There is a rough road ahead for the world. Our political class isn’t leveling with us.
King: Famine looms. Why won’t political elites say so?
State Police collect 3 tons of body armor for Ukraine
Law enforcement agencies and members of the public have donated about 1,000 body-armor vests and 45 helmets for the defense of Ukraine.
Water Cooler: racism, eugenics bill passes House / Senate leery of $$ for religious schools / getting to school in mud season
Two sisters will tell their families what it was like to get to school during a rural Vermont Mud Season. That story and others from Vermont news media yesterday and today.
Senate passed 16 bills yesterday
Bills about leg hold traps, non-unanimous jury trial decisions, collecting data on police and 13 other topics all passed the Senate yesterday.
The Registry Legislature
Farmers, cops, landlords, and home improvement contractors all are targeted for inclusion in statewide registries by a Legislature determined to combat systemic racism and climate change.
Martineau: My View from Montpeculiar
Reaganism: “Either You control your government, or it will control You.” Hear that, Burlington?
Act H 466: Climate-resilient protection for surface water
In the face of increased droughts due to climate change, this bill will ensure equitable access to surface water for users, while protecting the ecosystems of our streams and rivers.
Thayer: What it means to be Republican
Since the inception of the GOP in 1854, Republicans have supported “We the People,” not “We the Government.”
Landlords cited for trespass / Suckerpunched outside bar / DUI causes power outage
It’s not just storms and cyberattacks that cause blackouts. Sometimes it’s just a drunk teenager.
On Mt. Philo, winter a time for restoration
The quiet winter months are a perfect time for restoration of trails and steps at popular Mt. Philo in Charlotte.
Letter: Senators, veto 16-17 year old voting
Supporters of 16-17 year old voting should follow the science, a Ph.D. says.
Fernandez: No media coverage, but the Israel-Palestine conflict still rages
While Russia is portrayed as the vicious predator over a smaller state, the liberal media consistently portrays the small Jewish state of Israel as the unjust regime.
Evslin: We cannot afford for Ukraine to lose
Evslin on how to defeat Putin.
Vermont officials highlight White House warning on Russian cyberattack
The White is warning state governments and industry against a possible Russian cyberattack. The State of Vermont’s chief information officer wants people to take it seriously.
Veto Update: Gun control no, 50% land conservation maybe, contractor & rental registries yes
Don’t expect a veto on S4, the gun control bill. But that bill turning half of Vermont into an ecological preserve? Gov. Scott has his eye on that one.
Water Cooler: Housing stalemate, chip shortage
Vermont media headlines show Gov. Scott squared off against legislative leadership over solutions to Vermont’s worsening housing shortage.
The Babylon Bee’s Man of the Year is Rachel Levine
Read the ‘Man of the Year’ post that (finally) got fake news satire website Babylon Bee kicked off of Twitter.
Is the Electric Vehicle for you?
EVs require nickel produced in a Siberian slave labor camp and lithium mined from polluting Tibetan mines. Still feeling virtuous about buying one?
Sanders names names on corporate greed
While the world complains about Russian oligarchs, Bernie Sanders is crying ‘outrage’ on their American brethren.
10,000 VT households get extra $350 for fuel
Given high oil and kerosene prices, a one-time $350 benefit will be paid Vermonters already receiving fuel assistance.
Libertoff: Montpelier’s March madness
“You are crazy,” said my partner with an emphasis on “crazy.” It probably never occurred to her that we were scheduled to play Julio’s Restaurant, the team that shared first place in league play.
Former UVM ER doc sentenced for child porn
Eike Blohm’s federal sentence of 100 months will run concurrently with the 80-to-82-month sentence of imprisonment Blohm received in Vermont state court as a result of his guilty pleas to lewd and lascivious conduct and voyeurism.
VT Digger admits mistake in $1000 advertising donation to pro-abortion group
VT Digger donated $1000 in pro-Prop 5 advertising the day before the Vermont House approved the constitutional amendment protecting unrestricted access to abortion.
Water Cooler: No free lunch in Brattleboro, NH birds euthanized due to avian flu
It will be pot luck or no luck at all for hungry Brattleboro town meeting representatives.
Senate skips Brattleboro teen voting veto
Gov. Phil Scott may have the Senate votes to make his veto of teenage voting stick – at least for today.
Teenage girls missing / suicide in Bradford
Two Manchester girls have been missing since Saturday.
Parents’ rights key issue in Essex school board race
Two serving military men with different views on parents’ rights and school choice are running for one open seat on the Essex-Westford school board.
Dame: Pretending crime doesn’t exist
Over the past two years Democrats in Montpelier and Washington have tried to ‘reduce crime’ by making fewer things a crime!
Klar: Agricultural reset begins with food, famine, and fear
Food security will be the future battleground in America. Gun owners will surrender their weapons with a food buy-back plan.
Burlington leaders agree on short term rentals, create homeless pod ‘community’
The Homeless Pods are coming to Burlington – up to 30 climate-controlled shelters, on Elmwood Avenue.
Online crime against Vermont kids jumps 20% in 2021
During 2021, the first full year of the pandemic, reported online crime against kids increased 20%.
Leahy: Supreme Court nominee “writing a new page in the history of America”
KBJ isn’t ‘soft on crime,’ former Chittenden County prosecutor Patrick Leahy scoffs.
Bill expands role of State House art committee
Legislation approved by the Senate and now in the House would expand the role of a State House artwork advisory committee.
Scott, Senate in veto knife fight
Gov. Phil Scott and Senate President Becca Balint are both determined to win upcoming veto battles in the Vermont Senate. Vermonters who want to be more than spectators are calling their senators.
Water Cooler: U.S. alcohol deaths up 25% during lockdowns / gas inflation challenges VT businesses
What happens when you shut down AA? When you force alcoholics to stay at home but ensure that the liquor stores stay open?
‘Big tent’ philosophy rules in GOP platform vote Saturday
Despite a spirited challenge by Jim Sexton and many supporters, a rule change to require candidate conformity to the party platform failed by a 2-1 vote.
House votes to conserve 1/2 of VT land, raise heating costs, reduce criminal sentences
The Democratic majority in the Vermont House last week passed bills making heating fuel more expensive, crime less punishable, and property rights and development more difficult.
‘Doctor-Prescribed Death’ safeguard elimination to get House review
Patient safeguards included in the original ‘Doctor-Prescribed Death’ law in 2013 are no longer deemed necessary.
Klar: ‘Climate salvation fantasy’ H606 would make 50% of VT an ecological reserve
A recent Vermont legislative initiative purports to save the planet…. by “conserving” fifty percent of all Vermont territory for wildlife by 2050!
Justice Clarence Thomas hospitalized with flu symptoms
Justice Thomas was diagnosed with an infection. He is recovering and is expected to be released in a day or two.
Evslin: Legislature’s zeal for higher energy prices ignores inflation, war
Tom Evslin thinks the Legislature should look $4.81/gallon home heating oil and declare ‘mission accomplished’ on their strenuous efforts to make fossil fuels more expensive.
Fatal fire victim ID’ed
The body found in a Cambridge fire last week has been identified.
Essex woman cited for shooting / Molotov cocktails found / sexual assault in Newbury
A months-long simmering disagreement erupted into gunfire in Essex.
Water Cooler: “Squad” staffer runs for U.S. House / Woman punches with brass knuckles
Hot headlines from the Vermont media include a former staffer for Ayana Pressley running for Congress in Vermont, and a Rutland woman allegedly committing assault with brass knuckles.
DNA source identified in Brianna Maitland case
DNA at the Brianna Maitland car site matches one of 11 ‘persons of interest.’
Replacement gun control bill passes House without veto-proof majority
In less than a week, the Vermont Legislature passed a gun control bill to replace S30. Will it too face a veto?
Desperate times…..
Orange Hair Intimidating?
Smokies stop 19 drivers for cellphone use
‘Hey honey, I’ll be home in 10 minutes….uh-oh….make that 20 minutes.’
Human remains found in Cambridge fire rubble
A body was found in the aftermath of a fire yesterday in Cambridge. Identity as yet unknown, police say.
Rep. Sally Achey: Clean Heat Standard designed to drive up heating bills
The objective of the Clean Heat Standard is to make using fossil fuels for home heating so prohibitively expensive that people give it up for other options.
Roper: Legislature ducks accountability for disastrous energy bill
Just like Act 46, the school merger law, the Clean Heat Standard shifts policy-making power to an unappointed board. If something goes wrong (again), will legislators just wring their hands (again)?
Kunin: “Politics has gotten nastier since I was in office”
Former Gov. Madeline Kunin is glad more women hold office than when she was governor. But they’re still not at 50%, she notes.
Big coke smuggler sentenced
A million-dollar cocaine smuggling deal was broken up by undercover DEA agents in Burlington.
House GOP: Lawmakers, not appointees, responsible to plan Clean Heat Standard
Once more the majority party of the Vermont House is letting appointees do the hard, unpopular work of implementing energy policy.
‘Old forest,’ teenage voting, household products disposal bills pass House last week
An anti-development forestry bill that didn’t go through the forestry committee and heard no testimony from landowners passed the House.
Canada lets vaxxed Canadians cross border
Vaccinated Canadian tourists may visit the U.S., the Canadian government has announced. This will make border towns and the tourist economy very happy, Gov. Phil Scott says.
ST J murder suspect arrested / Kitten neglected, not lost / Rte. 12 burglar on the lam
On the lam: suspected Rte. 12 Burglar. Arrested: Brooklyn man suspected of St. J murder. Neglected, not lost: kitten in Londonderry.
When Lake Champlain was known as ‘Irish Lake’
Between 1840 and 1860, a great wave of Irish immigrants washed up on the shores of Lake Champlain. So many, in fact, that Vermont’s inland sea has been nicknamed the Irish Lake, according to a presentation by Vermont’s pre-eminent historian of Irish-Americans in the Green Mountain State, Vince Feeney.
Vermont leads the way (?)
Once again Vermont is leading the way….or taking one for the team… or something.
Anti-fossil fuel Clean Heat Standard passes House
A bill to force conversion from fossil fuel heating passed the Vermont House yesterday.
EV’s awful, embedded environmental costs
Making a single EV auto battery requires 500,000 pounds of ore – including some mined by children in dangerous mines in the Congo.
Gun seizure violates ‘probable cause’ protection in Constitution
The Constitution allows property seizure based on ‘probable cause’ that a crime has been committed. S4, the gun seizure bill, fails that standard.
7.3 earthquake, blackout hit Japan coast
A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima in northern Japan on Wednesday evening, triggering a tsunami advisory and plunging more than 2 million homes in the Tokyo area into darkness.
Orange woman, pilot and hunter, celebrates 100 years
Anna Chandler of Orange, age 100, earned her commercial pilot’s license in 1967.
UVM: “Everywhere chemical” linked to childhood cancers
You may not be able to pronounce phthalates, but it’s everywhere and UVM researchers now link it to childhood cancers.
Republican Senate primary looms as West Pointer, career Army officer declares
Today, Gerald Malloy of Perkinsville officially announced his candidacy as a Republican for the open U.S. Senate seat.
Your Letters: Biden’s failed leadership / fixed-income sticker shock for heating fuel
The United States was once the leader of the free world. We’re now humiliated and ignored in just one year due to the election of Joe Biden as President.
High gas prices = ‘conservation’
Some legislators are okay with the high cost of gasoline because it promotes conservation. How about you?
Bill would prevent immigration busts at courthouses
A bill before the Vermont Senate would protect illegal immigrants from arrest while in a courthouse in support of a family or household member.
UVM lifts mask mandate
The University of Vermont will lift its mask mandate March 19.
Gas prices dip slightly, still over $4
Hopes for a resolution in Ukraine have led to a small drop in the cost of Vermont gasoline in the last two days. But unless you’re in spitting distance of Quebec AND New Hampshire, you’re still paying over $4, Gas Buddy says.
Water Cooler: Attack sub Vermont crew tours state / another Congress candidate / Spelling bee winner
Crew members of the latest USS Vermont naval vessel – an attack sub – toured Vermont and the State House today.
Gun bill now on House floor new threat to property rights, senator says
For the first time ever, Vermont law would allow the government to seize a citizen’s guns without notification. The bill passed the Senate and goes to the House floor tomorrow.
‘Racist, anti-immigrant?’ Former Montpelier chaplain’s wife born in Mexico
A volunteer police chaplain with extensive experience in dealing with mental illness and substance abuse crises was let go by Montpelier PD after three days. There’s no official reason why – but public comments take aim at his fulltime job as a Baptist pastor.
Election Stolen? Don’t believe Fauci? You’re the new DHS target
DHS Secretary Mayorkas has released new rules on “extremism.” The new guidelines on extremist behavior include those who question the fraud in the 2020 election and people who question the regime’s talking points on COVID and its treatments, including the mandates.
Morrisville child porn dealer sentenced / Criminal threatening against DCF / Fatal crash
A Morrisville man with the user name “IncestKyle” has been sentenced for distributing child pornography.
Georgia man charged with selling fentanyl in South Burlington
A state of Georgia man has been charged with selling fentanyl in South Burlington.
How did YOUR rep vote on Scott veto of 16-year-old voting age in Brattleboro?
Vermont House members overrode Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of Brattleboro’s charter change to allow teenagers to vote.
Water Cooler: Race for Secretary of State / skied down the wrong side of Mansfield / Welch has Covid
Secretary of State Jim Condos’ hand-picked successor will have competition in the 2022 election for Secretary of State.
At least he got the lollipop
Anthony Fauci is all in on all future Covid-19 injections.
Pfizer pushes Shot #4 – ‘not now,’ Scott, Levine say
Regardless of what Pfizer says, Vermont doesn’t need to push shot #4 now, the Scott administration says. But in the future? Time will tell.
Coyote, leghold trapping bills cross over, move to full Senate
With changes, bills restricting coyote hunting and leg hold trapping met the crossover deadline and will go to the full Senate. Same for bills on suing police, stopping development in 50% of all land area, and other ‘hot button’ issues.
BIPOC center opens today at former Johnson State College
Named for a sophomore who died in 2020, a resource center for BIPOC students opens today at Northern Vermont University in Johnson.
Rejected Barre votes transcribed by hand: questions raised, answers given
133 votes were rejected by the tabulator at the Barre City Meeting, Clerk Carolyn Dawes ordered them transcribed and tabulated. Former candidate Brian Judd asks penetrating questions about what happened and why.
Bananas: Fill out those brackets for this year’s anti-Christ
March madness is already here. Vegas odds on the identity of the Anti-Christ!
Kidnapped! Rescued! Remember Baker remembered
Famed Green Mountain Boy Remember Baker’s kidnapping and rescue will be celebrated in Arlington March 21.
Take down the feeders, here come the bears!
Hungry bears want to snack on your bird seed.
Woman wants her heroin back, goes for state trooper’s sidearm / Homeowner shoots possible invader
Note #1 to self: don’t leave heroin where police officer can see it. Note #2: when he takes the heroin, don’t try to take his gun.
Thayer: Parents stood up at Town Meeting
Do you know what is going on in your local schools? On your local schoolboards? In your local district’s administration offices? These courageous parent candidates did not either, until one day they started to listen, pay attention, and ask questions.
Vermont feeling wartime pain at the pump, at the store, and on the assembly line
Gasoline is just the most obvious commodity shortage affecting Vermont consumers and industry.
Jury trial change, senior tax exemption, cannabis regs, Clean Heat Standard, etc. survive Crossover
Civil trial lawyers love S178, allowing non-unanimous jury decisions. It and other better-known bills passed Crossover Friday. Part 1 today.
Montpelier nixes volunteer police chaplain
A local Baptist pastor with experience working with the mentally ill, substance abusers, and veterans won’t be the volunteer chaplain for Montpelier PD, after all.
Watercooler: Homeless pods in Burlington / UVM off to the Big Dance / microburst flattens Flatbread greenhouse / ferry prices up
Hot headlines from today’s Vermont media.
Spaulding and Montpelier square off at the Aud!
Being in “the Aud” for the big Montpelier-Spaulding semi-final last week brings it all back for a 1972 Northfield High cager.
Perrino plugs Nolan for Senate on Fox
One of America’s most savvy political analysts thinks 2022 might be the year for Republican Senate candidate Christina Nolan.
113 MPH on I-89 / Drunk hits police cruiser / Busted for two bank robberies
Teenager tops out at 113 MPH on I-89. 59-year-old woman U the I backs her car into a police cruiser. Police arrest Barre man for bank jobs in Essex and Burlington.
Condoms for kids now available in Vermont schools
Vermont public schools, in partnership with the largest abortion chain in America, must provide free condoms to students as young as 12 – even if their parents object.
Jericho woman met Mother Theresa in Calcutta, urges lawmaker to support unborn
Mother Teresa’s voice was soft as she spoke to us— I sat literally at her feet on the cool concrete and contemplated her gnarled hands and bare toes.
Obama tests positive for Covid
“Michelle and I are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted,” the former President said. “It’s a reminder to get vaccinated if you haven’t already, even as cases go down.”
Condos: Sunshine isn’t enough to combat election ‘myths’
Condos and Winters remind us that public faith in government has plummeted to its lowest level since the Nixon era.
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