The State of Vermont has tons of old office equipment and associated stuff to get rid of ahead of the massive Waterbury office complex building project. So to make way for demolition there will be a giant tag sale held July 12th though July 14th.
The plan is the office equipment and furniture that must be gotten rid of will first be offered at no cost to municipalities, then (also at no cost) non-profits get a chance and lastly the public for a nominal fee is allowed to make some picks from what is left. Basically this seems a sensible strategy that probably will get whatever is useful into the hands of those that can make some use of it- so no complaint with that part.
But, here is the cranky taxpayer part: What’s with the nominal fee charged to the public? I have to imagine whatever remains after July 14th will have to be carted at away and disposed of at some cost to the state. So why impose a fee, even a nominal fee,to the public for saving this stuff a trip to the dump? Could there be some regulation that allows gifts to municipalities and non profits but prohibits the giving of state property and equipment away to the public? You know I hate to embrace this petty cranky taxpayer bit too firmly (oh madness lies that way) but when you get down to it we paid for this stuff once already.
A few side dishes for your holiday barbecue... Entergy tries to corral the PSB, police "free for all" near Burlington Airport, TJ Donovan stakes out activist turf, and a positive step by state government. Details following...
Entergy seeks limits on PSB review. The owners of Vermont Yankee have unleashed their expensive lawyers yet again, continuing their openly adversarial relationship with the state. This time, Entergy is asking the federal courts to severely limit the grounds of a Public Service Board review of VY's operations. Per Brattleboro Reformer:
Because of Judge J. Garvan Murtha's ruling that Vermont legislation was passed to regulate nuclear safety and the continued operation of the Vernon reactor, Entergy officials stated the PSB is no longer allowed to include energy diversity, the impacts of safety on Vermont tourism and whether Vermont Yankee's continued operation is in the public good or whether Entergy has been or is a "fair partner" to the state.
...To avoid preemption from the Atomic Energy Act, the motion states "a board ruling must be exclusively based upon an independent, non-safety rationale that provides a factually justifiable basis for shutting the plant down."
The motion also asserts that concerns about electric system reliability should not be considered. Which is a bit much, coming from the outfit that's staked its claim on being a reliable source of baseload power. I guess they've dropped "reliable" from their mantra "safe, clean, reliable."
If you're not a fan of Bill Sorrell, you could call this filing another instance of collateral damage from his one-sided loss before Judge Murtha.
Cops gone wild in South Burlington. Remember that story about police training exercises in those vacant houses near the Burlington Airport? Well, the other shoe dropped in Tuesday's Freeploid. (Paywalled, natch.)
What happened is that a nice little use of resources (soon-to-be-demolished houses) went completely out of control. And now South Burlington and the Airport has halted all training exercises. This is why the police can't have nice things.
Those with long memories may recall that way back on May 19, at the VTGOP convention, Randy Brock unveiled the upcoming unveiling of his health care reform plan. Vermont Press Bureau:
Less government intervention, not more, Brock said, will allow market forces to work their cost-containment magic.
...Brock's speech got a rousing ovation from the GOP faithful. He'll make his case to a broader swath of the voting public when he unveils a more complete reform plan early next month.
"Early next month," meaning early June. One month ago. So where is the completed blueprint for RandyCare? I was expecting a big foofaraw with plenty of bunting, fireworks, maybe a brass band, cheerleaders, and a passel of top Republicans playing Pips to Randy's Gladys Knight.
Maybe they've put off the announcement till next week, when Maine's Tea Party Governor Paul LePage comes to Vermont to fundraise and rabble-rouse on Randy's behalf.
Maybe the job turned out to be too difficult. Or maybe they decided that the details of a Tea Party reform plan would be so unpalatable to the Vermont electorate that it would doom Randy to a defeat of historic proportions. The good Senator has spent plenty of time slamming Governor Shumlin's reform plan and the Supreme Court decision upholding Obamacare, but he's been very coy about his own plan since his big pre-announcement on May 19.
Of course, considering that many Republican policy proposals are nothing more than a few lines of rhetoric, maybe what we got on May 19 is all we're going to get. Color me disappointed, but not surprised.
Inoculate, v.t. To introduce immunologically active material (as an antibody or antigen) into especially in order to treat or prevent a disease.
Vince Illuzzi, itinerant candidate, has been given a gift. The bestower of the gift is one Jon Margolis, veteran journalist and now political analyst for VTDigger. In a post dated June 28, Margolis considers Illuzzi's ethically troubled past and whether it should be a factor in his candidacy for state Auditor of Accounts.
For those just joining us, Illuzzi has been a state senator for 32 years and is also state's attorney for Essex County. But back in the 1990s, his license to practice law was suspended for almost five years and very nearly revoked permanently, over a series of legal and ethical violations. From the GMD archive, a couple of recommended reads: a former GMDer examines Illuzzi's record in 2007 at a time when some were talking up a possible independent candidacy for Governor; and a well-connected commenter JFXM writes about Illuzzi's failings (scroll down to Mahoney's comment, last in the sequence).
The former GMDer's 2007 review quotes heavily from a 2001 Boston Globe profile of Illuzzi, penned by none other than Jon Margolis. Apparently he's gotten softer on Illuzzi in the intervening years, because his VTDigger piece is an attempt to inoculate Illuzzi against the toxicity of his own past.
After the jump: An absurd comparison, and a journalist's benediction.
Chittenden County State's Attorney (and candidate for Attorney General) TJ Donovan kinda stepped in it last week. As was first reported by the Vermont Press Bureau (short version available free here, full story paywalled here), Donovan asserted in a VPR interview that "One in seven babies born at Rutland Regional Medical Center are born opiate-addicted." It wasn't the first time he'd used that talking point in promoting his anti-drug agenda.
Problem is, his number is completely wrong. Not even close. The actual figure is less than one percent.
So how did Donovan muff it so badly? The Freeploid's Terri Hallenbeck does a good job of trying to reconstruct the whole thing -- sadly, her article is behind Gannett's new paywall. If you're not a subscriber, stop by your local library and give it a read. We'll give you a non-copyright-infringing preview here.
Seems Donovan heard it in a report last fall by WCAX-TV, which asserted that one in seven mothers giving birth at RRMC are opiate-addicted. Which is different than one in seven babies; Donovan now admits he made that incorrect mental leap on his own.
But WCAX got it wrong, too. At the time of its initial report, a state Health Department official checked the figure and determined that the true figure was less than one percent. Somehow this didn't percolate through the WCAX newsroom, because it again reported the incorrect one-in-seven-mothers figure in February.
(The WCAX report was based on a remark by an RRMC doctor who was referring to mothers with any addiction issue, in the past or present -- and including alcohol. But if most of the mothers are -- or were -- addicted to plain old alcohol, that doesn't help promote a War on Drugs, does it?)
After the jump: playing telephone, and playing politics with the truth.
It's been a while since Fukushima last made front-page news, but that is only because there have been no positive developments in that arena; and the negatives continue to plague industry spin-doctors.
Fukushima remains a menacing cypher, even though there have been press reports that there will be an attempt to remove spent fuel rods from Unit 4 before the end of the year.
With multiple reactors in various states of cooldown and collapse, the focus has blurred somewhat. News of collateral radiation impacts is constantly being "managed" by the industry and NRC, who are determined not to sour Americans on nuclear.
Fukushima has just become too big and complex a mess for the relatively short attention span of American media. Most people over here are okay with that. They've heard enough and simply choose to believe the least disturbing prognosis; the one with the least potential to impact their own lives.
But that is no reflection of the true exigency of unfolding events around Fukushima; and the people of Japan remain vigilantly engaged over the future of nuclear energy use in the island nation.
The urgency of the situation at Unit 4 (see Fairewinds video below) is due in part to the degraded structure of the building which has resulted in loss of containment; and to the fact that #4 holds the largest quantity and the "hotest" (most recently used) spent fuel.
Add to that the location of the spent fuel, which is above the reactor, where it is most vulnerable, and the complicating factor that Tepco has never been able to resolve the problem of maintaining the level of cooling water in the pool; and you have what amounts to a ticking time-bomb. A single seismic event could potentially result in a fuel fire that would jettison highly radioactive material all over much of Japan and beyond.
(cross posted at DailyKos) I am often asked and answer honestly that no, I am not a musician, an artist, a math or puzzle geek, or a writer. Julie and I shared a love of birds and nature, a fierce passion for lefty politics and causes, a quirky sense of humor, a love of healthy, local, and delicious vegetarian cooking, complete dedication to our various animal family members, and a deep commitment to one another. I have never written a diary here and this may be the one and only. I wrote this for her and for all our friends with MG and other rare diseases.
(thank you Kestrel, for encouraging me to share this here and for helping with the picture)
Myasthenia Gravis Awareness Month, day 30
I woke up this morning knowing that I wanted to end this month by sharing some of our story, Julie's story, with you all. I have discovered two things - first, that I really want to write it all out, and second, that it will take longer for me to do what I want/need to do. For today let me share this summary
Julie started experiencing symptoms in May 2011. She was diagnosed in late June. we were relieved it was not a brain tumor, relieved that it was something that could be managed and that wouldn't interfere with her life too much. It would be several months before we realized just how wrong that assessment was.
Between 9/2011 and 4/2012 she was hospitalized 9 times and spent around 80 days in the hospital. She had 4 surgical procedures, 3 IVIG treatments (5 days each), 19 plasma exchanges (more in one stretch than anyone we know), got a feeding tube to eat, could not speak clearly for months, was placed on immune suppressant drugs, experienced regular episodes of aspiration for 4 months, and ultimately had heart failure. The weekend she died her heart stopped three times and her lungs stopped working. We never saw it coming. If that's not clear enough, no one ever told us what to watch for in this situation.
She was unable to bird, to play guitar, to exercise, eat or drink, or go to the job she loved. We fought doctors on a regular basis. Doctors who prescribed the wrong drugs, doctors who didn't know anything about MG, doctors who had tunnel vision and saw only the symptoms they expected to see but not the other problems she was having, doctors who thought they should never be questioned by mere patients.
We spent all of our savings. I stopped working to provide the hourly support and care she needed to be home. We spent Christmas, New Year's Day, Valentine's Day, and Easter in the hospital.
She learned to compose music using Garage Band and released another CD. She wrote about her experiences. She continued teaching her online course. She took a few amazing photographs. She cheered me on every day and helped me help her. not a day went by without her telling me that she loved me and making sure I knew how appreciated I was. If it was about attitude and desire she would have beaten this thing.
Julie was a brilliant, talented, creative, generous, funny, quirky, and very loving person. I feel so lucky and honored to have shared part of her life. MG took away her energy, her mobility, her independence and ultimately her life, but it never took those other things away. She loved life and wanted to live more than anyone I've ever known. Her joy and humor still surround me every day.
Our unplanned hiatus appears to have been the result of the severe storms or "derecho" in the DC area. The outage affected all kinds of stuff, including but not limited to the entire SoapBlox network of which this site is a part.
Caroline Bright is one of two Democratic candidates for the Vermont Senate from Franklin County. The recent St. Mike's graduate has dreamt of serving in the Legislature since she was a girl. Now, with former Democratic senator Don Collins and three Repubs, she finds herself in the thick of a hotly contested race for the two available seats.
I thought I'd take the opportunity to get to know this poised and goal-oriented young woman, as she is likely to figure significantly in the political future of Franklin County. So I asked her to sit down with me over a cup of coffee at Cosmic Bakery in St. Albans.
I had read her bio and general Democratic profile on the campaign website, but I wanted to know more about her views on topics that are important to the folks around here.
It was a pleasant surprise to find that Caroline has depth beyond her tender years, and the self-confidence that would enable her to make an impression in the statehouse on behalf of her constituents. She comes to the table well-grounded in the complex world of politics and public policy, having majored in Political Science and minored in those twin disciplines that underly most modern conflict, History and Religious Studies.
One of the driving motives that brought her into this campaign is the need she sees to balance the legislature with more female voices. Women's perspective, she believes, is essential and decidedly different when it comes to many issues that tend to impact their lives more substantially than their male counterparts. The lack of equal representation is one flaw that she sees in our citizen legislature, which she otherwise praises for its accessibility and relevance.
Throughout the early weeks of the campaign, Caroline has repeatedly emphasized her particular interest in the future of diversified agriculture and educational opportunity, both of which she feels represent essential cornerstones in the ability of Franklin County to prosper. In addition, she sees expanded technology opportunities as vital to the creation and retention of quality jobs for Franklin County residents.
I ran a bunch of topics past her and here's what she had to say:
The State of Vermont has tons of old office equipment and associated stuff to get rid of ahead of the massive Waterbury office complex building project. So to make way for demolition there will be 
