Vermont
Union calls off planned nurses strike at UVM Medical Center
Late Wednesday night, the union representing nearly 2,000 nurses at the state’s largest hospital said it had reached a tentative contract with leaders at UVM Medical Center. The two sides agreed to a 23% pay increase over the next three years for nurses, nurse practitioners and licensed practical nurses who work for the hospital system.
“This is the largest wage increase nurses at UVMMC have seen in the 21 year history of the union,” according to a union press release.
The agreement comes after the union issued a five-day strike notification at the beginning of the week. Hospital officials estimated a strike would have cost the medical center over $10 million to pay for temporary staff, travel, hotels, and to make up for delayed procedures.
Currently, nurse pay accounts for 8% of the hospital’s budget, or about $147 million per year, according to a hospital representative.
Earlier this week, the president of the hospital, Dr. Stephen Leffler, said their budget for next year allocated a 5% pay increase for nursing staff.
“We’ve already exceeded that, and we’ll have to manage that within the budget,” he said.
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Vermont
West Windsor moves to regulate short-term rentals
West Windsor is the latest town to adopt an ordinance regulating short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs or VRBOs.
The select board last month approved the new zoning regulation that requires property owners to register with the town every year.
Select Board Chairman Mark Higgins says the town has seen a big increase in short-term rentals since a local mountain bike and trails system opened nearby, and the board adopted the ordinance to address a housing shortage.
“We’ve got a housing issue,” Higgins said. “So we’re trying to figure out how a mountain, a hotel, a general store and STRs all work together to make sure this place stays vibrant.”
The number of short-term rentals across the state increased by more than 30% in just the last year, according to the most recent data — and since the pandemic, it’s more than doubled.
West Windsor is near the Mount Ascutney trail system, as well as the tourist town of Woodstock.
“We have a lot of people who love to come here,” said Higgins. “This is a land of second homes, but there’s a difference between enjoying it and monetizing it, so we’re trying to find the line between those two things.”
This is a land of second homes, but there’s a difference between enjoying it and monetizing it, so we’re trying to find the line between those two things.
Mark Higgins, West Windsor select board chairman
Under the new ordinance, which will start in May 2025, local operators would pay an annual fee of $150 per bedroom, while operators who do not live nearby would pay $300 per bedroom.
“I’m not really a fan of charging more based on residential status,” said Julie Marks, the Vermont Short Term Rental Alliance executive director. “However, that price point, I think, is absolutely reasonable.”
Marks says her group does not oppose local ordinances, but says they try to get members to engage with local select boards while the ordinance is under discussion to support what she calls “reasonable” regulations.
“It’s a very nuanced industry, and new to a lot of these markets,” Marks said. “There a lot of folks who are unfamiliar with how it works, so we’re very supportive of short-term rental operators to get involved with the conversation as early on as possible.”
The state enacted a 3% tax on short-term rentals in August, largely to address the education tax increase property owners saw this year.
Marks says more than 20 towns in Vermont have adopted local short-term rental ordinances.
Corey Dockser contributed the data visualization to this story.
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Vermont
Welch requests list of books banned from prisons
BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Banned Book Week starts on Saturday, and Vermont Sen. Peter Welch says it’s not just schools that are censoring reading materials. Welch says federal prisons are also abusing the rejection policy for books.
Now, he is joining other senators to call on the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons to provide a full list of books rejected by the prison system and how the Bureau of Prisons decides what books should be rejected.
Welch says there was a record 10,000 instances of individual books banned in the 2023-24 school year alone.
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Vermont
Vermont Diocese Files for Bankruptcy Amid More Sex-Abuse Lawsuits
Bishop John McDermott addressed the decision to file and apologized to victims of clergy abuse.
The Diocese of Burlington filed for bankruptcy on Monday in an attempt to adequately resolve its fourth and largest wave of sex-abuse lawsuits filed against it since the clergy sex scandal broke in 2002.
“While my heart is heavy with the decision to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, such weight pales in comparison to the pain suffered by victims of abuse,” Bishop John McDermott said in a video statement released on Wednesday in which he addressed the decision to file and apologized to victims of clergy abuse.
“This chapter in the Church’s history is horrific, and the harm it has caused, immeasurable,” Bishop McDermott said. “I know that the decision to file for reorganization may be challenging or even triggering for some survivors. For that and for every aspect of dealing with the crimes of these clergy, I sincerely apologize.”
The diocese currently faces 31 lawsuits — with allegations dating back as far as the 1950s — after the state Legislature repealed the statute of limitations on filing civil claims in 2019 and 2021.
Previously, the diocese had spent approximately $2 million to settle its first nine cases in 2003. In 2010, it paid more than $20 million to resolve 29 more cases and settled 11 cases for $6.75 million in 2013, according to the affidavit.
To resolve these cases, the diocese utilized its unrestricted funds and liquidated most of its available assets, including its 32-acre Burlington Chancellery on Lake Champlain for $10 million in 2010 and its 26-acre Camp Holy Cross in Colchester for $4 million in 2012.
The lawsuit will not affect the individual parishes and organizations that operate within the diocese, as their respective assets remain in separate trusts — a move the diocese made in 2006 to protect local parish community funding intended for their own religious and educational purposes from being siphoned into legal settlements.
In his statement, and in the affidavit he filed on Monday, the bishop explained that filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy was found to be the only way for the diocese to fairly compensate victims of abuse in current lawsuits — and any who might come forward in the future — since the diocese has limited funds, depleted assets, and lacks insurance coverage.
“Through Chapter 11 reorganization, funds will be allocated among all those who have claims against the diocese while hopefully allowing the diocese to maintain its essential mission and ministries,” Bishop McDermott stated.
Bishop McDermott further highlighted the diocese’s efforts to address the scandal and prevent future abuse through its diocesan victims assistance coordinator and its office of safe-environment programs.
According to the affidavit, the diocese released a list in 2019 of 40 of its credibly accused priests, which included information about who they were and where they had been assigned in the dioceses. The diocese removed all accused clergy from priestly ministry, 30 of whom are now deceased.
“Due to the diocese’s efforts since 2002, there has only been one credible and substantiated claim of abuse,” he stated in the affidavit, adding that no current clergy face allegations of sexual abuse.
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