Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 11:32AM A study of almost 50,000 traffic stops by the Vermont State Police over a year found that minority drivers were more likely to be pulled over and ticketed and their vehicles searched than white drivers were, officials said Wednesday.
Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 02:00PM Monday, October 31, 2011 at 04:35PM A small group of farm workers and supporters say they were pleased with their meeting last week with Gov. Peter Shumlin and his legal counsel to discuss immigration issues in Vermont and ways to modify policing policies when it comes to migrant workers.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 08:43AM Gov. Peter Shumlin recently signed a bill that requires insurance companies to cover midwife-assisted births in Vermont. Buried in the new law — and virtually unnoticed by many — is a historic victory for the state’s transgender population.
Link to full articleMonday, April 25, 2011 at 03:59PM Gov. Peter Shumlin signed two bills today that grant official state recognition to two Native American tribes: The Nulhegan and the Elnu.
Link to full articleTuesday, February 1, 2011 at 02:29PM After closing down more than four years ago, the GLBT-themed Out in the Mountains newspaper is relaunching as a website, including news articles, columns, reviews and its popular statewide calendar and resource directory.
Link to full articleThursday, January 20, 2011 at 01:14PM Grassroots organizers and police chiefs in Chittenden County, working together as Uncommon Alliance, put the finishing touches on a report Wednesday that tracks racial profiling in this relatively diverse corner of Vermont.
Link to full articleThursday, January 20, 2011 at 01:10PM Two Vermont Native American tribes have moved one step closer to receiving state recognition — an effort that has been decades in the making.
Link to full articleFriday, December 17, 2010 at 10:31AM The Vermont Bar Foundation has awarded $1.1 million in grants to organizations that work to provided free legal services to the poor, disabled, and elderly. The Project Against Violent Encounters (PAVE), of Bennington, received $2,400 of that money. PAVE offers services and support to victims of domestic and sexual violence in a number of different ways. It runs a 24-hour victim’s hotline, has advocates stationed in court and the Bennington Police Department, offers transitional and emergency housing, runs support groups, and does outreach and education.
Link to full articleWednesday, December 15, 2010 at 10:45AM It’s 9 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, and dozens of bleary-eyed teens are shuffling into Ryan Clements’ classroom. Normally during this period, they’d be learning about drugs and alcohol and how to make healthy decisions with them. But on this day, they have a special guest. Saben Littlefield from Outright Vermont greets the class with a big hello. They listen as Littlefield explains that Outright Vermont works with youth ages 13 to 22 who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning or straight allies.
Link to full articleMonday, July 26, 2010 at 02:34PM Nicole Aguila, a 10-year-old from Queens, N.Y., is one of about a dozen New York City children who will visit the Brattleboro area this summer through the Fresh Air Fund. All the visiting children are from low-income, inner-city families, and most of them are referred to the program by social services agencies in New York, according to Tom Kosiba, chairman of the Brattleboro-area Fresh Air Fund.
Link to full articleThursday, July 22, 2010 at 11:08AM "J" - a Mexican immigrant from a family-owned dairy farm in Northern Vermont - went to the Middlebury Church to obtain a passport from Mexican consulate representatives. Representatives from the Boston Consulate come to Vermont around three times a year to issue passports and “matricula” identification cards, which provide proof of residency in the United States and can be used at some U.S. banks to open accounts.
Link to full articleTuesday, July 13, 2010 at 04:02PM Middlebury Police Chief Tom Hanley believes that when someone is a member of his community, it doesn't matter how the person got there. As the state of Arizona prepares to implement the strictest immigration law in the country, this college town set amid dairy country - where many farmers now rely on immigrant labor - has taken a different approach to illegal immigration. Middlebury police don't ask about immigration status, don't seek out workers who are in the country illegally, and have a tough policy against anything resembling racial profiling.
Monday, June 7, 2010 at 03:15PM Judging from the excitement and enthusiasm of hundreds of athletes, coaches, families and volunteers inside the University of Vermont’s Gutterson Fieldhouse, Sunday could not be a better day. It was the final day of the 2010 Summer Games of Special Olympics Vermont and no windy or rainy weather was going to prevent participants from competing, getting their medals and having fun. Special Olympics Vermont, a local nonprofit organization accredited by its international counterpart Special Olympics Inc., provides year-round opportunities for training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities in a variety of Olympic-type sports.
Link to full articleMonday, June 7, 2010 at 01:04PM On a map, the nation's borders are innocuous lines of ink. But for U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., they're an increasingly precarious tightrope. As chairman of his chamber's Judiciary Committee, he faces angry Arizonans who want the federal government to back their headline-grabbing efforts to bar illegal immigrants. But as the senior member of Vermont's congressional delegation, he's hearing from dairy farmers desperate to retain an estimated 1,500 hired hands from Mexico, and from truckers and travelers demanding simpler crossings into Canada. How to balance all the questions about immigration?
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