The Rake Vermont
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Scott has framed return to office as an “equity issue” to pit state workers against “everyday Vermonters” as if state employees are not also the latter. All the while Scott acts in accordance with his worldview, and bails out commercial landlords.
Phil Scott’s Return-to-Office Mandate Lines His Friends’ Pockets with State Funds
When Vermont Governor Phil Scott announced in August that, starting December 1, all Vermont State employees would be required to return to the office at least three days a week, it sparked a chain of ...
www.rakevt.org
November 26, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Scott has framed return to office as an “equity issue” to pit state workers against “everyday Vermonters” as if state employees are not also the latter. All the while Scott acts in accordance with his worldview, and bails out commercial landlords.
The return to office mandate places the burden of longer commute times and higher costs onto Vermont state employees, and Vermont taxpayers, all while Scott demands more spending cuts, particularly to education.
Phil Scott’s Return-to-Office Mandate Lines His Friends’ Pockets with State Funds
When Vermont Governor Phil Scott announced in August that, starting December 1, all Vermont State employees would be required to return to the office at least three days a week, it sparked a chain of ...
www.rakevt.org
November 26, 2025 at 4:51 PM
The return to office mandate places the burden of longer commute times and higher costs onto Vermont state employees, and Vermont taxpayers, all while Scott demands more spending cuts, particularly to education.
The site of the new lease by the state, Pilgrim Park Road, is owned by Wayne Lamberton, a friend of Scott, who once served as VP for Scott’s former business, DuBois Construction. Lamberton and associates are set to make $2.2M over the 5-year lease.
Phil Scott’s Return-to-Office Mandate Lines His Friends’ Pockets with State Funds
When Vermont Governor Phil Scott announced in August that, starting December 1, all Vermont State employees would be required to return to the office at least three days a week, it sparked a chain of ...
www.rakevt.org
November 26, 2025 at 4:51 PM
The site of the new lease by the state, Pilgrim Park Road, is owned by Wayne Lamberton, a friend of Scott, who once served as VP for Scott’s former business, DuBois Construction. Lamberton and associates are set to make $2.2M over the 5-year lease.
PART 3: Middlebury College’s Alexander Hamilton Forum Regularly Platforms Transphobes, Bigots, and Authoritarians with No Consequences www.rakevt.org/2025/11/25/m...
Middlebury College’s Alexander Hamilton Forum Regularly Platforms Transphobes, Bigots, and Authoritarians with No Consequences
Middlebury’s disinterest and oftentimes hostility towards LGBTQ+ students and faculty is reflected in the ideological makeup of some members of its faculty who hold high-profile academic positions. It...
www.rakevt.org
November 25, 2025 at 5:02 PM
PART 3: Middlebury College’s Alexander Hamilton Forum Regularly Platforms Transphobes, Bigots, and Authoritarians with No Consequences www.rakevt.org/2025/11/25/m...
PART 2: The Overdose of Evelyn Mae Sorensen, a Student and Trans Woman, Exposed Middlebury College’s Priorities www.rakevt.org/2025/11/20/t...
The Overdose of Evelyn Mae Sorensen, a Student and Trans Woman, Exposed Middlebury College’s Priorities
Evelyn Mae Sorensen, the oldest of three children, came from a single-parent household and worked several jobs to support herself. She enjoyed biking, photography, and mountaineering, and she was acti...
www.rakevt.org
November 25, 2025 at 5:02 PM
PART 2: The Overdose of Evelyn Mae Sorensen, a Student and Trans Woman, Exposed Middlebury College’s Priorities www.rakevt.org/2025/11/20/t...
PART 1: Middlebury College Student Lia Smith Battled Transphobia On and Off Campus Before Her Death www.rakevt.org/2025/11/18/m...
Middlebury College Student Lia Smith Battled Transphobia On and Off Campus Before Her Death
On October 19, Middlebury College student Lia Smith was reported missing, a week after the town of Middlebury celebrated its fourth annual Pride celebration. Four days later, she was found dead.
www.rakevt.org
November 25, 2025 at 5:02 PM
PART 1: Middlebury College Student Lia Smith Battled Transphobia On and Off Campus Before Her Death www.rakevt.org/2025/11/18/m...
To catch up, here is part 1, from December 2023, addressing Burlington business owners pushing crime wave narratives and then begging for holiday shopping dollars:
Please Shop Your Local Hellhole: Burlington Businesses Complaining About Crime Now Want Shoppers for the Season
While they pine for your shopping dollars during peak consumer spending season, it’s clear these business owners still can’t help themselves and wish to continue playing the victim, never acknowledgin...
www.rakevt.org
August 13, 2025 at 12:36 AM
To catch up, here is part 1, from December 2023, addressing Burlington business owners pushing crime wave narratives and then begging for holiday shopping dollars:
"Don’t comfort yourself with the lie that this doesn’t concern you. If detentions continue, if deportations accelerate, if Vermont becomes a place where immigrants must vanish for survival, your world will change, too."
Taken Without Cause: Vermont’s Role in ICE Detentions
It was not a random stop. It was an abduction.
www.rakevt.org
June 28, 2025 at 5:01 PM
"Don’t comfort yourself with the lie that this doesn’t concern you. If detentions continue, if deportations accelerate, if Vermont becomes a place where immigrants must vanish for survival, your world will change, too."
Baird’s transphobia was not only political. It was personal. Her rhetoric often mirrored internal conflict, especially in her complex relationship with her own gender identity and that of her trans sister.
Sandy Baird’s Transphobia and Alliance with Far Right Bigots
For many in Burlington’s LGBTQ+ and progressive communities, Baird’s reputation is not just one of solidarity, but of betrayal.
www.rakevt.org
June 25, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Baird’s transphobia was not only political. It was personal. Her rhetoric often mirrored internal conflict, especially in her complex relationship with her own gender identity and that of her trans sister.
Transphobia in our movements cannot be dismissed as a difference of opinion...While liberal politicians may treat trans rights as negotiable, those fighting for justice must refuse to treat trans lives as expendable.
Sandy Baird’s Transphobia and Alliance with Far Right Bigots
For many in Burlington’s LGBTQ+ and progressive communities, Baird’s reputation is not just one of solidarity, but of betrayal.
www.rakevt.org
June 25, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Transphobia in our movements cannot be dismissed as a difference of opinion...While liberal politicians may treat trans rights as negotiable, those fighting for justice must refuse to treat trans lives as expendable.
Even in years when the department's approved budget decreased, the budget total remained above the previous year's expenditures.
Far from defunding, Burlington has never failed to give its police more money than it had spent.
Far from defunding, Burlington has never failed to give its police more money than it had spent.
June 12, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Even in years when the department's approved budget decreased, the budget total remained above the previous year's expenditures.
Far from defunding, Burlington has never failed to give its police more money than it had spent.
Far from defunding, Burlington has never failed to give its police more money than it had spent.
With one exception, Burlington Police Department expenditures have consistently been well under what has been budgeted for it. From FY2019 through FY2024, we can see that the department left a total of $4.2 million on the table in unspent funds.
June 12, 2025 at 3:03 PM
With one exception, Burlington Police Department expenditures have consistently been well under what has been budgeted for it. From FY2019 through FY2024, we can see that the department left a total of $4.2 million on the table in unspent funds.
The complaint holds that there has been a longstanding “practice of DCF surveilling and punishing pregnant Vermonters based on unsubstantiated claims that extend beyond its jurisdiction,” interfering with pregnant Vermonters in concert with medical centers and other providers.
Lawsuit: Vermont DCF Took a Newborn from Mother, Moments After Birth
Vermont’s Department of Children and Families violated the rights of a Vermont woman by surveilling her, interfering with her medical care, and taking her newborn from her before the woman was even ab...
www.rakevt.org
June 10, 2025 at 9:41 PM
The complaint holds that there has been a longstanding “practice of DCF surveilling and punishing pregnant Vermonters based on unsubstantiated claims that extend beyond its jurisdiction,” interfering with pregnant Vermonters in concert with medical centers and other providers.
Vermont’s high rates of parental rights terminations suggest a broad pattern of systemic issues within the state’s family policing agencies.
One of the most egregious examples is the subject of a lawsuit filed earlier this year:
One of the most egregious examples is the subject of a lawsuit filed earlier this year:
June 10, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Vermont’s high rates of parental rights terminations suggest a broad pattern of systemic issues within the state’s family policing agencies.
One of the most egregious examples is the subject of a lawsuit filed earlier this year:
One of the most egregious examples is the subject of a lawsuit filed earlier this year: