Divisions news

Bussino honored after two decades of service to others

2008-11-26T20:09:11Z

The Brattleboro Reformer reports that Melinda Bussino, executive director of the Brattleboro Area Drop In Center, was recognized this week as Vermont's Housing Hero at the biannual Vermont Statewide Housing Conference. "The award is given out at the conference, which is held every other year, to one person who has made a significant and lasting contribution to promoting safe and affordable housing for low and moderate income Vermonters." According to Vermont Housing Finance Agency public affairs manager John Fairbanks, "Bussino was chosen this year not only for the number of years she has put in at the Drop In Center, but also for the level of success she has had working with low income individuals and families in the Brattleboro area." Notably, "during Bussino's time as head of Drop In Center, the local food shelf has grown to become a day shelter, a source of income for the under-employed, and a place to find clothing, make a call or clean up."

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Primary turnout expected to be low

2008-09-08T17:46:38Z

Vermont Public Radio reports that Vermonters head to the polls on Tuesday, September 9, 2008, for the state primary. "Voters will decide their party's nominees for statewide offices and the legislature. Secretary of State Deb Markowitz says polling places are not likely to see the same large turnout as the March presidential primary." She explained, "Turnout in a primary is driven by the ballot. The more contested races there are in a ballot, the higher up the ticket they are, the more people that come out. And in fact this is a pretty sleepy primary." She concluded that she "expects a similar turnout to the 2006 statewide primary when 19 percent of registered voters went to the polls. "

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Poll says Vermonters value landscape, community

2008-08-19T19:49:16Z

Vermont Public Radio reports that a telephone survey conducted last winter by the the University of Vermont's Center for Rural Studies has found that Vermonters cherish the state's working landscape, its sense of community, and its independence. The survey was conducted for the Council on the Future of Vermont which has spent several months holding forums around the state to explore Vermonters' values, challenges, opportunities, and priorities. Of the 700 people questioned for the survey, 97 percent said they value the state's landscape and heritage, and 93 percent said they are proud of living in Vermont. The respondents also said that "Vermont's future is bright" but worried about things that threaten Vermont's values including "the cost of living, high tax rates, and the difficulty of surviving as a farmer." Notably, "the council's goal over the next six months is to take all of this information and use it to tell Vermonters what their neighbors think about the state of affairs" in the state. The Council hopes that the infomration will "give policymakers and average citizens the perspective that will help them preserve their values and solve future challenges."

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Vermont 3rd in primary vote turnout percentage

2008-08-15T15:14:16Z

The Times Argus reports that "Vermont had the third highest turnout among the voting-eligible population of any state, right behind New Hampshire right behind New Hampshire and Ohio." Indeed, "more than 40 percent of eligible voters cast a primary ballot, according to a new Pew Center on the States report." The turnot also set a state record. "For comparison, the last two presidential election years, 2004 and 2000, had 23 percent and 29 percent turnout respectively."

"This year's turnout was likely a reflection of the fact that the contest between Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton was very much alive." Richard Mallary, a former U.S. Representative from Vermont, also commented that "the fact that Vermont's presidential primary coincides with town meetings may also increase turnout relative to other states."

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Students produce art to inspire young voters

2008-07-30T18:03:55Z

The Burlington Free Press reports that a dozen graduate students at St. Michael's College have teamed up to produce several art pieces in hopes of encouraging youth to vote. They designed an "up-with-voting mural -- six cartoon-like panels that tout the virtues of ballot-casting. Some of the panels depict stories about voting that the students gathered from friends, neighbors and relatives." The students created the mural as part of the College's master's program for art educators. Notably, "every year the class comes up with a civic-engagement project." For example, "last year, students worked with children at the Committee on Temporary Shelter to make books showing life experiences."

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Vermont leads the nation in helping veterans

2008-07-25T13:01:43Z

Vermont Public Radio reports that while "Vermont has suffered the highest proportion of casualties from the Iraq War of any state...it leads the nation in helping service members when they come home." Lieutenant Colonel John Boyd, who leads the veterans' outreach program in Vermont, acknowledged that "state officials faced some special challenges in getting those returning vets the care they needed." That's because "in states such as Vermont, which are rural and do not have any active duty military installations, [National Guard and reserve service members] can experience challenges with awareness of and access to mental health and other benefits when they return from deployment." Today, "Vermont veterans serve as caseworkers to help other, newly returned vets. They meet face to face in their own homes, where they are more likely to open up than in a military facility."

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Front Porch Forum connects neighbors through emails and online postings

2008-07-03T14:08:23Z

The Burlington Free Press reports that the Front Porch Forum (www.frontporchforum.com) is a digital neighborhood where neighbors can come together online for free to "communicate and connect through e-mail newsletters." Michael and Valerie Wood-Lewis, who moved to Burlington from Washington, D.C. 10 years ago, started the online forum in 2000 for their Burlington neighborhood. The forum has since expanded to include 130 neighborhood forums in Chittenden County and 10,000 subscribers. "On the forum, neighbors, who are identifiable by name and street address, post information or questions on a range of issues. The topics, whether a missing cat or a hazardous cross-walk, are typically bound by the interests and parameters of the neighborhood" and "the combined forums generate about 2,000 messages a month." Notably, "the Front Porch Forum has received national recognition for its work, including grants from the Middlebury-based Orton Family Foundation and the Case Foundation." Orton also "selected the Forum for its 2007 Innovator in Place award."

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Brattleboro holds town meeting on racism

2008-06-27T16:40:02Z

Vermont Public Radio reports that about 200 Brattleboro residents including teachers, police officers, community leaders and many members of the biracial community "turned out for a community forum on racism in Brattleboro, where the discovery of a racist group and the arrest of a teenager on hate crime charges has shaken people up." The event was designed to "gauge community sentiment on how the recent incidents had affected people, and what should be done about racism in the community." Attendees said "they were relieved to see the large turnout of support. But others said talking to like-minded people would not solve the problem."

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Public Hearings to examine racial profiling

2008-06-15T15:15:03Z

The Times Argus reports that the Vermont State Advisory Committee "heard testimony from law enforcement officers, lawyers, academics and alleged victims of racial profiling during a four-hour hearing Thursday in the Billings Lounge on the University of Vermont campus." The hearing represents "the first in a series planned around the state. The committee will use the information it gathers to write a report, which will likely include recommendations to the Vermont Legislature and law-enforcement organizations" on how racial profiling relates to law enforcement, other aspects of the judicial system, health care, other public accommodations. Notably, the hearings were spurred in part by a 2004 study by the ALANA Community Organization, "a group that works to build 'inclusive and equitable' communities." According to the ALANA report, "minority households in Brattleboro had a higher incident of contact with police than non-minority households."

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Vermont Housing gets $1M for AmeriCorps program

2008-05-19T21:01:38Z

The Rutland Herald reports that the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board has been "awarded more than $1 million in financial aid through a federal grant from the Corporation for National and Community Services." The three-year grant will "be used to continue the Vermont Community Stewardship Program, an AmeriCorps program." Currently the program has "34 AmeriCorps full- and part-time members [placed] at 25 sponsoring nonprofit organizations in the state...for one-year service periods." These participating nonprofits "address housing and environmental needs ."

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