Freyne Land

It's the age of the automobile, and I, like most of you, have to go through the ritual once every year - car inspection!

That's a shot of a smiling Pat McCaffrey and Sam the mechanic at McCaffrey's Sunoco at North & North in beautiful Burlington yesterday.

I remember my first automobile - a 1959 Chevy I bought in 1969 for $40. Put 10,000 miles on it before it died in Chicago.

I picked up Car #2 in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1971 - a 1964 Chevy. Price: $270.

Ah, the good old days!

Just getting the Ol' 2001 Saturn in shape to pass inspection this week cost $571. Two new tires, alignment, muffler strap, tie rods, and making the damn red electrical warning light on the dash stay off.

If only they'd been designed to run on water!

*Updated* with a Douglas Surprise!

Took the Ol’ Saturn to McCaffrey’s Sunoco at North & North. Inspection Day. Couple tires, a tie rod and the damn battery light. Tossed the bike in the trunk, so we had a nice pedal back to the Southend through the sunshine. A lone jogger in Battery Park. That lake. Those mountains. Forgot the damn camera!

Just got home and got word that Gov. Jim Douglas has called a last-minute presser for 11 a.m. the morning at which he will announce his new Secretary of Natural Resources.

Well, it won’t be Anson Tebbetts. We know that.

Will it be Marvelous Martha Rainville?

Or a complete surprise?

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*Update 4:30 p.m.

Gov. Jim Douglas is going to let actions speak louder than words. It what appears an excellent move to checkmate the Democrats' pre-legislative drumbeat about "global warming," Gov. Scissorhands announced today he has picked a former Sanderista to be Vermont's new top environmental cop. Douglas is tapping George Crombie, Burlington Mayor Bernie Sanders'  head of the Burlington Department of Public Works (and Mayor Peter Clavelle's after Bernie went to Washington).

George was widely respected during his eight years at the helm of water and sewer, streets and sanitation in the People's Republic of Burlington, Vermont. Kinda brought the Queen City's infrastructure up to date.  He subsequently went on to work in the Massachusetts state environmental agency.

Vermont environmental activists were taken off-guard. One CLFer called it  "a complete surprise."

Paul Burns over at VPIRG, who knows Crombie from his Massachusetts days, put out a statement that read in part:

"George Crombie comes to this position with a depth of experience on a wide range of environmental matters.  That background should serve him well in this position.  But as ANR Secretary, we'll be looking for leadership from him so that the administration can move beyond the mere implementation of the governor's modest environmental agenda."

Interesting.

Hey, here's the sunset out across the backyard. Can you find the Burlington Electric power-generating windmill in the shot?

By the way, downtown was jumping this afternoon. Yours truly was on the two-wheeler  and had lunch at Sweetwaters with Jeezum Jim Jeffords' now out-of-work press secretary Diane Derby. Diane's got the radar up for something new.

"Sweets" was a very busy joint today, but great service.

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AND, one more....

There was a surprise at Shaw's on Shelburne Road this afternoon. Yours truly was hitting the old salad bar - our favorite spot the last couple years during our post-Irish Whiskey phase. 

Who drives up, but WDEV talk-show host Mark Johnson and his darling daughter Stella Rose?

Ol' Mark and I used to hang out together in the "good old days" when Bernie was the mayor of Burlap, George Crombie ran public works and Ronald Reagan was the president. In fact, Mark was the city hall scribe for the Freeps at the time.

Twenty years ago, yours truly got promoted to the editor's job at the old Burlington-based alternative weekly the Vermont Vanguard Press.  With the added duties, we offered Mark something completely different - our WDEV "Friendly Pioneer" Burlington news beat. He went for it and the rest, as they say, is history. 

The release came out from the Fifth Floor early on Tuesday afternoon and few were surprised. Ch. 3's Statehouse Reporter Anson Tebbetts will be the Douglas administration's new Deputy Secretary for Development at the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.

Anson, 41, born and raised on a hillside dairy farm in Cabot, was a radio newsman at WDEV before going TV in 1994. He's a graduate of Emerson College (1987) down Boston-way. He had been on the list of six names that were being bandied about for the top spot, but that went to the older and more experienced Roger Allbee last week.

His wife Vicky Tebbetts is a vice-president over at the Vermont State Chamber of Commerce and a registered Statehouse lobbyist. Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeff Amestoy married them on August 18, 2000 on the family farm in Cabot.

In a Tuesday afternoon phone interview, we asked Ol' Anson what he'd say to those who'd make the case he has been rather soft in his treatment of his new boss Gov. Jim Douglas. We noted Anson wasn't known for asking many questions and rarely if ever a pointed one.

"People know I've been fair to Govs. Kunin, Snelling, Dean and Douglas," replied Anson. I'm a quiet person," he said to us from the WCAX Montpeculiar bureau. "That's my personality."

Yes, it is.

When the new Douglas Ag Team starts up in January, said Deputy Secretary-to-be Tebbetts, they will be defining their roles. "We’ll be listening, meeting people, identifying problems. We’ll meet and greet as many agriculture people as we possibly can,” said Anson, “and put together a game plan.”

He also said we can expect to see him at the Statehouse this session. He said he “suspects he’ll have a role over there on policy as well. That’s where the policy is,” he told us.

Good news: the new deputy ag secretary will be continuing his “For the Birds” Show on WDEV radio with Bryan Pfeiffer. Been doing it for the last 13 years every Saturday morning.  But "The Bird of the Week" on Ch. 3 on Monday's is going to fly away.

Over in WCAX News Land, mighty big shoes to fill,  eh?

On this day 229 years ago George Washington and the Continental Army were shacked up in snowy winter quarters at Valley Forge. But times change, don't they?

Here's a picture of yours truly on Church Street in Burlington yesterday - great biking weather, eh? And not a flake of snow in sight on December 18.  Also yesterday, this was posted on Congressman - now Senator-elect - Bernie Sanders' website:

"Recent reports show that 2006 will end up being one of the hottest years on record since we began tracking global temperature. It is long past time for the federal government to address the problem of global warming by moving us away from polluting energy resources, like coal and oil, and toward clean and renewable energy, like wind, solar, bio-mass and hydrogen. To learn more, read the following New York Times article."

Here's an excerpt:

Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies said that the Earth’s five warmest years since the late 1880s were, in decreasing order, 2005, 1998, 2002, 2003 and — if no unexpected fluctuations occur the rest of this month — 2006.

James E. Hansen, the director of the Goddard center, said that 2007 was likely to be warmer than this year because one of the periodic hot spells in the tropical Pacific Ocean, called El Niño, has begun and should persist into next spring.

In February, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will release the main findings of its first update since 2001 on causes of global warming. The previous report concluded that most of the warming since 1950 was probably caused by human activities.

Research and fresh computer simulations considered under the new review have greatly strengthened that link, while also closing in on a possible warming of 5 degrees above the 1990 average, more or less, should the concentration of carbon dioxide double from the longstanding peak measured before the industrial era.

For at least 600,000 years before the Industrial Revolution, the concentration of carbon dioxide rarely nudged beyond 280 parts per million. It is now 382 parts per million and rising steadily.

Without a worldwide shift to nonpolluting energy technologies, such a doubling is considered almost unavoidable given the growth in such emissions in both wealthy and developing countries, but particularly in China and India.

Well, at least Gov. Jim Douglas isn't worried. As he said the other day, a unidentified ski-area operator he was talking to told him it's always slow until Christmas.

"They used to say I was real quiet as mayor," said Peter Brownell the other day when we crossed paths on State Street in Montpeculiar. Brownell, a Republican, served one term in the third floor corner office at Burlington City Hall (1993-1995). We'd asked for his assessment of the performance of the current mayor - Bob Kiss the Progressive.

"It's hard to say what he’s doing for sure" said Brownell. "He’s so quiet."

Brownell upset Peter Clavelle, the two-term Progressive, who apparently paid the price for approving benefits for "domestic partners" of city workers - a radical idea in its time.

After his one-term as mayor, Brownell, a rather quiet, soft-spoken kind of guy himself, lost his reelection bid.  Mayor Moonie returned from a sabbatical in Granada. In March 1995, Clavelle was voted back in and stayed there until Kiss' arrival last April.

Brownell currently works for the Vermont Department of Education. Peter heads a three-person team that monitors federal grants. He told us he travels around the state making sure the grant money is accounted for and its spending is documented. The ex-mayor also likes it, he said, because it gets him “out of the office and around the state.”

Nice.

The only problem is, it's December 14 and the thermometer reads 51 degrees. Can you say "global warming?"

Thursday morning, I jumped in the Saturn-awaiting-inspection and drove to Montpelier to catch Gov. Jim Douglas' announcement of his choice for Vermont's next Secretary of Agriculture.

After parking, I bumped into Roy Carlson, a Montpeculiar regular. Roy's a retired surveyor and civil engineer who works part-time for the City of Montpelier as a "Community Services Officer." Roy was engaged in removing the coin from state capital city's parking meters, one of his hallowed tasks.

Asked about the nice spring-like weather in December, Roy said he wasn't worried for himself, but he was worried for his grandchildren. "I'm 81," he told us. "It's not going to have much affect on me until I hit 100."

But the grandkids will be having problems, he said, with a tone of concern in his voice.

"If they don't do something right now," said Roy, "they'll really have to scramble." The Arctic ice, said Carlson, is melting a lot faster than anyone thought it would.  The sea levels are rising.

"They're predicting a Northwest Passage will be open to shipping within 20 years," he said.

Great.

Later, at the end of the Ag Secretary presser, yours truly asked the Guv for a comment on the strange December weather.

"It's a little warm, isn't it?"  Gov. Douglas replied. "I was talking to a ski-area operator this morning and he's not at all concerned because it's very slow until Christmas."

Then looking at what he called "a plus side," the Guv noted "our low-income heating assistance program is not in as great demand when the weather is so warm."

Douglas did say he hopes "we get some cold weather in the next week or so, so the Christmas holiday will be strong for our ski areas and we'll be off to a good winter."

Don't we all? However, this warm weather this December is a rather inconvenient truth, isn't it?

And, oh, yes, Gov. Jim Douglas appointed Roger Allbee (at right) the new Secretaryof Agriculture. One of the most interesting things about him is thefact that 20 years ago, his twin brother Ron Allbee had the job underDemocratic Gov. Madeleine Kunin.  Back then it was Commissioner ofAgriculture. And are they ever identical twins. Yours truly even calledhim "Ron" when we asked a question.

He happilly corrected me. Roger's the second-born. Amazing resemblance.

P.S. I drove down hoping WCAX Statehouse and bird reporter Anson Tebbetts, a Cabot dairy farmer, would get the nod. His name was reported on the final list.  As it turned out, Ol' Ch. 3, "Vermont's Own," did not even send anyone to cover the 11 o'clock presser even though WCAX has an office/studio on State Street in Montpelier.

A crew from the Plattsburgh, New York station, WPTZ, however, did drive down from their station's nearest outpost in Colchester, Vermont,  to cover the Vermont announcement.

Vermont's largest daily, The Burlington Free Press, was also missing-in-action.

Hey, at least they have blogs!

First we bump into United States Senator-elect Bernie Sanders at Uncommon Grounds on Church Street. Vermont's newest U.S. senator is upbeat and excited about the new role he'll be playing in the 'upper' body. In fact, he's in such a good mood, he and I go for a walk around downtown Burlington for 20 minutes and chew the fat.

One thing with Ol' Bernardo is that if you're with him, get ready for the public reaction. Naturally, folks recognize him. Old people, young people, it doesn't matter. Many want to shake his hand, give him a hug or at least say "hello," or "I voted for you!" or just a "Thank you, Bernie."

What's the Senator-elect up to these days?

"We're working on a number of issues," he tells us. "We're working on healthcare. We're working on environmental issues. We're working on energy issues. We're working on veterans issues."

The last couple weeks, the Senator-elect said he's been meeting with national leaders down in D.C. and this week he's meeting with their local Vermont counterparts. Tuesday evening, he said, almost 400 people came to a town meeting he held in South Burlington and he's holding them around the state.

And, said Sanders, it looks like he's the only senator with seats on both the energy and environmental committees. Full names: Energy and Natural Resources and Environment and Public Works.

"That puts us in a very good place in terms of global warming and sustainable energy," said Ol' Bernardo.

Cool.

Then this just in: Congressman-elect Peter Welch has just been appointed to the powerful House Rules Committee. Amazing for a freshman!

Most House committees are packed with 40 or 50 or 60 members. The Rules Committee has only 13: nine Democrats and four Republicans.

Welch's Chief-of-Staff Bob Rogan (at right) told "Freyne Land" the Rules Committee is the "traffic cop" for House legislation.

"Every committee that wants to move legislation to the Floor has to go through the front door of the Rules Committee and get what is called a 'rule' to get to the Floor," said Bob.

But how did a freshman get such an important seat?

His experience as president pro tem of the Vermont Senate sure didn't hurt.

"Peter is viewed as somebody who has an extraordinary amount of experience," said Rogan. "He's got gravitas in the legislative arena. He knows the difficulty of Speaker Pelosi's job and fundamentally he gets it!"

Not bad, eh?

And what's our other congressman got for work?

Oh, right, Sen. Patrick Leahy will be the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee come January.

Cool.

It's only once a year and my appointment's at 8 o'clock this morning - about 35 minutes away.

Annual auto inspection.

Whoopie!

So it's back to the old neighborhood at North & North to hangout for an hour, drink coffee and visit with old familiar faces at McCaffrey's and Waggy's.

Fingers-crossed on the six-year-old Saturn, eh?

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UPDATE*

The Ol' Saturn needs a few things done to it before it passes inspection.

Parts being ordered.

Rebooked for next Wednesday.

Que sera sera.

Not a bad morning if your name is Tom Salmon, eh?

The Associated Press’ Ross Sneyd has a very interesting story on the wire this morning regarding the still up-in-the-air race for Vermont state auditor: 

With a recount still under way, Democrat Thomas M. Salmon has picked up more than enough votes to overturn his razor-thin election loss to incumbent Republican Auditor Randy Brock.

Of the quarter-million votes cast on November 7, “thousands of votes” still remain uncounted in the recount which is now in its second week. A tedious process, indeed, with ballots counted by hand.

But the trend is unmistakably in favor of Salmon, who lost by 137 votes on Election Day, according to county clerks polled Monday by the Associated Press.

Salmon billed himself as the “only certified public accountant” running for auditor of accounts. He’s also the only descendant of a former Vermont governor and former president of the University of Vermont running for auditor. That's his dad at left with Gov. Scissorhands.

And he’s the only Democrat running for auditor in a state where Democrats hold strong majorities in the legislature and are represented in Congress by the bravest and boldest opponents of the corrupt and incompetent right-wing regime that’s controlled the White House for the last six years.

But the times are a changin’, eh?

If the trend in the recount continues, and Tommy CPA wins, he will also become the newest name added to the list of potential Democratic gubernatorial candidates in 2008. Despite their strength in the state, the Democrats have lost three consecutive races for governor and lt. governor. Politician-for-life Jim Douglas has simply been far, far better at the election game than the likes of Doug Racine, Peter Clavelle and Scudder Parker.

State Sen. Matt Dunne did a respectable job in losing this year’s lite-gov contest to Brian Dubie. His name is being mentioned as someone who might be able to give Douglas a race in 2008. State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding and Secretary of State Deb Markowitz get a mention, too. As does Chuck Ross, Sen. Patrick Leahy's longtime chief of Vermont operations.

But a Tom Salmon victory in the recount this week would immediately add his name to the Dems gubernatorial short list.

Copies of Chris Graff's Dateline Vermont were sold out yesterday at Bear Pond Books in Montpeculiar! And it's currently #3 on the hardcover best-seller list at Northshire Books in Manchester Center.

The Vermont best seller by the former Vermont A.P. Bureau Chief - who's seen it all - covers the major stories of the last three decades in the Green Mountains as seen by a newsman on the front line, including his firing.

I bumped into Chris yesterday at Capitol Grounds in Montpelier, enjoying my new coffee shop, newspaper and chit-chat life. Krista Harness of Montpelier and her laptop were there before Chris. Krista's a co-producer of Anthony Pollina's "Equal Time" on WDEV radio.

Small world.