A re-design of the Circumferential Highway and new designs of the Lake Champlain Bridge were revealed, farmers expressed worries about immigration fines while aid to dairy farmers was released and Howard Dean and Bernie Sanders both lamented developments in health care reform legislation in Washington.
These were some of the voices in the news this week
Circumferential Highway Gets New Design (12/16)
(Ken Robie, project manager, state Transportation Agency) "You could compare it in a sense to like say Route 15 between St. Mike’s and Susie Wilson Road is a decent comparison to what that configuration would be."
Six Designs For The Crown Point Bridge (12/14)
(Bridge engineer Ted Zoli) "Maybe it’s not a stated, but it’s an unstated opportunity to replace an important bridge with something that’s maybe not equally as important but maybe potentially could create a new sort of bridge form for the future."
Farmers Worried About Immigration Fines (12/15)
(Senator Patrick Leahy) "We do hire temporary workers in Vermont for apple picking and things like that. Unfortunately, in dairy farms, you need them year ‘round. You can’t tell the cows we’ll be back to milk you in six months. It doesn’t work that way."
Aid To Dairy Farmers Is Released (12/17)
(Jonathan Coppess, administrator, Farm Service Agency at the U.S. Agriculture Department) "This is, if you will, just a quick assistance, or some sort of bridge assistance to help ease some of that pain and help get them into the next year, when our economists and others believe we’ll see a strengthening in the dairy prices."
Dean On Health Care: "Kill The Senate Bill" (12/15)
(Howard Dean) "And, honestly, the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill and go back to the House and start the reconciliation process, where you only need 51 votes and it would be a much simpler bill."
Sanders Withdraws Single-Payer Amendment (12/17)
(Senator Bernie Sanders) "And this guy, on behalf of the Republican leadership, says, ‘Oh, no. Let’s spend a day or two reading the Sanders amendment. Let’s see if we can waste a whole lot of time. Let’s make sure that nothing gets done here and then we can blame President Obama and the Democratic leadership.’ I think that’s pretty pathetic. So, to be honest with you, I was not a happy camper."