Inauguration Day has proven chaotic in parts of downtown Washington, D.C., with masked anti-Trump demonstrators clashing with police and smashing windows as flash grenades explode at intersections and military choppers hover above the nation’s capital.

Some Vermonters joined in street-level nonviolent resistance to the Republican regime, which got off to a disorganized start. At least three marches of 2,000 or so protesters meandered separately along avenues devoid of cars and lined with soldiers in combat fatigues and police officers wearing black gas masks.

Even the peaceful protests have had a bitter tone. A frequent chant was heard of “No KKK! No Fascist USA! No Trump!” Placards bobbing above crowds of marchers bore messages such as “Dump the Racist Rapist,” “Not Mein Fuhrer,” “Trump: You Can Kiss My Ass But Not Grab My Pussy” and, incongruously, “Seek the Living Jesus.”

The day’s most joyous moments were supplied by a Bread and Puppet contingent featuring a bouncy brass band, women with painted faces dancing on stilts, and whooping banner wavers who periodically fell writhing in the street. A slogan shouted by this group echoed in contrast to other marches’ militant choruses. “We’re all in the same boat,” the Bread and Puppet celebrants sang. “Keep the boat afloat!”

A group of 10 workers from City Market/Onion River Co-op in Burlington were gathered near the corner of K and 13th streets, half a dozen blocks from the inaugural parade route. They wore black T-shirts emblazoned with their union’s name — UE Local 203.

Shawn Corey, one of the co-op grocery store’s workers, said he had driven overnight from Burlington to Washington, D.C., “because this election was disastrous, and when I think something is wrong, I do something about it.”

Jillian Phayer, another City Market employee, added that she had come to protest Donald Trump’s inauguration for a variety of reasons. Defense of women’s rights is one, Phayer said, “but I’m primarily worried about climate change.” Pointing toward a group of protesters hemmed in by police 50 yards away, Phayer declared, “None of what we’re here for will mean anything if we don’t have a livable planet.”

The day’s anti-Trump actions seemed “a bit disorganized,” Phayer acknowleged. “It’s inevitable,” she added. “There are a lot of angry and frustrated people here today. It’s an unpredictable situation, and that can be toxic.”

Former governor Peter Shumlin has a new gig — enticing Harvard undergrads to get involved in politics.

The Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics has selected Vermont’s recently-departed gov as one of its visiting fellows for Spring 2017. Shumlin will mingle with students, professors and researchers, imparting political wisdom based on his experience in the governor’s office, and in the state Senate and House before that.

The institute was established in 1966 with the purpose of “inspiring undergraduates to lead lives of purpose by committing themselves to the practice of politics and governing, and to public service and the countless opportunities to serve at home and around the world.”

Updated at 5:11 p.m.

Vermont’s congressional delegation will attend president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday, despite a boycott movement gaining momentum among their colleagues.

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), as well as Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.), won’t be joining the protest, spokespeople for all three confirmed.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Welch said he’s heard from a number of Vermonters asking him to take part in the boycott.

“However, I believe the inaugural ceremony is about more than any individual. It is about the peaceful transition of power enshrined in our Constitution,” he said. “I believe it is my job to participate in, and be a witness to, this touchstone of our democracy and powerful symbol to the world. So, while I respect the decision of some of my colleagues to stay home, I will attend, but not celebrate, Friday’s ceremony.”

Updated at 2:50 p.m.

The Norwich University Regimental Band and Drill Team will perform at president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday, January 20, in Washington, D.C.

The university, home to the oldest collegiate band in the country, has been invited to perform at seven other inaugurations, most recently President Barack Obama’s in 2013.

“The Norwich University Regimental Band and Drill Team is proud to represent the university and the State of Vermont,” assistant commandant and director of bands Todd P. Edwards said in a statement announcing the news.

The Washington Post on Monday night continued to walk back a story it published Friday alleging that Russian hackers had “penetrated” the U.S. electric grid through a Vermont utility, later identified as the Burlington Electric Department.

In an editor’s note appended to the story a day after publication, the Post retracted its most explosive assertion, which had been sourced to anonymous federal officials:

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that Russian hackers had penetrated the U.S. electric grid. Authorities say there is no indication of that so far. The computer at Burlington Electric that was hacked was not attached to the grid.

The original story continued to assert that malware discovered on a BED laptop last Friday was “associated with the Russian hacking operation dubbed Grizzly Steppe by the Obama administration.” But in a follow-up story published Monday night, the Post called into question even that suggestion.

Updated at 4:35 p.m.

The Burlington Electric Department discovered suspected Russian malware code on one of its laptops Friday, the municipal utility confirmed late that night.

According to BED spokesman Mike Kanarick, the code is associated with a Russian hacking campaign known by the federal government as Grizzly Steppe. Kanarick said in a written statement Friday that the laptop was “not connected to our organization’s grid systems.”

“We took immediate action to isolate the laptop and alerted federal officials of this finding,” he said. “Our team is working with federal officials to trace this malware and prevent any other attempts to infiltrate utility systems.”

BED issued a second statement Saturday afternoon saying that there was “no indication that either our electric grid or customer information has been compromised.” It said that similar malware had been discovered elsewhere in the country and was “not unique to Burlington Electric.”

“Media reports stating that Burlington Electric was hacked or that the electric grid was breached are false,” the utility said in the second statement.

Ever since Republicans took control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010, Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) has positioned himself as a conciliator willing to work across the aisle to find common ground. That approach has sometimes elicited criticism from Vermont liberals (remember ACORN?), who want their representatives to stand a little taller for their views.

Like, say, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

But Welch believes he has served his constituents by seeking areas of agreement with Republicans. As a member of the minority, he told Seven Days this week, “I needed Republicans to get anything done.” But, he added, “To some extent they also needed me. They needed some Democratic validation to get a bill signed by President Obama.”

Not anymore.

“It’s a totally new world with Donald Trump,” he noted. In response to the Republican firebrand’s election, Welch is trying to “come to some judgments about what’s a practical way for me to represent Vermont.”

Governor-elect Phil Scott didn’t support — and has said he didn’t vote for — Donald Trump for president. But now that the two Republicans are about to take office, what kind of relationship will Vermont’s next governor have with the next president?

Scott offered some hints at a press conference Monday at his Montpelier transition office. He seemed loath to tick off the top dog, yet promised to be an “independent voice.”

Vermonters should not expect to hear Scott to raise that independent voice either for or against Trump’s staffing picks. Scott declined to characterize any of Trump’s choices so far as good or bad.

“Most of the people he’s appointed I’ve never heard of,” Scott said. “There’s not anyone in particular that I’ve thought anything about.”

Scott said he’s been focused largely on his own administration’s hiring blitz and writing a state budget that’s due two weeks after he takes office. He’s announced just two cabinet members so far and said he expects to name more on Tuesday.

Scott made several statements that indicated he’s not inclined to speak out against Trump in these early transition days. “I’m not looking to poke my finger in the eye of the president-elect,” he said, commenting that he’s “over” being distressed about Trump’s actions.

But Scott indicated he will stand up to Trump “when it’s appropriate.” That time, he said, is “when Vermont is vulnerable.”

Scott, who takes office January 5, could find Vermont in conflict with the Trump administration on any number of issues — including immigration.

The president-elect has pledged to cut federal funding to localities that become “sanctuary” cities for undocumented immigrants.

Several Vermont cities, including Burlington and Winooski, are considering establishing themselves as sanctuary cities that would not help federal authorities pursue undocumented immigrants. Scott said he supports their right to do that.

Scott said he doesn’t have plans to make significant changes in state policy on the issue. Under departing Gov. Peter Shumlin, Vermont enacted a policy directing state police not to report undocumented immigrants with whom they come into contact to federal officials.

Scott said Monday that he and his staff have not discussed that policy, even as he prepared to appoint a public safety commissioner. But he said, “I don’t expect to do anything dramatic.” He added that revoking Shumlin’s policy would qualify as dramatic.

When it comes to Trump’s threat to withhold federal funds, Scott seemed less firm. “I think we have to make sure we’re keeping that in mind,” he said. “We rely heavily on federal funding.”

Scott also said he also supports the concept behind Shumlin’s decision last week to pardon those convicted of possession of up to one ounce of marijuana before that offense was decriminalized in 2013. But the new gov is worried that the old one will stick him with the work.

Shumlin announced Thursday that he was offering pardons to as many as 17,000 Vermonters. He gave them a Christmas Day deadline to apply — just 12 days before Shumlin leaves office.

Scott said his staff reached out to Shumlin’s to emphasize he hopes the pardoning will be done before Shumlin leaves.

“It’s not an easy process,” Scott said. “My hope is he will be able to fill his responsibility.”

Shumlin spokesman Scott Coriell said that’s the plan. “It’s a priority of ours,” he said. As of Monday morning, 250 people had applied for pardons.

If Republican president-elect Donald Trump makes good on his pledge to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, it will be a “disaster” for Vermont, Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin said Tuesday.

In 2010, 8.6 percent of Vermonters lacked health insurance. Last year, the number had dropped to 2.7 percent, the governor said. Vermont has the second lowest rate of uninsured people in the country overall, according to his office.

Vermonters who receive subsidies for their health coverage get a median of $300 per person per month, said Sean Sheehan, director of outreach and education at the Department of Vermont Health Access.

If Trump eliminates the health insurance programs enacted under President Barack Obama, as he has said he will, Vermonters would lose at least $100 million a year in subsidies, Shumlin said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Burlington has hired a new prosecutor who will focus on enforcing civil rights laws.

Julia Torti, a Vermont native who worked as a civil rights attorney in New York, is one of 34 new assistant U.S. attorneys that the U.S. Department of Justice is hiring across the country to enforce laws against discrimination.

The Vermont office said it secured one of the positions through a competitive application process.

“Aggressive protection of the civil rights of the residents of Vermont is a top priority for the Department of Justice,” U.S. Attorney Eric Miller said in a prepared statement. “The Department and this U.S. Attorney’s Office are committed to a level playing field for all Vermont residents, promoting equal opportunity for Vermonters, and educating the public about their rights and responsibilities under federal civil rights laws.”