What with that whole State of the Union address and doctor-assisted death debate, you might've missed yesterday's other big political story: the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed a measure to reauthorize the expired Violence Against Women Act.

Sure, it sounds like renewing VAWA would be a layup, but the seemingly uncontroversial reauthorization has been held up by inter-cameral bickering between, you guessed it, House Republicans and Senate Democrats.

The biggest obstacle to passage? A dust-up over whether Native American cops and courts can go after non-natives who commit sex crimes on tribal land, as the New York Times's Jonathan Weisman explains here.

Tuesday's 78-22 vote was a big victory for Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the bill's lead sponsor. He's been fighting hard for VAWA's reauthorization alongside Republican cosponsor Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho). Yes, that Mike Crapo. Among the 22 Republican senators to vote against the bill? This tall drink of water.

Vermont's junior senator, Bernie Sanders, joined Leahy in supporting the bill.

Like last year, when the House and Senate passed competing versions of the law's reauthorization and failed to forge a compromise, the House is expected to introduce a narrower version soon. But as Politico's Seung Min Kim reports, Leahy pressured House members at a Capitol Hill press conference Tuesday to take up the Senate version, arguing that lawmakers shouldn't "pick and choose" which victims to protect.

"A victim is a victim is a victim," Leahy told reporters. "And violence is violence is violence."

Read more about the bill's passage in the New York Times, Politico and Talking Points Memo.

A small city by the lake was facing a budget crisis, so it hired Sandy Miller as manager to clean up the mess. Miller came with a deep understanding of fiscal issues, but over time city employees complained about his behavior, describing him as "arrogant," "rude," "vicious" and "intimidating."

In Miller's performance evaluation, City Councilor Greco gave the manager a "very poor rating" for the way he deals with people but was willing to overlook the lack of people skills because "he is doing a good job as city manager."

We're talking about South Burlington, right? Where Miller was recently fired as city manager for his "aggressive" behavior?

Nope. It was Geneva, N.Y., in 1999, where Miller was also terminated as city manager. The councilor wasn't Rosanne Greco of South Burlington. It was John Greco, one of dozens of Geneva officials interviewed for an exhaustive fact-finding report that investigated complaints lodged against Miller by the head of the city's Human Rights Commission.

Seven Days obtained a copy of the 89-page report authored by Gerald L. Paley, who was hired as special counsel to examine the complaints against Miller. Though Paley concluded that Miller's behavior toward associates was not sexist or racist, as alleged, his report raised serious questions about Miller's behavior toward coworkers and ordered him to undergo formal sensitivity training "with the goal of improving his interpersonal skills."

Paley also concluded that Miller retalitated against the head of the Human Rights Commission, a black woman with whom he had a long-running feud, by rejecting her for a city job on questionable grounds.

After grappling with concerns about constitutional rights and drawing a distinction between "behaviors" and "type of individuals," Burlington's city council voted unanimously Monday night to initiate what a Church Street Marketplace official describes as "a timeout for adults."

The new ordinance empowers police to issue a citation exiling an individual from the Marketplace. It specifies that a no-trespass notice can be handed out only to a person engaged in illegal actions such as disorderly conduct, property damage, public consumption of alcohol or possession of banned drugs. A first offense would result in banishment from the pedestrian mall for the remainder of a day; a second citation puts the Marketplace off limits for 30 days; and a third ostracizes an offender for up to one year.

Advocates argued that the new measure is needed because current penalties have not adequately deterred illegal behaviors on Church Street. Outdoor Gear Exchange owner Marc Sherman told councilors that potential customers don't want to expose their children to the "reality show at Church and Cherry" — the location of Sherman's store.

Councilors then debated what could be interpreted as an offensive or illegal "reality show."

Rachel Siegel, a Ward 3 Progressive, proposed stripping from the ordinance references to "inappropriate" or "antisocial" behavior. These terms are "extremely subjective," Siegel argued, noting that years ago when she was a Marketplace peddler, she regarded one store's amplified tape loop of Alvin & the Chipmunks as "antisocial."

Ward 4 Democrat Dave Hartnett added, "I don't want it to apply to people who have purple hair."

Amid growing criticism of an expensive state practice that houses homeless Vermonters in motels, the Department of Children and Families is floating a new proposal to slash funding to the controversial program. The idea? Cut funding entirely for single individuals, rather than families, who currently receive nearly half of the hotel vouchers dispensed by the state. 

A proposal from Sen. Tim Ashe (Chittenden) would go even further; in legislation he plans to introduce later this week, Ashe is recommending dialing back motel spending entirely by July 1, 2015, and instead allocating the roughly $2 million Vermont spent on motel vouchers in fiscal year 2012 to a suite of other measures, including transitional housing, better case management for homeless individuals, and homeless prevention programs. 

VTDigger's Alicia Freese has the story about DCF's budget plan in more detail here. We've reported on the motel spending spikes several times in recent months at Seven Days — from what the program looks like on the inside for homeless families holed up in motels, to the motels that profit the most from the state vouchers. Long story short: Vermont is spending more than ever to house homeless individuals and families in motels when homeless shelters are full. 

DCF's proposal, as Freese reports, could save the department $500,000 by tightening eligibility requirements. Families in need could still tap into the program, as could individuals classified as "vulnerable" or facing "catastrophes" — both terms that would need to be more clearly defined, but that could include people with disabilities or those facing domestic abuse. 

It's a plan that so far worries Rita Markley, the director of the Committee on Temporary Shelter in Burlington (pictured). While she says she would be the last person to say that the overflow motels are an answer to homelessness, she worries about cutting funding to that program in the short term when it may be the only refuge for some people. She told Seven Days that she'd rather see the state focus on ways to improve accountability in the system. 

Vermont transportation officials are asking for a new state-owned airplane, but at least one top lawmaker says the idea should be grounded.

"It just caught me by complete surprise that we'd be spending so much money when we don't have any money," says Sen. Dick Mazza (D-Grand Isle), who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee. 

Vermont's Agency of Transportation (VTrans) is hoping to sell its 1962 Cessna 182 aircraft and replace it with a 2013 Beechcraft Baron. The state would pay $117,600 per year for 10 years in a lease-to-buy arrangement, says VTrans policy planning and intermodal development director Chris Cole. 

(Pictured above is the Cessna with state aviation program administrator Guy Rouelle.)

Given that the plane would cost $250 an hour to operate and would likely fly about 150 hours a year, Cole estimates the total annual price tag would come to $155,100. 

To Mazza, who first learned of the request during a Senate Transportation Committee meeting Friday, that's too much to spend when the state budget is already tight.

"This is not a time to be asking for that kind of money when we're talking about a shortage in our total funding," Mazza says. "I have a hard time believing we can own a plane cheaper than we can rent it when we need it."

If you’re drunk and belligerent on Church Street, it could be a while before you're allowed to return.

That's the goal of a proposed ordinance, which comes up for a vote tonight by the Burlington City Council. If approved, the new rule, sponsored by city councilors Vince Dober (R-Ward 7), Sharon Bushor (I-Ward 1) and Chip Mason (D-Ward 5), would give police the authority to issue no-trespass warnings and citations for "anti-social behavior...[that] enhances a sense of fear, intimidation, and disorder within the Church Street Marketplace District."

Under current law, police can issue a no-trespass order on Church Street only if the offensive or illegal behavior occurs indoors or on private property, such as a restaurant, bar, store or in the mall.

Burlington Police Chief Mike Schirling describes the ordinance, which has been talked about downtown for years, as a creative tool for preventing "repetitive and poor behavior." In most cases, it wouldn't require police to arrest offenders, then dump them into the court system. Instead, he says, the new rule would act as a deterrent to those who want to be downtown. Police would have the discretion to issue a no-trespass order for as little as one day, or for as much as one year.

The new ordinance is modeled on those already in place in City Hall Park and Fletcher Free Library. Schirling notes that in City Hall Park, where the ordinance took effect just 18 months ago, police have already seen a "notable decrease" in their call volumes.

"What we found is what we had hoped," Schirling says. "In City Hall Park there have been very few arrests or the need for very few trespass warnings issued. The very fact that [the ordinance] exists is enough to change behavior."

Here's what's happening in Vermont news and politics this week. Got something newsworthy for next week's calendar? Email by Friday to submit.

Monday, February 11

• At 7:10 a.m., "Charlie, Ernie & Lisa" host Baylen Linnekin, the founder of KeepFoodLegal.org discussing the state's proposal to tax sugar-sweetened drinks. On WVMT 620 AM.
• At 7:30 a.m., the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce and Greater Burlington Industrial Corp. hold a legislative breakfast at the Sheraton on Burlington. On the menu: Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger and Lt. Gov. Phil Scott.
• At 12:30 p.m., Gov. Peter Shumlin speaks at the Addison County Legislative Luncheon at the Bristol American Legion. Break-open tickets for everyone!
• At 7 p.m., the Burlington City Council meets to take up, among other business, a new and expanded no-trespass ordinance to kick troublemakers off Church Street. 

Rest of the week after the break...

So's the Senate gonna pass a bill next week letting terminally ill Vermonters end their own lives?

That's a damn good question! 

Thankfully for you, Seven Days has been trolling the halls of the Statehouse haranguing your state senators, trying to figure out where they stand.

Our vote count right now? We think 12.75 senators are ready to back the bill — called 'death with dignity' by supporters and 'physician-assisted suicide' by opponents — and 13.25 are against it. Another four senators in the 30-member body are firmly undecided.

And then there's Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, an opponent of the bill, who would break a tie. So that means supporters need to get a solid 16 votes, while opponents need just 15 nay-sayers. With a test vote slated for next Wednesday and a final vote likely to fall on Thursday, that gives advocates on either side of the issue less than a week to lobby their hearts out.

So who are the persuadables? 

Let's start with that fraction:

click to enlarge

Opponents of basing the Air Force's next-generation fighter jet in Burlington have a new trick up their sleeves: They want the state to compensate homeowners whose property could be devalued if the F-35 comes to town.

"I mean, you can't have it both ways," Rep. George Cross (D-Winooski) said at a Statehouse press conference Thursday morning, arguing that the plane's proponents should be ready to dish out the cash to anyone harmed by the basing.

"The point is if you are a legislator — if you are a Vermonter who supports the F-35 — then you must also support the notion that if you're wrong and, in fact, it is harmful and it has grave adverse impacts on people who live in the impacted zone, then in fact they deserve to be compensated in some fashion," Cross (pictured above) said.

In a bill he plans to introduce in the House next week, Cross proposes to create an "F-35 Adverse Impacts Compensation Board" that would be charged with "awarding compensation to property owners, landowners and other persons harmed or damaged by the noise and other adverse impacts" of the planes.

Alejandro Young-Hernandez won't be seeing the inside of a prison cell after all.

Today, U.S. District Court Judge J. Garvan Murtha sentenced Young-Hernandez to two years' probation for connecting migrant workers on Vermont dairy farms with Hispanic prostitutes from New York City. Murtha said Young-Hernandez's help in convicting two other co-conspirators justified the leniency.

Young-Hernandez — who nicknamed himself "Don Chingon," Spanish slang for "The Man" or "The Main Man" — faced up to five years in federal prison for violating the law known as the Mann Act. Thursday's sentencing took place in Brattleboro but was broadcast via video conference at the federal courthouse in Burlington.

"I have been living a nightmare these last couple of years," Young-Hernandez told the judge.  "I never in my life did anything like that and will never do anything again."

As reported in this week's issue of Seven Days, Young-Hernandez was the fourth person sentenced in a farmworker prostitution ring that federal authorities began unraveling in 2011. Young-Hernandez, who often went by the more American-sounding "Alex Young," was a middle man who forwarded farmworker requests for prostitutes to a pimp in Queens, N.Y. who brought young Hispanic women to service as many as 10 men a day in Vermont dairy farms for $50 apiece.

A native of Mexico who became a naturalized American citizen, Young-Hernandez was a state employee for 15 years — six as a correctional officer in St. Johnsbury and nine as a human services case worker at the Department for Children and Families. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Ross asked the judge to impose some sort of imprisonment — at the least home confinement — in part because he engaged in the cirmes as a "trusted state employee."