Vermont reporters provide a roundup of ongoing local coverage of the coronavirus, a police shooting in Rutland, and more for Wednesday, July 8.
Want VPR's daily news in podcast form? Get up to speed in under 20 minutes with The Frequency every weekday morning. How about an email newsletter? Add our daily email briefing to your morning routine.
The latest coronavirus data:
Loading...
Two new cases of COVID-19 reported in Vermont
The Vermont Health Department reported two new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday: One in Chittenden County and one in Windham County.
The two positive tests came back among 634 negative tests. Over 71,000 tests have been administered in Vermont, identifying 1,256 cases of the disease.
Currently, two people are currently hospitalized with the coronavirus. To date 1,049 people are reported to have recovered, and 56 people have died.
- Karen Anderson and Elodie Reed
State police investigating after Rutland City Police shoot man
One Rutland City Police Officer is on administrative leave following a shooting Wednesday morning that left one man injured, according to Vermont State Police.
It’s standard policy for officers to be placed on leave in these circumstances.
Preliminary findings indicate Rutland police were conducting a narcotics investigation involving a vehicle with two adult male occupants. City police reportedly fired on the vehicle, and then a half-mile pursuit ensued until the vehicle crashed into a tree.
The driver, who was shot by police, was transported to Rutland Regional Medical Center and is in stable condition, according to state police. The passenger was injured as a result of the crash and was also transported to Rutland Regional Medical Center, and was later transferred to the University of Vermont Medical Center for further care.
Major Dan Trudeau, with the state police, says investigators are still piecing together the sequence of events.
“We did interview the occupants of the vehicle, but again that’s not total verification on both sides and what we have for evidence at the scene,” Trudeau said. “Once we get all that information, I think we’ll have a better idea of how the sequence occurred.”
Trudeau says investigators still need to interview the five Rutland officers on scene during the shooting.
- Karen Anderson and Liam Elder-Connors
Champlain College offers reduced-price certificate courses to Burlington residents
Residents of Burlington will be able to take some online certificate courses at Champlain College at a reduced rate.
Officials from the city and college announced Wednesday that Burlington residents get 17% off if they enroll in Champlain College’s career certification program. The program includes fields like information technology, cybersecurity and human resources.
College President Benjamin Akande says the idea is to help people who may have lost their job during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our goal is essentially to be able to provide the kind of pivot opportunity that would allow individuals that have been furloughed or laid off to move into different areas, to strength their skill sets,” Akande said.
The fall enrollment deadline is the end of July.
- Liam Elder-Connors
Correction 7/10/2020: This article has been updated to include a correction in the reduction in price for Champlain College's certificate program. The reduction is 17%, not 20%.
12,000 Vermont companies benefit from Paycheck Protection Program
The federal Paycheck Protection Program funneled $1.2 billion dollars into Vermont to help companies keep workers on the job during the pandemic.
Chris D'Elia is the head of the Vermont Bankers Association, and has tracked the program's progress in Vermont. He says while many Vermont companies did get help like Trapp Family Lodge, Bennington College, SunCommon and PC Construction, the program didn't reach all businesses, including many restaurants.
“You’ve got a lot of unique operations out there, retail, restaurants, lodgings and so on, that have their own unique circumstances under an emergency order and, again not knowing when they could open their doors or start to generate income,” D’Elia said. “So I think that's why the PPP program was a bit more difficult for them and not perhaps as useful.”
A recently released federal database shows that about 12,000 Vermont companies benefited from the program. Two-thirds of the loans were for less than $50,000.
- John Dillon
Chester police chief recommends waiting on changing policing policies
The Chester police chief says the town should wait before revising its policies on policing.
The Chester Telegraph reports that Police Chief Rick Cloud told select board members that the Legislature is working on issues like body cameras. He’s advising them to wait until it’s clear what any new state policies will require of the department.
In a discussion about complaints of alleging police misconduct, the paper reports that law enforcement raised concerns about citizens being able to file complaints without making a sworn statement.
As in many places, the review of policing policies in Chester was prompted by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
- Steve Zind
Brattleboro Town Meeting, police budget review, still unscheduled
A five hour discussion in Brattleboro Tuesday evening failed to produce an agreement on how to proceed with the city’s long-delayed town meeting and how to review the police budget.
VTDigger reports that calls to review or reduce the police budget and tackle law enforcement reforms are part of the discussion over scheduling the Brattleboro Town Meeting, which was postponed from March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Officials have suggested an online meeting, after which voters would have a week to cast Australian ballots from home. But since the meeting warning and ballots would have to be printed before the meeting, there wouldn’t be an opportunity to propose amendments to agenda items.
VTDigger says town officials will continue their discussions later this month.
- Steve Zind
Rutland Mayor to step back for several weeks to receive cancer surgery
Rutland Mayor David Allaire says he’ll have surgery later this month for esophageal cancer.
The 64-year-old says he was diagnosed in March and has undergone radiation and chemotherapy at Rutland Regional Medical Center while working. He says the treatments have shrunk the cancer and it hasn’t spread.
“The prognosis is very good," he said. "The procedure is called curative – it’s a curative surgery, so if everything goes as we are hoping it will, I will be cancer free on the backside of all of this."
Allaire says he’ll be out for three to five weeks at the end of the month. Rutland City’s Board of Alderman President Matthew Whitcomb will serve as acting mayor.
- Nina Keck
Stowe lacrosse tournament canceled after threats
An annual lacrosse tournament in Stowe is canceled after organizers say they received threats.
Despite the organizer's efforts to comply with Vermont travel restrictions amid COVID-19, some residents worried about the influx of out-of-staters.
WCAX-TV reports the annual Bitter Lacrosse Tournament has drawn 3,000 to 5,000 people in previous years.
The tournaments were scheduled for the last two weekends in July.
- Karen Anderson
Plattsburgh racing driver suspended over social media comments
A Plattsburgh racetrack driver is suspended over posts on social media.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Airborne Speedway management said Nathan Smart, a driver who raced last season, made derogatory comments and racial slurs on his personal social media account.
The organization reviewed the situation and decided to suspend the driver indefinitely.
- Karen Anderson
Vermonters struggling to get tested for COVID-19
With few testing sites in the state, many people are struggling to get tested in Vermont for COVID-19 without a doctor’s order.
Vermont Deputy Health Commissioner Tracy Dolan says the lack of testing is a problem with no easy solution. She cites the difficulty of coordinating tests with health care providers, pharmacies and companies that supply materials.
"It's labs, and what kind of insurance will the labs take, or do you pay them directly,” Dolan said. “And then it's the pharmacies. Pharmacies locally might be interested, but their national chain may say, ‘You know what, we'd rather put our resources into doing that in Texas, because the numbers are bigger.’"
Dolan says the Vermont Department of Health hopes to engage partners in the private sector to increase testing capacity.
In the meantime, she says Vermonters can request a test from their doctor even if they're asymptomatic.
Listen to the full Vermont Edition conversation.
- Emma Pinezich
Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or tweet us @vprnet.
We've closed our comments. Read about ways to get in touch here.
