Here’s what’s happening in Vermont news and politics this week. Got an event for next week’s calendar? Email by Friday to submit.

Monday, December 3

  • Monday and Tuesday are big days for Gov. Peter Shumlin. He’ll be in Los Angeles for the annual meeting (and holiday party!) of the Democratic Governors Association — he’s expected to be elected its next chairman.
  • At 10:30 a.m., U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) will be at Cathedral Square Senior Living in Burlington for a press conference promoting open enrollment in Medicare, which extends through December 7. No word on enrollment dates for Obamacare.
  • Vermont authorities have finally confirmed the suspected killer of Bill and Lorraine Currier of Essex, who disappeared without a trace in 2011. He is Israel Keyes, a confessed serial killer, and on Sunday morning, he apparently killed himself in an Alaska jail cell, where he was being held in the murder of an Anchorage barista. At 1:30 p.m., U.S. Attorney for Vermont Tristram Coffin III holds a press conference at the federal courthouse in Burlington presumably to discuss details.
  • At 6 p.m., the Burlington City Council holds a special work session on ward redistricting. Wards 1, 7 and 4 are outside the acceptable deviation for representation, based on the 2010 Census, so the whole damn thing has to get redrawn.

Rest of the week after the break…