The Scoreboard: This Week's Winners and Losers

Death with dignity? Ridge-line wind? Guns? Unionization?

The real winner this week? The folks who run the Statehouse cafeteria, where hordes of pros and cons gathered to lobby their legislators.

Here are some other winners and losers in Vermont news and politics in this week’s Scoreboard:

Winners:

Gucci beer — ‘Nuff said. Runner-up winner: Gov. Peter Shumlin, because he’d rather folks criticize his taste in beer than his budget proposals.

Air National Guard — Retired Army National Guard Brig. Gen. Jonathan Farnham’s withdrawal from the adjutant general’s race this week means that Air Guard Brig. Gen. Steven Cray will almost certainly be the Guard’s next leader. That’ll keep the adjutant general’s position once again in the hands of the Air Guard, even though they’re heavily outnumbered by their Army Guard brethren.

Climate nerds — When Ripton’s Bill McKibben showed up at the Statehouse Wednesday, he was treated like Bono at Davos. And hey, even the weather cooperated. Nothing like 50-degree temps in January to make climate-change deniers look like idiots.

Congressional homecomings — Congressman Peter Welch dropped by his old haunt in the Senate Finance Committee, while Sen. Bernie Sanders weighed in on Vermont’s wind debate. Bookmark this one for the next time Ol’ Bernardo says he doesn’t get involved in state issues.

Monkton residents — After Monktonians spoke out against Vermont Gas’ proposed pipeline route on Pond Street and Monkton Road, the company backed off this week and said it’d make use of VELCO’s existing power-line corridor.

Losers after the break…