Free Republic

Shooter’s acquittal worries authorities ST. ALBANS CITY –– Matthew Martel is polite and has soft, boy-band looks. He was home-schooled and lives with his genial parents, Bob and Deborah, in a rustic white house with a wraparound porch that overlooks Route 105. Martel does not look like a member of the Franklin County Sportsman’s Club, but he is. He does not come off as someone who would buy a $450 handgun for target practice, but he did. Nor does he strike you as someone who pocketed a loaded handgun for protection four or five times during the last three years,...

MONTPELIER – Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie endorsed a slate of reforms to the state's sex offender laws Monday morning and called on Gov. James Douglas to bring lawmakers back to Montpelier for a special session this summer. Dubie, a Republican running for re-election this year, called for a comprehensive review of Vermont's criminal justice system and said lawmakers should pass proposals such as Jessica's Law and chemical or physical castration for habitual sex offenders. He said Vermont needs to ensure that cases such as last month's kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Brooke Bennett never happen again. "In just over 39...

SWANTON, Vt. -- The U.S. Border Patrol says an agent shot at three suspects after being assaulted near the Vermont-Quebec border early today.The agency said the officer was interviewing the three who were on foot at about 2:15 a.m. when he was assaulted. The agent fired two shots.A male and female suspect are in custody. The third suspect, a male, escaped back into Canada.The Border Patrol said it doesn't know if the missing suspect was armed or if he was wounded.Border Patrol Spokesman Mark Henry said the agent was on routine patrol when he spotted the suspects. The suspects knocked...

Brook Bennett's murder has brought back calls for a tougher law against adults who sexually prey on children. More than thirty states -- but not Vermont -- have enacted Jessica's law, setting a 25-year minimum prison sentence for convicted child sex offenders. "When a person is sexually assaulted, a minor is sexually assaulted, it's my opinion that they should go to jail for 25 years," Dubie told Channel 3. "That's very simple and that's what Jessica's Law calls for. I'm also asking that we reconsider what the governor proposed last legislative session, and that's civil confinement." House Judiciary committee chairman...

You've probably heard the relativist line that goes something like this: "'Gay marriage' won't hurt anyone. Live and let live, already!" Well, don't buy it for a minute. With its recent 4-3 opinion - which arrogantly presumed to redefine the millennia-old definition of legitimate marriage - the California Supreme Court daftly divined that the framers of the California Constitution intended - all along, I guess - that Patrick Henry really had a constitutional right to "marry" Henry Patrick. In so doing, four black-robed Dr. Frankensteins have loosed that paradoxical abomination tagged same-sex "marriage" on the countryside. "Abomination," you say?...

Police believe they have found the remains of Brooke Bennett, 12, of Braintree. Police say the remains were found on property on Crocker Road in Randolph near the home of Michael Jacques. Police found ground there that had been recently disturbed yesterday. Today, a search found the body there. Police say Brooke's body was recovered at 4:45 p.m. An autopsy will be performed in Burlington to confirm it is Brooke and to try to find the cause of death. Police do call the death suspicious. Brooke's family was notified of the discovery. Brooke disappeared a week ago. She was last...

Saying their son was "silenced" by his teacher for talking about hunting in the classroom, the parents of a fourth-grade student at North Bennington Graded School took their son out of school and have taken their case to the local school board. Jared Harrington's mother, Wendy Bordwell, and his father, Martin Harrington, removed their son from school with 10 days left in the school year and home-schooled the 10-year-old boy. "We are aggressively pursuing Jared's right to free speech," Bordwell said. The couple addressed the local school board Monday night to air their grievance. Bordwell said in a telephone interview...

Vermonter is very ill, he has pancreatic and liver cancer. Please pray for our friend and one of the best freepers ever.

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - Call it poetic justice: More than two dozen young people who broke into Robert Frost's former home for a beer party and trashed the place are being required to take classes in his poetry as part of their punishment. Using "The Road Not Taken" and another poem as jumping-off points, Frost biographer Jay Parini hopes to show the vandals the error of their ways — and the redemptive power of poetry. "I guess I was thinking that if these teens had a better understanding of who Robert Frost was and his contribution to our society, that they...

When Al-Jazeera tried to launch in the U.S. a spin-off version, Al-Jazeera International, they ran into opposition in the form of Accuracy in Media (AIM). AIM produced a DVD entitled Terror Television: The Rise of Al-Jazeera and the Hate America Media, which exposed Al-Jazeera's anti- American biases and support for terrorism. In September of 2006, AIM commissioned a poll to gauge Americans' view of having Al-Jazeera air in the U.S. The poll results showed that by a margin of 2-1, Americans think the U.S. government should oppose giving the new channel access to the U.S. media market.

Globally Warm Schools by: Santiago Leon, May 28, 2008 As Global Warming becomes an issue in people’s lives, it has also become part of school’s curricula. I recently learned that my boss’s son had an assignment and quiz in his Spanish class on Global Warming. In many of the questions students had to translate sentences from Spanish to English but with a Global Warming theme. They even had to watch Al Gore’s movie, “Inconvenient Truth,” which has been a part of several school courses. Teaching Global Warming in schools is widespread across the nation, especially providing materials like Gore’s film,...

Like many other young couples, Aimee and Jeff Harris spent the first years of their marriage eagerly accumulating stuff: cars, furniture, clothes, appliances and, after a son and a daughter came along, toys, toys, toys. Now they are trying to get rid of it all, down to their fancy wedding bands. Chasing a utopian vision of a self-sustaining life on the land as partisans of a movement some call voluntary simplicity, they are donating virtually all their possessions to charity and hitting the road at the end of May. “It’s amazing the amount of things a family can acquire,” said...

"About a month ago on my Web site, I requested that Vermonters e-mail me about what the collapse of the middle class means to them personally--not in esoteric economic terms but in a sense of what they are going through," Senator Bernie Sanders said in a speech to the Senate reciting some of the more poignant e-mails - you can watch the video here "Frankly, our people are pretty reticent. People in Vermont don't like to open up and tell everybody all of the problems they have. They try to keep it to themselves. We expected that we would receive...

New details have emerged in the search for missing 19-year-old Middlebury College freshman Nicholas Garza that could link him to the so-called "Smiley Face Gang," which a group of retired detectives believes is responsible for the apparent drowning deaths of dozens of young men across the country. Searchers have found smiley-face graffiti near Garza's campus like that painted near some of the locations where about 40 bodies have been discovered across 11 states, FOX 44 News reported. Garza’s mother thinks that discovery could link her son's disappearance to the deaths of the other mostly college-age victims. Volunteer searchers have come...

HARTLAND, Vt. (AP) — The 130-acre property was exactly what Michel Guite and his family wanted: an old Vermont farm with mountain views, rolling hills and meadows. There was, however, one wrinkle: The property included a small family cemetery — with the grave of a War of 1812 veteran — surrounded by a fence on a scenic knoll. His proposal to move the graveyard so he can build a house and barn has set off protests. The town has passed a resolution aimed at blocking the move, a descendant of one occupant of the graveyard is trying to fight him...

Visitors stand in the Aldrich Cemetery in Hartland, Vt., Monday, April 21, 2008. A land buyer's proposal to move three graves from the old family cemetery has caused outcry from historians, veterans and neighbors. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot) HARTLAND, Vt. - The 130-acre property was exactly what Michel Guite and his family wanted: an old Vermont farm with mountain views, rolling hills and meadows. There was, however, one wrinkle: The property included a small family cemetery — with the grave of a War of 1812 veteran — surrounded by a fence on a scenic knoll. His proposal to move the graveyard...

HARTLAND, Vt. (AP) -- The 130-acre property was exactly what Michel Guite and his family wanted: an old Vermont farm with mountain views, rolling hills and meadows. There was, however, one wrinkle: The property included a small family cemetery _ with the grave of a War of 1812 veteran _ surrounded by a fence on a scenic knoll. His proposal to move the graveyard so he can build a house and barn has set off protests. The town has passed a resolution aimed at blocking the move, a descendant of one occupant of the graveyard is trying to fight him...

Stand Up to big Oil -- 04/30/2008 As energy prices soar and the middle-class continues to shrink, Exxon Mobil has made more profits in the past two years than any other corporation in the history of the world. Last year alone, Exxon Mobil made $40 billion in profits, and rewarded its CEO Rex Tillerson with $21 million in total compensation. (Several years ago they provided their outgoing CEO Lee Raymond with a $400 million retirement package). Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell and BP also have posted record profits. In fact, the five largest oil companies in this country have made $595 billion...

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Vermont's love-hate relationship with its lone nuclear power plant is coming to a head: Lawmakers have to decide next year whether to shut down the reactor in 2012 as scheduled or keep it humming for another two decades. Vermont is as known for its green living as its green landscapes, and some environmentalists in the state have come to appreciate nuclear power for its low greenhouse gas emissions, said Steve Terry, a former journalist who covered the construction of the Vermont Yankee plant in the late 1960s. But the plant's benefit "comes in a clash with a...

RICHMOND (AP) — The Virginia Supreme Court heard conflicting views yesterday on whether the state's ban on gay marriages and civil unions essentially voids a Vermont court's child-visitation order in a dispute between two former lesbian partners. The justices are reviewing a Virginia Court of Appeals ruling that Vermont has sole jurisdiction in the visitation battle between Lisa Miller of Winchester, Va., and Janet Jenkins of Fair Haven, Vt. Miss Miller's attorney, Mathew D. Staver, argued that the appeals court improperly ignored a Virginia statute and a constitutional amendment that prohibits same-sex unions and the recognition of such arrangements from...

Forty years ago can seem like light years in cultural terms. Forty years ago, the story of a Vermont lesbian who wanted to take a child away from her biological mother--because the mother was a Christian--would have been unbelievable. Janet Jenkins, part of a now-sundered lesbian twosome, has alleged that because of Lisa Miller’s (the biological mother) Christian parenting practices, Miller is no longer is a fit mother. Jenkins is seeking full custody of the child. Miller and Jenkins were a couple before Miller left the relationship and became a Christian. Now, the Virginia Supreme Court has to rule if...

MONTPELIER, Vt. - The nuclear energy watchdog group New England Coalition has been waiting a long time, a very long time, for the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to pay attention to its concerns. The agency has just replied to a petition concerning safety and radiation exposure that the coalition filed in 1975. "No petition before its time," said NRC spokesman Eliot Brenner. As if being ignored for three decades weren't enough, the NRC denied the group's petition. The coalition had been urging federal regulators to consider, as part of their environmental review of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, the...

MIAMI -- A donor to the Democratic Party asked for a rebate out of frustration over the party's Florida delegate dilemma -- and he got it. Federal records show that Paul Cejas has given six-figure sums to the Democratic National Committee for years, NBC 6's Nick Bogert reported. Cejas asked for his last donation back. He said he was angry with the party, particularly party Chair Howard Dean, over the failure to resolve Florida's delegate dilemma. "Frankly, he's dropped the ball, and I told him, 'You're going to go down in history as the worst chairman of the Democratic Party...

SUMMARY: He says: "Who in their right mind, if they were African-American or Hispanic or Asian-American, if they were gay or lesbian, would join the Republican Party?" Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean came under attack for speaking out against conservative gay men and lesbians as well as Republicans of color. "They can't become more diverse," Dean said Tuesday at a speech at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Who in their right mind, if they were African-American or Hispanic or Asian-American, if they were gay or lesbian, would join the Republican Party?" The Log Cabin Republicans issued a statement Wednesday against...

When shooting suspect Christopher Williams acted up in prison, he was given nutraloaf — a mixture of cubed whole wheat bread, nondairy cheese, raw carrots, spinach, seedless raisins, beans, vegetable oil, tomato paste, powdered milk and dehydrated potato flakes. Prison officials call it a complete meal. Inmates say it's so awful they'd rather go hungry. On Monday, the Vermont Supreme Court will hear arguments in a class-action suit brought by inmates who say it's not food but punishment and that anyone subjected to it should get a formal disciplinary process first.

MONTPELIER, Vt. - When shooting suspect Christopher Williams acted up in prison, he was given nutraloaf — a mixture of cubed whole wheat bread, nondairy cheese, raw carrots, spinach, seedless raisins, beans, vegetable oil, tomato paste, powdered milk and dehydrated potato flakes...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Here is Bud in Burlington, Indiana. Bud, thanks for waiting, and welcome. CALLER: ... Indiana. Anyway Rush -- RUSH: Wait, what did I say? CALLER: I don't... I couldn't understand, but it was actually communist Bloomington Indiana. So... (silence) Are you still there? RUSH: Yeah, I'm here. CALLER: Anyway, I'd like to really quickly thank you for two things. First off, unlike the so-called moderates who called in yesterday complaining about your recommendation for Republicans voting in Democrat primaries -- RUSH: Yes? CALLER: -- I want to thank you, because I don't know if you're aware of...

With Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's decision to stay in the Democratic race to the bitter end, she has signaled a delegate fight all the way to the party's convention in Denver this August. Both candidates appear in something of a stalemate. Political strategists have concluded that Clinton cannot overcome Sen. Barack Obama's pledged delegate lead by winning additional primaries. And despite his lead in electoral and delegate wins, Obama cannot seal his nomination without the support of the party's superdelegates. Clinton's decision, after winning in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island this week that she would not capitulate has opened up...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Voters in two Vermont towns on Tuesday approved a measure that would instruct police to arrest President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for "crimes against our Constitution," local media reported. The nonbinding, symbolic measure, passed in Brattleboro and Marlboro in a state known for taking liberal positions on national issues, instructs town police to "extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them." Vermont, home to maple syrup and picture-postcard views, is known for its liberal politics. State lawmakers have passed nonbinding resolutions to end the war in Iraq and impeach...

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Talal Al-Khatib Report: In one of the most bizarre moments of the 2008 campaign, Obama campaign lawyer Bob Bauer called into a Tuesday night Clinton campaign conference call with reporters. The four and a half minute exchange led to a series of antagonistic questions painting the former first lady's charges of caucus vote tampering as baseless. "I'd be interested to know," said Bauer, "how is this any different from the series of complaints that you've registered against every caucus that you lose?" Listen to the exchange between Bauer and Clinton campaign communications director Howard Wolfson...

Vt. towns approve Bush 'indictment' By JOHN CURRAN, Associated Press Writer 7 minutes ago Voters in two Vermont towns approved measures Tuesday calling for the indictment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for what they consider violations of the Constitution. More symbolic than anything, the items sought to have police arrest Bush and Cheney if they ever visit Brattleboro or nearby Marlboro or to extradite them for prosecution elsewhere — if they're not impeached first. In Brattleboro, the vote was 2,012-1,795. In Marlboro, which held a town meeting on the issue, it was 43-25 with three abstentions. "I...

Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill., has defeated Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., in Vermont's Democratic primary -- a win that was expected by both candidates and credited to the states sizeable population of Independent voters who have typically gone for the Illinois senator. The polls are still open in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island -- crucial primary contests that could cement Obama's hold on the Democratic presidential nomination, or sway momentum back to Clinton, who has now suffered setbacks in 12 straight losses.

Just announced onair by KFI in Los Angeles, CNN projects that Barak Obama has won Vermont.

SAN ANTONIO It took many months and the mockery of "Saturday Night Live" to make it happen, but the lumbering beast that is the press corps finally roused itself from its slumber Monday and greeted Barack Obama with a menacing growl. The day before primaries in Ohio and Texas that could effectively seal the Democratic presidential nomination for him, a smiling Obama strode out to a news conference at a veterans facility here. But the grin was quickly replaced by the surprised look of a man bitten by his own dog. Reporters from the Associated Press and Reuters went after...

TRIBUNE-REVIEW Pa. no longer on the horizon By: Salena Zito It's showtime, folks ... part II. Welcome to a smaller yet more critically important Super Tuesday. Today has become the focus for the Democrats in a political season that has seen the primary contest maps redrawn in a way no pundit could have ever predicted. In an interview last week, Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean told the Tribune-Review that he never would have predicted that the primary season would have gone on this long. In fact, Dean said he thought it would have been decided before the first Super...

Rove a big draw with youth By Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW Monday, March 3, 2008 Karl Rove suspects some members of the sold-out crowd coming to see him tonight at the University of Pittsburgh might only be interested in seeing if he has horns and a tail. "I always get the occasional lunatic ranting and raving, but most people want to hear what I have to say and want to ask questions," the former deputy chief of staff and senior adviser to President George W. Bush said Sunday. "That is when we get engaged in a dialogue about things they want...

I think Rush is right on this one, the Democrats and media chose our candidate for us so we ended up with McCain. Now we have a chance to have influence on theirs. If Clinton loses all 4 primaries Conservatives would be ha. I like Obama more but that is because he is a likeable person but he seems to have radical friends with the Weather Underground Bill Ayers, Pastor "Farrakhan is great" Jeremiah Wright, Tony Rezko, MOVE ON, etc. If Hillary wins the delegate count by a slight margin today her superdelegates stay with her and Pennsylvania which is...

Speed-Trap Zeal May Cost Vermont Cop His Job by Charlotte Albright March 3, 2008 · Last year, the Vermont village of Island Pond collected a tenth of its annual budget from speeding tickets written by constable Ted Miller. But critics say Miller keeps tourists away and he could lose his job in Tuesday's local election.

There seems to be an inherent inconsistency in how radio host Rush Limbaugh is analyzing Hillary Clinton's chances for election.On his radio show, he is urging his listeners to vote for her in tomorrow's primaries. Limbaugh claims to be doing this because he thinks that the longer Clinton stays in the race, the more she'll damage Obama and the party, thereby increasing the chances of a Republican victory in November.This, however, is contradicted by his statements about how resilient a candidate Mrs. Clinton would be. For example, today he stated that "these Clintons are like cockroaches. They'll be the last...

Ohio at heart of Clinton strategy By Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, March 2, 2008 DAYTON, Ohio -- Retired trucker James Russell says Hillary Clinton is going to win this state's Democratic primary Tuesday because she has God and Ohio on her side. "We are her guardian angels," Russell, 67, said last week after Bill Clinton's speech at Stebbins High School in Riverside, a Dayton suburb. "I hate to spout off, but I think God will straighten this all out for her and she will win here and in November." Divine intervention might be what the Clinton

Supporters of Senator Barack Obama have suggested Senator Hillary Clinton bow out of the presidential nominating race if she doesn’t win in two big-state primary contests on Tuesday. Influential Democrats have said they need to put together a unifying campaign for the presidential election in November. Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont hold primary contests on Tuesday, and Clinton, having lost 11 straight contests, needs to win either Texas or Ohio. Clinton, will have to dramatically exceed the results predicted by polls, which now show Texas sentiment as virtually even. Ohio voters tend to narrowly favour Clinton. In the smaller...

Obama: "We need to 'change' America" Obama promising (irresponsible/dangerous) defense cuts, strategy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl32Y7wDVDs Obama displaying his (lacking) patriotism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arsoMPghb9I Obama campaigning for Vermont senator (open Socialist) Bernie Sanders:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIlIpOkRh2A

Don't count Clinton out By Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, February 24, 2008 The first rule of politics is, "Never count out the Clintons." Their political conglomerate, Clinton Inc., is like Glenn Close in that bathtub scene in the movie "Fatal Attraction": They always come back to life a second or third time.

Greg sends this news my way: The founders of Ben & Jerry's endorsed Barack Obama on Monday, and lent his Vermont campaign two "ObamaMobiles" that will tour the state and give away scoops of "Cherries for Change" ice cream. Hmmm. Is the value of two retrofitted Honda Elements for a week and the ice cream worth more than the maximum $2300? Even if it's $2300 each from Ben and Jerry? Will the ice cream be distributed by Obama campaign staff, or by Ben and Jerry staff? Would the labor cost put it over $2300? Cost of gas?

In honor of the below article, which I've cut and pasted so we don't give him unnecessary hits, I suggest Ben and Jerry issue a new ice cream flavor. I also suggest we name it, along with the flavor, to help them in this endeavor.. Burlington, VT – Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, co-founders of Ben and Jerry’s, publically announced their endorsement of Barack Obama for President today. Joined by U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, the former John Edwards supporters said they believe Barack Obama is the best candidate to unite America and finally tackle the challenges facing our nation. “Barack...

Once upon a time, it was party bosses in smoke-filled rooms who decided who would run for president. Then came the primary system and the novel concept of letting voters make the choice. But if you're a party boss, the problem with democracy is that the voters don't always do what you want them to do. That is why the Democrats created the superdelegate, who can leap over the will of the voters at a single bound, is faster than an exit poll and is more powerful than a thousand pundits. Here's the history behind it: the last time the...

Bats in New York and Vermont are mysteriously dying off by the thousands, often with a white ring of fungus around their noses, and scientists in hazmat suits are crawling into dank caves to find out why. "White nose syndrome," as the killer has been dubbed, is spreading at an alarming rate, with researchers calling it the gravest threat in memory to bats in the U.S. "This is definitely unprecedented," said Lori Pruitt, an endangered- species biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Bloomington, Ind. "The hugest concern at this point is that we do not know what...

Clinton plays for keeps TRIBUNE-REVIEW BY Salena Zito Yes, poll numbers are slipping away from Hillary Clinton and shifting toward Barack Obama. And if former presidential campaign manager for Bill Clinton David Wilhelm is an indicator of things to come, super-delegate support is being peeled away as well. Yet with all of that going against the junior senator from New York, it would be unwise to count her out just yet, or ever. Because as dodgy as things may get for Clinton, she is not one to give up -- even when facing a 10-game losing streak from contests that...

We know our objective: to prevent a first ballot victory by John McCain. I think we also know the only effective way to do this: campaigning for Mike Huckabee.Please go to mikehuckabee.com and/or to hucksarmy.com and get busy. There is an excellent way to make phone calls while on-line. Donations are always critical. There are voter guides for forwarding to those you know. The next rounds are critical, to see if we can maximize our potential, to shut McCain out.

It may be a purely symbolic gesture, but the upcoming Town Meeting vote on whether Brattleboro should indict President Bush and Vice President Cheney certainly raised the ire of conservatives all over the country. The Municipal Center was swamped this week with nasty phone calls and e-mails, many containing language unprintable in this newspaper. The level of rage from those who still believe that President Bush can do no wrong is astounding to behold. But while we're surprised there are still that many people in America who support Bush, we understand their rage. Put yourself in the shoes of a...