Interview: children’s welfare study
Steve Delaney talks with Beth Burgess of the Vermont Children’s Forum about the results of national report on the well being of U.S. children. (Listen to the interview.) (VPR)
Gay Pride Celebration<
When the 21st annual Gay Pride Celebration takes place this Saturday, it will happen with fewer volunteers, fewer events and less money than in past years. Organizers say the event needs more support if it’s going to continue. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Progressives on Legislative results
Vermont’s four-member Progressive delegation says that the recent Legislative session was not very productive for working people throughout the state. (VPR)
Sluggish economy impacts state spending
Governor Jim Douglas says he’s concerned about signs that the Vermont economy is still not improving. Douglas says the situation will require the administration to limit state spending in the future. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Circ Highway won’t create jobs
Business and political leaders have argued for years that the 16-mile-long Circumferential Highway is essential to Chittenden County’s economic growth. But a new federal study that looks at the environmental and economic impact of the new road says the project won’t create more jobs. The study has provided new ammunition for opponents of the Circ. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Vegetable oil bus arrives in Washington
Some Vermont college students who drove across the country in an old school bus powered by vegetable oil have reached their destination. (AP)
Youth voter registration
Vermont Secretary of State Deb Markowitz is asking high schools to help students with another rite of passage during graduation: registering to vote. (AP)
Internet gambling
Vermont Congressman Bernie Sanders has joined an effort in Congress to stop Internet gambling. Sanders joined strong majorities of Republicans and Democrats in voting for a bill that would ban the use of credit cards in offshore Internet casinos. (AP)
Vermont Yankee evacuation plan
How fast could schools be evacuated, kids loaded onto buses and gotten out of the area if there were an accident at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant? That’s one of a host of questions being asked by residents of Hinsdale, New Hampshire, whose schools are just a mile across the Connecticut River from Vermont’s lone reactor. (AP)
New nuclear power plants
Both of Vermont’s U.S. Senators were on the losing side Tuesday as they sought to block a loan guarantee program for building new nuclear power plants. Vermont U.S. Senators James Jeffords and Patrick Leahy voted for an effort to strip from an energy bill an amendment that contained the loan guarantees. (AP)
Labor meeting
Labor leaders, mediators and others gather Wednesday in Montpelier for a conference on trends in labor mediation. Up for discussion will be labor-management issues in public schools, state and municipal governments and in health care institutions. (AP)
Supreme Court vacancy
Four judges and two lawyers are on the list of finalists for a vacancy on the Vermont Supreme Court. The Rutland Herald cites sources who have identified the judges as Matthew Katz, Dean Pineles, Mary Miles Teachout and Administrative Judge Francis McCaffrey. Bennington lawyer Stephen Saltonstall and Burlington lawyer Richard Cassidy also made the final round.
Airline ends service to Rutland
A regional airline, Colgan Air, will be ending its service to the Rutland State Airport because the federal government is ending its subsidy. The Department of Transportation says it costs too much to support passenger service at Rutland. (AP)
Restaurant chain fights foreclosure
A regional restaurant chain based in Shelburne is fighting off foreclosure in federal court. Hospitality Well Done owns nine restaurants in Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut. They include Sweetwaters in Burlington, three Sirloin Saloon restaurants and Perry’s Fish House in South Burlington. (AP)
Racial harassment
A restaurant owner in Winooski has been enduring two years of racial harassment. Clarence Johnson owns A Taste of Dixie in the downtown district. He had a voice mail message waiting for him at work yesterday. It was a death threat. (AP)