Rockingham voters question hydro dam purchase
Voters in Rockingham approved a $4.7 million town budget at the their Town Meeting Monday night. The town’s attempt to purchase the Bellows Falls hydroelectric generating facility wasn’t on the town warning, but it was a topic of conversation. (VPR)
Controversy draws large attendance as Salisbury meeting
The lights were on in many Vermont schools and town halls Monday night as communities held their annual town meetings. Voters in the Addison County town of Salisbury spent more than four hours discussing budgets and town meeting articles. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Chittenden considers computerized tax map
About 75 people turned out for Chittenden’s town meeting. And as VPR’s Nina Keck reports, efforts to clarify the town’s tax list stirred up the most controversy. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Interview: Strengthening the town meeting tradition
Some call town meeting America’s best example of direct democracy in action, and today the practice will be in full swing throughout Vermont. Mitch Wertlieb talks with Carolyn Lukensmeyer, the founder and president of “America Speaks,” a Washington-based nonprofit organization dedicated to observing and finding ways to improve town meetings. (Listen to the interview online.) (VPR)
Kerry hopes to win Vermont primary
The campaign of Massachusetts Senator John Kerry says it’s cautiously optimistic that Kerry will win Vermont’s presidential primary. But supporters of former governor Howard Dean are urging voters to back Dean even though he’s no longer an active candidate. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Rejected land swap causes setback for wind project
The U.S. Forest Service has handed a setback to wind energy developers in southern Vermont. Project proponents had wanted to trade private land for public property to accommodate a new wind farm. But forest managers rejected the proposed land exchange, saying it did not fit with their overall goals for the national forest. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Interview: Rules of Order at Town Meeting
Town Meeting Day in Vermont has been called “democracy being practiced in its purest form.” But with democracy comes procedure. Neal Charnoff talks with the executive director of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns about the procedural aspects of Town Meeting Day. (Listen to the interview online.) (VPR)
Leahy critical of Iraqi children’s hospital proposal
Senator Patrick Leahy is raising questions about a project being promoted by First Lady Laura Bush. Laura Bush is pushing a $100 million children’s medical center that would be built in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. (AP)
Barre mayor’s race down to two candidates
One candidate has dropped out of the race for mayor of Barre, and Governor Jim Douglas has endorsed one of the two remaining candidates. (AP)
Vermont Yankee uprate
Vermont’s two U.S. senators are asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to hold a public meeting in Vermont on a plan to increase power production by 20 percent at Vermont Yankee. Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy and James Jeffords have sent a letter to the chairman of the NRC citing concerns about the process of evaluating the power increase. (AP)
Crawford won’t seek re-election
Representative Howard Crawford is not running for re-election. The Burke Republican made his announcement Monday night at the Burke town meeting. Crawford has served in the Vermont House for 14 years. Crawford says he is stepping down to spend more time with his family and to dedicate more energy to his job. (AP)
Drug treatment center in Bradford
State regulators will decide next week whether to approve a proposed drug treatment center in Bradford. The Vermont Health Department has accepted a bid to establish an in-patient treatment center in a former nursing home. Bradford residents expect the change will be good for their town. (AP)
Tatro charged for aiding suspect
A Rindge man accused of helping a man flee charges that he killed a Vermont State Police trooper has pleaded innocent to the charges. Twenty-seven-year-old Joshua Tatro turned himself in to police on Monday after failing to appear in court on Friday. (AP)