By Guy Page

Today’s Hot Off The Press show will be a little city and a little country. In the first half hour, we’ll be talking with Kolby LaMarche, editor of the Burlington Daily News, about downtown Burlington amid the desperate holiday shopping season, and in the second half of the show with pig farmer, inventor, and FYIVT publisher Dave Soulia and climate change activists making noise about taking away your woodstove. 

Call in at 802-244-1777. 

But first a big headline that Vermont Daily Chronicle had something to do with – 

“News 5 reports that the Winooski School District removes website from public view after backlash on social media. A video of the district raising a Somali flag has drawn criticism from some prominent conservatives online, leading to “unprecedented traffic” on the district’s website, according to school officials.”

Yesterday, VDC posted a story by reporter Paul Bean about the Winooski School District raising the Somali flag in protest of President Trump’s statement about fraud in the Minneapolis Somali community and immigration from Somalia in general. 

Our story was pretty down the middle, as indicated by the headline: Winooski School District raises Somali Flag, draws mixed response. 

What a response – 431,000 views on our Facebook site, so far, with 5700 comments. It got picked up by Libs of Tick Tok. It got picked up by conservative podcaster Benny Johnson. And because the story included the website and phone number, apparently the Winooski School District got a lot more phone calls than the usual ‘I need to pick up my kid to take him to the doctors.’

But first, here are the Burlington stories we’ll be reviewing with Kolby:

PD chief invites community downtown in new holiday ad – The Burlington Police Department, in partnership with Building Burlington’s Future, has released another officer-narrated ad, this time for the holidays that celebrates the connection between visible policing and a thriving Church Street Marketplace.

In the 60-second spot, posted to BPD’s official Facebook page this morning, Interim Police Chief Shawn Burke spoke about downtown safety, “At the Burlington Police Department, we understand how vital our presence is downtown. We know that our presence inherently makes people feel more safe,” he said.

Church St. coffee shop closes amid strike – Black Cap Coffee, a Church Street-area staple known for its fair-trade beans and community vibe, announced Sunday that its flagship downtown location at 136 Church Street has closed indefinitely, just hours after its unionized employees began an unfair labor practice strike.

City pushes for automated traffic tickets, cameras – While traffic cameras stalled for state-wide use, Burlington hopes the cop staffing crisis changes 

79 classrooms, and $6M under budget, district says – Burlington’s $159M, four-story high school with 79 classrooms finishes $6M under budget for 2026 opening. 

In the second, country mouse half of the show, we’ll be talking with Dave Soulia about this recent news analysis on FYIVT – 

Soulia: Is Montpelier coming for your woodpile? – Vermont likes to call itself a leader in combating climate change, but leadership implies setting an example others want to follow. Instead, Vermont is becoming a cautionary tale of what happens when ideology trumps practicality. The result? A state struggling under the weight of policies that deliver the opposite of what they promise.