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Chittenden County State's Attorney T.J. Donovan says he's "troubled" by an allegation of sexual assault in the Vermont National Guard and plans to look into the matter.

But given the anonymous nature of the accusation — in an unsigned letter shared with state legislators — and the length of time since the alleged incident, he's unsure whether his office will be able to launch a formal investigation.

"It's an interesting dilemma given the lack of a complaint to law enforcement, which would trigger an investigation," Donovan said Thursday. "At the same time, we're looking at a situation where we may have a sexual predator living in our community."

Donovan was referring to allegations made in an anonymous letter claiming that a senior Guard officer sexually assaulted another Guard member in December 2007. The letter further claimed that two other senior Guard officers — retired Brig. Gen. Jonathan Farnham and acting Adj. Gen. Thomas Drew — were made aware of the alleged assault and did not report it to civilian law enforcement authorities. 

The letter, provided to Rep. George Till (D-Jericho) two weeks ago, prompted Farnham on Monday to withdraw from the race to become the state's next adjutant general. Citing privacy constraints, neither Farnham nor Drew have been able to provide their side of the story, though Farnham disputed the letter's account in a written statement.

Burlington voters will see five contested city council races this March — several of which could turn out to be competitive. 

In the New North End, Democrat Tom Ayres and Republican Jim Robert will duke it out for a Ward 7 seat being vacated by Republican Councilor Vince Dober. Though the district tends to be the most conservative in the city, Ayres only narrowly lost a race last year to a well known incumbent Republican, Paul Decelles.

The Old North End will also have a contested election for an open seat. Former Progressive city councilor Jane Knodell was quick to jump into the race last week after Democratic Councilor Bram Kranichfeld announced his plans to step down from his Ward 2 seat at the end of his term.

On Monday, the day petitions to run were due at City Hall, Democrats announced their own candidate: neighborhood activist and local banker Emily Lee (pictured), a vice president at the downtown Merrill Lynch branch. The cofounder of the West Hill Neighborhood Association says she's particularly focused on housing.

"I've been really active here in the neighborhood and my feeling was we have a great deal of momentum going to improve Ward 2," she said. "I think we need more housing options — more housing built, so we have choices of where to live."

Daniello "Dan" Balón, a longtime educator and advocate for improving cultural awareness and racial sensitivity in the Burlington School District, died suddenly Tuesday morning from a heart attack. Balón, 42, leaves behind his wife and two daughters.

"This was completely unexpected," said Amy Mellencamp, Burlington High School principal, who has worked with Balón for the last four years. "Over the years, I have appreciated Dan's very deep commitment and passion for the opportunities each one of us should have in life... No one could ever doubt the commitment he had for young people."

Balón, a Filipino American, worked as director of diversity, education and engagmenet for the Burlington School District. His job involved recruiting and retaining people of color to city school jobs and providing diversity and equity training.

He was never shy about calling out what he saw as institutional racism and bigotry in all its forms. In a November 11, 2009 cover story, "Minority Rule: Who will lead the next generation of Vermont’s racial justice activists?"  Seven Days identified Balón as an up-and-coming leader in Vermont's social justice movement. Ironically, the story was precipitated by the deaths of two longtime Burlington civil rights adocates: John Tucker and Larry McCrory.

Longshot presidential candidate John D. Haywood wanted $50 million in damages from St. Michael’s College and two student journalists who penned a candidate profile he claimed was libelous.

Instead, a judge has tossed out Haywood’s lawsuit and ordered him to reimburse the college and students for $23,336 they spent defending the lawsuit.

Haywood, who lives in Durham, N.C., sued the college and student journalists for libel last summer, claiming an article they wrote on him for a class project grossly mischaracterized his positions and was responsible for his loss to President Obama in the 2012 New Hampshire primary. Haywood (pictured) received just 432 votes, meaning he lost to Obama by a ratio of 115 to 1.

Haywood has reportedly paid the court-ordered sum, but he's not done with St. Michael's or the student reporters yet. He has appealed the decision to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit pro se, or without a lawyer's assistance.

In this week's print edition of Seven Days, which is still totally free:

• In our cover story, Ken Picard reports on serious health and safety violations at Vermont's regulated day care centers and why the state has resisted shutting down some of the worst offenders.
• A grassroots campaign called Keep BT Local wants to purchase Burlington Telecom and reorganize it as a co-op, similar to City Market. But with time running out, Kevin J. Kelley reports their pledge drive is well short of its goal. 
• Kathryn Flagg digs deeper into her December story about state-funded motel stays for homeless Vermonters, and finds some local motels are making a killing by putting up Vermonters without shelter.
• In Fair Game, Paul Heintz has more on the story he broke about how an anonymous letter ended Brig. Gen. Jonathan Farnham's bid to become the Vermont National Guard's next leader. 
• On a lighter note, the Seven Days staff scoured the region to find the best hot chocolate in Vermont. Tough assignment, huh? 
• And don't forget to check Off Message, our news and politics blog, for all the latest...

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) today will hold the first congressional hearings on gun violence since last month's deadly school shootings in Newtown, Conn.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which Leahy chairs, is expected to be the first stop for any federal legislation Congress considers in the wake of Sandy Hook. The committee is scheduled to hear from National Rifle Association executive vice president and CEO Wayne LaPierre, along with Mark Kelly, the husband of former Arizona congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was injured two years ago in a deadly shooting in Tuscon.

Politico is reporting that Giffords herself is set to give a surprise opening statement at Leahy's hearing.

You can watch the hearing, which starts at 10 a.m., here at the Judiciary Commttee's website. It will also be carried live on C-SPAN.

Below is a list of witnesses scheduled to appear.

• Captain Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.), Americans for Responsible Solutions
• Professor David Kopel, Adjunct Professor of Advanced Constitutional Law, Denver University, Strum College of Law
• James Johnson, Chief of Police, Baltimore County Police Department, Chair, National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence 
• Gayle Trotter, Attorney and Senior Fellow, Independent Women’s Forum
• Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, National Rifle Association 

A former WCAX news anchor found himself on the wrong side of a perp walk on Tuesday.

George Wilson (pictured) was charged with animal cruelty for allegedly keeping horses locked up inside dark stalls on his Shelburne property for years, and letting several other animals die. The 63-year-old was arraigned in Chittenden County Superior Court, under the gaze of local news reporters who used to be his colleagues.

Chittenden County State's Attorney T.J. Donovan cited Wilson into court Friday, in part because he said Wilson owns guns and made threatening remarks to police investigating the cruelty. A judge ordered Wilson to forfeit the weapons.

According to a police affidavit, Wilson owns a high-powered rifle and made a "bee line" toward it after discovering law enforcement on his property January 15, but he was intercepted by an officer. Shelburne police officer Michael Thomas wrote that before Wilson headed for the gun, he said, "I want everyone to leave or someone is going to get hurt."

Clarendon-based Spring Hill Horse Rescue, which removed two mares and a stallion from Wilson's property on January 15, called it "the worst case of abuse and neglect we have ever seen." The group said it found the horses — named Willie, Dolly and Lolly — standing in several feet of manure, almost blind from lack of sunlight, covered in lice and barely able to stand on badly overgrown hooves. They also found bags of bones from dead horses. (Click here for photos and more background.)

At Wednesday's arraignment, Wilson joked with news crews lined up to film his perp walk. "It's funny being on this side, isn't it?" Wilson called out to a WCAX photographer before his arraignment. Afterward, he complimented Burlington Free Press reporter Mike Donoghue for being the first to confirm his identity as the owner of the horses.

But Wilson vigorously defended himself against the charges, pleading not guilty and saying he never threatened anyone. He denied he ever went for his gun. "I never did. It never came to my mind and I'm just unhappy that we had a large invasion force come onto our property without any notice. Who would like that? It's as if the aliens landed at your house, took your dog, cat, your wife and absconded with them."

*Updated below with reaction from House Speaker Shap Smith and other legislators.*

Retired Brig. Gen. Jonathan Farnham withdrew from the race to lead the Vermont National Guard Monday afternoon, citing an inability to defend himself against charges leveled at him in an unsigned letter purportedly from a former Guard member.

The letter, which was circulated among top lawmakers last week, includes allegations that Farnham and another senior officer failed to immediately report or take action to address an alleged sexual assault committed by one member of the Guard against another in December 2007.

In a statement to Seven Days, Farnham (pictured) said that while the Guard's privacy rules prevented him from addressing the allegations in any detail, he "simply was not involved in the disposition of the matter."

"While the anonymous allegations are untrue, they have proved a significant distraction to both the legislature and the Guard as they continue their important work on behalf of all Vermonters," Farnham wrote. "I am unwilling to allow that distraction to continue."

Farnham was one of at least three candidates vying to succeed Michael Dubie as the next adjutant general of the 4000-member Vermont National Guard. The Vermont Legislature is scheduled to select the Guard's next leader in a secret ballot scheduled for Feb. 21. Farnham and Air Guard Brig. Gen. Steven Cray, another leading candidate, have been fixtures at the Statehouse in recent weeks as they've lobbied lawmakers for support.

Farnham's candidacy has been on the rocks for at least a week, as legislative leaders have digested the contents of the anonymous two-page letter, which was first sent to the writer's state representative. Both Farnham and the letter-writer met with at least two House members last Wednesday in the Statehouse to discuss the situation, according to several people close to the situation.

Seven Days obtained the letter late last week and spoke with its author, but that person declined to speak on the record. The paper was unable to independently verify the allegations included in it.

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

Monday, January 28

• At 10 a.m., U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) hosts a press conference at his Burlington office to delve into state politics. He'll oppose calls for a three-year moratorium on wind power, surrounded by reps from VPIRG, National Wildlife Federation, Renewable Energy Vermont and Conservation Law Foundation.
• At 11 a.m., U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) drops by the Champlain Senior Center in Burlington for a press conference announcing legislation to crack down on phone scams targeting senior citizens. 
• Gov. Peter Shumlin is on tour today. At 11 a.m., GPS tours new state office space at Montpelier's National Life building and at noon he visits the Darn Tough Vermont factory in Northfield.
• At 11:30 a.m., yours truly will be on CCTV (Channel 17) to host "Under the Golden Dome" with guests Sens. Phil Baruth (D-Chittenden) and Diane Snelling (R-Chittenden).
• At noon, Human Services Secretary Doug Racine will defend the Shumlin administration's proposed welfare "reforms" on Vermont Public Radio's "Vermont Edition."
• At 7:15 p.m., the Burlington City Council takes up a packed agenda. On the menu: a tri-partisan proposal to jump start the federally mandated ward redistricting plan by changing the composition of the redistricting committee. 

Rest of the week after the break...

Updated below with comment from the lawyer for Macadam Mason's partner, and from the Vermont State Police.

Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell announced Friday morning that no charges will be filed against David Shaffer, the state trooper who shot a Thetford man in the chest with a Taser in a June 20, 2012 incident. The man, 39-year-old Macadam Mason (pictured), died shortly thereafter as a direct result of the stun gun's electronic jolt, a New Hampshire medical examiner later determined.

"Under Vermont law, a police officer is entitled to use a reasonable amount of force to defend himself or herself or others if he or she reasonably believes that he or she or others are in immediate danger of bodily harm, that the use of force is necessary to avoid the harm, and that the amount of force used was reasonable under the circumstances," Sorrell said in a four-page written statement. The attorney general's review was to consider whether any criminal charges for assault or homicide were warranted against Shaffer.