The Scoreboard: This Week's Winners and Losers

What do Justin Bieber and Gasoline Vallee have in common? Not much. Except making it on this week’s Scoreboard.

Here are the winners and losers in Vermont news and politics for the week of Friday, December 14:

Winners:

Sen. Bernie Sanders — It was a big week for Ol’ Bernardo. He nabbed a Senate committee chairmanship, a fawning New York Times profile and a fight over gas prices with best frenemy Skip Vallee. Runner-up Winner: Congressman Peter Welch, who clawed his way back onto the House Energy & Commerce Committee.

Whooping cough — Health Commissioner Harry Chen told reporters Thursday that Vermont has seen 10 times as many cases of pertussis this year than last, prompting the Health Department to offer vaccine shots at clinics throughout the state next week.

Reps. Willem Jewett and Tess Taylor — At last weekend’s meeting of the House Democratic caucus, Jewett (D-Ripton) won without opposition the majority leader post being vacated by outgoing Rep. Lucy Leriche (D-Hardwick. In a contested race for House Dems’ number three spot, Taylor (D-Barre) beat Rep. Rebecca Ellis (D-Waterbury) 49 to 37.

Justin Bieber — “J.B.” or “victim number three” managed to hold on to his life — and his balls — after an incarcerated Vermonter hired two New Mexican men to kill and castrate the Biebs and his bodyguard, along with two Vermonters. The guy behind the plot apparently had a tattoo of the pop star on his leg, but he sure don’t sound like a Belieber to us! Runner-up Winner: The St. Albans Messenger‘s Jessie Forand, who, it looks like, broke the story of the Bieber connection.

Losers and tie scores after the break…