As the Vermont Legislature seeks to build more instate renewable power, two huge transmission projects are seeking approval to deliver more carbon-free hydro power to New England.
Canadian hydro power transmission projects get second wind
Guy Page
Guy Page is the editor and publisher of the Vermont Daily Chronicle.
LaMarche: Generation Trash
Instead of heeding numerous warnings with the threat of being towed, students decided to do what they do best: dismantle barriers.
Senate passes one pro-abortion bill, House poised to pass another
In Vermont, the ‘peculiar institution’ of abortion is enjoying a good week in the Legislature.
Bartley: Carbon tax goes to House floor this afternoon
Calling a bill that would add $630 to individual Vermonters’ heating bills the “Affordable Heating Act” is disingenuous.
Prescribing abortion reversal drug ‘unprofessional misconduct’ under S.37
S.37, which goes to the House floor today, would allow an abortion-inducing drug mifeprestone but would prohibit prescribing an abortion reversal drug.
Davis: Firearms purchase waiting period in H230 must go
Firearms purchase waiting periods don’t reduce suicides, but they do put people in danger and threaten to end gun shows
‘Safe leave’ in paid-leave bill bumped up to $17 million, veto expected
H.66 includes up to 12 weeks of paid safe leave for sexual and domestic violence survivors.
South Burlington looks at tree planting as a step toward carbon goals
Building bike paths and homes near jobs is part of South Burlington’s carbon reduction plan. So is planting more trees.
Warner: Wolf’s Howl Part 2 – Bio-War Against Americans?
Of all the malevolent findings, the most prominent is the action the vaccine takes against human reproduction.
Act 250 turf battle muted as House committees meet
The chair of the committee with Act 250 jurisdiction said she’s waiting on two important reports – both due next year.
S.5, with contradictory ‘checkback’ wording, sent to House floor
Big climate change and abortion/transgender bills are going to the House floor.
Alleged murderer of Fern Feather attempts prison escape
Brunell did not leave the secure section of the facility and did not pose a danger to the public during the event, authorities say.
Simpson found guilty of kidnapping woman and son
A St. Johnsbury man has been found guilty in federal court of kidnapping a mother and son and transporting them across state lines.
RSVP for dinner honoring Linda Kirker
Honoring a longtime GOP mentor and volunteer.
De-transitioned Chloe Cole shares story at Dartmouth
We learned from Chloe Cole the events, emotions and thoughts she experienced from as young as eleven years of age that led her to enter the gender transformation machinery now available at hospitals around the United States.
Correction: House did NOT delete climate bill S.5 checkback. But there is a workaround
The Vermont House of Representatives didn’t eliminate the two-year checkback added to S.5 by popular demand. But another clause creates a possible workaround.
DePino: Gun grabbers going after LGBTQ+ gun owners
H.230 specifically targets the LGBTQ+ community for gun control, in the name of suicide prevention.
Honoring Lee Zeldin, Linda Kirker this week
Friends, admirers and colleagues of Linda Kirker will gather Saturday night at a dinner in her honor.
Northfield lawmaker warns of $460 million in new taxes, fees
I have grave concerns that Vermonters cannot sustain the nearly one-half billion dollar increase in spending over the next two years.
With president gone and library downgrade on hold, what’s next for Vermont State University?
Veteran executive problem-solver Mike Smith is out of retirement as the new president of Vermont State University. The deplored ‘all-digital’ library plan is on hold. But fiscal challenges remain.
Your letters: Zombies, masks, and a house divided
Will mask requirements be like zombies? Right now, they are on the wane, but might they just wake up again?
Frustrated lawmaker demands answer to chair’s refusal to allow Act 250 amendment
“You want to have it both ways. You want to say we can’t work on this, we’ve got no time, and then you want to say we can’t do this because we haven’t worked on it, I’ll tell you what word I would put in my mouth – gaslighting, that’s what that is,” Rep. Caleb Elder told Housing and General Chair Tom Stevens.
Climate bill S.5 ‘checkback’ weakened by House committee
Disregarding the thousands of emails and phone calls made by citizens to legislators, the House Energy and Environment Committee mostly removed the Senate-imposed ‘checkback’ safety valve from S.5.
ESTIMATED pay/benefits package for lawmakers: $52K
The average, rank and file lawmaker would receive an ESTIMATED pay and benefits package worth about $52,000 if S.39 becomes law.
Stenger to court: don’t make me pay $250K
Mike Donoghue reports that the former president of Jay Peak wants the court to strike his $250,000 restitution order. Also, Vermont authorities knew in early 2015 of financial concerns raised about the EB-5 / NEK development deal.
House housing committee not allowed to vote on Act 250 amendment
Act 250 has its roots in Vermonters’ backlash to the civil rights movements of the 1960’s, and in practice has stopped would-be landowners of color from developing generational wealth, a Starksboro Democrat said.
Defense lawyer, prosecutor picked for Superior Court
The high-profile defense attorney who defended Ariel Quiros and the driver who killed five Harwood Union High School students has been named a Superior Court judge.
Climate, housing bills both voted out to House floor
House committees yesterday approved the Affordable Heating Act and a housing bill that keeps the lid on rural new home construction.
Senate OKs big legislative pay, benefit hike
In addition to a big base pay hike, S.39 would give lawmakers $200/week adjournment pay, child care support, $69 in daily food money, and much more.
Legislature removes 16-17 year olds’ right to marry, moves towards giving them right to vote
Teens, here’s what the grown-ups in the State House say is okay for you to do: vote in Brattleboro. But don’t get married.
Naomi Wolf’s Howl: Pfizer COVID documents reveal ‘Greatest Crime in Human History’
Author Naomi Wolf and 2,500 volunteer researchers took a deep dive on 55,000 documents released by Pfizer. And oh, what they found……
VT’s $39.5 million opioid settlement share divvied up among State, towns, cities
Each state has been allocated a percentage of the settlement funds based on opioid deaths, the number of people with opioid use disorder, the amount of state opioid sales, and population.
Legislators young and old talk generational politics and ageism
Rep. Lucy Boyden was born almost a quarter century after Sen. Dick Mazza graduated from high school in 1957.
VT, NE SWAT police ops suffer three snafus in seven days
Bad radio communications in an active shooter situation in Middlebury. Unintentional discharge of a weapon during a SWAT training on the Church Street Marketplace. And then there’s what happened in Boston….
Dem Senator slams journalistic integrity of True North
I don’t recommend True North Reports as a source for journalistic integrity,” the junior senator from Windham County told a Burlington resident this week.
House Dem’s appetite for new programs place water quality projects at risk, Senate GOP says
It makes both fiscal and environmental sense to budget now for the small state share in multi-year federally-funded water quality and roads programs, Sen. Randy Brock says – but House Dems won’t do it.
Fairfax school shut down after threat
A school resource officer was a vital link in reporting the latest mass violence threat to a Vermont school.
Grateful Dead summer festival moves to Cabot
Twin tribes of Grateful Dead fans will gather for a summer music festival in Cabot.
DMV fees will rise 20% if Transportation bill passes
It is becoming so clear that the Democratic/Progressives want to control everything: healthcare, wages, vehicles, food, guns, our children, religion, lightbulbs and even straws.
Scott likely to veto 16-year-old voting, waits for abortion ruling, wants illegal immigrants in VT
A bill allowing Brattleboro 16-year-olds to vote will face a gubernatorial veto if it passes the Senate.
California man rents gun, shoots himself at shop’s gun range
The gun range at a popular Waterbury gun shop was the scene of a fatal self-inflicted gunshot Saturday.
Smith: Despite absymal school proficiency, State Board focuses on DEI ‘ad nauseum’
None of the State’s findings/reports contain substantial evidence of widespread discrimination in Vermont. They don’t even provide the number of occurring incidents.
“Legislature is not being told the truth” about S.5 decision-making
Turns out the Vermont Climate Council left most of the decision-making analysis about S.5 to a small ‘working’ group that included many renewable power and natural gas industry advocates.
Middlesex man arrested for plotting violence at Minnesota college
The grandson of a Vermont superior court judge and nephew of a well-known campaign ‘surrogate’ for Bernie Sanders faces charges of threatening terrorism and conspiracy to commit assault.
Speaking Truth, Opening Minds, and Reading on the Beach
Crisis struck. With two whole beach days left, I finished my designated beach book.
‘Force of nature’ takes on vax & climate mandates
Despathy is perhaps Vermont’s most outspoken opponent of the hypocrisy of equity advocates supporting S.5, the climate reduction bill that adversely punishes poor rural Vermonters and rewards a renewable energy industry benefiting from horrific third world mining of essential metals.
With adjournment in sight, vast differences remain on key issues
Major differences remain.
McGuinness: Suicide rate 19 times higher after sex change surgery
50% of (birth-registered) males experience complications from gender-assignment surgery – pain, surgical site bleeding, urinary dysfunction, sexual dysfunction. For (birth-registered) females, hysterectomy causes sterility.
FBI subpoenaed for using informants in Catholic churches to find ‘domestic terrorists’
Remember when the FBI went after Islamic terrorists and the KKK? Now they’re going after pro-life activists in Christian churches.
Keelan: Do we really need ESG?
With the pool of future accountants already thinning, ESG will add another layer of distracting responsibility. And the fraudsters are waiting.
SoBu man sentenced for dealing coke
Bruce Erdmann was sentenced for a 2021 cocaine deal which resulted in a non-fatal overdose.
House drops rental registry over cost kerfuffle
Setting up a rental registry proved so costly that House leaders have dropped implementation in favor of a study.
Voting for Brattleboro 16-year-olds goes to House vote
The House will vote this week on allowing 16-year-olds to vote in local Brattleboro elections.
Big legislative pay, benefits hike on Senate agenda tomorrow
A big legislative pay hike and hefty benefits package are on tomorrow’s Senate agenda.
Shorts: High school students banned from ordering pizza, Starbucks deliveries
A high school principal goes on TikTok to tell students to stop ordering pizza and Starbucks deliveries during the school day – or else.
Police: toddler dies after drunk father loses him in brook fleeing early morning crash
Rescue workers pulled a two-year-old boy from a brook in Clarksburg, MA after his Readsboro, VT father dropped him while leaving the scene of an early Saturday morning crash.
Report: Vermont 4th highest SF home property tax rate in U.S.
Windham, Orange and Caledonia counties ranked 1-2-3 in effective property tax rates. Chittenden and Lamoille were near or at the bottom.
Bill would protect girls’ right to play sports against girls only
A bill prohibiting biologically-male transgender students from playing school sports designated for girls or women has been introduced into the Vermont Legislature – and immediately labeled as “hate” by transgender activists.
Welch: bill would protect independent pharmacies, reduce Medicaid costs
The problem is that independent pharmacies are getting paid less than what it costs to fill the prescription for the patient.
Attorney General Charity Clark ducks question about GWSA lawsuit
Rep. Brian Smith asked Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark if she could defeat a Global Warming Solutions Act lawsuit brought by an environmental group.
Lynch: the unknowable nature of being
I became a self-avowed atheist. Not just a happy-go-lucky atheist. A radical atheist – one that reveled in the oratorical brilliance of Hitchens as he verbally dismantled cohorts of Christian apologists.
Klar: Vermont trash policy, farms, and human nature
At what point do dump fees become so high that people leave their household trash and old couch on the side of the road? Especially if they are feeding their children, or feeding an addiction.
House allocates $16 million for new Burlington High School
The Vermont House of Representatives voted to give $16 million of state funds to the new BHS demolition and construction project and rejected a lawmaker’s request for a refund if Burlington wins its suit against Monsanto.
Report: Over-charging persists at Dollar General stores
A retailer with 39 Vermont stores continues to overcharge customers nationwide, a recent report claims.
Tribute planned for VT military officer who suffered from PTSD
John Sandvil lost his battle to PTSD after a distinguished military career, including combat in Iraq. On May 12, friends and loved ones will honor him with a motorcycle ride to his resting place in Randolph.
Hinesburg confronts destruction of beaver dams by landowner
“All I do out back is knock it down and prevent the water from flooding everybody’s property,” Lyman said. However, the Town of Hinesburg has taken action.
McClaughry: Regulations weaponized to resist housing development
The enviros are sometimes willing to allow more more housing in urban areas – but never, ever out in the countryside.
New grassroots group wants biofuels out of S.5
Burning biofuels and biomass emits as much CO2 as fossil fuels and should not be exempted from S.5, the proposed carbon reduction law, Stop VT Biomass says.
Obituary for America
Conceived in Liberty and born to immigrant parents in 1776, America died today after a brief illness. For many, it is hard to believe that she is gone.
Satan, Ishtar referenced in VT support of legal abortion, prostitution
As followers of Jesus Christ celebrate Holy Week, Vermonters more sympathetic to other gods are showing support for legal abortion and prostitution.
Ax murder in Brattleboro homeless shelter
A 38-year-old resident of a Brattleboro homeless shelter axed the facility director to death Monday, police say.
Barre police arrest Boston teen in big drug bust
Police found drugs, cash and guns at a Barre Town home yesterday morning.
House passes 50% land conservation bill vetoed by Scott last year
The bill sets goals for conserving 30 percent of Vermont’s total land area and waters by 2030 and 50 percent by 2050. This would include all state, federal, municipal and private lands.
Survivor to host Holocaust Remembrance concert
Holocaust Remembrance Day will be celebrated in Stowe April 16.
‘We Will Kill You’: college student arrested in Vermont for threatening congressman for opposition to ‘the gays’
A college student was arrested in Springfield with the help of the Springfield Police Dept. for allegedly threatening to kill a member of congress.
Despathy: 14 reasons why S.5 would harm the Earth and poor people and must be defeated
There are so many reasons for compassionate, conservation-minded people to oppose S.5 – pick at least one and tell your House representative, Alison Despathy advises.
S37 legalizes lower health care standards for abortion/transgender providers
Did you know that 12-year-olds can keep insurance information confidential from parents? The Vermont House Health Care Committee didn’t, until yesterday.
17-year-old missing since March 29 found dead in Weybridge
A human/canine search and rescue team yesterday found the body of Rebecca Ball in a wooded area in Weybridge.
Read the Trump indictment here
Link provided to Alvin Bragg’s 16-page indictment of former Pres. Donald Trump.
New single-family homes on their way out?
The Senate bill allowing more housing density in cities but not in rural areas gets its first look in the House this afternoon.
Sandra Dragon, longtime AIV president, passes on March 25
Sandra Dragon was a force of nature.
First Lady Jill Biden will fly tomorrow into Burlington International Airport, to be renamed for Patrick Leahy
Beta Technologies, Vermont’s emerging electric air transport manufacturer, will get a visit from First Lady Jill Biden tomorrow.
UVM reports “voluntary resolution” of fed investigation of campus anti-semitism
UVM’s announcement of a ‘voluntary resolution’ of a federal investigation into campus anti-semitism contains no admission of wrong-doing, no apology, and no specific plans to address anti-semitism.
Former VT governor sues college over ‘cancel culture’
Middlebury College quietly removed Mead’s name from the marble building on the morning of Sept. 27, 2021, for what it said was his role “in promoting eugenics policies in the state that led to the involuntary sterilization of an estimated 250,” the lawsuit filed by former Gov. James Douglas stated.
Dead of heart attack after basketball game brawl
After participating in a post-game brawl that shocked the state and made national news, an Alburgh man suffered a fatal heart attack in his car.
Hartford man, 21, dies in targeted shooting in Brattleboro
A Hartford CT man is dead in what police say was a targeted shooting.
Lee Zeldin headlines GOP dinner 4/20
A former congressman who almost became NY governor last year will speak at a GOP dinner in South Burlington.
Babesiosis, tick-borne disease now endemic in Vermont
A disease first reported in Nantucket in 1969 is now endemic to Vermont.
Vermont Guard soldiers inserted into Arctic on ski-equipped C-130
C-130s are HUGE. Landing them on ice requires a special rig of landing gear, as Vermont soldiers discovered.
BREAKING NEWS: Private school tuition House vote postponed until Wednesday, sources say
Do House leaders have enough votes to pass a bill restricting public tuition to private schools? And are they worried about the overburdened camel’s bite?
Mandatory paid family, medical, and safety leave bill gets prelim OK in House
In its first year, the paid family medical and safety leave ‘contribution’ would be .55% of earnings. Every year, it would be adjusted to cover all of the likely claims.
Alliance Defending Freedom fights Virginia transgender sports ruling
When males are allowed to compete in women’s sports, they routinely displace women and girls, robbing them of their constitutionally protected right to equal opportunity and victories they’ve worked so hard for.
Drug suspect dies in police custody
A man arrested on drug charges died in Bennington police custody yesterday afternoon. Also, police report several other deaths and death-related incidents this week.
Roper: Lawmaker tells ANR Secretary to ‘lighten up’ on informing citizens about cost of S.5
Somebody needed to do this because nobody else dared. So thank you, Julie Moore!
Majority of terrorist suspects now crossing Northern Border
A Montana lawmaker says that with the Border Patrol overwhelmed on the southern border, terrorists and cartels are focusing on the less-defending northern border.
Evslin: Legislators squandering money
The pandemic is over. Unemployment is near an all-time low. The federal funding ends March 31.
Senate expands cancer coverage for firefighters
Workers comp will cover firefighters for on-duty related forms of cancer under a bill that passed the Senate.
Gone fishin’, back April 3
We’re going fishin’. But you will still be able to read new news and commentary in the Chronicle next week.
Downtown development grants announced
$200K to convert a former high school into a multi-purpose community center, etc..
Thurston: Solar power most expensive carbon reducer
The truth is solar is very expensive. You must pay for it three times over.
