Update: Suspect charged with alleged arson at Bernie Sanders’ Burlington office pleads not guilty

Shant “Michael” Soghomonian has pleaded not guilty to setting a fire at Sen. Bernie Sanders’ office earlier this month. After several rounds of delays, Soghomonian appeared in a Burlington federal courtroom for an official arraignment. The 35-year-old pleaded not guilty to the federal charge of maliciously damaging by means of fire the building at One Church Street, a building used in interstate commerce and as a place of activity affecting interstate commerce. Soghomonian is the man who local, state, and federal authorities say set fire to the door of Sen. Sanders’ office on April 5. He was in court Tuesday to answer to the charges, but not before several days' worth of delays in his case. It was a fast proceeding Tuesday afternoon as Soghomonian was in the courtroom for about 10 minutes.
WVNY-TV ABC 22 Burlington

Waitsfield reopens bid process for fire gear extractor tank

After receiving only one bid to install an extractor tank at the Waitsfield-Fayston Volunteer Fire Station, the Waitsfield Select Board has reopened the bidding process. The town received one bid to install the 1,000-gallon holding tank for water used to wash firefighters’ turnout gear. The bid was from Pioneer Mechanical for $79,000 and the town had estimated $20,000 to install the tank. By statute, firefighters’ turnout gear must be washed in specialty washers after interior fires to remove toxins they encounter while fighting fires. Those toxins remain in the wash water and must be stored in a tank until pumped out and taken to an appropriate disposal facility. Last year the fire department received a $7,500 grant for the laundry machinery. The department had previously been using other local fire department equipment to wash their gear.
The Valley Reporter