CATSKILL, N.Y. (WCAX) – A Burlington woman is dead after being struck by a car in New York.
It happened early Wednesday morning on the New York State Thruway in the town of Catskill. New York. New York State Police say Sara Llorens, 26, was headed south when she drove off the road and hit the median. She got out of the car before it burst into flames but was then hit by a northbound car. She died at the scene.
State police are investigating the crash as a hit-and-run.
MORRISVILLE, Vt. (WCAX) – Eight months after WCAX’s first visit to Morin Farm, their outdated wood boiler is still running – and tensions with the state are at a boiling point.
Earlier this year, we told you about a Morrisville farm at odds with the state over its heating system.
As temperatures sunk this season, Dennis Morin sparked up his wood boiler that wasn’t supposed to last into this winter.
“They wanted it gone a long time ago,” said Morin.
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11 years ago, the state told Morin and his wife Anita their Outdoor Hydronic Heater – or OHH – was uncertified and outdated.
Today, it’s still burning.
The Agency of Natural Resources offered to cover half of the $20,000 price tag for a phase two OHH.
“These certified OHHs produce less emissions and subsequent impacts on neighbors. Additionally, they are far more efficient than Morin’s current OHH,” the ANR told WCAX in an email statement.
Concerned Vermonters are willing to help pay too, but the couple declined all offers.
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Morin says he needs concrete proof that a new heating system like an updated OHH could heat his barn of cows using the donated pine scraps he burns now.
“It’d have to show me that it could burn the wood that I got because I don’t wanna take this one out and then I’m stuck with no heat,” said Morin.
The Morins owe the ANR thousands in fines and only made it to one of many court hearings.
Morin says he can’t leave the farm during milking hours.
“They should come here, milk my cows, and I could go to the court,” said Morin.
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In October, the Vermont Superior Court issued the Morins a second contempt order.
Morin says he’s waiting for someone to show up to his farm demanding action.
He wants to find common ground but says he needs more from the state to meet the mark.
“I don’t wanna give up. I mean, I’m gonna be 66 here. I want to go as long as I can go. This is my life,” said Morin.
The ANR says they’re not requesting imprisonment at this time.
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A customer examines a nugget of Forbin’s Finest Creature of the Deep cannabis at the Ninny Goat and Co. dispensary in Fairlee on Thursday, August 15, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
A Middlebury-based cannabis retailer filed a civil suit against the Vermont Cannabis Control Board this week, arguing that the state’s restrictions on advertising infringe on constitutionally-protected free speech rights.
In the suit filed Monday in Addison County Superior Court, the retailer, FLŌRA Cannabis, particularly targeted a Vermont law that requires licensed cannabis businesses to submit all public statements intended to induce a sale for pre-approval by the control board, even a sign placed only in a business’s own store.
“If I want to put signage in my own store — 20% off a product — I need to get it pre-approved by the CCB (Cannabis Control Board),” said FLŌRA co-founder Dave Silberman in an interview.
Backers of the law argue that the requirements exist to protect minors, “but people can’t enter unless they have their ID verified,” Silberman said. “I’m okay with no cartoon characters when I advertise, but with this level of stigma, it’s illegal to restrict our free speech in this way,” he added.
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Cannabis Control Board Chair James Pepper — who is named in the suit along with board Executive Director Olga Fitch — said he was not surprised by the lawsuit.
“It has been a bone of contention at the Legislature since back in 2020,” Pepper said. “Every year, the cannabis industry has come to the Legislature, arguing that these laws are too restrictive.” He added that the Cannabis Control Board is only enforcing the laws as they’re written.
“Cannabis advertising is any communication that is calculated to induce a sale. So someone saying that they’re selling with 20% off, whether that’s online or in store, is made to induce a sale,” Pepper said. It is legal to put a sign with a sale in your shop, he said, you just have to have it approved first.
Since November 2022, the board has reviewed 585 advertisement submissions, approving 324, denying 169 and marking 25 submissions that didn’t count as advertisements, according to data provided by the control board. Most denials were approved upon resubmission after revisions.
Silberman claimed that licensed cannabis businesses in Vermont operate under stricter advertising regulations than any other industry in the state, including sports wagering, and that no other state where adult cannabis use is legalized has such strict rules. Pepper, however, questioned whether Vermont is the only state with a pre-approval requirement.
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“I went to a cannabis regulatory meeting and pre-approval was discussed, and I remember a number of people raised their hands, but I can’t say definitively that we (Vermont) are not the only ones,” Pepper said.
To Silberman, the turnaround time is also an issue. When he submits an advertising statement for pre-approval, he said the control board takes a week to respond “if they respond at all,” he said.
The control board reviews submissions internally, beginning with a designated staff member who assesses their content. Advertisements without any direct problems, such as “therapeutic claims,” are typically processed within one to two days, according to Pepper. Submissions with ambiguous content are forwarded to a committee that meets weekly. Pepper estimated the review process generally takes no more than eight days, with occasional exceptions.
“We give feedback and they have the option to adjust the statement. It’s a conversation. Within a day it can be approved,” Pepper said.
The lawsuit is supported by a broad coalition of manufacturers, distributors, and retailers across the state, according to a press release on Wednesday from FLŌRA.
