Friday, January 30, 2015
Vermont's maybe-kinda-sorta presidential candidate is scheduled to hold a house party Saturday at a storied New Hampshire home in which a steady stream of would-be commanders-in-chief have spoken.
The Queen Anne Victorian, just a couple of streets away from the Statehouse in downtown Concord, was owned for years by Martin and Caroline Goss — the former Democratic mayor of Concord and the Republican House majority leader, respectively — who hosted presidential candidates of both parties. Five years ago, when they agreed to sell the house to liberal talk radio host Arnie Arnesen, the new owner says, she promised Martin Goss "this house would always be available to presidential candidates in waiting."
"Now that we're moving into the presidential campaign, it should be an open seat to both sides," she says.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Presidential Campaign , Arnie Arnesen , campaign trail , Image , Web Only
Susie Hudson, a Montpelier resident and longtime Vermont representative to the Republican National Committee, will join roughly 60 fellow RNC members on the nine-day tour, according to Israel's Haaretz newspaper. The trip was organized and sponsored by the American Renewal Project, an arm of the Mississippi-based American Family Association.
AFA has been called "extremist" and a "hate group" by the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center.
"Basically an offer was extended, from what I understand, to RNC members, political folks and members of the media to go on this trip to Israel," Hudson said Thursday. "We were just told it's being made possible by the American Renewal Project and the American Family Association."
The AFA, which says its mission is "to strengthen the moral foundations of American culture," has repeatedly denigrated gays, African Americans, Latinos, Muslims, Native Americans and other groups, according to SPLC research. Bryan Fischer, who served as AFA's spokesman and director of issue analysis for six years until he was demoted Wednesday, has blamed the Holocaust on gays.
Asked about the trip Thursday after blogger John Walters wrote about it on the Vermont Political Observer, Hudson said, "I mean, I know there's been some stuff that's been out in the press yesterday, but it's my understanding that there was an individual who made some inappropriate comments, and I certainly don't agree with them, and it's my understanding they are no longer with the organization."
Tags: Susie Hudson , Republican National Committee , Israel , American Family Association , American Renewal Project , Bryan Fischer , Vermont Republican Party , Image , Web Only
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Mayor Miro Weinberger went on the offensive today against Progressive Steve Goodkind during the first mayoral debate of the season.
Standing in WVMT-AM’s small, poster-plastered studio, the Democratic incumbent and his challenger traded barbs on everything from sidewalks to fighter jets on the boisterous "Charlie + Ernie + Lisa Show."
Though Weinberger is the incumbent, Goodkind, the city’s former public works director, spent more time defending his record. The other two candidates, independent Greg Guma and Libertarian Loyal Ploof, were not on the show.
The mayor was most acerbic on the subject of the Champlain Parkway, a four-decades-in-the-making road project intended to alleviate traffic in the city's South End. With a legal dispute resolved and an Act 250 permit in hand, Weinberger plans to reboot the long-stalled project.
Goodkind, who oversaw the project as public works director, has said he'd ditch most of it and would fix traffic problems through other means.
Tags: Burlington , Miro Weinberger , Steve Goodkind , Champlain Parkway , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Businesses, nonprofits and trade associations spent nearly $7.2 million lobbying Vermont lawmakers last year, according to a disclosure database finalized by the secretary of state's office Wednesday.
Those groups reported spending nearly $6.4 million of that cash directly compensating registered lobbyists — and the rest, roughly $787,000, on other lobbying-related expenditures, such as advertising campaigns.
Vermont's 443 registered lobbyists reported earning $7.2 million in compensation related to influence-peddling last year. The discrepancy is likely due to the fact that lobbyists and those who hire them report compensation figures separately to the secretary of state's office and may calculate them differently.
The totals do not include contributions to campaigns, political-action committees or political parties.
The majority of the money went to Vermont's 20 lobbying firms, which typically employ a stable of lobbyists and represent many clients. Those firms — and the 55 registered lobbyists who work for them — reported earning just more than $5 million in lobbying-related compensation last year. That figure does not include the money they make from unrelated services, such as legal work or public relations.
Tags: Vermont lobbying , disclosures , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Like a bunch of thirtysomething bros from Boston, members of the House General, Housing and Military Affairs Committee will make a pilgrimage to the Alchemist's Waterbury brewery Thursday morning to, um, do work and stuff.
"It's purely educational," insists Rep. Tom Stevens (D-Waterbury), who introduced himself at a Democratic caucus last December as "the representative from Heady Topper."
The committee's headed to the land of Heady primarily to tour a 27-unit affordable housing project. It's under construction in Waterbury on the site of a former state building badly damaged by Tropical Storm Irene. Then the eight House members will head north to the Alchemist.
"Given the portfolio of our committee and given the fact that we have so many new committee members, seeing this [project] in this stage will help our committee understand the benefits of affordable housing," says Stevens, the committee's vice chair. "Alcohol is also in our portfolio, so we decided we'll kill two birds with one stone and we'll visit the brewery."
Tags: Vermont House , Alchemist Brewery , Heady Topper , Tom Stevens , Image , Web Only
All it took to crank up turnout was a couple of gun bills on the legislature’s agenda. Dozens of gun owners, most of them clad in blaze orange, flannel and Carhartts, streamed into the Statehouse Tuesday afternoon to weigh in on the legislation.
“This year there’s more interest because of S.31,” said Evan Hughes, vice president of the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs.
He was referring to a bill introduced last week by Sens. John Campbell (D-Windsor), Phil Baruth (D-Chittenden) and Claire Ayer (D-Addison) that goes further than most proposals in a state where gun rights are fiercely guarded.
Tags: gun control , Vermont sportsmen , background checks , Peter Shumlin , Burlington , Image , Web Only
The candidate field has crystallized for what will be an unusually busy election season in Burlington.
Monday marked the deadline for candidates to deliver their signatures to City Hall.
As expected, there are four candidates for mayor: first-term Democratic incumbent Miro Weinberger, independent Greg Guma, Progressive Steve Goodkind and Libertarian Loyal Ploof.
In recent years, half the city council's 14 seats and the school board's 14 seats came up for grabs each Town Meeting Day. But this year, thanks to a recent round of redistricting, the entire slate is open. Four current councilors — Progressives Vince Brennan and Rachel Siegel, and Democrats Norm Blais and Bianka LeGrand — decided not to run for reelection, as previously reported.
Under the new system, the council and the school board will consist of 12 seats apiece.
Fifteen people are running for the school board. Ten are incumbents. Stepping down are Patrick Halladay, the current chair, Ben Truman, Alan Matson and Kevin Garrison.
Tags: Burlington , city council , Miro Weinberger , Image , Web Only
“Been there, done that,” Shumlin replied to a question at a news conference that covered a variety of topics.
Shumlin said that he used marijuana as a young adult, but found that as he got older and had more responsibilities, “It wasn’t much fun anymore.” The 58-year-old gov said a lot of people in his generation feel the same way.
Shumlin, who’s been a supporter of marijuana reform groups, has said he leans in favor of legalization but wants to wait for more information from the legalizations in Colorado and Washington before Vermont goes there.
Shumlin has declined to put a time frame to that.
A recent study on the impacts of legalization in Vermont was delivered by the RAND Corporation. The report estimated that Vermont could make $20 to $75 million a year from taxing pot, but did not make any recommendations.
Tags: Cannabeat , marijuana , marijuana legalization , Peter Shumlin , Image , Web Only
The House decided unanimously by voice vote Tuesday to advance a bill that would ban the sale of microbeads starting in 2018.
“This is the first step in what’s going to be a year in water,” said Rep. David Deen (D-Westminster), chair of the House Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources Committee.
Microbeads are used in products like facial scrubs and body washes, said Lori Fisher, executive director of the Lake Champlain Committee, which is advocating for the ban.
Because they are made from a toxic plastic, the beads pose a threat to aquatic life once they enter waterways, Fisher said.
Those who want to know if the products they use contain microbeads should look for the words polyethylene, polypropylene and polyolefin in the ingredients list, she said.
The House bill is up for another vote Wednesday before heading to the Senate. Illinois has banned microbeads and legislation is pending in other states.
Tags: Microbeads , Vermont House , David Deen , Lake Champlain , Image , Web Only
Monday, January 26, 2015
You piss off Lieutenant Dan. And nobody wants to piss off Lieutenant Dan.
That's exactly what former governor Howard Dean did Friday night when the discussion on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" turned to American Sniper, the Clint Eastwood action flick that brought in more than $200 million in its first 10 days in theaters. After Maher referred to the film's hero, Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, as a "psychopathic patriot," Dean said the host made "a very interesting point."
“There’s a lot of anger in this country, and the people who go see this movie are people who are very angry. And this guy basically says ‘I’m going to fight on your side,'" Dean said, referring to Kyle. "I bet you if you looked at a cross-section of the Tea Party and people who go to see this movie, there’s a lot of intersection.”
Tags: Gary Sinise , Howard Dean , American Sniper , Video , Image , Web Only