New Rules May Impact National Forest
The Vermont chapter of the Sierra Club is strongly criticizing a new plan proposed by the Bush administration to open up more national forest land to logging operations. The group says new proposal could affect 121,000 acres of the Green Mountain National Forest. But state officials say the impact will be far less. (VPR)
Laurance Rockefeller’s Legacy in Vermont
When Laurence Rockefeller died last weekend at the age of 94, he was remembered as a philanthropist who used his influence and fortune to help establish and expand national parks from the Virgin Islands to Hawaii. But Vermonters don’t have to look far to see Rockefeller’s influence. (VPR)
Sanders Will Continue Effort to Amend Patriot Act
Congressman Bernie Sanders says the fight to roll back portions of the USA Patriot Act will continue, despite the defeat last week of legislation to limit the government’s ability to obtain information from libraries and booksellers. (VPR)
Mobile Methadone Clinic
The Vermont Department of Health has selected a California firm to operate a proposed mobile methadone clinic. (VPR)
‘Hackie: Cab Driving and Life’
Jernigan Pontiac has been a cab driver in Burlington for over 20 years. From the front seat of his cab, Pontiac has seen it all, from college student brawls to surprising acts of kindness. Pontiac has been documenting his observations since 1977 in a column called “Hackie.” A collection of these columns has just been published in the book, “Hackie: Cab Driving and Life.” (VPR)
Leddy, Douglas on Health Care
The chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee is rebutting complaints by Vermont Governor Jim Douglas that the Senate blocked his health-care proposals. Senator Jim Leddy released copies of a letter to Douglas Monday saying the Senate didn’t get the governor’s health care bill until less than a month was left in the session. (AP)
Elderly Health Care
Financial experts say the cost of health care for the elderly in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont will continue to strain state budgets. At a conference in Portland, financial experts from northern New England pointed to rampant health care costs as the greatest hurdle states could be facing. (AP)
Meningococcal Death
The Vermont Health Department says a child who had attended an Essex Junction day care center died over the weekend of meningococcal disease. The child has not been publicly identified, but families with other children attending the Ed-U-Care Children’s Center in Essex Junction were contacted with advice about preventative antibiotics. (AP)
Farmer Charged for Goats’ Behavior
A goat farmer in Corinth has had another run-in with the law. Sixty-four-year-old Christopher Weathersbee has been charged with unlawful mischief for allegedly allowing his goats to eat trees and shrubs on his neighbors’ property. (AP)
Killington Secession
Selectmen from Killington will meet with New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson in Concord, New Hampshire, Tuesday to present their request to join New Hampshire. Killington residents recently approved a plan to secede from Vermont. They’re unhappy with Vermont’s system of financing education, which raised their property taxes several years ago. (AP)
Flooded Roads in Lamoille County
Heavy rains have washed out roads in Stowe and Canaan. Rushing water damaged houses and property and cut off electricity in the Moscow area of Stowe Monday afternoon. Bridges on Vermont 102 in Essex County also were damaged by a flooded river. (AP)
Woman Dies from Lightning Strike
A 49-year-old Enosburg Falls woman was killed when lightning struck her as she was leaving a golf course. State police say Alison Dombroski and a friend were leaving a golf course in Bakersfield at about four-thirty p-m yesterday when lightning struck. (AP)
Brandon Car Accident Starts Fire
A car accident set a house on fire in Brandon Monday afternoon. Police say fifty-nine-year-old Fred Palmer of Sudbury drove off the road and crashed into a gas grill in front of the house. The car burst into flames, igniting the house and destroying another car. (AP)