Emma Cotton

3 weeks ago | vtdigger.org | Emma Cotton

In late February, and again last Wednesday, Gerard Vorsteveld sat in front of a room of state lawmakers. After remaining mostly quiet during years of legal battles and media scrutiny centered on pollution coming from his family’s Addison County farm, he had the floor. “We’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on this, and there’s no end in sight,” he told lawmakers in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, his voice breaking.

1 month ago | vtdigger.org | Emma Cotton

BURLINGTON —  A group of people in a conference room above College Street cheered Thursday afternoon after learning that Alexi, their husband, father, employee and friend would be granted bail and released from the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. After spending more than a month in a detention center in Plymouth, Mass., Alexi was released Friday, and by the afternoon, was on his way home to Vermont.

1 month ago | vtdigger.org | Emma Cotton

MONTPELIER — The Senate voted on Wednesday to approve an update to the state’s “right to farm” law, which would make it harder for neighbors to sue farmers over impacts the farm may have on their properties. The idea behind the bill, S.45, is to protect farmers from neighbors who are bothered by nearby farming activity.

1 month ago | mountaintimes.info | Emma Cotton

By Emma Cotton/VTDiggerA short new section to a 22-page bill focused on retargeting energy efficiency goals has given Senate Republicans what they have been seeking — with increasing insistence — for weeks: the end of any mention of a clean heat standard in Vermont law. “30 V.S.A. chapter 94 is repealed” was the key phrase added to S.65 that helped it advance with a bipartisan 4-1 vote in the Senate Natural Resources Committee Friday.

1 month ago | vnews.com | Emma Cotton

Funding aimed at making a struggling Williamstown farm more resilient has been paused. A program that distributes local, free food has been canceled. The Department of Environmental Conservation is missing $10.7 million for clean water quality projects.