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therakevermont.bsky.social
The Rake Vermont
@therakevermont.bsky.social
A news media collective for Vermont's working class. DM or email us: TheRakeVermont @ gmail Support us: https://patreon.com/therakevermont
With Vermont Governor Phil Scott forcing state employees back to in-office work, among the beneficiaries is a personal friend of Scott, set to earn over $400,000 per year in state dollars after a lease deal was struck in Waterbury earlier this month.
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
Middlebury College is Failing its Transgender Students. A Three-Part Series, we take a look at how the elite liberal arts institution’s failure to protect and support LGBTQ+ students, while platforming far-right transphobes and bigots in the aftermath of the death of Lia Smith.

Links in 🧵 below.
November 25, 2025 at 5:02 PM
This Sunday, popular local music venue Higher Ground will be holding a public event sponsored by Williston's Ignite Church, whose pastor, Todd Callahan, platforms right-wing extremism and conspiracy theories in line with his friend: slain far-right podcaster, Charlie Kirk.
Ignite Church Whitewashes Charlie Kirk’s Legacy
Four days after the death of white supremacist and Christian nationalist Charlie Kirk, members of Ignite Church in Williston held a vigil for the slain podcaster and Turning Point USA founder. While t...
www.rakevt.org
September 25, 2025 at 9:45 PM
While Gaza faces genocide and famine, five Vermont State lawmakers visited Israel for a trip paid for by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which featured Benjamin Netanyahu as is keynote speaker.

Read our latest:
As Gaza Starves, Vermont Politicians Visit Israel and Meet Netanyahu
In the face of ongoing genocide and starvation raging against Palestinians in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli government, five members of the Vermont House of Representatives attended the "50 States,...
www.rakevt.org
September 19, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Please Shop Your Local Hellhole, Part 2: As Construction and Changing Habits Reshape Downtown, Burlington Business Owners Continue to Parrot Reactionary Talking Points
Please Shop Your Local Hellhole, Part 2: As Construction and Changing Habits Reshape Downtown, Burlington Business Owners Continue to Parrot Reactionary Talking Points
A year and a half ago, The Rake published “Please Shop Your Local Hellhole,” in which we highlighted local business owners, property owners, and their advocates constantly decrying business loss with ...
www.rakevt.org
August 13, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Taken Without Cause: Vermont’s Role in ICE Detentions. Our latest op-ed on the abduction of Ignacio “Nacho” De La Cruz and his stepdaughter, Heidi Pérez, by border patrol agents in Vermont.
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
The late Sandy Baird, a Vermont lawyer, professor and activist, was given plenty of adulation upon her passing. But for many in Burlington’s LGBTQ+ and progressive communities, Baird’s reputation is not just one of solidarity, but of betrayal as she aligned with transphobic, right-wing bigots.
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 7:33 PM
With news of lawsuits involving firms like Big League Advance targeting Major League Baseball players making headlines, it’s a good time to re-read our 2021 piece on Burlington, Vermont’s local baseball team and its owner who is involved in the exploitive practice. www.rakevt.org/2021/09/08/b...
Baseball’s Predatory Loan Firms Give Us a New Lake Monster
What wasn’t covered in the Lake Monsters' championship win is the team’s new ownership group, which is headed by the founder of a venture capital and private equity firm that exploits professional bas...
www.rakevt.org
June 24, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Op-Ed from May:

Two Vermont communities are potential sites for an Amazon “Last Mile” facility. With the company’s record of anti-union efforts, dangerous conditions for workers at facilities, and contracts with ICE, CBP and police depts., it presents a litany of concerns for Vermonters.
Keep Amazon Out Of Vermont
Amazon representatives told WCAX that their presence in Vermont will help get packages to your door faster, "think of the young families trying to get diapers". It is hard to believe that anything abo...
www.rakevt.org
June 13, 2025 at 4:10 PM
From December: The Burlington Police Dept. Defunded Itself
The Burlington Police Dept. Defunded Itself
Officers, from the beat cops to the top brass, have managed to undermine their own institution in ways that no protest at the height of the George Floyd uprisings could have done.
www.rakevt.org
June 12, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Vermont’s DCF violated the rights of a woman by surveilling her, interfering with her medical care, and taking her newborn from her before the woman was even able to hold her child — with DCF keeping the child for nine months — according to the lawsuit. www.rakevt.org/2025/06/09/l...
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 9:40 PM