Airports fences
The state wants to build security fences around several of Vermont’s small airports. But the reason for the extra security may not be quite what it seems. (VPR)
Norwich drill team
A group of Norwich Cadets has brought home the gold in their first national competition. (VPR)
Shuttle debris search
Firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service in Vermont and New Hampshire are home after two weeks of searching for debris from the Space Shuttle Columbia. The 20-person crew spent two weeks near Lufkin, Texas, searching for debris from the space shuttle, which broke up over the region last month. (VPR)
Legislature reconvenes
School funding remains a major issue as Vermont lawmakers return Tuesday from their mid-session Town Meeting break. Before leaving on break the week before last, the Senate passed a bill making changes to the controversial Act 60 school funding law. (AP)
Legislature floor debate
Vermont House Speaker Walter Freed says the legislative logjam is about to break. Freed says he expects floor action is about to heat up as several bills that have been in committee for the past weeks will be reported out. (AP)
School budgets
The president pro tempore of the Vermont Senate says he thinks the defeat of many school budgets can be blamed on the slow economy. Peter Welch (D-Windsor County) says he thinks the economy is more to blame than the Act 60 school funding law for the defeats. (AP)
Bennington bypass
Building the Bennington bypass in pieces may make sense financially, but it could badly hurt the town. That is the message from local leaders to officials with the Vermont Agency of Transportation. (AP)
USA Patriot Act
A U.S. Justice Department spokesman is defending the USA Patriot Act against criticisms being voiced by Vermont Congressman Bernie Sanders and others. Sanders last week introduced legislation that would repeal the portion of the law allowing government agents to search bookstore and library records to find out about people’s reading habits. (AP)
Canadian asylum seekers
Vermont Refugee Assistance says it doesn’t want to act as the relief valve anymore for flawed Canadian government policy. Patrick Giantonio, director of the agency, says his group doesn’t have the resources to continue indefinitely providing housing and food for asylum seekers turned away at the Canadian border. (AP)
Dean urges attention for North Korea
Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean says an attack on Iraq would be the wrong move at the wrong time. Speaking Sunday on the NBC program “Meet the Press,” Dean said President Bush should be paying much closer attention to provocative actions taken recently by North Korea. (AP)
Nightclub safety
Vermont nightclub owners say they’re trying to make sure their buildings are safe. Their concern grows out of the deadly fire in Rhode Island, where a fire swept through a West Warwick club in minutes and killed 99. Officials say the best way to protect a building and the people in it is to have a sprinkler system. (AP)
Vermont basketball
Vermont’s men’s basketball team heads into the semifinals tonight of the America East Conference championships. Vermont defeated Albany Sunday, 81-62. The Catamounts face Hartford in Monday’s game. (AP)