Veterans’ Day
Monday is Veterans’ Day, and while stores are generally open, most public offices are closed. That applies to state, federal and most municipal offices and courthouses. Post offices are closed, and while express mail will be delivered, there is no general delivery today. (AP)
Methadone clinics
Two and a half years ago, the Legislature approved the creation of methadone clinics to help treat Vermont’s increasing number of heroin addicts. But establishing the clinics has been a slow process. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Dean winds down
Governor Howard Dean says the election of a new governor last week has brought home the reality that Dean will soon be stepping down as Vermont’s chief executive. (Listen to the story online or read the transcript.) (VPR)
Dean farewell party
Some friends of Governor Howard Dean are planning a big party in Killington this week to commemorate his 11 years in office. Dean is the longest-serving Vermont governor since the state’s first governor, Thomas Chittenden. (AP)
Party switcher
Democratic State Representative Albert Krawczyk says he’s changing parties and will become a Republican. The 68-year-old Krawczyk says he feels the Republicans offer the best hope for Vermont and he thinks he can work better with state Republicans. (AP)
Okemo expansion
The Vermont Supreme Court appears to have given the green light for Okemo Mountain Resort to expand by developing an area called Jackson Gore. The court denied an appeal brought by local residents of a 2000 decision by the town’s Development Review Board that approved the first phase of the Jackson Gore development. (AP)
Veterans’ war memories
Some Vermont veterans are hoping a new museum in Ludlow and a folklorist’s effort to collect their stories will preserve the lessons of war past their lifetimes. They’re planning the museum for land donated by the Okemo Mountain Resort. And they’re working with folklorist Gregory Sharrow of the Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury to make an archive of their stories. (AP)
Coolidge shoes
The Coolidge Foundation has a new piece of memorabilia about Calvin Coolidge’s years in the White House: a pair of presidential shoes. The 1920s president gave the shoes to his White House physician, Doctor Joel Boone. Boone’s son-in-law, Milton Heller of Stowe, donated the shoes. (AP)
Rifle season starts Saturday
Deer hunters in Vermont are gearing up for the annual rifle season, which starts next Saturday. Last year hunters killed about 7,500 deer, one of the lowest totals in years. Biologists blame a series of late season snowstorms. (AP)
Civil union dissolution
A Connecticut man who had been trying to get his home state to dissolve his Vermont civil union has died. But the attorney for Glen Rosengarten is still pushing the Connecticut Supreme Court to hear the case. Connecticut doesn’t recognize Vermont civil unions. (AP)
Vernon police
Vernon Police Chief Randy Wheelock has been cited into court on charge of simple assault against a member of his own department. Wheelock narrowly held on to his job earlier this year after a public disciplinary trial conducted by the Vernon Select Board. (AP)