241

General Discussion / Re: Being Thankful for Henry

« on: November 13, 2008, 10:48:32 AM »

Henry,

I know I can't thank you enough for this web site. It is my favorite place to visit on the web and when given the opportunity I tell every local person I can about your site in hopes that they too will join this online community.

I know in Fletcher, we have tried to get a Google Group going for the town, but so far it hasn't caught on, so I agree with the other posters that your site is somewhat unique in our state and we are lucky to have it.

Thanks again!

Todd

242

Current News & Events / Re: Some Changes In Registration

« on: November 12, 2008, 10:38:22 AM »

I seem to remember when I registered to become a member of your site, that you emailed me to check what my relationship to the town of Fairfax was. So are you now just reverting back to an old policy or are you doing even more to make sure the bots don't take over???

243

Current News & Events / Re: Armando Vilaseca Candidate For Education Commissioner

« on: November 07, 2008, 01:21:42 PM »

I've always found him to be well informed and easy to work with at School Board meetings in Fletcher. He seems to understand the wants of the town and is good at presenting options in a way that is easy to understand. While Franklin West would be losing a great administrator, I am sure the state would benefit. I wish him the best of luck in pursuiing this opportunity.

244

Current News & Events / Official Fletcher Voting Results

« on: November 04, 2008, 11:32:14 PM »

Here are the official votes from Fletcher:

663 people voted out of 850 registered voters (78% Turnout).

President
Obama/Biden - 437
McCain/Palin - 211
Nader/Gonzalez - 4
Barr/Root - 4
Hilary Clinton (Write-in) - 1

US Representative
Welch - 529
Trudell - 21
Hermann - 18
Newton - 9

Governor
Douglas - 379
Pollina - 169
Symington - 90
Young - 7
O'Connor - 4
Ericson - 3

Lieutenant Governor
Dubie - 413
Costello - 201
Kemp - 27
Mitchell - 5

Treasurer
Spaulding - 552
Schramm - 51
Ngoima - 11

Secretary of State
Markowitz - 436
Bifano - 148
Power - 26
Marmorale - 6

Auditor of Accounts
Salmon - 503
Abbott - 88
Levy - 16

Attorney General
Sorrell - 442
Kerin - 94
Dennett - 61
Jackowski - 11

State Senator
Kittell - 363
Collins - 326
Brock - 225
Rowell - 160

State Representative
Howrigan - 339
Christie - 271
Higgins - 183
Dickinson - 166
Allard - 115

High Bailiff
Johnson - 516

245

Current News & Events / Re: Skis On Wheels Maybe??

« on: November 02, 2008, 05:31:51 PM »

Maybe it was the US National Biathalon Team? I believe they train in Jericho.

246

Political Issues/Comments / Re: Pollina Attacked by Vermont Republican Party

« on: October 31, 2008, 09:10:03 AM »

j_gluck,

I applaud your efforts to change the inevitable, but the reality is that Jim Douglas is going to win another term on Tuesday. I think your posts in support of both Symington and Pollina are one of the primary reasons that neither of those two candidates have a chance to win. Both of these candidates are cannibalizing each others votes. Many of the people that are voting for Pollina would vote be voting for Symington if Pollina wasn't in the race and vice versa. Your posts seem to indicate no preference for Pollina or Symington, you just seem to want someone other than Douglas.

With that said I definitely know some Democrats that strongly support Douglas. We recently received a call from the VT Democratic Party seeking support for Obama next Tuesday (to which they got a resounding "Yes"). They then asked for the same support of Symington (to which they got a resounding "No"). The caller was then asked if this was a common response and she admitted that it was.

I believe that Jim Douglas will get at least 50% of the vote next Tuesday. I only wish it was for a four year term.

Thanks,
Todd

247

Current News & Events / BFA St. Albans entry on Wikipedia

« on: October 30, 2008, 11:27:24 AM »

I was curious about the history of BFA and I did a quick Google search. I've never tried to edit an entry on Wikipedia, but someone probably needs to correct the entry for BFA St. Albans. I got a kick out of the very well written first sentence of the article which was probably written by a disgruntled student:

Bellows Free Academy, St. Albans (BFA-St. Albans)is one of the worest schools to ever be made it should be burned to the ground drugs are incridible easy to get and the teachers don't care about there students.

Everything else in the article looked legitimate and I am sure someone will correct it soon, but it gave me a laugh when I first read it. The whole article can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellows_Free_Academy,_St._Albans

248

Current News & Events / Re: Route 108 Through Smuggs Is Closed Until Next Spring

« on: October 29, 2008, 01:32:39 PM »

I know this is the official announcement, but I think the road has been closed since we got that first snow last week. Either way, I have been driving around the mountain since then.

249

Political Issues/Comments / From Jim Douglas

« on: October 27, 2008, 07:57:07 PM »

Symington “Evolves” in Election Year Change
 
Montpelier, VT – In January 2007, when Republican and Independent representatives proposed a bill to require charged felons to submit to a DNA test, they were following national best-practices for law enforcement agencies and seeking to give Vermont police and prosecutors the tools they need to help prevent sexual predators and other criminals from threatening our families.

But to Gaye Symington, H.181 (An act relating to requiring persons charged with or cited for a felony to submit a DNA sample for the state DNA data bank), sponsored by Republican Representatives Tom Koch and Peg Flory and by Independent Representative Daryl Pillsbury, wasn't worth considering. She sent it to the House Judiciary committee, where it languished for two sessions. Speaker Symington never acted to move the bill forward.

Now in a shameless election year flip-flop, Speaker Symington said that her new support for this measure “reflects some evolution in my [her] thinking.” (WCAX, 8/13/08)

“Vermonters won't buy it," said Douglas Campaign manager Dennise Casey. “It is unbelievable that Ms. Symington would stand up in front of TV cameras and propose a measure that she has blocked for the past two years.”

“As a legislator for twelve years – four as Speaker of the House – Symington has not made safe communities legislation a priority. In fact, she’s been a roadblock. She has resisted calls for longer mandatory minimum sentences, civil confinement for dangerous sexual predators, and is against a more aggressive sex offender registry,” said Casey. “Her campaign conversion isn't serious, and it isn't credible.”

“Now that she’s running for Governor, she hopes that Vermonters will ignore her legislative record. While we appreciate that Gaye Symington has evolved enough to recognize that this is an important issue, it’s clear from her continued resistance to the changes that Vermonters want – tougher penalties, civil confinement and a more comprehensive sex offender registry – Speaker Symington hasn’t evolved far enough,” said Casey.


###

http://www.jimdouglas.com/press-releases/163-symington-evolves-in-election-year-change

For more information goto: www.jimdouglas.com

250

Current News & Events / Re: Todd From Fletcher Will Be Going Round The Mountain In The Morning

« on: October 21, 2008, 04:51:43 PM »

I will still be hopeful that the sign is not up in the morning on the way into the office. I will keep you posted.

251

Current News & Events / Re: Do You Use A TV Antenna???

« on: October 16, 2008, 01:08:22 PM »

I actually have the same experience as Loctavious. We get all our signal using a pair of rabbit ears on top of our TV. The TV is an older "HD ready" TV, meaning it can display an HD picture if you have an HD device like a Blu-Ray player or an HD Tuner. So before all the conversion to Digital TV messages began airing on all the TV stations, I purchased an HD Tuner box. So I now get the same 12 channels that Loctavious gets. Each network ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and PBS all broadcast 1 of their channels in HD. The other channels like WCAXtra get broadcast in regular definition, but they still look great because they come in crystal clear.

252

Current News & Events / Re: Two Deaths So Far - Should The Police Have Chased??

« on: October 08, 2008, 11:21:54 AM »

Let me just say that I am in favor of keeping more criminals in prison, but I think there are several issues here.

1. In this country we are innocent until proven guilty, so as long as person who has a pending criminal case and they are not considered a flight risk, then they are entitled to live as an innocent person until they are proven guilty. There is nothing that indicates that the driver was not going to appear for their future trial.

2. There are not enough beds in our prisons and jails in this state to accommodate all those that should be locked up. We already send numerous convicted felons to out of state prisons and there still are not enough beds.

I don't see this as an issue of liberal/activist judges, but rather one of finances and infrastructure. As a state, we don't have the money allocated to build more prison facilities and we don't have towns willing to construct prisons in their backyard. If we had emptry prison beds, maybe then we could blame the judges.

253

Current News & Events / Re: Glad I Didn't Watch Baseball When I Was Working

« on: October 06, 2008, 04:45:53 PM »

Thanks Henry. I appreciate the tolerance.

254

Current News & Events / Re: Glad I Didn't Watch Baseball When I Was Working

« on: October 06, 2008, 11:21:16 AM »

As a Yankee fan, I can't say I am too sad about the Red Sox losing a game.

Go Angels!

255

Current News & Events / Re: I Remember When!!

« on: October 02, 2008, 08:59:57 AM »

I will certainly keep you posted regarding the status of Route 108 through the Notch! It won't be long now until I am driving around the mountain again.

Thanks,
Todd