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

Monday, November 26

• Gov. Peter Shumlin will be in Burlington this afternoon. At 3 p.m., he'll deliver a box of diapers to Jason Fitzgerald, who has collected 20,000 diapers for homeless residents at COTS. At 4 p.m., he tours the Greater Burlington YMCA (and, presumably, pumps some iron). And at 5:30 p.m., he'll speak at a kick-off event for Vermont Disaster Relief Fund at EB Strong's Prime Steakhouse.
• At 7 p.m., the Burlington City Council meets. On the agenda: a public hearing on a new residential occupancy ordinance that would limit how many people can live in one house near downtown. Also, the resolution by councilors Max Tracy, Rachel Siegel, Sharon Bushor and Vince Brennan to keep a redeveloped Moran Plant publicly owned. 

Segways could soon join cycles on Burlington's bike path.

The city's Parks and Recreation Commission is scheduled at its November 27 meeting to consider allowing recreational use of the battery-powered personal transportation devices on the 7.5-mile bike path. Adoption of such a policy could clear the way for the start of guided Segway tours next spring.

Rick Sharp (pictured), a 59-year-old attorney who was instrumental in the bike path's creation, has been trying for the past three years to win city approval for Segway tours he plans to operate on a commercial basis. Sharp expresses hope that the parks commission will support his initiative on at least a trial basis.

He's winning backing for his idea from some key figures.

Chapin Spencer, director of the pedestrian and bicycle advocacy group Local Motion, says he's in favor of giving Segways a trial run. "It would be a chance for [Sharp] to prove it works on the bike path and sidewalks," Spencer comments.

Kelly Devine, director of the Burlington Business Association, is also personally open to trial use of Segways downtown and along the lake. Devine emphasizes that she has not yet presented the issue to her group's board of directors.

The new city parks director likewise appears supportive of Sharp's proposal for a test of Segways' compatibility with other uses of the bike path. Jesse Bridges, now in his fourth week on the job, says there's little question that the city must accept Segway use by disabled persons. Sharp is himself disabled as a result of a paragliding accident several years ago.

Bridges adds that Sharp seemed to have addressed safety concerns in regard to recreational use during a Segway outing that the two recently took on the bike path.

For his part, Sharp remarks, "After three years of stonewalling, I'm thrilled that we actually have a parks director who returns emails and who is willing to experience a Segway first-hand."

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"I just wanted to meet with him in his element and pass the baton," O'Malley told Seven Days after polishing off lunch with his fellow gov.

Shumlin's element?

That would be Burlington's Farmhouse Tap and Grill, where the two dined with DGA executive director Colm O'Comartun and Shumlin chief of staff Bill Lofy, who is leaving state government to serve as Shumlin's liaison to the DGA.

(Pictured in photo, from left to right: Lofy, Shumlin, O'Comartun and O'Malley)

"I wanted to come up and see Gov. Peter Shumlin, who I anticipate and hope will be the next chair of the Democratic Governors Association," O'Malley said. "He's become a dear friend to me and I have a great deal of respect for how he governs and his leadership abilities. And so I just wanted to come up here and sit down and talk about the transition forward after what was a really good year."

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

Monday, November 19

• At noon, Vermont Public Radio's "Vermont Edition" tackles food stamps, with guests Marissa Parisi and Rob Meehan.
• U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) is in Chittenden County all day. At 12:15 p.m., he speaks to the Burlington Rotary Club at the Hilton. At 2:45, he visits COTS' Canal Street apartments on — yup, you guessed it — West Canal Street in Winooski. And at 5, he visits the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf in Burlington.
• Gov. Peter Shumlin's got a light public schedule this week. At 1:20 p.m., the guv holds a press conference in a prison (!). He'll highlight Salvation Farms, a project at the Southeast State Correctional Facility in Windsor to make surplus Vermont-grown potatoes available to food shelves in the southeastern part of the state.
• At 3:45 p.m., Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger holds a ribbon-cutting press conference to formally open Appletree Park Playground in the New North End. 
• At 5 p.m., the Burlington City Council's special committee on ward redistricting hosts a public meeting in Contois Auditorium to review redrawn maps for wards 4, 6 and 7. View the maps here.
• At 5:25 p.m., State Auditor-elect Doug Hoffer is live on Channel 17 (CCTV). Stream it live.

The Vermont Department of Corrections (DOC) has scheduled its first correctional "town meetings" where members of the public can weigh in on  departmental directives, policies and other topics of interest to inmates' families, friends and advocates. 

The first corrections town meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 4 from 4:15 to 6:15 p.m. The dates, times and locations of those town meetings can all be found here. 

As Seven Days reported in July, the town meeting-style approach will replace Vermont's Corrections Citizen Advisory Group (CCAG) which Corrections Commissioner Andrew Pallito disbanded during the summer due to ongoing concerns about dwindling attendance at its quarterly meetings, as well as its somewhat dysfunctional membership. In July, Pallito told members of the Legislative Corrections Oversight Committee that the meetings had become unduly burdensome and unproductive, with some of its members "wasting my time." 

Yellow-Yellow, we bearly knew ye.

The Adirondack Daily Enterprise is reporting that a hunter shot and killed the famous black bear known as Yellow-Yellow last month. The 20-year-old female — named for the two yellow tracking tags that wildlife officials attached to her ears in 2004 as part of a High Peaks bear study — became a national celebrity in 2009 when the New York Times wrote about her unusual ability to open a "bear-proof" food container called the BearVault.

Seven Days' Ken Picard wrote about the brilliant bruin for our 2011 Adirondack issue. Click here to read "A Cause for Paws," (July 27, 2011).

According to the Daily Enterprise:

The roughly 20-year-old sow was killed on Friday, Oct. 21 in the town of Jay, said DEC spokesman Dave Winchell. The hunter contacted DEC because the bear was wearing a radio collar, which was later used to identify her, Winchell said. Neither of bear's yellow ear tags were on her ears when DEC wildlife checked, and the hunter reported that the animal did not have them when he shot it.

The Adirondack Alamack has a touching obituary for Yellow-Yellow, which includes this great line:

Apparently, advanced age brought about an alleged increased aggressiveness toward campers and hikers with food, which is a common phenomenon among the animal kingdom as anyone observing geriatrics at a Denny’s around five in the afternoon can attest. Perhaps this aggressiveness played a role in her recent demise.

RIP, Yellow-Yellow. We'll see you at that big pic-a-nic in the sky.

Photo credit: File photo courtesy of Ed Reed

In this week's dead-tree edition of Seven Days...

• A developer wants to build up to 300 new apartments in Burlington, but some neighbors aren't thrilled with the plan.
• Burlington voters authorized $6 million in borrowing to fund waterfront improvements. What's on the way? Bike path repairs and improvements, 125 new parking spaces and a realigned Lake Street.
• A greener way to fuel your furnaces and vehicles: Central Vermont's first facility blending used cooking grease with heating oil and diesel fuel is now open.
  
  
• This week's cover story: How Ric Cabot and Darn Tough Vermont saved the last hosiery mill in New England. The Cabot Hosiery sock sale continues this weekend!
  
  
• And in Fair Game, Paul Heintz takes a closer look at the shakeup coming to Gov. Peter Shumlin's cabinet. Plus, lawmakers gun for House leadership positions, the Burlington Free Press loses subscribers and two Burlington TV stations get new owners. 

Paul Heintz is on the road to Montpelier, but sent this update on key staffing changes being announced by Gov. Peter Shumlin today. Read Paul's earlier post about chief of staff Bill Lofy departing for a gig with the Democratic Governors Association, which Shumlin is expected to chair come January.

....

Shumlin announced several more staff transitions Tuesday afternoon at a press conference on the 5th floor of the Pavilion State Office Building:

• Department of Public Service Commissioner Elizabeth Miller (pictured) will take over for Lofy as Shumlin's chief of staff in January. Before joining Shumlin's cabinet two years ago, Miller worked in private practice at Burlington's Spink and Miller law firm.
• Longtime Shumlin aide Alex MacLean will leave the 5th Floor at a date to be determined. MacLean served as Shumlin's assistant when he was Senate president pro tem and managed both of his gubernatorial campaigns. In her official capacity, she serves as Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs, essentially working as the administration's liaison to the legislature.
• Miller will be replaced as DPS commissioner by Chris Recchia, who is currently serving as deputy secretary in the Agency of Natural Resources. Miller's deputy, Sarah Hofmann, recently announced that she too is leaving DPS.
• Department of Financial Regulation Commissioner Steve Kimbell will return to retirement. The former longtime lobbyist will be replaced by Susan Donegan, who has served as the department's deputy commissioner of insurance.
• Mental Health Commissioner Patrick Flood will also leave the administration. Previously, he served as deputy secretary in the Agency of Human Services. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Mary Moulton, who currently serves as deputy commissioner.

Read more about the shake-up tomorrow in this week's Fair Game.

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Bill Lofy, the governor's chief of staff, will step down from that role in January — leaving the 5th floor of the Pavilion to return to national politics. He says he's accepted a new gig at the DGA, where he'll support the party apparatus' goal of electing Democratic governors throughout the country.

"It's been a highlight of my career and it's been a great honor to work for the state of Vermont," Lofy says. "I'm looking forward to continuing to work for Gov. Shumlin in a different capacity."

Lofy's is the administration's first confirmed high-level departure, though Shumlin is expected to announce more staff transitions — including Lofy's successor — later Tuesday at a Statehouse press conference. Last week, Shumlin was elected to a second two-year term.

Here's what's happening in Vermont news and politics this week. Got a newsworthy event for the calendar? Email us by Friday to submit.

Monday, November 12

• At 10:45 a.m., newly re-elected U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) holds a press conference at his Burlington office to talk "budget deficits" and the fiscal cliff — the main issue facing the lame duck Congress.
• At 11 a.m., Champlain College will celebrate Veterans Day by dedicating a new campus memorial to members of the military, past and present, who attended the school. Newly re-elected Gov. Peter Shumlin and former guv Jim Douglas will speak, as will Provost Robin Abramson, Brigadier General Steven Cray, and Digital and Computer Forensics Assistant prof Cristian Balan, an Afghanistan War veteran.
• At noon, Vermont Public Radio's "Vermont Edition" hosts Vermont Law School professor Greg Johnson and lawyer and Vermont Freedom To Marry founder Susan Murray to discuss what's next for the same-sex marriage rights movement. Listen live.
• At 2 p.m., newly re-elected U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) meets the press at his Burlington office to talk about the farm bill and the fiscal cliff. And how Washington should totally just act more polite. Like Vermonters.