Monday, October 26, 2015
Seven years ago, a 22-year-old California native named Kesha Ram sought a seat in the Vermont House just months after graduating from the University of Vermont.
"Right out of the gate, I was underestimated," Ram said Monday evening, speaking to supporters at Burlington's Main Street Landing. "I was called a kitten with lipstick. And I, a young woman fresh out of college, was asked: What could I possibly bring to the table?"
Evidently, some political skills. In a hotly contested race in Burlington's Old North End, the Democratic novice defeated Progressive incumbent Chris Pearson, becoming the youngest member of the legislature in 2009. (Ram didn’t identify the author of the “kitten” comment in her speech, but she later said it was an anonymous commenter on a news website.)
"We showed our opponents that this kitten with lipstick could win a House seat," Ram said as she prepared to launch her next big political campaign. "Now, as I travel around the state and stand before you, I am humbled and honored to announce my candidacy to be Vermont's next lieutenant governor."
Ram, who revealed two weeks ago that she'd seek the state's No. 2 job, was the first in the race to hold a formal campaign kickoff. Marlboro Democrat Brandon Riker has been campaigning for the post since last spring, while former state auditor and senator Randy Brock, a Swanton Republican, jumped into the race early this month. Others, such as Sen. Phil Baruth (D-Chittenden), Sen. David Zuckerman (P/D-Chittenden) and Sen. Joe Benning (R-Caledonia), are also considering running.
Tags: Kesha Ram , Vermont lieutenant governor , Image , Web Only
A group of artists and small-business owners fought back forcefully against the proposal, arguing that housing would make artist studios and commercial space unaffordable, and new residents would prove incompatible with nearby businesses.
“It has been loud and it has been constant,” said Democratic Councilor Chip Mason, of the dissent. Mason represents Ward 5, which includes the area under debate.
Although the vote was unanimous, the council didn’t offer wholehearted support for the opponents’ argument per se. The resolution it passed said nothing about housing being a bad idea. Instead, it made the case that “opposition has diverted attention from the broader discussion of the future of the South End.” Mayor Miro Weinberger offered a similar explanation when he announced last month that he’d be withholding support for the proposal.
Tags: South End , Enterprise Zone , Burlington , Image , Web Only
In an email Monday, Sanders’ campaign asked New Hampshire supporters to snap selfies and upload them to the campaign website. If they are wearing Bernie gear, or their work uniform, all the better.
“We want Granite Staters who turn on the TV and hear about Bernie Sanders' campaign in New Hampshire to see the real engine driving this movement,” Melissa Byrne, the campaign’s New Hampshire digital director, said in the email.
Last week, Sanders’ campaign strategist Tad Devine told Seven Days he expected Sanders would launch his first TV ads in November, though he wouldn’t say whether they would start in Iowa or New Hampshire, where Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton has run ads since August.
Noting Sanders’ $27 million cash on hand at the end of the last campaign finance filing deadline, Devine said: “I think everyone can see now that we have the resources to make those decisions and implement them.”
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Hillary Clinton , Presidential Campaign , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
“If they won’t listen to us, they need to see we won’t back down,” Kulsic said after returning from a trip to the Montpelier police station with a citation for disorderly conduct.
Kulsic was arrested along with two others, Crystal Zevon of West Barnet and Dave Przepioski of Craftsbury Common, shortly before 8 a.m. as they blocked employees from entering the front and back doors of the State Street building. The protest was the latest in opponents’ efforts to derail Vermont Gas Systems’ project to extend natural gas service from Colchester to Middlebury, and followed a weekend of activism in Montpelier.
Zevon, a longtime activist who said she’s been arrested in New York State, described this cuffing as remarkably polite. “They couldn’t have been more gentle,” she said. She said she considered getting arrested necessary. “If we don’t start doing drastic things, people don’t pay attention.”
Tags: Vermont Gas , Rising Tide Vermont , Image , Web Only
During a 25-minute address Saturday night at the Iowa Democratic Party's all-important Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Des Moines, the Vermont senator promised he would not "equivocate" as president and insinuated that Clinton would.
Bloomberg:
"I will govern based on principle, not poll numbers," Sanders said ... before detailing his staunch opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act, the Iraq war, and major trade agreements — all examples that highlight Clinton's shifting positions over the years. His attack echoed then-Senator Barack Obama’s assertion at the same dinner in 2007 that Democrats have "made the biggest difference in the lives of the American people when we led, not by polls, but by principle.”Sanders did not mention Clinton by name, but his target was clear. Speaking about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal Clinton recently joined him in opposing, Sanders said he had never viewed it as the "gold standard of trade agreements" — words she used to describe it in a memoir.
The Vermonter highlighted his vote against the Iraq War, which Clinton supported, and his opposition to two measures Clinton's husband, former president Bill Clinton, signed into law: the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and the 1999 repeal of Glass-Steagall Act banking regulations.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Presidential Campaign , Iowa , Jefferson-Jackson Dinner , Hillary Clinton , campaign trail , gun control , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
Friday, October 23, 2015
Theresa Wood, who ran for the state legislature five years ago as an independent, is the House’s newest Democratic member.
Gov. Peter Shumlin appointed Wood, 57, of Waterbury, on Thursday to replace Rebecca Ellis, who resigned in August to take a job with the Department of Environmental Conservation. Wood will represent Waterbury, Huntington, Buel's Gore and Bolton.
The local Democratic committee recommended three candidates: Wood; David Clark of Huntington and Amanda McKay of Bolton. Shumlin interviewed them and considered them all to be strong candidates, said his spokesman, Scott Coriell.
Tags: Vermont Legislature , Theresa Wood , Sue Minter , Rebecca Ellis , Image , Web Only
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Secretary of State Jim Condos unveiled a new online voter-registration site Thursday, which allows Vermonters to register to vote “while sitting around in your pajamas,” as one official put it.
Condos said the new system "will make it easier than ever for all eligible Vermonters to participate in our elections.” Vermont is the 26th state to offer online registration.
Vermont residents who are eligible to vote — U.S. citizens at least 18 years old — can also use the online system to submit a change of address or name change or to check whether and where they are already registered. Voters should find the online form more streamlined than the paper form the state uses, Condos said. The system also allows voters to make an online request for an early-voting ballot and to track that request.
Tags: Jim Condos , Peter Shumlin , Pew Charitable Trust , voter registration , Image , Web Only
The school board announced Wednesday night it will keep the nickname, saying the word can have positive meanings. Members said that the district cut any connection to symbols of the Confederacy two decades ago when it stopped flying confederate flags at sporting events and retired a Captain Dixie mascot.
All five members agreed. They directed the superintendent to discuss with administrators the idea of a steering committee to continue the dialogue of "reinforcing an inclusive school community," according to board chair Elizabeth Fitzgerald. "As always, we respect differing opinions," she said via email to Seven Days.
Critics said there is no way to sanitize the word and vowed to keep lobbying to retire the rebels, a Burlington Free Press video of the meeting shows.
Tags: South Burlington , rebels , race , Image , Web Only
Struggling to be heard over wailing sirens at the city's downtown fire station, the mayor said the program will provide "better to care to Burlingtonians" at a "very modest cost."
Paramedics have more training than EMTs — 1,600 hours are required, compared with 300 hours for advanced EMTs — and can administer roughly 20 medications that EMTs cannot. The Burlington Fire Department already has five paramedics on staff, and a sixth is close to getting certified; it plans to train three additional people at a cost of $3,200 per paramedic.
At the press conference, Weinberger was flanked by outgoing Fire Chief Seth Lasker and Dr. Michael Sheeser, an emergency room physician at the University of Vermont Medical Center.
Tags: Burlington Fire Department , paramedics , University of Vermont Medical Center , Image , Web Only
"You know, I'm looking at what's going on in Colorado and elsewhere," Sanders told talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. "But I am not unfavorably disposed to moving toward the legalization of marijuana."
The Vermont independent made the remark at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where the Los Angeles-based comedian has been taping ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" all week.
Sanders frequently talks about ending the so-called war on drugs. He supports legalizing medical marijuana and decriminalizing pot. During last week's Democratic presidential debate, he said that if he were a resident of Nevada, he "suspect[ed]" he would vote in favor of an upcoming ballot measure that would legalize it in the state. But Sanders has thus far refrained from issuing his full-throated support for nationwide legalization.
Tags: Bernie Sanders , Cannabeat , Jimmy Kimmel , marijuana legalization , Presidential Campaign , Senator , Recommended Reading , Image , Video , Web Only