Latest news with #CharityClark
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Vermont drivers misled by parking firm now getting $150K settlement
The Vermont Attorney General's Office has reached a settlement with Unified Parking Partners, a Maine-based company, over allegations of misleading consumers, according to a community announcement. Unified Parking Partners, which operates 27 private parking facilities in Vermont, allegedly issued misleading "citations" to consumers between 2020 and 2024. These citations suggested that failure to pay could impact a consumer's credit rating, vehicle registration, license renewal or ability to rent a vehicle, despite the company having no authority to enforce such consequences. The settlement requires Unified Parking Partners to change its parking notices and pay $150,000 to the state. The company must cease using terms like "citation" or "fine" and refrain from using language that implies governmental authority or threatens consequences it cannot lawfully impose. 'Companies have a right to charge for services rendered, but not to trick consumers into paying out of fear that disputing a charge could come with consequences the company has no power to impose,' Attorney General Charity Clark said in the announcement. 'The message to commercial actors is that words matter and misrepresentations carry consequences. I'm pleased that this company has agreed to stop its misrepresentations.' Consumers who wish to dispute charges or provide proof of payment can contact Unified Parking Partners by emailing support@ or calling 207-747-4230 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Vermonters with consumer complaints can reach out to the Attorney General's Consumer Assistance Program at 800-649-2424 or email This story was created by reporter Beth McDermott, bmcdermott1@ with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at or share your thoughts at with our News Automation and AI team. This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Parking company fined for misleading Vermont drivers with fake threats
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
AmeriCorps in Vermont will continue
MONTPELIER, Vt. (ABC22/FOX44) – Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark and 23 other state attorneys general, along with two governors, filed a lawsuit on April 29 challenging the Trump administration's plans to end $400 million in funding for Americorps, amounting to nearly half of the volunteer program's budget. On Thursday, a district court judge issued a preliminary injunction which requires the reinstatement of all Americorps members let go since the funding cuts were announced. Dr. Oz on Medicaid cuts: People should 'prove that you matter' Clark called the injunction a 'win for the rule of law as well as for Vermont communities, which have been well served by AmeriCorps volunteers for decades.' Recently, AmeriCorps held its annual 'day of service' in Vermont, which included maintenance work in Winooski as well as at Shelburne Farms. Vermont's State Service Commission says that 360 people are in AmeriCorps in Vermont in any given year. The injunction, which was issued by the court for the District of Maryland, says that the funding cuts did not give adequate notice to those affected and did not allow for public comment before coming into effect. It cites what the order calls irreparable harm if the volunteers dismissed in April are not immediately reinstated. By June 10, AmeriCorps must file a report documenting their compliance. Musk backs call to impeach Trump, replace him with Vance According to the Attorney General's office, 'by closing $400 million worth of AmeriCorps programs without explanation, the Trump administration harmed states that administer those programs as well as K-12 students, vulnerable seniors, and others who depend upon their services.' However, the administration, and specifically the Department of Government Efficiency formerly led by Elon Musk, argued that the cuts were necessary to improve the country's financial solvency. As this is only a preliminary injunction, the lawsuit will continue, and may proceed into higher U.S. courts. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Private parking operator agrees to pay Vt. $150,000 over 'misleading citations'
MONTPELIER, Vt. (ABC22/FOX44) – A Maine-based private parking operator has agreed to pay Vermont roughly $150,000 after the company issued 'citations' without governmental authority to do so, Attorney General Charity Clark announced. Unified Parking Partners runs about 27 private parking areas in various parts of the state. UPP reportedly sent 'citations' to consumers over the course of four years, between 2020 and 2024. If unpaid, UPP alleged that 'citations' could impact license renewal, credit rating and more. In a release, Attorney General Clark and her office said that 'thousands' of consumers paid off these fines, and that UPP does not have the proper authority to impact consumer credit. Officers search for suspect in golf-cart theft An investigation was conducted regarding UPP's possible Consumer Protection Act violations, and they have agreed to change 'misleading parking notices' in addition to paying the fine. The company must also stop using term 'carrying any consequence it has no lawfulauthority to make,' according to an excerpt from the settlement agreement. Such language includes the terms 'citation' and 'fine'. Attorney General Clark said she is 'pleased that this company has agreed to stop its misrepresentations.' 'Companies have a right to charge for services rendered, but not to trick consumers into paying out of fear that disputing a charge could come with consequences the company has no power to impose. The message to commercial actors is that words matter and misrepresentations carry consequences. I'm pleased that this company has agreed to stop its misrepresentations.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AmeriCorps holds service day in Chittenden County Thursday
SHELBURNE, Vt. (ABC22/FOX44) – AmeriCorps volunteers will be serving three locations in Vermont's Chittenden County on Thursday by helping remove invasive plants and organizing books at a small lending library. In each of three projects, Vermont Housing and Conservation Board's (VHCB's) AmeriCorps program will be partnering with a local organization: Invasive plant removal at Memorial Park in Winooski (partner organization Friends of the Winooski) Invasive plant removal at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne (partner organizations MycoEvolve and Shelburne Farms) Book organizing at Susan's Place in Essex (partner organization Champlain Housing Trust) After the projects, VHCB AmeriCorps members will have lunch followed by a tour and activities in the afternoon at Shelburne Farms. Public meeting to discuss VT's environmental protection rules this Thursday AmeriCorps is one of a number of organizations that have come under fire by the Trump administration as it looks to cut federal programs. Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark filed a lawsuit in April alongside 23 other states which is challenging the administration's termination of grants and placing on leave of 85% of its workforce. The lawsuit argues that the Trump Administration's directives violate the U.S. Constitution. VHCB AmeriCorps is a statewide project that helps give volunteers assignments relating to affordable housing and environmental education. VHCB, established in 1987, calls itself an organization taking a 'comprehensive approach to affordable housing and community development linked with land conservation and historic preservation.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New England AGs to Trump: ‘Bring it on'
Attorneys general from left to right: William Tong of Connecticut, Peter Neronha of Rhode Island, Andrea Campbell of Massachusetts, Charity Clark of Vermont, Aaron Frey of Maine. (Image from MassAGO livestream) Attorneys general from around New England struck a defiant posture at a town hall gathering on Friday evening. Together they pledged that nothing is off the table when it comes to holding immigration officials accountable, lauded the courts for standing firm so far, and pointed at an ever-growing pile of litigation targeting the Trump administration's actions on everything from energy policy to anti-discrimination law. 'All of us probably have a target on our back,' Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said, speaking from the IBEW Local 103 union hall in Dorchester. 'But we say bring it on.' The town hall included the region's Democratic AGs – Campbell, William Tong of Connecticut, Peter Neronha of Rhode Island, Charity Clark of Vermont, and Aaron Frey of Maine. Billed as 'United in Justice,' the gathering was distinctly aimed at Trump administration policies that the group has declared will damage the region and its residents. Attorneys general, advocacy organizations, and individuals have leveled dozens of lawsuits at the Trump administration. They say that executive actions targeting immigration, the global economy, public health and scientific research funding, higher education, and marginalized groups are 'unlawful' and 'damaging.' 'After last November's election and the anxiety that goes with it, we all felt our fight was gonna get a little tougher, a little steeper, and our work a lot harder,' said introductory speaker Lou Antonellis, business manager of the Dorchester union and executive vice president of the building and construction trades with the Greater Boston Labor Council. 'And those words ring truer and truer every day for Americans because of this administration. Unless, of course, you're rich.' A union member at the town hall noted the administration's antagonism toward renewable energy options, when unions are training their members on offshore wind work. Democratic attorneys general filed a lawsuit in Boston federal court this month to block Trump's pause on all federal wind-energy approvals. Being attorney general of a blue state during a Trump administration has proved to be a high-stakes launching pad. Gov. Maura Healey made a national name for herself as attorney general by, like her successor Campbell, taking an aggressive stance toward the first Trump presidency. Her office sued the administration nearly 100 times, while Campbell has filed more than a dozen suits against the administration in the first 100 days of the new Trump term. State law enforcement officials are in a tricky spot when it comes to defending against some federal policies, the attorneys general noted, especially around immigration. Multiple attendees asked what the state can do to push back on what one described as an 'autocratic police state.' There is significant federal authority to enforce and create immigration policies, placing the attorneys general in 'uncharted territory' in figuring out how to wield state power against federal actors. The offices are putting out guidance for individuals and organizations, fighting against policy changes that would claw back immigration protections like Temporary Protected Status, connecting people with lawyers, and reminding law enforcement that it does not need to enable Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Campbell spoke complimentarily of the decision by Worcester's police chief to request that charges be dropped against the distraught 16-year-old daughter of a woman arrested in an ICE incident that has drawn intense backlash. But 'nothing is off the table' when it comes to pushing back on ICE oversteps, she said. 'If the US attorney can threaten us about us getting in the way of these policies and immigration enforcement, well guess what? We can bring it back,' Campbell said, adding slyly, 'in a collaborative and loving way.' Neronha, of Rhode Island, said withholding cooperation to federal agents looking to 'commandeer' state law enforcement could be a serious impediment to ICE efforts. He also laid out how he sees the administration's playbook in general: bypass congressional power of the purse, strip allocated taxpayer dollars from essential programs or make sweeping declarations on constitutional matters, and challenge the legitimacy of district courts when they issue nationwide injunctions blocking the president's actions. 'What we're dealing with here, in my view, is a creeping authoritarianism,' he said. 'And it's not really creeping, is it?' To constituents who are looking for hope, he asked that they remember 'every day there are lawyers who get up in the morning, like my colleagues here and all across the country in Democratic states, and fight for you. We are your lawyers. We are fighting for you, and we are winning.' The latest legal volley from a collective of Democratic attorneys general – including the five New England AGs participating in the town hall – challenges a federal threat to withhold billions of dollars in transportation and disaster-relief funds unless states agree to cooperate with certain immigration enforcement actions. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in an emailed statement to Axios that no funding has been withheld. New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella, who was elected president of The National Association of Attorneys General in December and has not joined attorney general coalitions suing the Trump administration during this second term, is the only Republican attorney general in New England and was the only regional AG not present. A spokesperson said Formella had a full schedule for New Hampshire law enforcement memorial day, but the spokesman was not aware of Friday night's town hall. As attorney general of the most conservative New England state – though it narrowly voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election – Formella's office does not always split along partisan lines. He joined other Republican attorneys general in suits against former President Joe Biden, such as a volley against a vaccination-testing mandate, but also brought a civil rights lawsuit in 2024 against members of the neo-Nazi group Nationalist Social Club-131 who allegedly harassed a Concord cafe hosting drag story hours. The day before the town hall, Campbell and Tong joined Democratic attorneys general from New Jersey, Washington, and California after U.S. Supreme Court arguments on Trump's executive order purporting to end birthright citizenship for the children of parents who enter the U.S. illegally or on a temporary visa. Tong noted on Friday that so far the 'courts are holding,' but some of the voices in the current administration are still talking about potentially 'de-naturalizing' American citizens like his parents, Tong said. The case currently before the nation's high court is ostensibly about whether lower court judges can issue injunctions halting presidential executive orders nationwide – rather than only applying to a specific set of plaintiffs who bring suits inside specific jurisdictions – but justices toyed with whether they should consider the underlying merits of the birthright citizenship suit as well. 'I think what's most important is not just the limited argument today,' Campbell said. 'It's that everyone should care about this birthright citizenship issue. It is not just about the access to citizenship and the privileges afforded by citizenship. If they can dismantle the 14th Amendment in our Constitution, they can also dismantle the other rights and privileges afforded our residents.' The president took to his social media platform, Truth Social, after the arguments before the Supreme Court. 'The Radical Left SleazeBags, which has no cards remaining in its illegal bag of tricks, is, in a very coordinated manner, PLAYING THE REF with regard to the United States Supreme Court,' he posted. 'They lost the Election in a landslide, and with it, have totally lost their confidence and reason. They are stone cold CRAZY! I hope the Supreme Court doesn't fall for the games they play. The people are with us in bigger numbers than ever before. They want to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!' Trump continued lashing out throughout Friday after the U.S. Supreme Court maintained a block on his deportations under wartime law. The U.S. government is ultimately 'an honor system,' Tong said, constructed of people bound together by belief and commitment to democratic principles. No higher power is going to force Trump to comply with the rule of law, but the country is too diverse and decentralized to be 'swallowed whole' by any one administration, he added 'Be as noisy and chaotic and boisterous as we can be,' he said, 'in every state and every jurisdiction, and make it hard for them every step of the way.' This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
