Mar 18-24, 2009
Patent Lawyer, Inventor and Activist Jimmy Leas Keeps Reinventing Himself; VT Blue Cross Chief Walks Away With $7.25 Million; Church Street’s Retail Roulette
Marriage Vote: The Right Side of History
At the end of the day, there was a visible, if not collective, sigh of relief from many Vermont senators after backing a same-sex marriage bill by a 26-4 vote. “It’s your bill now,” said a happy Sen. Richard Sears (D-Bennington), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee to his House counterpart Rep. Bill Lippert (D-Hinesburg).…
Vermont Senate Passes Same-Sex Marriage, 26-4
The Vermont Senate passed the same-sex marriage bill this afternoon by a margin of 26-4 (3 Republicans and 1 Democrat voted nay). Shay Totten tweeted the debate on his iPhone, God bless him. Click here to read his updates. He’ll have a blog post later tonight or tomorrow. Shay reports that House Speaker Shap Smith…
Same-Sex Marriage Debate today in VT Senate
The same-sex marriage bill — called the marriage equality bill — will be debated in the Vermont Senate this afternoon starting around 3 PM. I’ll be Twittering the debate in real-time (or as close to it as possible) and then blogging about it later tonight. Follow me on Twitter here. I’ll be providing coverage similar…
What I Did For Money
Contest alert! We had so much fun sifting through the entries in the Best of the Beasts pet photo contest that we decided to do a contest for our “Money Issue” on April 1. So, here you go… What’s the craziest thing you’ve done for money? Did you work an odd job? Betray a confidence?…
Challengers Outspent Kiss 5-to-1 in Burlington Mayor’s Race
The totals are in, and challengers to incumbent Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss outspent the frugal Progressive by a 5-to-1 margin. Kiss’ spending totals were just shy of $20,000, while his opponents spent a combined $107,000. At the head of the pack was Independent Dan Smith, who spent $51,193. In the end, Smith earned 1306 first-place…
Same-Sex Marriage Bill Goes to the Senate
The same-sex marriage bill is headed to the Vermont Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously today — 5 to 0 — to advance the bill out of committee. Vermont Freedom to Marry is urging supporters to call their senators, and be present when the Senate debates and votes on the bill. That’s expected to…
Davis to Seek Burlington City Council Presidency
As the Burlington City Council wraps up its work for the year for the session and says goodbye to five members, including current City Council President Kurt Wright (R-Ward 4), there is increasing talk of who will wield the gavel come April. Last night, Councilor Clarence Davis (P-Ward 3) announced to existing and new members…
Renewable Energy Co-op Launches in Middlebury
On Wednesday night, the ACORN Energy Co-op held an official launch meeting at the Ilsley Public Library in Middlebury. Members of the new co-op, which grew out of the Middlebury-based umbrella group Addison County Relocalization Network (ACORN), plan to facilitate the annual production, marketing and distribution of 10,000 tons of wood pellets. Greg Pahl, the…
Same-Sex Marriage Hearing: Video
I’m still recovering from the hearing in Montpelier last night. What a scene. I shot this video of the crowd before the testimony began. I wanted to post it last night, but I was afraid that uploading it would crash the Statehouse Wi-Fi. To read the transcript of our live blog last night, click here.
Listen to the People — Same-Sex Marriage Hearing at the Statehouse
Don Eggert and I are here at the Statehouse for the public hearing on same-sex marriage. We’ll be live blogging tonight. You can follow along below. Here’s a shot of the House chamber. The hearing doesn’t start for 45 minutes, but the room is filling up already. Lots of people here to testify. The second…
Dan Bolles Scoops the New York Times!
Soundbites: Dan Bolles Scoops the New York Times!, Lonestar-Studded, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Pomp & Circumstanz, Bite Torrent
News Quirks
Curses, Foiled Again When an 18-year-old man entered a bank in Camden, Ark., and opened a bag containing $88 in nickels that he wanted to change into paper money, the teller spotted a gun in the bag and alerted a supervisor, who called police. Capt. Scott Rosson told the Camden News the man didn’t try…
Same-Sex Marriage Public Hearing Tonight
This image is a little love note we received on our fax machine this morning. Just in time! The House and Senate Judiciary Committees are hosting a public hearing on same-sex marriage tonight at the Statehouse in Montpelier from 6-8:30 p.m. Seven Days Creative Director and Associate Publisher Don Eggert and I are going to…
Letters to the Editor
QUEEN CITY SOLUTIONS I think an ethnic market and marina are both great ideas in “Building a Better Burlington” [March 4]. I’ve watched the sailors doing their shopping and trying to get back to the present dockage. They look haggard and very uncomfortable. Actually, I had one ask me why we didn’t have better facilities…
Free Will Astrology
Here’s the weekly astrological forecast for March 18 – 25, 2009. What’s your sign, baby? They’re all here… ARIES (March 21-April 19): The 1906 earthquake that hit San Francisco also demolished downtown Santa Rosa, about 50 miles to the north. During the rebuilding process, Frank Doyle, a local businessman who referred to himself as a…
![March Meltdown [SIV120]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/episode120.webp?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1)
March Meltdown [SIV120]
3/14/09: The Green Mountain Derby Dames take on Syracuse’s Assault City Roller Derby in the GMDD’s third bout. A sold out Expo-crowd deliriously cheered on the spills, jamming, blocking, and carnage. Your last chance to catch a GMDD bout this year – April 4th and May 9th. Music: Missy Bly, Clean Bee, “Wanda”
Splendors in Brief
Art Review: Phillip Robertson, recent prints and paper constructions. Brown Library, Sterling College, Craftsbury. Through April 3.
UVM Springfest Tickets on Sale Today
The super-awesome instrumental hip-hop/electronic band Ratatat is headlining the 2009 edition of UVM’s Springfest, with more bands TBA. Tickets are set to go on sale today on uvmtickets.com and at the ticket office in the Patrick Gymnasium, and cost $5 for college students with ID and $20 for the general public. Major, major props to…
Cement Trucks Roll Thru Burlington
You could hardly hear a thing on Church Street at 3:30 p.m. today. That’s because it was clogged with honking, cement-mixing trucks from S.D. Ireland. The yellow-and-white mixers were guests of honor in the local construction and excavating firm’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. Of trucks. Funds raised for the spectacle will be donated to…
Protesters Rally for Single-Payer Health Coverage
At noon today, more than 150 protesters showed up at the University of Vermont’s Davis Center. The protest, organized by Save Vermont Health Care, coincided with today’s regional health care forum, one of five such events organized by the White House. (The other forums are taking place this month and next in California, Iowa, Michigan…
John McCardell on ‘The Colbert Report’
Comedian Stephen Colbert will meet his match on Thursday when John McCardell makes a guest appearance on “The Colbert Report” at 11:30 p.m. on Comedy Central. The former president of Middlebury College is an eloquent, dignified and seemingly conservative advocate for lowering the legal drinking age to 18. He founded the Middlebury-based nonprofit, Choose Responsibility,…
Vermont Regional Health Forum Comes to Burlington
Governor Jim Douglas and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick are hosting a forum on health care up at UVM today. The forum itself is invitation-only, and it starts at 1 p.m. There’s a rally in progress up at UVM as I type this. The photo is from Shay Totten, who’s on the scene with Seven Days…
Happy St. Patrick’s Day
It’s March 17, St. Patrick’s Day. We’re celebrating here at Seven Days by… eating. This morning, a delivery-person from the Bagel Cafe and Deli on North Ave. dropped off our weekly deadline-day bagel shipment. I opened the bag and discovered this green specimen, presumably in honor of the holiday. Also discovered these tasty chocolate pretzel…
