As clouds scudded across Burlington's skies, about 50 activists gathered on Church Street Monday afternoon to "connect the dots" between weird weather and the fossil fuel industry.

The rally was sponsored by 350.org, a political-action group formed by Vermont author Bill McKibben to address climate change. About a dozen supporters of the movement stood on the steps of city hall holding signs with the logos of oil companies pasted at the center of the meteorological symbol of a hurricane.

The Burlington event took place the day after 350.org unfurled a giant circular banner in Times Square emblazoned with the demand to "End Climate Silence." The New York action was organized on the eve of the onslaught of Hurricane Sandy, described as the largest Atlantic storm in recorded history ever to hit the northeastern United States.

Katherine Blume, a local leader of 350.org, told the Burlington crowd that Sandy is the newest dot in a series that includes record-high temperatures, "glaciers melting all over the world" and a growing death toll attributable to climate change. "We saw one of the dots last year with Irene and unprecedented flooding in Vermont," Blume declared. "Why aren't we hearing over and over in the media and in our schools that we're facing a planetary emergency called climate change?"

Here's what's happening in Vermont news and politics this week, the final one before Election Day. Note that schedules are subject to change due to the looming Frankenstorm.

Got a newsworthy event for next week's calendar? Email us by Friday to submit.

Monday, October 29

• Hurricane Sandy is forecast to slam into Vermont today, packing 50-mph winds and several inches of rain. So before you do anything, take down your political lawn signs!
• "Charlie, Ernie and Lisa" nab a pair of political guests this morning on WVMT 620 AM. At 8:10 a.m., Democratic Attorney General Bill Sorrell steps up to the mic, and at 8:40 a.m., it's Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Brock.
• At noon, Brock is the guest on Vermont Public Radio's "Vermont Edition," and takes your phone calls. Listen live.
• At 5:25 p.m., the Ward 1 candidates vying to replace Ed Adrian on the Burlington City Council — Democrat Kevin Worden and Progressive Alison Segar — debate live on Channel 17 (CCTV). Stream it live.
• CANCELLED -- At 7 p.m., the Burlington City Council will take up a resolution by Councilor Vince Brennan (P-Ward 3) to hire an independent investigator (for as much as $10,000!) to review Burlington police conduct during the July 29 protest that ended in cops firing pepper-balls into a crowd of demonstrators.

Rest of the week after the jump...

Burlington-area business leaders are stepping up their offensive against opponents of basing F-35s at Burlington International Airport.

At a press conference inside the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, three business and real estate big-wigs accused opponents of the fighter jets of "fear mongering" and spreading "vicious misinformation."

"There is a lot of misinformation out there by people who misunderstand property values and people who really don't want a military presence here," said chamber president Tom Torti (pictured).

Torti, Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation president Frank Cioffi and realtor Ernie Pomerleau also unveiled a new petition in support of basing the warplanes at BTV signed by almost 11,000 Vermonters.

Torti said claims that noise from the F-35s would harm property values were a "red herring." 

"If it has such a dramatic effect on the prices of home values, why are they putting up luxury condominiums under the flight path?" Torti said, referring to a new apartment project that broke ground in Winooski this week. "It's not true. It's a red herring and we have the statistics to prove it. Don't let people buffalo you."

On Monday, Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger publicly lambasted the promoters of last Friday night's Barstool Blackout DJ dance party at Memorial Auditorium for promoting "intoxication and wildness," after 16 local young-uns ended their evening in the emergency room or  detox unit.

According to the mayor, the city dropped the ball by not adequately vetting the promotional material of the 18-and-over rave-like fest. Presumably, someone at the city assumed the "barstool" referred to a breakfast bar, and "blackout" a temporary power outage.

OK, we totally get it that Mayor Buzzkill has to show a zero tolerance for underage binge drinking. But just how out of the ordinary is it for more than a dozen kids to wind up in the drunk tank after a Queen City bash?

Short answer: It depends.

Remember that crowdsourced neighborhood-mapping project in Burlington you read about back in August? Well, cartographer Bill Morris now has the results. Morris says 104 participants submitted 404 neighborhood "shapes" for the project, a screenshot of which you can see at right. 

Some parts of town, like the centers of downtown and the New North End, were nearly unanimously named as such. Other spots, like the Burlington College area and the Henry Street/Brookes Avenue neighborhood, weren't included in many shapes at all — as such, they're not lumped in with any of the neighborhoods. (Mansfield Avenue? More like No-Man's Land Avenue!)

Head on over to Geosprocket for an interactive version of the map. For more information about the project and modern, high-tech mapmaking in general, read Kathryn Flagg's story about cartography technology in this week's Seven Days, and see Morris speak this Friday at 3 p.m. at the Vermont Tech Jam.

Ever wondered why industrial wind power is running into so much heavy turbulence in Vermont? Anyone who's never gotten a close look at just how large those turbines are may want to head into downtown Burlington tomorrow morning starting at 3 a.m. That's when the first wave of turbine blades bound for Georgia Mountain, the 10-megawatt wind project in Milton and Georgia, roll out of the Burlington railyard, up Battery Street then attempt to make the right turn up Main Street.

"Attempt" is the operative word. According to Burlington Public Works Director Steve Goodkind, who was in the train yard Tuesday morning, it remains to be seen whether each of the 163-foot blades (not including the size of the extended cab truck and rear trailer) will be able to corner the turn without taking out trees, poles and other roadside hazards. "Three trees, two trees, one tree — we're not really sure how many will have to go."

There was no giant check, but Champlain College announced the largest single donation in the school's 134-year history on Monday.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters founder Robert Stiller, through his Stiller Family Foundation, is sinking a cool $10 million into Champlain's business school, which will be renamed the Robert P. Stiller School of Business.

Stiller (pictured with Champlain President David Finney) wasn't there to announce the contribution in the packed lobby of the S.D. Ireland Family Center for Global Business and Technology. But he apparently will be on campus November 30 for a "major event" celebrating his largesse, Finney told reporters.

The Burlington Free Press had quite a scoop Friday morning: As business writer Dan D'Ambrosio reports, the Freeps itself is selling off $3.3 million worth of downtown real estate — the bulk of its College Street headquarters.

The paper hopes to sell 55,570 square-feet of space in seven interconnected buildings, which range from two to four stories each, according to a listing on the website of real estate broker V/T Commercial.

The Freeps will hold on to 40,000 square-feet of space in five additional buildings it owns on the block. Those include its mailroom and printing press, which was recently refurbished to the tune of $2.4 million. The paper also hopes to lease back 10,000 square-feet of office space from a prospective buyer in order to keep its newsroom and business operations downtown.

"The Free Press is committed to supporting the vibrant Burlington community and all of the Vermont communities we serve every day," Freeps publisher Jim Fogler said in a press release. "We plan to stay in downtown Burlington and lease some of the office space. This is an exciting opportunity and an attractive one for a developer to create multi-use space in this wonderful downtown location with a built-in tenant."

Fogler declined a request for an interview.

Better late than never: The news and politics from this week's print edition of Seven Days...

• In this week's cover story, Paul Heintz looks at the state of the Vermont Republican Party — short on cash, organization and viable candidates.
• In a related story, Andy Bromage tries to shed a little light on Lenore Broughton, the woman who's contributed more than $600,000 to conservative super PAC Vermonters First. (You've already read what happens when you try to photograph her...)
• Cass Gekas is young, broke and running for lieutenant governor. Does she have a shot at unseating Phil Scott?
• Burlington voters will cast their ballots on a $9 million bond that Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger says is necessary to secure the city's financial future. 
• In a related story, learn about the other ballot items Burlington will vote on come Nov. 6, including a waterfront revamp and a referendum on pot legalization.
• Remember playing Army as a kid? A group of Vermonters are taking that to its logical extreme in Charlotte using Airsoft guns.
• Yours truly asked two of Seven Days' graphic designers their thoughts on this year's crop of campaign lawn signs. If they're going to be ubiquitous, they may as well look good.
• In Fair Game, Paul Heintz takes a closer look at the latest campaign finance reports. Plus, the future of the attorney general's office, and auditor candidate Vince Illuzzi un-endorses Mitt Romney.

Illustration by Kym Balthazar

Each Friday here at Off Message headquarters, we bring you the week's winners and losers in Vermont news and politics. Here they are for the week of Friday, Oct. 19:

Winners

Binders Full of Women — State Treasurer Beth Pearce provided an unintentional counter-point to the meme of the week — Mitt Romney's binders full of women — when she assembled the state's "money chairs," all of whom are women, for an endorsement press conference Thursday morning. It was a helpful reminder that, here in Vermont at least, we seem to trust women with our money. Even Pearce's opponent, Rutland State Treasurer Wendy Wilton, has two X chromosomes. Now it's probably time to elect women to statewide office; Pearce is currently the only one.

Vermont Air National Guard — Even as Sen. Bernie Sanders' Republican opponent, John MacGovern, goes after Ol' Bernardo for his support of the military industrial complex — ahem, I mean the basing of F-35 fighter jets at the Vermont Air National Guard station — the base appears to be in consideration for hosting yet another aircraft: the KC-46A refueling tanker. So much for those arguments from F-35 supporters saying that plane was the Vermont Guard's last best hope to keep its base alive after its F-16s are decommissioned.

Media Strategies and Research — Gov. Peter Shumlin's Virginia-based media buyer finally got a chance to tap his million-dollar war chest, as the gov went up on television this week with two shiny new ads. Runner-up: Thom Lauzon's Bipartisan Street Cred. After trashing Shumlin two years ago in fear-mongering robo-calls, Barre's Republican mayor is merrily endorsing Shummy — along with Rutland Mayor Chris Louras — in one of the gov's new ads.

Vermonters First — The conservative super PAC's breathtaking campaign finance report makes clear that its major funder, Burlington's Lenore Broughton, means business. As we wrote earlier this week, Vermonters First is fast replacing the Vermont Republican Party as Democrats' opposition of relevance. The only question that remains is whether the super PAC's treasurer and consultant, Tayt Brooks, will get results with the million dollars Vermonters First may well spend before Election Day.

Losers after the jump...