Burlington police charged a member of the now-defunct psychedelic-pop band Madaila with twice vandalizing the controversial “Everyone Loves a Parade!” mural in October.

Eric Maier, 32, faces a felony and misdemeanor charge of unlawful mischief; he’s due in court next week. Cops also cited Margaux Higgins, 21, as an accessory to the crime.

Police believe Maier spray painted the word “Colonizers” across the public art on October 19. Then on Halloween, police say, Maier used a solvent to remove the faces of the white people leading the parade depicted in the 124-foot-long mural and spray painted pink dollar signs in their places.

“Damage is estimated at $5,000 to $10,000 and may not be repairable,” Burlington police Det. Thomas Chenette wrote in a press release Friday announcing the arrests.

Lawyer Jared Carter will make a bid to represent the Old North End on the Burlington City Council.

Carter will seek both the Progressive and the Democratic nominations in his run for the Central District seat, he said in his campaign announcement Thursday. He's contending for one of four council seats up for grabs on Town Meeting Day in March.

Carter is hoping to unseat longtime incumbent Councilor Jane Knodell (P-Central District), who has served for nearly 20 years on the council, including two stints as its president.

Updated at 6:37 p.m.

Gov. Phil Scott on Thursday brushed off allegations that the Vermont National Guard is plagued by a culture of sexual impropriety and alcohol abuse, referring to recently reported incidents as the actions of “an occasional bad apple.”

During a press conference at the Guard’s Colchester headquarters, Scott expressed full support for the organization and its leader, Maj. Gen. Steven Cray. Though the governor admitted that reporting by VTDigger.org had brought new allegations to light, he said he saw “no reason to go through an independent review.”

“I want to be very clear,” Scott said, as Cray stood behind him. “My faith and confidence in the women and men of the Vermont National Guard is unwavering.”

The two men, joined by dozens of Guard members, spent roughly 45 minutes addressing allegations raised in a seven-part series VTDigger published last week. The stories described a hard-partying, misogynistic organization that failed to address alleged sexual misconduct and retaliated against a whistleblower.

According to Cray, that portrait was flawed. “I vehemently disagree with and dispute the negative characterizations of our members and our culture in recent media coverage,” the adjutant general said.

The Vermont gasoline company at the center of a three-year-old price-fixing lawsuit is seeking to depose a spokesperson for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and obtain documents from the senator's office.

The company, R.L. Vallee, subpoenaed Sanders aide Daniel McLean last month and demanded a wide range of internal communications — some pertaining to the lawsuit and others to political matters.

In a response last Thursday in U.S. District Court, the senator's office argued that federal employees such as McLean could not be subpoenaed in their official capacities and that the company's request was an overbroad "fishing expedition."

The competing motions reignite a long-simmering feud between Sanders and R.L. Vallee's CEO, Rodolphe "Skip" Vallee, a former U.S. ambassador and Vermont Republican Party official. The senator and his staff have accused Vallee of "ripping off consumers" and being a "junior varsity version of the Koch brothers." Vallee, in turn, has run television advertisements accusing Sanders' wife, Jane O'Meara Sanders, of wrongdoing and publicly contemplated running against the senator.

Indeed, among the documents Vallee's company is seeking, according to the subpoena, are those pertaining to "the possible 2012 or 2018 United States Senate candidacy" of Vallee or former Republican governor Jim Douglas — including communications with O'Meara Sanders.