Vermont
An ICE operation in Vermont leads to violent clashes between protesters and police – The Boston Globe
Federal authorities deployed flashbang devices and pepper-sprayed those who refused to allow police cars to depart.
The incident began around 7:30 a.m., when federal authorities attempted to detain a man in a busy neighborhood of South Burlington, according to local and State Police. The man fled in a car and struck several other vehicles — including two operated by ICE officials who were attempting to box him into a parking lot, police said. The man was seen entering a nearby house.
Migrant Justice, a Vermont-based activist group, activated its rapid response network, prompting supporters to arrive at the house and block its doors so that authorities could not enter. As a dozen masked ICE officers stood sentry, more activists joined the scene throughout the day — chanting, singing and, at times, hurling insults at authorities.
Police shut down traffic for several blocks around the house, which is located between a middle school and a shopping center, not far from Interstate 89.
Grace Oedel, a nonprofit executive and rabbi, was among those leading the crowd in song. In an interview, she compared ICE’s actions to those that took place in Nazi Germany, where relatives of hers were killed.
“This is completely, clearly immoral, abjectly racist, dehumanizing policy,” she said. “And it is our human duty to stand for our neighbors and make sure everyone and everyone’s children are safe.”
At times during the day, the protest took on a carnival-like atmosphere. Rae Beecher, a South Burlington resident, carried over a charcoal grill and set it up outside the house to cook hotdogs.
“I am here as a person who abhors what is going on here and also fights for the freedom of eating, as well,” Beecher said, rotating hotdogs with grilling utensils. “I feel like my duty as a neighbor is to make sure that everybody is fed in every circumstance.”
But the mood turned darker around 5 p.m., when a law enforcement official in an unmarked vehicle pulled up in front of the house and announced to the crowd that a federal judge had issued a criminal arrest warrant for the person they believed was inside.
Dozens more federal, state and local police officers arrived — many in tactical gear, holding rifles aloft — and pushed their way through the crowd, entering the house with the help of a battering ram. Officers shoved several people to the ground.
“ICE, out! ICE, out!” protesters chanted.


Nearly half an hour later, police escorted two women and a man from the house to an unmarked SUV, but it remained trapped at the scene as protesters lined the street on either side. Some threw dirt, banana peels and water bottles at the cars. Officers donned respirators and fired pepper spray projectiles. Some police vehicles escaped by crossing the median and speeding away before protesters could stop them.
Four members of the crowd were detained by local and state law enforcement and quickly released, according to South Burlington Police Chief Bill Breault.
The fate of those inside the house was unclear. ICE did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
According to Seven Days, a Burlington newspaper, the warrant was issued for Deyvi Daniel Corona-Sanchez, a Mexican man who faced previous charges for criminal trespass and driving under the influence. It was not clear whether Corona-Sanchez was among the three occupants of the house.
At a press conference Wednesday night at South Burlington City Hall, local and state police sought to distance themselves from the actions of their federal counterparts. They said their departments had complied with state policies limiting cooperation with federal authorities on immigration matters — and were focused on keeping protesters and officers safe.
Breault criticized what he called “poor decision-making and planning” by federal authorities — citing their decision to apprehend someone in a busy neighborhood as children were heading to school.
“That would not have been how I would have done it,” he said. “I will be clear about that.”
Paul Heintz can be reached at paul.heintz@globe.com. Follow him on X @paulheintz.
Vermont
Noah Kahan, Vermont consumers and venues voice support for ticket resale limits
A movement to limit the resale price of concert and event tickets is growing in Vermont.Last Thursday, renowned Vermont singer Noah Kahan submitted a video to a state Senate committee voicing his support of H.512. The bill passed the House last month. “This bill is a critical step in eliminating predatory resale behaviors and offering promoters a great solution for exchanging and reselling tickets in a safe marketplace,” the Strafford native said to lawmakers.The bill would limit the resale of tickets to 110% of the value they were originally purchased at. Other Vermonter’s testified that day and said they found themselves purchasing tickets online, not from the event’s venue or artist. They said the price was way above the original rate. “Now I was not just mad at myself, but I was mad at this person who did it to me,” Marina Cole of Wheelock told lawmakers. In 2024, the National Association of Ticket Brokers told NBC 5 that they were against price caps, which this bill is currently pursuing.”We have really good businesspeople who are doing the right thing,” Executive Director Gary Adler said at the time. The bill, as passed by the House, would charge the Vermont Attorney General’s Office with enforcing the resale cap. The office would have the authority to conduct audits, issue penalties and revoke a reseller’s license. Resale licenses would be a new requirement under the current bill. “I suspect the enforcement won’t be easy,” executive director of the Champlain Valley Exposition Tim Shea said Monday. “But it’s something we’re looking to follow and advocate for the right ticket buyer.”Shea said the Expo has been approached by consumers who have faced high resale prices and even some cases of ticket fraud through online reselling. He believes the legislation would help avoid those issues and keep revenues for Vermont venues and artists within the state. “When tickets are marked up to the level, they are that money’s going out of Vermont. It’s not staying here. It’s not going to the promoter. It’s not going to the concessioners on the ground,” Shea said. The bill is currently being reviewed by the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs.
A movement to limit the resale price of concert and event tickets is growing in Vermont.
Last Thursday, renowned Vermont singer Noah Kahan submitted a video to a state Senate committee voicing his support of H.512. The bill passed the House last month.
“This bill is a critical step in eliminating predatory resale behaviors and offering promoters a great solution for exchanging and reselling tickets in a safe marketplace,” the Strafford native said to lawmakers.
The bill would limit the resale of tickets to 110% of the value they were originally purchased at. Other Vermonter’s testified that day and said they found themselves purchasing tickets online, not from the event’s venue or artist. They said the price was way above the original rate.
“Now I was not just mad at myself, but I was mad at this person who did it to me,” Marina Cole of Wheelock told lawmakers.
In 2024, the National Association of Ticket Brokers told NBC 5 that they were against price caps, which this bill is currently pursuing.
“We have really good businesspeople who are doing the right thing,” Executive Director Gary Adler said at the time.
The bill, as passed by the House, would charge the Vermont Attorney General’s Office with enforcing the resale cap.
The office would have the authority to conduct audits, issue penalties and revoke a reseller’s license. Resale licenses would be a new requirement under the current bill.
“I suspect the enforcement won’t be easy,” executive director of the Champlain Valley Exposition Tim Shea said Monday. “But it’s something we’re looking to follow and advocate for the right ticket buyer.”
Shea said the Expo has been approached by consumers who have faced high resale prices and even some cases of ticket fraud through online reselling. He believes the legislation would help avoid those issues and keep revenues for Vermont venues and artists within the state.
“When tickets are marked up to the level, they are that money’s going out of Vermont. It’s not staying here. It’s not going to the promoter. It’s not going to the concessioners on the ground,” Shea said.
The bill is currently being reviewed by the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs.
Vermont
Meet the 95-year-old Vermont herbarium volunteer who had a fern named for her
BURLINGTON, Vt. (InvestigateTV) — For 28 years, Hilda White has shown up at the University of Vermont’s Pringle Herbarium to do a job most people have never heard of: mounting plants.
Now 95 years old, White has carefully preserved more than 50,000 plant specimens — pressing and affixing them to archival paper so they can be studied and referenced for generations to come.
“If I mount the plants, the plants will be around for hundreds of years, barring any unforeseen accidents or anything,” White said.
Birthday gift unlike any other
For her 95th birthday, the herbarium gave her a gift unlike any other: a newly discovered fern, found in Colombia in 2023, was officially named for her.
The plant — a Christmas fern — was discovered by Wes Testo, now the director of the Pringle Herbarium collection, during a research trip to South America.
“I was walking through the forest there, and I saw this just spectacular fern,” Testo said. “I knew immediately it was something I hadn’t seen before.”
After further research confirmed it was a species new to science, Testo and his colleagues decided to name it for White: Polystichum hildae.
“Oh, I was absolutely blown away,” White said when she learned of the honor.
“You can’t imagine, I cried all afternoon.”
‘Library for plants’
White’s work at the herbarium is kind of a library for plants.
“I can’t draw, but this is my artistic outlet,” she said.
Testo said White’s contributions have been essential to the research conducted in the collection, which now houses 400,000 plant specimens in a single room.
“Hilda mounted a huge amount of the specimens you see here,” Testo said. “Her contributions are absolutely essential to the research we do here.”
The collection’s survival is not something White or Testo take for granted. In 2017, a fire broke out at Torrey Hall, where the collection was housed at the time. Testo was in South America doing research when he received word.
“All I could see from an email in Colombia — the roof on fire. I thought my whole Ph.D. was going up in flames along with the whole collection here,” Testo said.
White was on her way into work when the fire broke out. Staff and volunteers, including White, worked to restore and remount the damaged plants. The collection has since been relocated to the Jeffords Building.
No plans to stop
White says she has no plans to stop.
“Oh no! I’ll be here as long as I can,” she said.
And when asked what she planned to give Testo for his birthday in return for the honor of having a plant named after her, White kept it simple.
“He just got good wishes!”
Read the full story.
Copyright 2026 Gray Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Vermont
Swanton honors WWI soldier with new historic marker
A new roadside historic marker was unveiled outside Riverside Cemetery, honoring Cpl. Leonard A. Lord, the first Vermonter killed in action during World War I.The Vermont Division for Historic Preservation dedicated the marker during a ceremony held at the site, recognizing Lord’s service and sacrifice more than a century after his death.Lord was killed in April 1918 in France during heavy artillery fire while serving with the 26th “Yankee” Division. He had enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917 at Fort Ethan Allen.After his death overseas, Lord’s remains were later returned to Swanton in 1921 and reinterred at Riverside Cemetery, just yards from where the new marker now stands.Officials say the marker is part of Vermont’s long-running effort to preserve local history and highlight individuals who shaped the state’s past.U.S. Army SSgt. Stephen Prochniak reflected on the importance of remembrance.“History is alive in all of us,” Prochniak said. “It’s something that will probably be here longer than any of us are alive. And that’s important. It preserves it not just for us, but for our kids and their kids.”The marker now stands as the 335th installed through the state’s historic preservation program.
A new roadside historic marker was unveiled outside Riverside Cemetery, honoring Cpl. Leonard A. Lord, the first Vermonter killed in action during World War I.
The Vermont Division for Historic Preservation dedicated the marker during a ceremony held at the site, recognizing Lord’s service and sacrifice more than a century after his death.
Lord was killed in April 1918 in France during heavy artillery fire while serving with the 26th “Yankee” Division. He had enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917 at Fort Ethan Allen.
After his death overseas, Lord’s remains were later returned to Swanton in 1921 and reinterred at Riverside Cemetery, just yards from where the new marker now stands.
Officials say the marker is part of Vermont’s long-running effort to preserve local history and highlight individuals who shaped the state’s past.
U.S. Army SSgt. Stephen Prochniak reflected on the importance of remembrance.
“History is alive in all of us,” Prochniak said. “It’s something that will probably be here longer than any of us are alive. And that’s important. It preserves it not just for us, but for our kids and their kids.”
The marker now stands as the 335th installed through the state’s historic preservation program.
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