[T]he final day of the year gives us all an opportunity to reflect on the biggest news stories of the year.
VTDigger has published year in review summaries by region and by topic this week. We’ve looked at top stories in Rutland, Chittenden, Windham and Bennington counties. We’ve also summarized the most important news about criminal justice, the environment, education, health care and business. You can find a complete listing of them here.
This is our final look-back at 2016, featuring editor’s picks for the top statewide stories of the year.
Happy New Year! On with 2017 …
After several years of financial struggle, Burlington College shutdown in May because of the “crushing weight of debt” the school incurred to buy a lakefront property in 2011. That purchase was financed with more than $10 million in loans taken out by former college president Jane Sanders, wife of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. The school was never able to increase enrollment as she’d envisioned, and the school spiraled into debt. In May, college trustees found out that the school could not increase a line of credit and the board voted, just one day before commencement, to close the school.
9. Utah man brings Mormon plan to the Upper Valley
A Utah entrepreneur started buying up properties in the Upper Valley this year in an effort to create a Utopian community based on Mormon principals. David Hall, founder of NewVistas, hopes to bring 20 million people to four small towns in Vermont. Local residents say the project is out of scale.
8. Controversy over Syrian refugee resettlement in Rutland
Rutland Mayor Chris Louras announced in April that his city was being considered as a resettlement site for up to 100 Syrian and Iraqi refugees. The issue divided Rutland, exposed long-simmering tensions between the Board of Aldermen and the mayor, and made national headlines. Rutland was seen as a microcosm for the larger national conversation over refugee resettlement and national security, one that would come to define not only local but presidential politics.
7. PFOA found in N. Bennington, Pownal wells, water supplies
Extensive testing of private and public well water sources began in the county early in 2016, after similar PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) contamination was found in Hoosick Falls, N.Y. As in nearby New York communities, factory sites there considered the likely source of the chemical — a manmade substance widely used for many years in creating Teflon and other consumer products, which later was discovered in water supplies near similar sites in a number of states. Suspected sources in Southwestern Vermont include a former Chemfab mill in North Bennington and a former Warren Wire/General Cable factory in Pownal. Both sites are now owned by successor companies.
6. Norm McAllister suspended from Vermont Senate
The Vermont Senate voted to suspend Norm McAllister in January. The move allowed the Franklin County senator to continue to hold his seat but stripped him of his right to vote on behalf of constituents. No one was appointed as a replacement. The suspension came in the wake of allegations that McAllister had raped a young female Statehouse intern and traded rent for sex with another woman. Charges were dropped in the rape case; a second trial is pending. Many senators were concerned expulsion would trigger a Senate chamber trial that would hurt the criminal trial in Franklin County court. It was the first time the Senate has ever suspended a member.
5. Sale of Vermont Yankee to North Star
Entergy in November announced a deal to sell Vermont Yankee to NorthStar Group Services, which has committed to finishing decommissioning and site restoration by 2030 – decades earlier than Entergy’s plan.
The sale would need federal and state approval – a process that officially got underway with a Dec. 16 filing before the Vermont Public Service Board.
4. Five teens from Waterbury area killed by wrong-way driver on I-89
In October, a man driving a pickup truck northbound in the southbound lanes of Interstate 89 in Williston collided head-on with a car, killing all five teenagers inside. The pickup driver, 36-year-old Steven Bourgoin, then allegedly stole a police cruiser that had been called to the accident, first driving away before returning to the scene and slamming into several other vehicles. Bourgoin survived the crash and was arraigned on five second-degree murder charges from his hospital bed at the University of Vermont Medical Center. All five teenagers were from central Vermont.
3. Election of Phil Scott as governor of Vermont
Republican Phil Scott beat his Democratic opponent Sue Minter by 9 points and dominated in the state’s more rural areas. The popular three-term lieutenant governor and race car driver even won Minter’s hometown of Waterbury and several other towns in the Mad River Valley. Scott’s win continues the Vermont tradition stretching back to the early 1960s in which the office has alternated between the two major parties. He will succeed Gov. Peter Shumlin, a three-term Democrat who opted against seeking a fourth term.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charges brought against the Jay Peak developers for allegedly defrauding EB-5 immigrant investors. Federal regulators say Ariel Quiros and Bill Stenger misused $200 million in investor funds.
1. Bernie Sanders nearly wins Democratic presidential nomination
The Vermont Senator was given low odds to beat out Democratic contenders for the presidential nomination. But in 2016 he proved the pundits wrong when he won New Hampshire, tied in Iowa and gave Hillary Clinton a run for her money all the way to the Democratic National Convention. Sanders’ supporters shaped the Democratic platform and advocated for bigger government programs including an expansion of Medicare. After Republican Donald Trump’s election, Sanders was tapped as the outreach coordinator for Senate Democrats. That likely means he’ll be on the road much of the coming year, bucking Trump’s small government agenda.
CORRECTION: We originally misstated that Scott was the winner in Chittenden County. Minter beat Scott in the state’s most populous county by 6 percentage points.