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Vermont’s freeway fatalities have been climbing steadily since 2019, and the 74 highway deaths recorded in 2021 marked Vermont’s highest rely in practically a decade.
Thus far this yr, issues are even worse. The state has suffered 25 freeway fatalities in 2022, half a dozen greater than the 19 recorded a yr in the past right now.
“We’re nicely above … the place we’re usually right now of the yr,” stated Mandy White, information supervisor within the operations and security bureau on the Vermont Company of Transportation. “We’re trending very excessive this yr.”
In 2021, dashing was the commonest consider Vermont’s deadly crashes, in response to state statistics. Drivers age 65 or older had above-average fatality charges.
Driving inebriated, hashish or different medicine have been additionally frequent elements, in response to the state. Hashish and different medicine factored into extra deadly crashes than alcohol alone.
Motorcyclist crashes accounted for 16 of Vermont’s 69 complete deadly crashes in 2021. Motorcyclist fatalities have elevated steadily since 2018, and “this yr we have already had three and we’re not even into the summer time months but,” stated appearing Lt. Paul Ravelin of the Vermont State Police site visitors security workplace.
“In order that’s a priority that legislation enforcement is taking a look at,” Ravelin stated. “With a major rise in gas costs, we might even see extra individuals working bikes.”
Nationwide, virtually 43,000 individuals died on roads in 2021, in response to reporting by the Related Press. That was the very best fatality rely within the final 16 years and ran 10.5% forward of 2020, the largest proportion improve for the reason that Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration began accumulating fatality information in 1975.
Site visitors fatalities have been on the rise even within the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic’s onset in 2020, despite decreased utilization of roadways, in response to estimates from the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration.
“Vermont’s a rural state. We do not have quite a lot of areas which have accessible public transportation, so most everybody that has to do their day-to-day enterprise in Vermont wants to make use of the roads,” Ravelin stated. “They’re on our roadways; they’re inclined to those dangerous developments.”
Vermont State Police reported an uptick in aggressive driving, distracted driving, lack of seat belt use and impairment by alcohol or different medicine, all of which have correlated with crashes leading to loss of life or severe damage.
“We work very carefully with our companions at Vermont Freeway Security Workplace, within the Vermont Company of Transportation and we see the identical information they see. We share and speak to our native companions,” Ravelin stated. “That is an unacceptable development and we’re all on the identical web page, agreeing that we’ve got to provide you with options to make them go the opposite means.”
Reckless driving elevated all through the U.S. as soon as the pandemic kicked in throughout March 2020, in response to the Related Press. Rushing and decreased seat belt use persevered in 2021, as individuals started to journey extra with the relief of pandemic pointers.
Ravelin and White each consider the pandemic may need contributed to the rise in Vermont fatalities.
“The site visitors volumes have come up, however I really feel like individuals positively have been taking greater possibilities throughout the pandemic and the taking of possibilities hasn’t ebbed with the addition of extra site visitors on the highway,” White stated.
Lt. Allen Fortin, a member of the Vermont Freeway Security Workplace and an officer within the Chittenden County Sheriff’s Division, believes drivers realized that police in the reduction of on their public contact early within the pandemic — for officers’ personal Covid security — and weren’t catching minor offenses at their typical charges.
“Individuals caught a cabin fever-type factor from staying house on a regular basis,” Fortin stated. “Now they’re out and getting round and getting a bit of extra freedom. So, yeah, they’re taking just a few extra possibilities than they most likely ought to.”
As a part of a multipronged effort to extend driver security in Vermont, Fortin works to coordinate “Click on It or Ticket” press occasions yearly to advertise seat belt use, the newest of which came about on Monday.
Each the uncooked quantity and complete proportion of crash fatalities correlating with individuals not utilizing seat belts hit a excessive in 2021, with 28 crash fatalities accounting for 61% of all deaths involving autos outfitted with seat belts.
Fortin commonly collaborates with neighborhood companions, resembling College students In opposition to Harmful Choices, to carry the Click on It or Ticket occasions. The Vermont division of the scholar group competed in a seat-belt-buckling race in opposition to the New York division at Monday’s occasion.
“It is simply enjoyable,” Fortin stated. “Nevertheless it will get the concept that we’re crossing borders. We’re attempting to get the scholars concerned in realizing that seat belts are necessary and so they save lives. Then we had a small barbecue after that.”
Fortin additionally works on getting Click on It or Ticket stickers on the backs of autos as one other technique to increase public consciousness. He presently has 20 trucking corporations on board.
“If we might save one life by having anyone in a seat belt on these fatalities, is not that value it?” Fortin requested.
Vermont is nearly at 89% compliance with seat belt use, which is comparatively excessive for a state with solely a secondary seat belt legislation for adults, he stated. Which means adults might be fined for not utilizing seat belts, however police can’t pull them over solely for that cause.
“We really feel we are able to go over the 90% mark, however we’d like the general public’s assist doing that,” he stated. He stated he’d “like to see” a major legislation, which might enable police to tug over individuals for not sporting seat belts, “however that’s as much as legislators and the Vermont public.”
Different consciousness efforts embody regional campaigns to convey a powerful police presence on the roads, significantly in areas with excessive accident charges, and partnering with driver teaching programs to encourage younger drivers to develop wholesome driving habits.
“One of many largest items of this entire puzzle is that legislation enforcement alone can’t ticket their means out of this, we can’t arrest our means out of this, these developments. It simply does not work,” Ravelin stated. “It requires a partnership with all of the stakeholders which might be concerned in utilizing the roadways.”
Vermont State Police additionally attempt to educate drivers who’ve been pulled over for dashing or site visitors violations, he stated.
He advises individuals to construct in a time buffer, and go away on time, so there’s no want to hurry. He additionally tells drivers to stay to the posted velocity limits, keep away from driving impaired and put on seat belts.
“Simply have a normal accountability to the roadway, to not solely your self however the different motorists round you,” he stated.
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Nine of the Vermont Senate’s 11 standing committees will have new leaders this biennium and three will be helmed by Republicans, Lt. Gov. John Rodgers announced from the Senate floor Thursday afternoon.
The committee overhaul follows the retirement, death or defeat of a considerable number of veteran chairs last year — and after Republicans picked up six seats in the 30-member body in November’s election. Democrats and Progressives now hold 17 seats, while Republicans control 13.
Unlike the Vermont House, where committee positions are chosen unilaterally by the speaker, Senate assignments are doled out by a three-member panel, the Committee on Committees, which this year includes two new participants: Rodgers, a Republican, and Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden Southeast. Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, returned to the committee.
The trio had few experienced senators from which to choose, given that — as Baruth noted in his opening remarks to the chamber Wednesday — nearly two-thirds of the Senate’s members joined the body over the past two years. Illustrating the point, newly sworn-in Sen. Seth Bongartz, D-Bennington, was tapped to chair the Senate Education Committee. (Bongartz had previously served in the House since 2021 — and had tours of duty in both the House and Senate in the 1980s.)
Perhaps the most significant appointment went to Sen. Andrew Perchlik, D/P-Washington, who will chair the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. He succeeds Sen. Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, who retired after leading the budget-writing panel for 14 years.
Sen. Nader Hashim, D-Windham, will helm the Senate Judiciary Committee, following the death last June of veteran Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington.
The Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee will be led by Sen. Anne Watson, D/P-Washington. Its former chair, Sen. Chris Bray, D-Addison, was defeated in November.
Sen. Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor, takes over the Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee from Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden Southeast. Ram Hinsdale defeated Clarkson for the role of Senate majority leader in November, requiring the former to step down from her committee leadership position and allowing the latter to step up.
The three Republicans chairing panels are Sen. Richard Westman, R-Lamoille, who will run the Senate Transportation Committee; Sen. Russ Ingalls, R-Essex, who will head the Senate Agriculture Committee; and Sen. Brian Collamore, R-Rutland, who will lead the Senate Government Operations Committee. (Republicans similarly made gains in House leadership positions this year.)
Sen. Wendy Harrison, D-Windham, takes over the Senate Institutions Committee from Ingalls, who chaired it last biennium.
The sole returning chairs are Lyons, who will continue to lead the Senate Health & Welfare Committee, and Sen. Ann Cummings, D-Washington, who will retain control of the Senate Finance Committee.
Speaking to reporters Thursday afternoon, Baruth said the Committee on Committees had intentionally sought partisan equilibrium on certain panels. The Senate Education Committee, for example, which is expected to engage in heavy lifting as lawmakers reconsider the state’s education funding scheme, includes three Democrats and three Republicans. For a bill to clear that panel, four members would have to approve.
“What I intended for that committee… to do is to put out bipartisan bills,” Baruth said of Senate Ed.
Similarly, Baruth called the composition of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee “very centrist,” with four Democrats and three Republicans.
“They’re going to have a lot of work to do, hard work, but the one thing I want them to think — to think long and hard about — is any kind of raising taxes or fees,” Baruth said. “The only time I’m looking to do that, if it’s necessary, is if it brings down the property tax.”
Ethan Weinstein contributed reporting.
This article will be updated.
Gov. Phil Scott proposed a sweeping overhaul of what he called Vermont’s “broken and failing” education funding and governing systems during his inaugural address Thursday.
In his first major speech since voters overwhelmingly reelected him and booted Democrats up and down the ballot from office, Scott focused on the topic that most infuriated Vermonters in November: affordability.
“When it comes to politics, I know it can be hard to admit when you’ve gone down the wrong path and need to turn around,” Scott told House and Senate lawmakers during his fifth inaugural address at the Statehouse in Montpelier. “But we’re not here to worry about egos. We’re here to do what Vermonters need. And they just sent a very clear message: They think we’re off course.”
As is typical for an inaugural speech, Scott did not delve into specifics on Thursday — the details of his plan will be unveiled later this month during his budget address.
But in the broad strokes, Scott teased a plan that would overhaul Vermont’s byzantine school governance structure and see the state assume a direct role in deciding how much districts spend.
“The bottom line is our system is out of scale and very expensive,” Scott said. “And as obvious as these challenges are, we haven’t been able to fix it.”
At the heart of Scott’s vision is a transition to a so-called foundation formula, whereby the state would calculate how much districts should spend on their schools and provide them corresponding grants.
Currently, local voters decide how much their school districts should spend when they approve or reject budgets during Town Meeting Day in the spring. Whatever the amount, the state must pay. To calculate each town’s fair share into Vermont’s more than $2 billion education fund, residential property tax rates are adjusted based on how much each district is spending per pupil.
While potentially explosive in a state where local control is jealously guarded, a foundation formula is fairly typical across the country. And in Vermont, a bill to transition over to such a system even passed the House in 2018 with Democratic support. The architect of that 2018 legislation, then-GOP Rep. Scott Beck, was just elected to the Senate and named Republican minority leader for the chamber — where he is working closely with administration officials on their education plans.
“I think what we’re going to see [from the governor] here in a couple, three weeks is something that is far beyond just education finance,” Beck said in an interview Thursday. “I think it’s going to get into governance and delivery and outcomes.”
Beck said the transition to a foundation formula would force a series of questions, including whether districts would be allowed to approve any spending beyond the state’s base foundation grant.
“And in that case, where do they get that money from? And under what conditions can they access that money?” Beck said. “There’s a myriad of decisions that go into that whole thing. None of those decisions have been made. But I think in various circles, we have committed to going down the road of building a foundation formula in Vermont.”
Beck said he expects Scott’s education proposal will also include provisions that are designed to reduce staffing in the public education system.
When Scott first took office in 2016, the state spent about $1.6 billion annually on public schools. This year, that number will exceed $2.3 billion.
Vermont schools now have one staff person for every 3.63 students, the lowest ratio in the United States. In 2018, Scott pushed hard, and unsuccessfully, for legislation that would have instituted mandatory caps on staff-to-student ratios.
“With what we’re spending, we should not be in the middle of the pack on any educational scorecard,” Scott said. “And our kids should all be at grade level in reading and math. In some grades, less than half hit that mark. While educators, administrators, parents and kids are doing their very best to make things work, the statewide system is broken and failing them.”
Inaugural and state-of-the-state speeches tend to include a laundry list of policy ideas. But Scott’s 43-minute speech was focused almost entirely on education and housing — he renewed calls to trim development regulations and to bolster funding for rehabbing dilapidated homes.
Scott only briefly discussed last summer’s floods, and made glancing mentions of public safety, climate change, and health care. The governor, who voted for Vice President Kamala Harris in November, made no mention of President-elect Donald Trump or national politics.
Seeking to highlight some successes, the governor noted that overdose and traffic fatalities have declined recently, the state has welcomed more than 1,000 refugees in the past few years, and that the state park system saw near record visitation last year.
The governor has long argued that Chittenden County is prospering at a rate disproportionate to the rest of Vermont. He intensified that rhetoric in Thursday’s speech.
“As the rest of the state struggles to catch up, they carry the same burden of increasing taxes and fees and navigate the same complicated mandates and regulations,” the governor said. “And regardless of how well-intentioned these policies are, they’re expensive and require resources that places like Burlington, Shelburne and Williston may have, but small towns like Chelsea, Lunenburg, Peacham, Plainfield — and even Rutland, Newport or Brattleboro — do not. Too many bills are passed without considering the impact on these communities.”
Early in his speech, Scott paid tribute to several veteran legislators who died in the past year, including senators Bill Doyle and Dick Sears and representatives Don Turner, Bill Keogh, and Curt McCormack. Scott choked up and was visibly emotional when his recalling “my dear friend and mentor,” Sen. Dick Mazza, who died in May.
Former Governors Peter Shumlin, Jim Douglas and Madeleine Kunin attended the speech.
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Education
MORRISTOWN, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont school district’s inadequate response to serious and widespread harassment of Black and biracial students has led to a settlement agreement with the federal government, the U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday.
The department’s Civil Rights Division and the Vermont U.S. attorney’s office began investigating the Elmore-Morristown Unified Union School District in December 2023 and reviewed records and complaints from the previous three school years. Investigators concluded that students, primarily at the middle school level, faced frequent slurs and racist imagery, including the use of the N-word and displays of confederate flags and Nazi symbols.
“Racial harassment makes students feel unsafe, deprives them of a supportive educational environment and violates the Constitution’s most basic promise of equal protection,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement. “We look forward to the district demonstrating to its students that racial bullying and harassment have no place in its schools.”
Superintendent Ryan Heraty said Wednesday those comments don’t reflect the district’s current reality given that there has been a dramatic decrease in such incidents.
“When students returned from the pandemic, we saw a significant increase in behavior at the middle level, which was deeply concerning,” he said in an email. “In response, we have taken many intentional actions to address this behavior, which the DOJ recognized in its review.”
In a letter to parents and other community members Tuesday, Heraty said the district stands firmly against any acts of racism and responds immediately to reported incidents. In the current academic year, there have been no reported incidents of race-based harassment at the district’s elementary school and a “very limited” number at the middle and high schools, he said.
The Justice Department said the district cooperated fully with the investigation and has already implemented some improvements, including adopting a central reporting system to track incidents. The district also agreed to revise anti-harassment policies and procedures, hold listening sessions with student groups and conduct formal training and education programs for students and staff.
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