At a campaign event at Sweet Scoops in Barton last week, Governor Phil Scott joined Lt. Governor candidate John Rogers to endorse State Senate candidate Samuel Douglass and share their concerns about the current Democratic supermajority. 

Governor Scott and Rogers panned the 14% increase in property taxes, the 20% increase in DMV fees, and the proposed Clean Heat Standard. If enacted in 2025, the Clean Heat Standard may raise heating fuel costs to unaffordable levels. Both Governor Scott and John Rogers expressed strong support for Douglass.

“I want a Vermont where we raise families, not taxes – build homes, not bureaucracies – and have safe communities, not safe injection sites,” Douglass said – pointing out his opponent (Craftsbury incumbent Rep. Katherine Sims’) voting record. 

 Many of the 300 attendees waved Douglass for Senate rally signs: “Republicans for Common Sense”, “Democrats for Common Sense”, “Independents for Common Sense”, “Vermonters for Tax Reform”, “Vermont Problems Require Vermont Solutions”, and “Vermonters for Affordability”. 

Douglass donated funds raised at the event to the Northeast Kingdom Council on Aging’s Heating Fuel Fund and Friends for Life Dog Rescue. For more information email  contact@douglassforvt.com.

Big Boston paper highlights Vermont foliage

The Boston Globe has a roundup of recommended fall foliage destinations across New England.

Owl’s Head in Groton State Forest makes the cut, but so do a number of other prized spots in Vermont and New Hampshire. – Journal-Opinion

Leahy to lead U.S. – Vietnam discussion

In early 1975, a young Patrick Leahy, only recently elected to his first term as a United States senator from Vermont, cast a deciding vote on the Senate Armed Services Committee that helped effectively end funding of the U.S. war effort in Vietnam. 

Years later Leahy, who would go on to become the third-longest serving U.S. senator, worked with fellow senators John McCain and John Kerry, prominent veteran activists, and others to reopen U.S. relations with Vietnam. 

This long, intimate involvement with the U.S.-Vietnam relationship helps frame the two-day 2024 Leahy Public Policy Forum at the University of Vermont (UVM) that will examine many aspects of the Vietnam War, from the experience of those on the ground in Southeast Asia and the U.S. during the conflict, to current relations between the two countries.

Keynote lecture, Oct. 1: David Maraniss, author of the book They Marched into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967. Maraniss is an associate editor at the Washington Post and winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. The lecture will take place at 7 p.m. in Carpenter Auditorium in the Given Building.

Panel discussions, Oct. 2: With opening remarks by Senator Leahy and the Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, His Excellency Nguyen Quoc Dzung, the forum will present three panel discussions examining the experiences of those who fought in the war, or protested it, or worked to deal with problems and issues after the conflict. Each panel discussion will last one hour and take place sequentially, beginning at 8:45 a.m. in Waterman Building’s Memorial Lounge.

Consultant fined $6M over deepfake calls

The FCC has fined a political consultant behind the AI-generated deepfake calls that New Hampshire voters received ahead of the January presidential primary, the Journal-Opinion reports.

Steve Kramer, who was working for the Dean Phillips campaign, has been fined $6 million for violating the Truth in Caller ID Act, which bans spoofed calls made to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value, according to an FCC news release. The calls, featuring an AI-generated recorded voice sounding like President Biden, told voters to stay at home for the primary.

Kramer is also facing felony criminal charges for voter suppression in New Hampshire, including in Grafton County.

“It is imperative that state and federal elections remain free from unlawful interference. New Hampshire and its federal and state partners have shown that we are all similarly committed to protecting consumers and voters from harmful robocalls and voter suppression,” said New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella. “I expect that the FCC’s enforcement action will send a strong deterrent signal to anyone who might consider interfering with elections, whether through the use of unlawful robocalls, artificial intelligence, or any other means.”