012.
Both candidates are expected to bring close family members to the debate.
Trump's behavior, and frequent refuge in falsehoods, will challenge the conventions of how debates are normally judged, placing intense pressure on moderator Lester Holt of NBC. The postgame spin will also help decide how this first of three debates influences the election.
Texting a friend or family member with a change in dinner plans or using an app for directions to a new destination is pretty common when you're home and texts are unlimited in your phone package, but those habits can cost you big when you travel abroad.
How to keep from paying more for your phone bill than your overseas airfare is today's Angie's List report.
We are constantly on our phones. Some of us never turn them off. And that can be a costly mistake when traveling abroad.
"You want to be sure that you check with your cell phone carrier to understand the charges associated with your phone and your data plan when you're out of the country because it's not unusual for people to actually rack up hundreds of dollars of extra unexpected expense," said Angie Hicks, Angie's List Founder.
"Even checking an email here or there or uploading a photo to Instagram can really be pretty costly when you actually calculate it out," said David Webb, international traveler.
David Webb knows. He purchased an international travel plan for $40 for his two-week vacation to Iceland, but opening just a handful of work emails had a dramatic effect on his final bill.
"Instead of being 40 dollars, I think it was closer to 250 because it's just the… smallest of increments, basically, is where it will jump up and it will charge you like 25 dollars per so much data, and it's just such a small amount," said Webb.
Before your trip, spend some time on your phone carrier's website to see what plans they offer for international travel. Determine how much data you think you'll need, and then be disciplined about your usage.
"Prepare accordingly," said Benjamin Linder, from AT&T. "Go to these web sites, take a look at the wireless travel tips, take a look at the different package options that we offer, and then really figure out what you're going to be utilizing when you are traveling abroad."
The most obvious way to save is to simply turn off your phone, but if you can't do that, at least turn off your data roaming by putting it in "airplane mode."
You can also change your mail settings to "fetch" rather than "push" email to your inbox and disable automatic downloads and app updates.
Angie recommends checking your data usage history to estimate how much you'll need to buy in an international plan, and to avoid streaming content unless you get unlimited data.
Use the Wi-Fi at your hotel or resort to share photos and check email. Even if you have to pay a daily rate, it will be cheaper than using the data in your plan.
After a chilly morning, it warms right back up Monday afternoon. Enjoy seasonable temperatures and some sunshine, before clouds and rain chances return.
Monday morning low temps bottom out in the 30s, before the seasonable mid to upper 60s are back during the afternoon. Expect mostly sunny skies today with clouds slowly filling in from the northwest. Light south wind 5-10 mph.
Tonight, clouds continue to increase as scattered showers approach after midnight. Rain won't be all that impressive, just a few tenths of an inch, and wraps up almost entirely by sunrise. Then, throughout Tuesday, it's partly sunny to mostly cloudy with an isolated sprinkle or light shower on occasion, especially in the Northeast Kingdom. Monday night, milder, near 50 degrees. Tuesday afternoon, upper 60s.
Midweek is dry. Wednesday brings blue sky and sunshine back to the forecast with a high temp at, or just shy of, 70 degrees. However, after that, it's a tough call for the rest of the week. An upper level low will park itself east of the Great Lakes and provide an almost daily chance for a slight shower; as well as more clouds. It won't be washout, but it may not be entirely dry either through the early weekend.
State Police are searching for a man accused of lewd conduct while on the Long Trail in Bolton.
Vermont State Police say the victim was grabbed in the chest area by an unknown man Sunday while hiking the trail. The victim used pepper spray to get him away.
The victim was able to get off the mountain safely and called authorities.
The suspect is described as a white man, about 5'10'' and in his 30's. Police say he also had brown hair and a short beard. The man was wearing a green Carhartt sweatshirt, blue jeans, and an orange hunting hat.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Corporal Andrew Leise at the Williston State Police Barracks 1-802-878-7111.
