Interview: New Hampshire primary
The reporting quarter for campaign finances has ended and the New Hampshire primary is now just weeks away. Mitch Wertlieb talks with Guy MacMillan, editorial page editor of the Keene Sentinel in New Hampshire, about the concerns of Granite State voters. (Listen to the interview online.) (VPR)
Bush reelection campaign
Governor Jim Douglas says he expects to play a leadership role in President Bush’s re-election campaign in Vermont. But Douglas says it’s unlikely that he’ll actively campaign against former Governor Howard Dean, if Dean wins the Democratic presidential nomination. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Snowmobile trails legislation
Vermont snowmobilers want landowners to be paid for the use of their property. That’s at the top of an ambitious legislative agenda that the snowmobile association will bring to Montpelier later this month. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
‘Kitchen tunks’ revived
Before there were satellite dishes, DVD players and video games, Vermonters were savvy about creating their own forms of entertainment. Local musicians would gather around the farmhouse and play some of that old-time music. Now, a new CD is keeping the spirit of traditional New England music alive. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Dean fundraising sets record
Howard Dean is going into a new year with plenty of money in his campaign coffers. During a series of about 1,400 house parties held across the country this week he raised about $500,000. By Wednesday Dean had raised about $14.7 million. (AP)
Clark fundraising
Retired General Wesley Clark says his strong fourth-quarter fund-raising shows that he’s the clear alternative to Howard Dean. Clark raised nearly $11 million in the fourth quarter – second only to Dean, who raised more than $14 million. (AP)
Minimum wage increase
Vermont’s lowest paid workers will be getting a raise on Friday. The minimum wage went from $6.25 an hour to $6.75. For workers who receive tips, the minimum wage will increase from $3.44 an hour to $3.58 cents. (AP)
Border crossing delays
It was a bit slow at the border for some New Year’s revelers returning yesterday from Montreal. Customs spokesman Michael Gilhouly says the wait at the border crossing yesterday afternoon at the Highgate Springs border crossing was about 45 minutes on average. (AP) Funeral today for Dr. Warshaw A funeral is going to be held on Friday in Miami for Doctor Joseph Warshaw, the dean of the University of Vermont College of Medicine. The 67-year-old Warshaw died Monday from cancer. Warshaw was a professor of pediatrics at UVM. He had been dean for three years. (AP)
Lottery winner
A Vergennes woman is celebrating the New Year with a $3.4 million Tri-State Megabucks lottery jackpot in hand. The still unidentified woman had the single winning ticket in Wednesday night’s drawing. (AP)
Nightclub inspections
Vermont’s Department of Labor and Industry is working hard to make the state’s nightclubs and restaurants safer. The effort follows tragedies at nightclubs in Rhode Island, where nearly 100 died in a fire, and Chicago, where 21 people died in a stampede. (AP)
Marijuana conviction
A former Castleton State College student convicted of selling large amounts of marijuana might avoid jail time. Twenty-year-old Louis Delbalzo of Franklin Square, New York, was sentenced Tuesday to zero-to-four years in prison. He was placed on furlough. (AP)