South Burlington police on Wednesday night arrested Jane Palmer of Monkton at the Vermont Gas headquarters after Palmer — a landowner who lives along the route of a proposed, hotly debated pipeline that would carry natural gas to Addison County — refused to leave the building after business hours.

There wasn't any banner waving, sign toting or political theater at the afternoon's protest, as was the case in late May at a larger event; this time, it was just five women, knitting needles in hand, camped out in the lobby of the Swift Street business. They'd come requesting a meeting with Vermont Gas leaders to raise several concerns — among them alleged trespassing on the part of Vermont Gas employees on private property along the pipeline route.

The protestors — who included Palmer, Claire Broughton and Maren Vasatka of Monkton, Mary Martin of Cornwall and Rebecca Foster of Charlotte — also expressed deep frustration with the way Vermont Gas dealt with protestors in the past. They pointed to the charges of trespass leveled against Henry Harris, Will Bennington and Sara Mehalick after a May 27 protest. Vermont Gas alleged the protestors assaulted a company employee at the event; protestors maintain it was a peaceful undertaking.

Sitting in the gas company lobby, Palmer said she was "appalled and incensed" after watching one of the arraignments following that event, and in a statement the women accused the company of using "scare tactics" to fend off dissent.

"By over-prosecuting, by coming on so strong, it makes people people wary to get involved," said Foster. 

Chittenden County State's Attorney T.J. Donovan will not file charges against seven men arrested for allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover South Burlington police officer, and instead will require them to take a class on the ills of prostitution.

Of the seven men who went to a local motel after responding to a sex ad placed by South Burlington police, one man lost his job when word of his arrest spread, another was kicked out of his house and others been devastated by the public shaming, Donovan said.

The South Burlington Police Department issued a press release with mug shots, which garnered significant media attention after the misdemeanor arrests earlier this month.

None of the men had criminal records. They would have likely only paid fines had they been convicted, Donovan said.

"One of the purposes of sentencing is deterrence, and that purpose has already been achieved," Donovan said in an interview. "They have all been publicly shamed. What's more important is general deterrence. What best achieves that is educating these men that prostitution is complex, dangerous, violent against women — many are young, have issues, and are addicted to drugs."

Earlier this month, an undercover female officer from the South Burlington Police Department posted a notice on a website known to be used by prostitutes. Within six hours, 40 men had responded to the ad via email or phone, police said.

The men were arrested when they arrived for their liaisons at the Anchorage Inn. Only two of the seven men were from South Burlington. One came from Manchester, N.H.

The men will be charged if they don't complete the class, Donovan said. The class will be taught by Edith Klimoski, director of Give Way to Freedom, a foundation that supports victims of human trafficking and offers educational programs for the public.

Donovan said he has seen cases in recent months in which local teenage girls, hooked on drugs, have been working as prostitutes to support their habit.

"I'm trying to raise awareness that it's not just about sex," Donovan said. "You have to look at the context, and the context is the heroin epidemic in the state. We have 16, 17-year-olds prostituting themselves to feed their addiction. It provides us an opportunity to raise awareness of the larger issue here."

Anti-abortion protesters can now bring their message right up to Burlington's Planned Parenthood.

In response to last Thursday's Supreme Court ruling, Burlington city attorney Eileen Blackwood announced Wednesday that the city has stopped enforcing its buffer zone, which had prevented protestors from coming within 35 feet of reproductive health centers since 2012.

The Supreme Court decision struck down a similar law in Massachusetts, nullifying that state's 35-foot buffer zone on the basis that it violated protesters' free speech.

Blackwood noted in a statement that while the city has suspended the buffer zone, she's determined that the second piece of the ordinance, which prevents people from "knowingly obstructing, detaining, hindering, impeding, or blocking a person’s entry to or exit from such a facility" still stands. The city attorney said she'll ask the City Council to amend the city ordinance accordingly when it meets on July 14.

Dark-suited aides flanked the crowd at the University of Vermont’s Davis Center on Tuesday afternoon, and people scattered through the room waved posters reading “Save Our Internet.”

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) faced a panel of witnesses lined up to talk about the internet at a field hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The topic, specifically: “Preserving an Open Internet: Rules to Promote Competition and Protect Main Street Consumers.”

Ever since John Oliver begged people to care about net neutrality on late-night TV last month, the American public has obliged — at least, judging from the YouTube video, which has more than 4 million views. 

Leahy, too, has apparently obliged. On June 17th, he and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) introduced the bicameral Online Competition and Consumer Choice Act.

Local Boy Scouts won't be selling bottled water or volunteering on the clean-up crew for Montpelier's July 3 parade this year. The reason?

City councilors earlier this month balked at approving a vendor request for the Scouts, citing unease about the Boy Scouts of America's national membership policy banning gay and lesbian scout leaders from the organization. The council tabled what would have otherwise been a quick approval and invited the Scouts to return two weeks later to discuss the application.

The Scouts declined that invitation — and pulled their application to be a vendor at the parade. Now the group of Scouts, which included two troops and one co-ed "venturing crew," have decided against volunteering for the clean-up crew after the parade, too. The Scouts have been involved for the last three years, but after the city council kerfuffle, "we're going to steer clear of Montpelier for awhile," said Leslie Sanborn, a Barre resident and longtime volunteer with all three scouting groups. "It's left a very bad taste in our mouths."  

The Scouts aren't the only one who feel that way. Yesterday, Associated General Contractors of Vermont pulled its longstanding donation of safety vests and cones from the event, citing dissatisfaction with the city council's treatment of the Boy Scouts. Casella Waste Systems and the local sheriff stepped in with safety equipment to fill that gap. City councilors and other community volunteers are stepping up to fill the shoes left behind by the Scouts, said Ashley Witzenberger, the executive director of the event's organizer, Montpelier Alive.

"We're just trying to put on a really great day for the whole community," said Witzenberger, who expressed appreciation for the Scouts' hard work in the past and disappointment at the fall-out from the debate. The July 3 parade is the organization's largest event, and pulls more than 20,000 people to downtown Montpelier. 

Meanwhile, the back-and-forth has touched off angry phone calls to Montpelier Alive, comments of support to the city council member who raised objections to the Scouts' policy — and a flurry of letters to the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus. At the heart of the debate is this question: Just how much does a national policy barring openly gay Scout leaders matter on the ground in Vermont?