Senator Patrick Leahy’s plan to strengthen an investment visa program has been added to the massive immigration reform bill before the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee.

The committee is in the process of reviewing hundreds of amendments to the bill. Leahy serves as the chairman of the panel.

The EB-5 visa program grants green cards to foreign businesspeople and their families in exchange for a $500,000 investment in a sanctioned economic development project.

As part of the agreement, it must also create at least ten new jobs.

Tempers have erupted in the town of Rockingham over a decision to close the public library during renovations this summer.

The plan has sparked opposition from residents who say that closing the much-loved library is unnecessary.

The Rockingham Public library is finishing up a $3 million, voter-approved renovation.

The project came to a halt last fall when workers walked off the job because they hadn’t been paid. The president of Baybutt Construction, the general contractor, later filed for bankruptcy.

The Windham and Bennington County Regional Commissions have received $472,000 in disaster recovery funding from the federal government. The goal is to revitalize the economy in Southern Vermont, an area hard hit by the 2011 flood. Part of the grant will pay for a series of workshops to help strengthen village centers and downtowns. The first will be held Tuesday night in Wilmington.

Laura Sibilia says the workshops are designed to help each community develop a plan to make their village or downtown more resilient in the long term.

The 2013 Legislative Session has ended, but a few bills that didn't become laws are likely to resurface next January. VPR's Peter Biello speaks with Bob Kinzel about work that's left to be done next year.

VPR’s Public Post pores through municipal public documents, posted online, to bring you local news from Vermont’s cities, towns, villages and gores. When we find something interesting or otherwise newsworthy, we send out a tweet. We follow up on the bigger stories at the VPR News Blog. Here are some tweet highlights from the past week:

  A federal court judge has set a hearing date for early June in Entergy Vermont Yankee’s latest legal challenge against the state of Vermont.

The owner of Vermont’s only nuclear plant sued the state last month, charging that state regulators have delayed approval of a back-up emergency diesel generator.

Yankee is under orders from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to install a back-up power source by September. The generator is supposed to be available if the plant is disabled and loses electricity from the transmission grid.

After a disappointing first quarter earnings report, IBM announced there will be layoffs in the second quarter.  The company says most of the job cuts would take place outside the U.S. but in recent days there have been rumors that cuts are imminent at domestic IBM facilities, including in Vermont.

The digital age continues to transform the media landscape. 

This weekend, Goddard College surveys this brave new world with an Alternative Media Conference. 

The weekend will include TED-style talks, panels and live discussions..

One of the keynote speakers will be progressive commentator  Thom Hartmann, who hosts a top-rated syndicated radio program, as well as a syndicated television program, The Big Picture.

Mon 5/20/13 Noon & 7 pm  After laying out his priorities in January, Governor Peter Shumlin saw some of his agenda items approved by the State Legislature and others given scant attention. We speak with Governor about how he assesses the just-completed session – where he thinks he succeeded and where he thinks he failed. And what he hopes to accomplish in the second year of the biennium.

Fri 5/17/13 Noon & 7PM The Legislature adjourned late Wednesday night after finalizing the budget, and passing controversial bills on marijuana decriminalization, end of life care, and drivers licenses for non-citizens. There were quite a few proposals left on the table, however. VTDigger's Anne Galloway, Pete Hirschfeld of the Vermont Press Bureau and VPR's John Dillon join Bob Kinzel to look back at 2013's legislative session.