Opinion

S.241 Vermont marijuana Bill does NOT make marijuana legal like alcoholic beverages: (1) because you can brew your own alcoholic beverage at home in Vermont, and this bill does NOT allow you to plant a seed in the ground and grow your own marijuana at home; (2) because the state government does not raid your home and count your cans of beer, but in the new Bill, S. 241, the state will raid your home and count every single seed you have, or have planted, and send you to prison if you are not one of the chosen few to pay a high price for and receive a license to commercially grow and sell marijuana.

S.241 was written for the express purpose of making the rich even richer, and sending the poor to prison for the benefit of the private-for-profit prison industry.

BURLINGTON, Vt., Feb. 25 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) made the following statement after the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation determined several residential and commercial wells in North Bennington contained elevated levels of the chemical, Perfluorooctanoic (PFOA), a possible carcinogen.

“I am very concerned that Vermont environmental officials have found high levels of a possible carcinogen in several North Bennington wells. The state must continue to aggressively investigate the well water situation in North Bennington, keep families informed, and ensure Vermonters have access to clean and safe water. Moreover, the state must hold the polluters responsible for their actions.”

Contact: Dan McLean: (802) 862-0697

I got one of these calls last night. The man making them is clearly unhinged. Apparently he targeted Vermont.

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Did other iBratters get this robocall lunacy?

Brattleboro Town Selectboard will hold a pre-town meeting information forum on Wednesday, March 2 at AcademySchool beginning at 7:00 PM to discuss the upcoming special representative town meeting scheduled for March 12 regarding the question of relocating the police department headquarters.

Prior to the 7pm forum, each district will caucus beginning at 6:30 PM to allow town meeting members of each district to be available to meet with constituents. Also, at that time, districts will be accepting nominations to fill town meeting member vacancies.

In my lifetime of participating in and out of the political process, one of the demographics painfully missing in the process has been and still largely is young people. The notion that young people have no or little experience in office should not be an impediment to young people’s candidacies nor a reason why not to vote for them. [(R-L) Christophe Gagne and Avery Schwenk]

For too long all levels of politics are denied probably the most important voices needed to understand the present and prepare for the future. As Spoon Agave wrote in the February 22nd edition of the Reformer, “The world is never going to be like most old-timers thought it would be and are still trying, laboriously, fruitlessly and wastefully, to make it become.”

Serving on Brattleboro’s Selectboard has been one of the greatest honors and privileges of my life. Government is a fundamental public trust, and I am humbled to have been elected to represent and work for Brattleboro’s citizens in providing oversight and direction for our Town.

I am running again for Selectboard because I want to continue the important work we are doing. As a member and chair of the Board, I have many priorities. Our government should be responsive, open, and transparent. Everyone should be able to have a voice in the process, and we should listen to and hear competing views thoughtfully and respectfully. Municipal services need to be provided in a safe and effective manner that meets the needs of our community and our ability to pay. Decisions should be made after careful consideration of all available information, with sufficient time for reflection, based on what best serves the public good.

As we watch the primaries unfold (a process that continues until early June, if you can believe it), I thought I would finally take a few minutes to figure out how the primaries actually work these days, and where the candidates stand.  Here’s what I discovered.

 Goldwater Girl  in 1964

This one ought to be easy.

Below is information that might be helpful to know for March 1st elections.

In addition to local elections, the Democratic and Republican Primaries will be held.

Attached is a sample ballot from each of Brattleboro’s three districts.

Polling place for all three districts in Brattleboro is the Selectboard Meeting Room, second floor of the Municipal Center from 7:00 am until 7 pm.

Who is this guy???

Hint: He’s not running for president.

Let’s see. We’re approaching Super Tuesday. Vermont can weigh in on the primaries in March.

A Supreme Court Justice has died, leaving a puzzle of sorts. Republicans appear willing to gamble that they’d get a better appointement under President Sanders, it seems.

Trump continues to do a Don Rickles impersonation, trying to become more popular with each insult. Rubio is sweaty! The amazing thing isn’t so much his insults, as the inability for those insulted to respond.

Trumpelstiltskin

Once a lovely maiden made the mistake of making a deal with a big bad banker who was about to pull the rug out from under her poor dad. The desperate old man offered his daughter up to the banker as stopgap collateral, believing in her earnest entreaties, that she could indeed spin her way out of his mess.

The deal she agreed to was to build a wall across the southern border of the country, overnight. Sure it was a nutty concept, but she’d do anything to save her father. Then, as if out of nowhere an imp or elf-like creature appeared and offered to help. He was very specific in the details of the deal, as was his wont. “I’ll build your wall, and if you make love to me, I will forgo your debt. Otherwise I will take your firstborn as my own. There is a single caveat here, listen carefully, if you guess my name, all will be even-steven, and you’ll be free and clear with me.”

Primary Day is on in New Hampshire, and we have some winners. In Dixville Notch shortly after midnight, John Kasich got three votes, Donald Trump two votes, and Bernie Sanders got four.

Two other NH towns have midnight voting. Millsfield, gave it to Cruz (9 votes) and Clinton (2 votes, upsetting Sanders), and Hart’s Location chose Kasich and Sanders.

Which is to say, it is Tuesday now, it is snowy, and New Hampshire is going to the polls.

Early/absentee ballots for the Presidential Primary and Annual Town and Town School District election to be held on March 1, are now available in the Brattleboro town clerk’s office. Anyone wishing to vote prior to March 1, may apply for an early/absentee ballot until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, February 29.

Early/absentee ballots may be voted in person in the clerk’s office, mailed to the voter by the clerk’s office, picked up by the voter or delivered to the voter’s residence by two justices of the peace. All voted ballots must be received by the clerk before the polls close on election day in order to be counted. Early/absentee ballots remain sealed until election day. Absentee ballot envelopes are opened at the polling place and ballots are processed through vote tabulators in the same manner as those voted in person that day. For more information or to request an early/absentee ballot call 251-8157.

So, Iowa speaks. Clinton by a hair, and Trump loses to Cruz with Rubio nipping at his heels.

Vermont’s own Bernie Sanders had a good night, coming within less than half a percentage point with Clinton. Basically, a tie. As one commenter somewhere on the Internet pointed out – Sanders was foiled again by the 1%.

Huckabee, O’Malley, and probably a few others soon, will be bowing out of consideration.

On to our neighbors in New Hampshire.

Here’s the complete list of people registered with the Town Clerk in Brattleboro that will be on the ballot this March.

Dick DeGray, Avery Schwenk and David Gartenstein each hope to be elected to the two available one-year seats for Selectboard, indicating that we have an actual competitive race this year.

Kate O’Connor will run unopposed for a 3 year seat.