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There are 356 Government and Politics links for you to choose from!
Circumferential Highway opponents won a big victory in 2004
when a U.S. District Court judge said the proposal needed further study.
Friday, the same judge ruled the opponents must pay their own attorney fees from the complex litigation surrounding the Circ decision.
U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III said although his May 10, 2004, decision forced the new review, the Federal Highway Administration prevailed on most issues raised in the lawsuit by the environmental groups opposed to the Circ. The Circ opponents had sought to have the highway administration pay their legal bills connected to the case.
The Circ is a long-planned 16-mile ring road in suburban Chittenden County. A four-mile section in Essex opened in 1993, but otherwise the proposal has been bogged down in debate since at least the 1960s.
new
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Williston residents spoke out this weekend during a two-day forum
to outline what they think is important for their community.
The discussions ended with plans for more of the same. Residents whittled down brainstorming to five topics of importance for Williston: green initiatives, transportation issues, community gathering places, maintaining the town's rural character, and the need for social services and representative government.
The forum was organized by Williston Into Next Generations, or WING.
The gathering of thoughts and ideas from residents of all ages underscored the strong sense of community residents have. "The people here are dedicated to what it means to be from Williston. It's striking," said Delia Clark, WING facilitator.
During Saturday's day-long forum, the 70 residents who gathered at Williston Central School identified nine discussion issues, including community unity, maintenance of Williston's rural character and community gathering places.
new
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A shakeup in Burlington politics is in the making.
Mayor Peter Clavelle is running for re-election, but this time he will seek not only the Progressive Party's nomination, but the Democratic nomination as well. Two decades ago Clavelle renounced the Democratic party and joined the Progressives under then-mayor Bernie Sanders. In Burlington, the Progressives just about destroyed the local Democratic party.
Clavelle has occupied the mayor's office for twelve years, always elected as a Progressive. But he says he would not have won without support from Democrats.
Now several prominent Democrats, including former governors Phil Hoff and Madeleine Kunin, have endorsed him for the next election in March. The same Democrats have backed him before, but this time some are taking it one step further.
... Clavelle says others, some of whom may not want to go public with it right now, plan to back him for the city Democrats' mayoral nomination.
popular
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Above the Vermont Pub & Brewery in Burlington is the headquarters
for a presidential hopeful. Vermont Governor Howard Dean, just back from his 19th visit to neighboring New Hampshire, is carrying a television. It's something new in the Dean For America office that's otherwise stuffed with old furniture.
... Binders contain the names of contacts and connections across the country that are helping the doctor Governor. ... The candidate's office is the smallest. ... Dean started this run for the White House nearly a year ago. One day he is in Iowa. The next New Hampshire. ... The midterm elections were staggering to Democrats. With the Republicans controlling the White House, Senate and House. Dean says it's time for democrats to start acting like democrats. ... Dean says it was a mistake for Democrats to vote for the President's tax cuts. Dean says the money was needed for social programs. ... It's a policy Dean says should be based on balanced budgets, investments in children, health care for all and renewable energy.
popular
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ACERCA Plans to Protest Vermont Democratic Party
A representative from the Burlington area ACERCA office has informed the Burlington Web Magazine that their group plans to protest at the Burlington office of the Vermont Democratic Party on Monday, October 9 at 4:00 pm to deliver the following message to Al Gore: "No Blood for Oil! Save the U'wa Tribe." ACERCA stands for "Action for Community & Ecology in the Regions of Central America." Their office is located at 156 College Street in Burlington, VT.
popular
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BOTTLE AND BREW MARIJUANA TEA FOR CANCER PATIENTS
One member of the Burlington Fire Department explained to me that if MEDICAL MARIJUANA is passed, and that if patients grow their own marijuana at home, that he was VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE FIRE HAZARD OF "GROW LIGHTS". He stated to me that he knew of one death caused by "grow lights". St. Louis, Missouri was built on brewing and bottling beer. We could create jobs in HEALTH CARE, farming and brewing and bottling MARIJUANA TEA. By the way, I am running for governor again for 2004 and I welcome you to read my updated web page. I hope that you all ADD YOUR BUSINESS LINKS TO THE BOTTOM OF MY WEB PAGE, ESPECIALLY YOUNG ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS because I sent a check for . for on ad, one insertion, in small print under 'web pages' to THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER which has about 15 million readers. So, add your link and get some exposure! Sincerely, Cris Ericson 802/862-8015 http://www.webspawner.com/users/makemarijuanalegal
popular
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Dr. Howard Dean had two sudden drops in popularity.
The first drop came when Dean quietly encouraged the Vermont General Assembly to pass some sort of homosexual rights bill, which he quietly signed behind closed doors. The second sudden came during his bid for the U.S. White House, when Dean had managed to climb to the most popular nominee for the democratic party and managed to drop out within a few months.
popular
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Mayor Peter Clavelle
popular
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Polls show former Vermont Governor Howard Dean trailing
his closest rival Massachusetts Senator John Kerry in their quest to become the democratic party's nominee for president. But Dean is not discouraged by his second place status. He just raised .5 million in the last three months.
Dartmouth College Political Science professor Linda Fowler considers Dean a contender now that he's able to raise money.
... With money and momentum, Dean's now getting more scrunity in the press. After Dean's most recent hour-long appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, many columints took aim at his performance. A New York Daily news columinist calling it "perhaps the worst performance by a presidential candidate in the history of television". The Washington Post called Dean's answers "waffling and evasive." And the Dallas Morning News reported that "many top democrats" are worried a Dean nomination would produce an electoral wipeout of George McGovern and Walter Mondale dimensions.
popular
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Vermont Dads
is an organization that was started by a group of non-custodial fathers who are interested in ensuring the health and well-being of children caught in divorce.
Vermont Dads is a resource for fathers, mothers, grandparents, friends and other extended family.
Vermont Dads recognizes that there are few places for divorcing men and their families to turn for support. One of Vermont Dads goals is to give fathers and their families a place to turn for support.
Vermont Dads is an organization that promotes parental responsibility and believes that children benefit by having access to both parents and their extended families.
Vermont Dads promotes fathers in having a continuing role in their children's lives.
popular
Burlington Anti-War Coalition
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A deep chilliness has entered local politics,
though it might pass as quickly as the arctic winds blowing outside.
Sam Osborne, who heads Burlington Democrats, said Friday he is "unsettled" by Democratic State Auditor Elizabeth Ready's endorsement of Progressive Carina Driscoll over Democrat Gail Compton for the Ward 3 Council race. Ward 3 covers the downtown and the western section of the Old North End.
Driscoll is trying to hold Doug Dunbebin's seat for the Progressives against Compton's Democratic challenge.
... Osborne also expressed impatience with Mayor Peter Clavelle, who accepted endorsements for his seventh term from both Progressives and Democrats last month.
The state committee of the Progressives will meet today in Randolph to discuss a change in party bylaws that would sanction Clavelle's acceptance of both endorsements, but Osborne said he wants to know whether the Progressive mayor will support Democratic or Progressive candidates for the City Council.
Action for Social & Ecological Justice
is a liberal group with an office on Upper Church Street in Burlington. They endeaver advance and support the struggle for liberation from global inequality, injustice and ecological destruction and create opportunities for dialogue and spaces for transformation toward a socially, ecologically and economically just world.
We work toward this mission by:
* Improving the flow of information and analysis between and among social and ecological justice movements globally.
* Supporting, creating and enabling grassroots initiatives and campaigns that mobilize for social and ecological justice and reject the neoliberal model of economic globalization.
* Creating and participating in spaces for dialogue so that locally based initiatives may share their experiences and collaborate in their struggles to confront corporate globalization and create socially and ecologically just alternatives.
Click here to read more.
An environmental group said Monday that it has laid
the groundwork for a lawsuit against South Burlington property owners over Lake Champlain stormwater pollution.
The Conservation Law Foundation notified about 15 property owners of its intention to sue. The 60-day warning is required under law before the lawsuit is filed. The property owners operate businesses at or near the Kmart shopping plaza.
The CLF says the runoff, predominantly from the shopping center's parking lot, flows into the polluted Potash Brook nearby. The pollutants consist of metals, sediments and particularly phosphorus. The brook flushes the pollutants into Lake Champlain.
Robert Moore of the CLF said the upcoming lawsuit was borne of frustration.
Businesses have allowed the polluted stormwater to flow in violation of the federal Clean Water Act, he said. Moore said the Vermont regulators have not tried to force the property owners to obtain stormwater permits. Property owners have not investigated ways to prevent or clean stormwater, he said.
Bill Meub knew Congressman Sanders was holding a press conference
Monday morning. He used the opportunity to bring his debate requests to the Congressman, while the cameras were rolling.
"I have not been able to get any dialogue with Congressman Sanders," Meub said loudly. "It's time for a debate."
But Sanders argued this was not the time or place. "We have about six debates scheduled and this is not a debate," he said. "It's an embarrassment, we're talking here with the farm bureau about an agricultural crisis and you come barging in. You should really know better," Sanders told Meub.
Sanders says there are debates scheduled, but Meub says they aren't soon enough. "He hasn't agreed to any debates except for four small debates at the end of this campaign," Meub told reporters. "He owes it to Vermonters to debate the issues with me one on one."
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Burlington Anti-racism Coalition is asking Church Street
merchants and restaurants to sign a Statement of Goodwill that says "customers should not be targeted for special surveillance on the basis of their color, creed or national origin." The group says racial profiling is a problem.
... A quarter of the retailers have already agreed to sign on.
... But there are some businesses opposed to the measure. One store manager who declined to go on camera says those who refuse to sign will be labeled as racist. He also says he's never treated people differently based on race in the past, so why should he promise not to do so in the future?
"In the five years that I've been director, I'm a mayoral appointee, and I have yet to have a complaint about racial profiling," says Ron Redmond, Director of the Church Street Marketplace.
Redmond says the marketplace takes the issue of racism seriously. With more minorities moving to the Queen City, the marketplace will soon offer training and education for businesses.
Click here to read more.
Burlington Bicycle Council
works to promote the safe use of bicycles for transportation and recreation in Burlington, Vermont.
The Bike Council will make a good faith effort to represent the best interests of the bicycling community in Burlington when it makes recommendations to DPW and other city agencies.
The Bike Council wishes to act with forethought and planning, not just in reaction to requests for advice. Issues of concern to the Bike Council will be studied as far in advance as possible. This is true for projects proposed by the Bike Council as well as projects initiated by DPW and other agencies that will impact the biking community.
Click here to read more.
Burlington Business Association
is the voice of business in Burlington, Vermont. We advocate for business; we offer networking opportunities for our members; and we promote the economic vitality of Burlington. We are proud that our city is the cultural, social, political, economic and educational center of northwestern Vermont, and our mission is to assure that it continues to fill those roles. BBA is a non-profit business association founded in 1978. Our 200 plus members include both businesses and non-profit organizations. The majority are located in Burlington, but we also welcome members from outside the city who share our mission to promote the economic vitality of Burlington. We were originally named the Downtown Burlington Development Association, and the members were primarily from the retail sector in downtown Burlington. The name was changed in 1998 and today our members represent all sectors of the economy and all sections of the City. Our focus is on the economic well-being of all of Burlington.
Click here to read more.
Burlington GOP are planning to be More Competitive.
Burlington Republicans have been a small minority in this liberal-leaning city for a long time, but this year they're trying to field candidates for all seven council seats up for election on town meeting day in March.
So far they have five, including incumbent Republican Kevin Curley who's running for re-election in Ward Four in the city's new north end west of North Avenue. ... The Republicans have only two seats on the fourteen-member council in a city known as the peoples' republic since Bernie Sanders and his progressives changed the face of city politics in the early 1980s. They say they'll run as a team, on many of the same issues. ... The Republicans are backing a five-million dollar bond issue on the March ballot to pay for new fire engines, but haven't decided whether to support a five-cent tax increase.
Burlington Livable Community Project
is a ten-year endeavor initiated by AARP Vermont and the City of Burlington establishing a community-driven process for identifying and addressing resource needs as its residents grow older. During the past year, more than thirty stakeholder organizations and hundreds of residents have united to articulate a vision for how to make Burlington more livable for everyone but particularly for those 50 and older. Specific action items have been identified to:
Burlington Protesters Blame Israel,
in their weekly pickets on the Church Street Marketplace, for the escalating violence saying the Jewish state should remove its forces completely from the territories it captured during the 1967 war.
Mousa Ishaq, who co-chairs Burlington's sister city program with the dual cities of Bethlehem and Arad, said, "Again, when we say pull out, it really (means) pull out within a hundred meters of the city gates. It really has to be pull out to the pre-1967 borders. That's the solution. Pull out your settlements and your settlers and allow a viable Palestinian state to co-exist with the Israeli state."
Burlington Republicans chose a new city chairman Tuesday
night and selected City Council candidates for just three of the city's seven wards, but they deferred a decision on whether to mount a mayoral campaign.
About 25 party regulars showed up at 7 p.m. in the library at C.P. Smith Elementary School for the annual caucus, and the meeting adjourned almost precisely an hour later, having selected council candidates for wards 4, 5 and 7.
The caucus delegated the mayoral decision to a committee of four, who will decide "no later than Jan. 15" whether to field a candidate -- and if so, who -- to oppose incumbent Mayor Peter Clavelle, who won endorsements last month from both his own Progressive Party and from the Democrats.
James Barrett was selected unanimously as chairman to replace Scot Shumski, who resigned Monday to take a job in Philadelphia. Barrett told the small group that the "reawakened GOP will send a message that we are a viable and legitimate choice"....
Burlington Republicans won't have a mayoral candidate
in this year's election, City Chairman James Barrett said Wednesday.
The Republican decision means that Peter Clavelle, a Progressive, will run unopposed for his seventh term as mayor in March. In December, he received the endorsements of the Progressive and Democratic parties.
Barrett said the decision not to contest the mayor's race would allow the party to focus on the council races. Three Republicans have declared their candidacy:
-- Ward 4: Kurt Wright, a state representative and former city councilor, will supplant two-term Republican incumbent Gene Shaver as the candidate.
-- Ward 5: Newcomer Charity Tensel, 26, a UVM analytical math graduate, will face incumbent Progressive Richard Kemp and a Democrat in a three-way race.
-- Ward 7: Michael McGarghan, 35, a security professional and school board member, will face Democrat Jean O'Sullivan.
Barrett said Republicans may contest "one or two additional" wards. The final filing dates for candidacy is Jan. 27.
Burlington Vermont Business and Professional Women
was organized in 1949 for many reasons: passage of legislative issues for women, scholarships to women in financial need, recognition of the career achievements of young women, and involvement in the community.
Their Objectives include
Burlington, Vermont GOP
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Coalition for a Tobacco Free Vermont
promotes and assists in the implementation of policies and programs at the state, local, and national levels to reduce tobacco use and its impact on the health and economic well being of Vermonters. The Coalition operates under these guiding principles:
Community Justice Center
is a place where Burlington citizens learn about conflict resolution and develop the skills to resolve disputes, applying restorative justice principles, outside or in partnership with the traditional criminal and civil court process.
Restorative justice elevates the position of victims and the community in the justice process, allows for direct participation of community members in delivering justice, and holds offenders directly accountable to the victims and communities that have been harmed.
The CJC encourages citizens to set a standard for harmony and safety in their neighborhoods, and supports them in developing the skills and tools needed to achieve that standard.
Congressman Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, makes small talk
before the debate begins. But not with his Republican challenger, Bill Meub, who reviews his notes. The two men are joined by a third candidate, Progressive Jane Newton, for a debate at Vermont Public Radio.
It doesn't take long for the candidates to come out swinging. Well, Meub and Sanders anyway. Newton, for the most part, seemed to support the incumbent. The two men clashed on everything from the Iraqi War Resolution, to health care, to the Bush tax cuts.
... And once again Meub, who interrupted a press conference Sanders held last month for the same reason, called for more debates. That set off a spirited discussion.
"Would you agree to a debate with me hosted by WCAX and the Rutland Herald? And if not, why not?" Meub asked Sanders.
"Rather than debating how many debates we're going to have, we're here today. I'm here. Let's talk about the issues facing the state of Vermont," Sanders replied.
Click here to read more.
Conservation Law Foundation filed suit against Hannaford
Brothers, alleging the Maine-based grocery company continues to violate stormwater discharge laws at a South Burlington shopping center.
Hannaford Brothers owns the Kmart shopping plaza on Shelburne Road. Runoff from the shopping center's parking lot empties into polluted Potash Brook, a small tributary of Lake Champlain.
"We haven't seen Hannaford Brothers or other property owners take any interest in resolving this," said Robert Moore of the CLF.
Caren Epstein, spokesperson for Hannaford Brothers, blasted the CLF for what she said was a superficial lawsuit designed to gain attention rather than cleaning up the brook.
"This is more grandstanding by the CLF using their same tired, old tactics," Epstein said. "It's a shame the resources that should be directed to cleaning up the brook are instead going to be redirected to fighting needless and frivolous litigation."
Seven adjacent property owners to the shopping center are named as defendants in the suit,
Dean for American campaign estimates 5000 supporters showed
up for their leader's big announcement.
Although, Burlington police put that number closer to three thousand.
Nevertheless, that's a lot of people to jam into a half-block area at the corner of Church and Bank streets.
For an event of this magnitude with national coverage, security was light.
Tickets were easy to get and available at no charge.
"Anyone who asks for a ticket gets a ticket," said Susan Elliot of Dean for America. "We're asking for name and address and email information."
Aside from preventing signs and backpacks from being brought into the cordoned-off area, that's the only security measure put into place by the Dean camp.
Click here to read more.
Democratic candidate endorsed a Progressive candidate.
The Democratic Party candidate for Governor has officially endorsed a Progressive Party candidate in a Burlington City Council race.
Burlington's long-time Progressive Mayor, who is running as a Democrat for Governor, stirred up a controversy Saturday by snubbing a Democratic candidate to endorse a Progressive in a City Council race.
It is the latest chapter in a delicate political situation created last fall when Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle, a charter member of Vermont's Progressive Party, won and accepted the Democratic Party nomination for Governor.
Some Democrats feared that Clavelle's party loyalties would be divided. Those fears became reality in Burlington's Ward-3 City Council race that pits Democratic candidate Lynn Mesick against two-term Progressive Party incumbent Phil Fiermonte. Fiermonte is a close personal friend and key political ally of Peter Clavelle. Saturday afternoon Clavelle announced that he is backing Fiermonte .
Click here to read more.
Ed Flanagan spent more than 235-thousand dollars
in his unsuccessful bid to win the Democratic Party primary for state treasurer.
And of that amount Flanagan used almost 187-thousand dollars of his own money.
Flanagan lost in the primary election to Jeb Spaulding.
Spaulding will face Republican John LaBarge in the November general election.
Monday, 9/30/02
Ed Flanagan's campaign tactics have prompted some Democratic
office-holders to abandon their public neutrality in the party's Treasurer's race.
Attorney General William Sorrell... Auditor Elizabeth Ready... and Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz... ALL lined up this morning to support Jeb Spaulding in next Tuesday's primary contest. They say Flanagan's recent push-polling efforts... and distortion of Spaulding's record in campaign ads should not be rewarded by voters.
Deborah Markowitz, the Secretary of State said: "It hurts government. It hurts politics. It keeps our voters home when they see candidates using negative campaign tactics like we've seen from Ed Flanagan. There's no place in Vermont for those tactics. There's no place in Vermont for push-polls and distorting an opponent's record."
Shewent on to say: "The tactics are an indication of temperment and so as between Ed and Jeb... you know it really shows that maybe Ed is not the appropriate person to be treasurer"
Expressing Concerns About War
Few voters showed up for the primary election,
but those who did had definite ideas about who they wanted on the November ballot.
Each of the statewide primary races Tuesday was decided by a lopsided vote.
The closest one was the Republican contest for Congress and the winner still had 60 percent of the vote in a three-way race. Moderate William Meub won the Republican nomination to challenge Rep. Bernie Sanders.
Meub beat political newcomer Gregory Parke, who got about a quarter of the vote, and 2000 congressional nominee Karen Kerin, who got 17 percent.
Former state Sen. Jeb Spaulding took two-thirds of the vote in the Democratic primary for state treasurer, defeating former state Auditor Edward Flanagan, despite a bitter campaign of charges and countercharges.
Click here to read more.
Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean officially kicked off
his bid for the presidency in downtown Burlington today.
Dean was joined by friends and political allies, his wife and daughter, without his son, and up to 5,000 supporters.
Church Street was packed with blue "Dean for America" signs and banners.
Dean was introduced by Sen. Jim Jeffords, Sen. Patrick Leahy, Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle and a young supporter who moved to Burlington to work on the Dean campaign.
Sen. Jeffords told the group, "Howard Dean has followed in the Vermont tradition of free and independent thinking. We praise him for that. He does what his guts tell him is right, not what the polls tell him is popular."
Click here to read more.
Friends of Route 7 delayed start date of U.S. 7 construction.
Here is a good example of how a project or change wanted by most people in the area can be held up by a relatively small number of people.
A -million project to expand and widen a portion of Shelburne Road won court approval in December of 2001 over the objections of owners of businesses along the stretch. a judge ruled that state interests outweigh the commercial interests of local merchants.... Owners of businesses along the 3.1-mile section of Shelburne Road in South Burlington and Shelburne say the road needs work, but they oppose the plan to construct a raised median.
Then in July, Opponents of the planned reconstruction won the right to appeal the project's stormwater permit
Friends of Route 7 argued the state violated its own stormwater rules by issuing a permit to a project that would allow dirty water to run off Shelburne Road into several already polluted streams and into Lake Champlain.
Governor Howard Dean is hoping the good times keep rolling.
"You are unbelievable!" he told the crowd shortly after taking the podium at the intersection of Bank and Church Streets in Burlington.
With hundreds cheering him on, the former Vermont governor made it official.
"Today I announce that I am running for the presidency of the United States of America."
This was a good old-fashioned presidential political rally. Vermont's two United States Senators warmed up the crowd by criticizing the incumbent: George W. Bush.
... "Right now we have a President who thinks war will elect him President," said Senator James Jeffords, I-Vermont.
The war in Iraq helped Dean rally his troops. It gave the anti-war candidate a national stage when other Democratic candidates were supporting the President.
Click here to read more.
Green Mountain Animal Defenders
is a group of caring volunteers who are dedicated to ensuring the humane treatment of all animals.
We work to promote cruelty-free household and personal products, to protect the "environment" and speak out against all forms of animal abuse.
Click here to read more.
Habitat is seeking to skirt Act 250 for their housing project.
A nonprofit housing group hopes to build affordable homes in Burlington's New North End without going through the state environmental approval process.
Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity is appealing a ruling that would require it to obtain an Act 250 permit under Vermont's development control law. Habitat, working with the Burlington Housing Authority, wants to build four homes and two duplexes for sale to low-income families in 15 acres of woods at the end of Venus Avenue.
The project puts Habitat afoul of a rule requiring developers to obtain Act 250 permits when building more than 10 units in a 5-mile radius within five years, according to the District 4 Environmental Commission.
Filing for an Act 250 permit could add thousands of dollars and months, even years, to the project, said Burlington Housing Authority Director Paul Dettman. If Habitat obtains the permit, project opponents could appeal, tying up the development in court even longer, Dettman said.
Here is a sampling of how Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., voted
on some high-profile issues that came before the House during the past two years. The votes were compiled by Project Vote Smart, a nonpartisan voter education group, and confirmed by Sanders' office.
Click here to read more.
It was a war of words Thursday in downtown Burlington,
as sign-toting anti-war activists shared street corners with newspaper vending machines carrying the day's top headline: America has attacked Iraq.
One protestor told Channel 3, "I'm here to protest this war. It's not humane. We need to be out of Iraq now." As this protestor and her compatriots voiced their opinions, a handful of opponents labeled them "traitors." The Peace and Justice Center sponsored the day's event, which drew a crowd close to three-hundred. It was to take anti-war activists from the top of church street to Memorial Auditorium for a speak-out rally.
However, en route, the activists took a number of detours, shutting down city intersections. During one of their impromptu demonstrations, a protestor told Thurston, "[Despite the protests of millions], Bush still goes and attacks Iraq. Almost unilaterally. [Perennial ally] Canada isn't even with us on this one!"
Click here to read more.
It was in 2004 that former Vermont Governor Howard Dean made his rise
and fall in the presidential campaign. Now an independent film maker is putting the finishing touches on a movie that gives an inside look at Dean's political roller coaster ride.
... The movie captures the excitement of Dean's campaign and at the time, surprise among seasoned political reporters at his status as front runner.
The movie also documents Dean's downfall, not at the hands of President Bush, but his own fellow Democrats. Eiden said, "You know, you'd think that it was just the Republican party that saw this guy was such a winner and such a populist, that the people were really about to propel him into this contest against George Bush. But in fact, what happened was, it was his own party that took him out."
"Dean and Me" delivers on its billing as an inside look at Howard Dean's presidential campaign, which at least until the scream, changed the face of American politics.
Click here to read more.
Jan Backus Kicks Off Campaign For U.S. Senate
[BRATTLEBORO and WINOOSKI, VT] - US Senate Candidate and State Senator, Jan Backus celebrated her candidacy with supporters in each of two Senate districts she has represented during her ten-year legislative career. Both events highlighted her dedication to healthcare, to families, to seniors and to livable wages for all.
Click here to read more.
Jeffords & Sanders Debating Effectiveness Jeffords: Drug
Re-Importation
Plan implementable
U.S. Sen. Jim Jeffords, R - Vt., today released a legal analysis done at his request by lawyers at the nonpartisan American Law Division of the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The analysis shows the new Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) can implement Jeffords' Prescription Drug Re-importation plan that was passed into law last year.
While Sanders does not dispute this analysis, he pointed out that the memo does not address the real question: whether the bill that passed the Congress last year is so riddled with drug industry-backed loopholes that it will do any good even if the Secretary tries to implement it?
Just by their sheer numbers, they couldn't be missed.
Nearly 200 people showed up to protest the appearance of Vice President Richard Cheney at the Burlington Airport.
The group came out to voice their displeasure with the administrations push to invade Iraq. Rev. Gary Kowalski of the Unitarian Church of Burlington said "War on Iraq right now would be a tremendous mistake, war on Iraq would be attacking a country that's not currently threatening us, that's not currently threatening its neighbors, and that would be a violation of both moral law and international law."
Mark Floegel of Burlington said: "I watch the news and I get upset at what my government is doing, and so I heard that this was happening today so I wanted to come out and let people know that Vermonters don't support this, and I don't think Americans support what Cheney and Bush are doing. And that's why I decided to take some time off and come down here today."
Just three days before formally launching his Presidential
campaign, Howard Dean has suffered an embarrassing set-back. Dean's 17-year-old son has been implicated in a burglary. Police say Paul Dean has been cited into court for attempting to steal alcoholic beverages from the Burlington Country Club. It's a stunning development for the Dean campaign partly because Dean's son is a top student and athlete at Burlington High School.
"When you're 17 years old, you get to make bad decisions and this was one." That was the first statement from Howard Dean about his son Paul.
The picture Channel 3 News obtained of Paul Dean is from last year's Burlington High School year book. There are not many pictures of him because the media has respected the governor's request for privacy.
Click here to read more.
Lake Champlain Committee
(LCC) is the only citizens' group dedicated solely to protecting the natural resources and beauty of Lake Champlain and its surrounding watershed in the states of New York and Vermont and the province of Quebec. Through advocacy, education and scientific research, we take action towards:
Lake Champlain Land Trust
is a private, non-profit organization that permanently conserves Lake Champlain islands and shoreline. With the help of neighbors, communities, and Vermont foundations and businesses, we have conserved thousands of acres of public hiking trails, town beaches, and low impact natural areas. The stakes are high. As Vermonters, we appreciate that open space, public access, and habitat preservation are essential to the quality of all our lives. The land we conserve will remain forever open and free from development; it remains open to those who love the land, and to the wildlife that relies on it. We hope you will spend some time learning about us. Take a tour of some of the lands we've conserved, or contact us with your questions and comments.
Click here to read more.
More than half of the population old enough to vote in Vermont
went to the polls last week to pick a new governor and other state and local office holders.
The official count released Tuesday showed that 232,993 Vermonters voted, 51 percent of the 461,000 people older than age 18 and eligible to vote.
... Markowitz said the voter registration number is too big because town clerks aren't allowed to purge the names of chronic no-shows from their voter checklists until the individuals fail to vote in elections for four consecutive years. Clerks may remove names only if they have official information that residents have died or moved.
...
Despite aggressive efforts by the political parties to encourage early voting using absentee ballots, the number of voters who took advantage of the take-home ballots dropped compared with 2000. In this election, 15.2 percent of voters used early ballots compared with 19 percent two years ago.
More trouble for Intervale Compost
Compost piles, greenhouses and farm storage sheds in Burlington's low-lying Intervale appear to violate federal flood-plain management because they lie in a floodway, state regulators have warned the city.
The state gave the city an ultimatum in a Jan. 25 letter: Certify by March 14 that these "floodway encroachments" will not increase water levels during a 100-year flood, or risk losing federally subsidized flood insurance.
Residents obtain access to the insurance when their community adopts and enforces flood-plain regulations that meet standards set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The letter represented another challenge to Intervale Compost Products by the state Agency of Natural Resources, which cited the operation last fall for improper management of runoff and failing to control gulls.
Click here to read more.
Native Forest Network
is a global autononomous collective of forest activists, indigenous peoples, conservation biologists and non-governmental organizations. It functions on a consensus basis, and is non-violent, non-hierarchical and non-patriarchal. Furthermore, it is non-discriminatory on grounds of race, gender, culture, class or species; whose mission is to protect the world's remaining native forest be they temperate or otherwise, to ensure they can survive, flourish and maintain their evolutionary potential.
Click here to read more.
Obscure Senator, Small State
is a story by U.S. Senator, James Jeffords of "what led to my difficult decision to leave the Republican Party and how that decision has influenced the political agenda on Capitol Hill. For the past 26 years in Congress I have been labeled many things, a moderate, a liberal, a maverick, an independent - and at least until May 24 of last year - always with the party affiliation 'Republican.'
I have always done what I believed was right for the nation and best for my constituents in Vermont, rather than toe the partisan party line. In a city that is known for its partisan rancor, I always sought to be a champion of consensus and bipartisanship.
Click here to read more.
Peace & Justice Center
is a Vermont-based non-profit, membership organization. Our mission is to work for the creation of a just, peaceful, and ecologically healthy world through education, advocacy, training, & non-violent activism. This is a liberal group based from a basement in Upper Church Street in Burlington, Vermont.
Click here to read more.
Peace activists need to unite and reach out to minorities
and the working poor to succeed in battling American imperialism and an ill-conceived war against Iraq, activists said at a conference Saturday in Burlington.
"Until we change the dynamic so the anti-war movement actually looks like this country, we're not going to change this country," said Rania Masri, director of the newly formed Southern Peace Research and Education Center in North Carolina, as she looked out on a mostly white audience at the Campus Center Theatre at the University of Vermont. About 125 people attended the pro-peace conference.
Most peace activists today are white and middle class, Masri said, but the movement must find ways to become more diverse and tap into the highly pro-peace sentiments of minorities and the poor.
Participants in the daylong conference attended workshops and panel discussions on topics such as the erosion of civil liberties since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks; how war affects women and workers;
Planned Parenthood of Northern New England
is the largest reproductive health care and sexuality education provider and advocate in northern New England.
PPNNE was founded in 1965 and now has 26 health centers across Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
Their Mission is
To provide, promote, and protect access to reproductive health care and sexuality education so that all people can make voluntary choices about their reproductive and sexual health.
Click here to read more.
Planned Parenthood says a minor shouldn't have to notify
her parents before obtaining an abortion. If she wants to participate in a Planned Parenthood poster contest, she must do so.
... The Planned Parenthood Federation of America is sponsoring an artwork and poster contest called "Roe at 30," observing the upcoming Jan. 22 anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.
Contest guidelines on a Planned Parenthood Web site invite participants to "submit an original piece of artwork or poster that celebrates 30 years of choice and illustrates the concept that 'behind every choice is a story.'"
The Web site's "terms and conditions" section contains this: "Children under age 18 must have a parent or legal guardian's permission to submit their designs and for us to publish it along with their name."
Vermont Right to Life has been fighting for a similar requirement on girls younger than 18 when they seek an abortion. Beerworth said 44 states had passed such laws, though some were tied up in court.
Planned Parenthood Strongly Opposes Ashcroft Nomination as Next Attorney Ge
Leaders of the world's largest and oldest voluntary family planning organization voiced their strong disapproval of George W. Bush's decision to nominate John Ashcroft as the nation's next Attorney General, saying that his appointment will be a major setback for abortion rights in America, not only over the next four years, but will threaten the health and lives of the next generation of American women. Bush's Ashcroft nomination shows that President-elect Bush is out of step liberals who believe in a woman's right to choose and do not believe government should interfere with personal childbearing decisions.
Click here to read more.
Politics is taking new lows.
Recent newsletters and e-mails from a conservative Political Action Committee (PACs) have been circulating that state, "because of the expected heavy voter turnout, Republicans should vote on Tuesday and Democrats on Wednesday." Liberal PACs have been putting out just the opposite notice: "Democrats vote Tuesday and Republicans vote on Wednesday." Both notices are lies. We are all supposed to vote on Tuesday.
Click here to read more.
Power boats taking show to Plattsburgh
The roar of power boats racing through Burlington's harbor has been moved out of earshot of residents who dreaded another
year of the spring event.
The event that brought about 4,000 spectators to the waterfront will be held this year in Plattsburgh, N.Y., far enough away that Burlington residents are unlikely to hear a sound. Race organizers thought the New York side of Lake Champlain would be a
less crowded place to put on the high-speed spectacle, said Larry Delia, general manager of WVNY-TV, which sponsors the races.
Boats ripped through the water inside Burlington's breakwater one rainy weekend last June. Thousands turned out despite the
poor weather, Delia said. Opponents complained that the races were too loud and disrupted residents, kayakers, canoeists,
beachgoers, ferry-riders and other users of the downtown waterfront. ... Opponents said the boats, could pollute Lake Champlain and endanger wildlife.
Protecting Vermont's waterways brought people out in the cold
Tuesday. The state's new storm water law is being challenged, even though it was heralded as a solution to allow development while protecting the "environment."
The Water Resources Board is considering an appeal from the Conservation Law Foundation and the Vermont Natural Resources Council. CLF and VNRC want the board to revoke storm water permits covering four watersheds: Morehouse, Englesby, Centennial, and Bartlett.
The new storm water law aimed to set tougher but predictable standards for developers. But the two environmental groups say it does not do enough to protect Vermont's waterways.
... Also on the tour are city planners. South Burlington also filed an appeal, instead of using the currently approved pond system to treat storm water. They want to be able to use alternative and cheaper treatments.
Click here to read more.
Public Campaign Financing Looks Like A Goner
If the legislature goes along, Vermont will abandon public campaign financing. Governor Howard Dean wants to pull over a million dollars out of the public financing fund and use it to balance the budget in tough economic times. Most Republicans have no problem with that, but it's raising complaints from the liberal wing. The Democrats were in control when Vermont's controversial campaign law was passed in 1997. But since a federal judge struck down campaign spending limits for candidates who don't take public financing, governor Howard Dean says the money has become nothing more than a vehicle for third party candidates, like Progressive Anthony Pollina, who got over 300-thousand dollars in public financing for his run for governor last year. ... most lawmakers appear ready to throw in the towel on public campaign financing, at least until the supreme court rules on Vermont's spending limits, possibly in another two years.
Purposely distorted polls
-- Our so called Friends of Thetford lied about allegations they put in all major newspapers about two weeks ago against Ruth Dwyer. On investigation a Thetford resident reported that a majority of the names on this list were not even residents of Thetford, VT. Many were under the required age to even vote as low as nine years of age, some were residents of New Hampshire, and one of the people lives in Canada, not even a U.S citizen, never mind being a Thetford, VT resident. Some of the people had just recently moved to Thetford within a year or two, so they would have no clue how Ruth was on the school board. This was verified by going to the Thetford town clerk and comparing "Friends of Thetford" names with the voter check list, very few names were on it!
Click here to read more.
Redistricting Controversy
The Apportionment Board was required to submit initial legislative districts on August 15, 2001. The final districting plan was required be approved late in the 2002 session.
Then the legislature was required to reject, approve or modify a plan proposed by an Apportionment Board -- historically they have rejected its plan. The board is advisory, and usually consists of five members; two are appointed by the governor from the major parties (those polling at least 25% in the last gubernatorial election), another two are selected by the major parties themselves, and a final member is appointed by the chief justice of the state Supreme Court who will serve as chair. If a third party candidate were to win more than 25%, then the Board would have seven members. The governor has veto power over the plan.
Well, how do you suppose the redistricting went this time?
Republican congressional candidate Bill Meub has accused Bernie
Sanders of ducking debates by running a "rose garden" strategy. But that changed on Tuesday, although it could hardly be called a face-off. Meub's first shot at Sanders was done over the phone in a live radio debate. Sanders called in to the Mark Johnson show from Washington, because Congress is still in session.
Meub also chided Sanders for his campaign warchest -- nearly -thousand dollars cash on hand as of the last federal repoting period in late August. By contrast, Meub had only 75-hundred dollars available. ... Meub has failed to attract national party money, and probably won't unless his campaign picks up in the polls. The debates may give him a chance. Seven more are scheduled, but only two of those will be broadcast live, one of them on Vermont Public Radio next week -- although Sanders may bow out if Congress is still in session. VPR penciled in a backup debate for the following week if Sanders is delayed by events in Washington.
Click here to read more.
Residents against what many termed a war of aggression
against Iraq filled Contois Auditorium at City Hall to talk to each other Thursday evening.
The group of about 125 was diverse: elderly, college-age, and in-between; some with personal memories of World War II or the war in Vietnam, and some too young to recall clearly the Gulf War in 1991.
Latecomers lined the wall at the rear of the auditorium.
The meeting was endorsed by a coalition of anti-war groups and co-sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee and the Peace and Justice Center.
Many of the speakers argued that the Bush administration has not made a compelling case for war or justified the destruction war would bring to Iraq, even as the U.S. military buildup continues in the Persian Gulf.
Saturday's Noon Peace March
Despite the lack of permit and accompanying police presence, more than 50 people marched today from the top of Church Street, down Church to Main, down Main to Battery, and up through Battery Park to the concert shell. We carried several dozen signs, and received probably 80% support from all who responded to our pleas for peace. We sang some lovely songs of peace, and our collective energies made this cold, blustery afternoon brighter and warmer. Many thanks to all who joined this effort. I anticipate and hope that the Montpelier rally was equally successful and harmonious, likely in greater numbers.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. and Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
both said Wednesday they will vote against resolutions giving the president authority to use military force to topple Saddam Hussein.
In a speech on the Senate floor, Leahy said, "authorizing a United States attack to overthrow another government, while negotiations at the United Nations are on-going and before exhausting other options, could damage our standing in the world as a country that recognizes the importance of international solutions."
Late Wednesday night, Sanders got his opportunity on the House floor. He listed five reasons why he cannot support the resolution, including concerns.that a unilateral invasion could set a bad international precedent. ...
Sen. Jim Jeffords, I-Vt., also plans to vote no when the Iraq resolutions come up for a vote on Thursday or Friday.
Click here to read more.
Smoking could be banned from 385 bars and eateries in Vermont
under a bill to be introduced in the Legislature next month.
Smoking is already banned in Vermont restaurants. The tightened regulations would apply to those establishments that hold cabaret licenses. By Vermont law, a cabaret is a business that brings in more money with alcohol sales and entertainment than with food sales.
California and Delaware have already banned smoking in bars; as have cities as large as New York and Boston. The Coalition for a Tobacco Free Vermont hopes to convince lawmakers to close a loophole in the 1993 Vermont Clean Indoor Air Act that permits smoking in bars.
The coalition, made up of 40 member organizations including Fletcher Allen Health Care and the American Lung Association of Vermont, has been lobbying in Montpelier and expects to see the bill introduced after the Legislature returns Jan. 8.
Some Burlington residents who have requested absentee ballots
find their mailboxes full of campaign literature the same day their ballots arrive. That's no coincidence.
Candidates running for office in this fall's election have been going to the Burlington City Clerk's Office in the afternoons to pick up lists of voters who requested absentee ballots that day, said Jo LaMarche, assistant city clerk. The list is public record, she said, and enables candidates to send out fliers and post cards the same day the clerk sends out ballots.
Such is the state of elections as more Vermonters choose to vote early.
The proliferation of early voting has changed a few things about elections, from campaign strategy to the cost of running and election to the tradition of American democracy.
Candidates try to target voters who might cast their ballots as much as a month before Election Day. Cities and towns pay for postage on absentee ballots. Campaigns cost more and start earlier.
Some war demonstrators are starting to turn violent.
Normally, uniformed guard members draw little attention, but since the Iraq War started last week, some soldiers say their uniform has made them a target.
... The most disturbing complaint came last Friday, the day of an anti-wars protest in Montpelier. A female sergeant claims she was confronted by teenagers outside a convenience store near Plainfield.
The soldier does not want to be identified. Lt. Col. Scott Stirewalt is director of security of the Vermont National Guard. He speaks of the incident:
"And as she was walking to her car, there were various profanities directed in her direction, along the line of 'profanity murderer, profanity baby killer', and then it culminated with some of the individuals threw rocks at her and as testament to her discipline professionalism she got in her car and left the area."
Click here to read more.
State House races typically turn on how well- known a particular
candidate is and less on an overarching statewide theme.
This year, as two years ago, voters are hearing a cohesive message from both Republican and Democratic candidates. About the only difference is the issue. In 2000 it was civil unions. This time it's jobs.
Both parties are banking on voter concern about their own personal finances as well as those of the state to help boost their fortunes. Republicans are keen on maintaining their majority in the House. Democrats are hoping to regain control.
So, although House races tend to be barometers less of statewide trends than of local issues, both parties are encouraging their candidates to hammer away at economic themes that resonate with voters.
Republicans believe the issue will benefit them because they largely blame Democratic Gov. Howard Dean's administration for the poor economy and the exodus of jobs. They think voters will tar all Democrats with a poor record on the economy.
State-wide Rally Against The War
Vermonters will converge on City Hall Park in Burlington on Saturday, December 1 to call for an end to the bombing and the war in Afghanistan. It will be a celebration of life, in contrast to carpet bombing and cluster bombing inflicting misery on millions of people in Afghan towns and cities. "This war is the latest installment of the war on the environment, the poor and indigenous peoples, that has been taking place for centuries," said Anne Petermann, Development Coordinator of ACERCA, one of the sponsoring organizations.
Click here to read more.
The Anti-war voice was heard around Vermont this weekend.
Hundreds of Vermonters took to the streets in at least nine cities and towns Saturday to protest issues including the U.S. war on
terrorism, Israel's military offensive against the Palestinians, capitalism, imperialism and corporations.
The demonstrators also advocated a "new world" based on peace, justice and international law. ... In Burlington, about 150 demonstrators gathered at the Unitarian Universalist Church at the top of Church Street at about 11:30 a.m. for a rally. About noon, the protesters marched down the street to The Burlington Free Press, which the demonstrators said is an example of corporate media that refuse to portray accurately pro-peace issues and the human toll taken by the U.S. war on terror and by Israel.
The demonstrators then marched back up Church Street to the Federal Building, where they rallied before returning to the church for more speakers and a moment of silence.
The crowds that marched on Montpelier and taunted political candidates
have fallen silent. The phrase "civil unions" has rarely been heard in campaign 2002.
Two years ago, passage of the civil unions law -- giving gay couples the same rights as married couples -- ignited a rebellion among conservative Vermonters whose votes swept Republicans into control of the Vermont House.
Today, "I'm hearing absolutely nothing about it," said M. Dickey Drysdale, editor of the Herald of Randolph, a weekly in Orange County, epicenter of the Take Back Vermont movement. "I think it has gone away."
Activists on the right insist they are busily seeking ways to strengthen and broaden their movement for the long term.
... But as activists plan for the future, the Take Back Vermont movement has fragmented.
One organization urges an end to Democrats' power in Montpelier. Another calls for defeat of Republican candidates until they adopt "pro-family" positions.
The Dean campaign
- An ongoing lists of Burlington Free Press articles and editorials about Dean's race to become the next president of the United States.
Click here to read more.
Thirteen demonstrators were arrested and cited for trespassing
Friday at a Vermont Army National Guard recruiting office as dozens more protesters surrounded the building, opposing military recruiting in schools.
The protests grew from a campaign by students at Mount Mansfield Union High School in Jericho who object to military recruiters in their school and the requirement that high schools hand over student contact information to the recruiters.
Many of the protesters were taken to the Chittenden County Sheriff's Office, where they were to be processed and cited for trespassing Friday evening, Williston Police Chief James Dimmick said. Three juveniles were cited and released, he said.
The high school students organized Friday's demonstration, and other groups opposed to the war in Iraq joined the cause.
At mid-afternoon, groups of demonstrators showed up in front of the Williston Military Recruitment Office in Maple Tree Place, but personnel there were apparently aware of the upcoming protest and closed for the day.
Click here to read more.
This campaign season hasn't been kind to Vermont's environmental
permit system. Many candidates are saying businesses face too much red tape, and independent gubernatorial contender Cornelius "Con" Hogan has gone so far as to propose a radical overhaul of Vermont's landmark development review law, which was enacted 33 years ago to protect the state's rural landscape, air and water.
Against this backdrop, the state board that administers the law, Act 250, is proposing to eliminate the appeal avenue often used by environmental groups to influence proceedings and block or alter projects. Environmental Board hearings on the appeal change and 24 other rule revisions -- mostly minor -- start this week.
The atmosphere already is heating up.
... In the center of the impending storm sits Marcy Harding, Environmental Board chairwoman. The board believes the new rules would make the process more efficient and help ensure that appeals have merit, she said.
TONE, A Old North End citizens' group will monitor
the Burlington Police Department's follow-through to crime complaints in the crowded and diverse neighborhood.
The group, TONE, will collect residents' observations of drug activity, speeding and other kinds of illegal behavior on log sheets, record the data and forward the logs to the police, the group's steering committee decided this week. It will also use "incident reports" from residents to monitor police follow-through after they've answered a call.
... She said they would distribute the logs and incident report forms at TONE meetings and advertize them through fliers and brochures.
... Mesick says TONE, which has a police-donated office at the Storefront Center at 12 North St., is receiving complaints from Old North End residents who say nothing seems to happen after police officers take a report.
Much of the responsibility for improving conditions in the neighborhood, she acknowledges, rests with the residents.
Trimming the Bush -- Jeffords' Takes The Leap
-- Someone was able to step up and put the breaks on the Bush team's agenda. And it happened to be the least likely person: Senator Jim Jeffords. Al Gore couldn’t do it. Ralph Nader couldn’t do it. The entire Democratic Party couldn’t do it. But Vermont’s James Jeffords, the Republican-turned-Independent senator, has just delivered a deathly blow to the Bush administration’s momentum by abandoning the runaway Republican wagon and giving the control of the U.S. Senate to the Democrats.
Click here to read more.
Two U.S. congressmen urged Vermonters to organize and speak out
against war on Iraq at a peace conference Saturday at the University of Vermont's Ira Allen Chapel.
Hundreds of people attended the We the People Summit for Peace, which was held just a week after another peace conference at the university Sept. 21. Reps. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, addressed the gathering and stressed the need for individuals to protest the war.
"Clearly what this country should be doing is everything it can to prevent a war, not rushing into one," Sanders said. ... Kucinich, who has introduced a bill to create a Cabinet-level Department of Peace, said that people should call their congressmen and organize protests and demonstrations.
... Kucinich, who has introduced a bill to create a Cabinet-level Department of Peace, said that people should call their congressmen and organize protests and demonstrations.
U.S. Rep. Bernie Sanders said Tuesday he doesn't want to give
President Bush a "blank check" to attack Iraq. His Republican challenger said that was a sign Sanders doesn't trust the president.
"He distrusts the president, he distrusts the Defense Department, he distrusts the secretary of state and he even distrusts other members of Congress," Rutland lawyer William Meub said of Sanders.
The hour-long exchange came in a debate broadcast on "The Mark Johnson Show" on WKDR radio in Burlington and WDEV in Waterbury. The pair differed sharply on trade, tax policy and campaign fund-raising strategies.
Sanders said he strongly opposed the United States' going on its own in attacking Iraq, saying it would break apart the coalition the United States has built in its struggle against terrorism.
"If we go forward unilaterally I think there's going to be a massive amount of anti-American feeling throughout the world," said Sanders, an independent in his sixth term as Vermont's lone member of the U.S. House.
Vermont Anti-Draft Movement Takes Action
Currently in the U. S. House of Representatives there is a bill called H. R. 3598, The Universal Military Training and Service Act of 2001, which brings back the military draft for all males within the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 22. This bill was introduced by Mr. Smith of Michigan and Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania on December 20, 2001. Currently HR3598 is not receiving coverage in the commercial media.
On Saturday, February 2, 2002 a group of 20 individuals from Vermont and New Hampshire gathered in front of the City Hall in Burlington Vermont to demonstrate their opposition to HR3598. The group was eclectic, made up of pagan activists, anti-fascists, and others including high school and college students. They walked up the Church Street Marketplace which is a walking street, distributing leaflets, talking with passersby, and were filmed by the local ABC and NBC affiliates.
Vermont CARES'
mission is to improve the quality of life, create compassionate communities, and prevent the spread of HIV by working with people affected by HIV/AIDS as catalysts for social and individual change.
Vermont CARES provides supportive services to people living with HIV/AIDS, prevention education to people at risk of HIV/AIDS, and HIV/AIDS information, resources and community education across ten of the fourteen counties in Vermont. The main office is located in Burlington;
Click here to read more.
Vermont Forum on Sprawl
seeks to preserve Vermont's unique working landscape and quality of life while encouraging economic vitality in community centers. It is believed that this vision can be achieved by:
Vermont Rep. Bernie Sanders and challenger Bill Meub debated
face-to-face for the first time Tuesday night on Vermont Public Radio.
Liberty Union candidate Jane Newton also took part in the debate.
Meub questioned Sanders' choice of debate venues, alleging that the congressman favors those with little exposure. Sanders said that he would rather talk about issues than debates.
Concerning the war on terrorism, Meub said taxes may need to be increased. He said he believes Americans will step up to the plate.
Sanders said that Meub favors tax breaks for the rich. On the contrary, Sanders said he has led an effort to rescind the tax break, calling breaks for millionaires and billionaires obscene.
Sanders questioned why people would vote for Republicans, saying it would only produce a reactionary and conservative Congress. Meub countered that Sanders is not running against the party but against an individual.
On the role of a congressman, Sanders said he believes it is time to stand up for working people.
Click here to read more.
Vermont Workers' Center
is made up of hundreds of individuals and dozens of organizations (unions, churches, community groups, etc) and is dedicated to protecting and expanding the rights of all working Vermonters. By organizing rallies, public hearings, forums, publicizing peoples' stories, and taking direct action, we support workers throughout the state who are trying to improve their wages, benefits, rights on the job, working conditions and communities. ... The Vermont Workers' Center is a democratic, member-run organization dedicated to organizing for workers' rights and living wages for all Vermonters. We seek an economically just and democratic Vermont in which all residents have living wages, decent health care, childcare, housing and transportation. We work to build a democratic, diverse movement of working Vermonters that is locally focused and coordinated on a statewide basis. We work with organized labor in moving towards economic justice and in strengthening the right to organize.
Click here to read more.
Vermont's development review law, Act 250, has fueled
disagreements over growth and development since the law was enacted over thirty years ago. One project has simmered in controversy for half that long -- fifteen years -- and is still the subject of a legal dispute that will continue next week
Overlooking lake Champlain lies one of Burlington's oldest and most secluded neighborhoods, Starr Farm beach, a series of summer camps dating from a hundred years ago. "It all lends itself to very low traffic, very low impact," Starr Farm Beach Camp Owners' Association. president Bill Parkhill explained. On the other side of a row of trees, developer Frank von Turkovitch doggedly pursues plans to build 148 units of rental apartments and condominiums. Already, part of the site on nearly 41 acres of woods and meadowland has been cleared. Two groups of neighbors -- the Starr Farm Camp Owners' Association and Sunset Cliff Association -- will try to win a legal order to halt the work.
The opponents say it's not NIMBY -- not in my back yard
Click here to read more.
Vermont's most aggressive environmental group is taking on
the state's largest private employer. The Conservation Law Foundation accuses IBM of dumping toxic chemicals into the Winooski river.
... CLF's Robert Moore told a hearing of the Vermont department of environmental conservation. IBM is applying to renew a five-year permit covering all of its water discharges -- including water from manufacturing and storm water runoff.
The CLF says the state allows IBM to dump more than fifty tons of heavy metals into the Winooski river every year. That angers environmental activists who staged a press conference on the bank of the river. Joining the CLF were representatives of the Vermont Natural Resources Council, the Sierra Club and Vermonters for a Clean "Environment." Other groups supporting the effort include the Vermont Public Interest Research Group and the National Wildlife Federation.
Click here to read more.
What led to Senator Jim Jeffords difficult decision
to leave the Republican Party and how that decision has influenced the political agenda on Capitol Hill. For the past 26 years in Congress Jeffords has been labeled many things, a moderate, a liberal, a maverick, an independent - and at least until May 24 of last year - always with the party affiliation 'Republican.' Jeffords has always done what he believed was right for the nation and best for his constituents in Vermont, rather than toe the partisan party line. In a city that is known for its partisan rancor, Jeffords always sought to be a champion of consensus and bipartisanship.
Click here to read more.
When it comes to money, David is facing Goliath in the campaign
for Vermont's lone seat in the U.S. House.
The Republican challenger, Bill Meub of Rutland, has spent ,243 this year and owes ,682 more, most of it to his campaign consultant.
Meanwhile, Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has spent more than twice as much -- ,837 -- and still has ,810 in the bank.
Sanders is a six-term congressman who has built a national mailing list of about 15,000 names. Many of his contributions come from fund-raising appeals to those people and other national lists.
Since late August, Sanders has raised ,285. Meub has collected ,495.
... Meub has not received any money from the national GOP. He said fund raising has been more difficult since a poll shortly after his September primary victory showed Sanders with a commanding lead.
With war against Iraq considered all but inevitable,
several Vermont groups devoted to non-violence held a Summit For Peace where several hundred people heard an unconventional proposal for a federal department of Peace.
Congressman Bernie Sanders brought in a fellow member of the Progressive Caucus, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), who introduced the proposal as legislation in July 2001. Both representatives worry that an American "pre-emtive" war will start even more trouble. He told the crowd that gathered at Ira Allen Chapel at the University of Vermont, "Already we are hearing the president of Russia using exactly the same language as president Bush in saying, 'We're going to go into Georgia to get the rebels that we consider terrorists.' And what we could unleash in that entire process is international anarchy where any country that feels it has the right to go to war will do so." Sanders used a Chinese invasion of Taiwan as another example, and said war could inflame even further the Palestianian-Israeli conflict.
Click here to read more.
Witness for Peace, New England
is a regional association whose mission is to support and carry out the work of national Witness for Peace, a politically independent, grass-roots organization committed to non-violence and led by faith and conscience. As a grass-roots movement Witness for Peace, New England seeks to raise awareness of and give testimony to violations of human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean and to advocate for U.S. economic and social policies that support these basic rights.
Click here to read more.
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