Interview: Drug policy conference
A policy conference called “Assessing the War on Drugs in Vermont” is being held Thursday and will cover topics including prison sentences for drug offenders and placing drug violators in treatment instead of jail. Mitch Wertlieb talks with Anna Saxman, president of the Vermont Bar Association, who helped coordinate the conference. (VPR)
Leahy spars with Rumsfeld
Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy confronted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a Capitol Hill hearing on Wednesday. Leahy challenged the secretary about prison abuses and the war in Iraq. (VPR)
Patient suicides at Vermont State Hospital
An advocacy group says the staff and administration of the Vermont State Hospital bear some responsibility for two suicides there last year. The group released a report on Wednesday that says the state violated its own procedures in the care of two patients who killed themselves while in state custody. (VPR)
Circ Highway funds may be reallocated
A decision to postpone construction of Chittenden County’s Circumferential Highway for two years could free up nearly $35 million in funds for other transportation projects. Some lawmakers are concerned that if this happens, there may not be enough money for the Circ in the future. (VPR)
Slaughterhouse reopens
A Swanton slaughterhouse that went out of business in January is back open with a new name and owner. Green Mountain Packing, formerly Swanton Packing, opened its doors this week under the ownership of local businessman Rosaire Laroche. (AP)
Medical marijuana
The Vermont Senate has voted to legalize the use of marijuana for certain very sick patients. The Senate approved an amendment doing that on a 22-to-six roll call vote. It was attached to a bill updating Vermont’s laws governing advance directives, which are legal documents relating to care at the end of one’s life. (AP)
Milk processing plant
Start-up money for a new dairy processing plant backed by a group of Vermont farmers has been dropped from this year’s capital construction bill. House and Senate negotiators are working out differences between the two chambers’ versions of the $40 million bill – and the milk plant was one of those. (AP)
Unemployment and domestic violence
The Vermont House has rejected an amendment that would have allowed victims of domestic abuse to collect unemployment when they feel it’s too dangerous to go to work. Backers of the measure pointed to cases in which victims of abuse have been tracked down at work by their abusers. (AP)
Legislators voice opposition to war
More than a third of Vermont’s House members have signed a letter to President Bush saying they are strongly opposed to the war in Iraq. The letter urges Bush to turn over control to Iraqi citizens with the support of an international body and bring U.S. troops home. (AP)
Doll manufacturer move to Bennington
A Cambridge, New York, doll manufacturer is moving to Bennington and could bring as many as 50 jobs over the next two years. John Wright Dolls signed a ten-year lease this week to move into the former Hemmings Motor News headquarters on Route 9. (AP)
Blood donations
With summer approaching the American Red Cross is launching a new campaign aimed at increasing blood donations across New England. Blood collections significantly decline each summer in large part because schools are out and more people are on vacation. (AP)
VTC emergency services
The deaths of two Vermont Technical College students last fall has prompted the college to create a campus-based emergency medical service. The volunteer service will include on-scene treatment but no ambulance service. (AP)
Baby’s wrongful death suit settled
A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the estate of a 7-month-old baby from Brandon, killed when his father gave him antidepressants to keep quiet, has been settled for $35,000. The lawsuit accused doctors, nurses and the state Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services of negligence and malpractice in the death of Jonathan Brow in 1999. (AP)