Voices in the week’s news: February 20, 2009

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Large-scale wind projects and composting operations were debated, the legislature moved on a new sex offender law and the state’s chief justice and dairy farmers testified at the State House.

These were some of the voices in the news this week:

Advocates call for lifting of ban on large scale wind projects (2/17)

(Natural Resources Secretary Jonathan Wood)  "If the people of Vermont think this is an appropriate place for wind, and we go to them, and they decide, I’m happy to change the policy. This policy should reflect the people of Vermont and what their desires are and what their values are, not my personal opinion."

Intervale project highlights challenges of large-scale composting (2/16)

(Nora Goldstein, editor, BioCycle Magazine)  "The payback over 10 years, because of using the compost to help manage our stormwater, getting the food waste out of the landfill, we can reduce methane emissions. All those factors together, you end up further ahead."

Legislature moves quickly to pass new sex offender law (2/17)

(House Judiciary chairman Bill Lippert) "Prosecutors and virtually everyone who testified said if there’s a single most important thing that we can do to successfully prosecute but also to prevent future crimes of sexual violence is to establish ‘SIU’s’ – specialized investigative units in all parts of the state, and this bill does that."

Chief Justice addresses judicial budget crisis (2/19)

(Senate Judiciary chairman Dick Sears) "I think this was an historic moment when the chief justice comes before the Legislature saying hey we are a separate branch of government and we need to be treated as such but I think that we need to look at how we can best deliver justice in this state."

Dairy farmers concerned about future (2/19)

(Ralph McNall, dairy farmer, Fairfax) "We aren’t coming to the state to ask for money. I have different request for you people, which is to contact our respective people from the state of Vermont in Congress to ask for immediate help. This is an emergency request as farm milk prices have dropped 50 percent in the last few weeks."

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