Free Republic

Some small-town residents of Rutland, Vt. are upset at their mayor’s decision to resettle 100 Syrian refugees throughout 2017 in the area. Rutland Mayor Christopher Louras defended his decision, saying the town’s demographics are declining, and they are having trouble recruiting younger workers. He also thinks refugees will bring cultural diversity. . . . Louras’s decision sparked outrage among some residents who say they had little say in the mayor’s decision, which would effect them all.

… John Zaccaro Jr. was a Middlebury College student when he was arrested in 1986 and accused of selling $25 worth of cocaine to an undercover state police officer. He was convicted in 1988 and served four months under house arrest. At the time, Ferraro accused prosecutors of unfairly targeting her son because of her high profile after becoming the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1984. Outgoing Gov. Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, pardoned Zaccaro and nine others Saturday. …

The Washington Post on Friday reported a genuinely alarming event: Russian hackers have penetrated the U.S. power system through an electrical grid in Vermont. The Post headline conveyed the seriousness of the threat: Russian Hackers Penetrated U.S. Electricity Grid Through A Utility In Vermont, Officials Say The first sentence of the article directly linked this cyber-attack to alleged Russian hacking of the email accounts of the DNC and John Podesta – what is now routinely referred to as “Russian hacking of our election” – by referencing the code name revealed on Wednesday by the Obama administration when it announced sanctions...

Press Release 12.30.16 Leahy Reaction On Russian Hacking Of A Vermont Electric Utility Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy On Russian Hacking Friday, December 30, 2016 State-sponsored Russian hacking is a serious threat, and the attempts to penetrate the electric grid through a Vermont utility are the latest example. My staff and I were briefed by Vermont State Police Colonel Matthew Brimingham this evening. This is beyond hackers having electronic joy rides – this is now about trying to access utilities to potentially manipulate the grid and shut it down in the middle of winter. That is a direct threat to...

Russian hackers tied to recent cyberattacks on U.S. political organizations breached a Vermont utility, the Washington Post reported Friday. A code associated with the Russian hacking operation aimed at the U.S. presidential election, which the intelligence community has named “Grizzly Steppe,” was detected within the Vermont system. The Russians did not disrupt electrical operations, officials told the Post. According to the Burlington Free Press, the city-owned Burlington Electric was the target of the hack. Vermont Public Service Commissioner Christopher Recchia said malware was discovered on a laptop that was not connected to the grid's operations. "The grid is not in...

Got milk? Twenty-five members of Congress say if it's from soybeans, almond or rice, it should not be labeled as milk. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), leading the bipartisan charge against “fake milk,” signed a letter along with other congressional members, asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to investigate and take action against manufacturers of “milk” that doesn't come from cows.

The National Endowment for the Arts is spending $30,000 for a series of dance performances, including Doggie Hamlet. The “conceptual art” features actors yelling and running at sheep in a field in Vermont. Dartmouth College received the funding in the latest round of NEA grants released this month. . . . “Doggie Hamlet recalls the bucolic impression of a landscape painting or a 3D pastoral poem,” the group said. “The sheep, the dogs, the human performers, and the earth’s surface are at once performing as themselves and as living symbols in this work.”

Senate Democrats are making it clear that Sen. Jeff Sessions will not have an easy time being confirmed as President-elect Donald J. Trump’s first attorney general. In a letter addressed to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Democrats on the committee pushed for extensive confirmation hearings, indicating that they plan resistance, despite the fact that they referred to him as “a colleague” with whom they “have a personal and cordial relationship.” The senators also requested that Grassley allow for outside witnesses to testify on Sessions’ track record on immigration, civil and voting rights, women’s rights, and government oversight due...

RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) -- Arabic language classes are drawing 25 to 30 people a week in preparation for the new arrivals in town. High school students are helping collect furniture and housewares for them, and employers have inquired about giving them jobs. For the past several months, Rutland has been getting ready to receive 100 mostly Syrian refugees beginning early next year. But with Donald Trump taking office in late January, Rutland's plans and those of other U.S. cities that have agreed to take in people fleeing the civil war have been thrown into question, given the incoming president's hostility...

In yet another slap in the face of the Democratic party, The Hill reports that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) won’t officially join the Democratic Party even though he was appointed to a leadership position within the Senate Democratic caucus this week. "I was elected as an Independent and I will finish this term as an Independent,” Sanders said at a breakfast Thursday morning hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. Sanders has long caucused with Democrats as an independent. That has annoyed some Democrats as Sanders’s star has risen on the left. They are frustrated by his influence within a party...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Republican power in state capitols will be at its strongest levels in nearly a century when several newly elected governors take office next year. A remarkable election that propelled Republican Donald Trump to the White House also resulted in Republican wins in a trio of governorships previously held by Democrats in Missouri, New Hampshire and Vermont. The only potential Republican setback came in North Carolina, where Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper declared victory over Gov. Pat McCrory in a race that remained too close to call Wednesday.

A foreign wind-energy company is in such a hurry to collect the maximum possible amount of subsidies from the U.S. Treasury that it has taken an unprecedented step: It has promised to share the federal gravy with individual voters in two Vermont towns, Grafton and Windham. Earlier this month, Spanish energy company Iberdrola announced that it plans to distribute about $565,000 per year among 815 registered voters in the two towns. The payments would continue for 25 years.

WASHINGTON Bernie Sanders doesn’t want to be president, but he could snatch three electoral votes in Vermont. That’s because Vermont is one of seven states that allow voters to write in anyone for president, even if they have no intention of running for office. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are two of the most disliked presidential candidates ever, and Google searches for write-in ballots are skyrocketing. Vermont is one of the states asking Google about write-in votes the most. A write-in vote for Sanders in Vermont would be treated like a vote for Trump or Clinton. Only Vermont, Pennsylvania, New...

People ask me all the time: How do I find out if my town is targeted? Frankly there is no list put out by the federal government and its paid resettlement contractors. They are very secretive about the selection process. We heard recently that there are 47 new sites and we have only so far identified those listed below. But, this article from Watertown, NY is a prime example of how you get a hint that something is up! Usually a local newspaper writes a puffy piece like this one about how great it would be for Watertown to revitalize...

The state of Vermont and the cities of Denver and Phoenix joined the growing list of places celebrating Native Americans on the federal holiday named for Christopher Columbus. Since Columbus Day 2015, at least 14 communities in the United States have passed measures designating the second Monday in October Indigenous Peoples Day.

WILLISTON, Vt. – A man driving the wrong way on an interstate highway in Vermont spawned several crashes that left five high school juniors dead, an unknown number injured and at least two vehicles in flames, including a stolen police cruiser, state police said Sunday.

Democratic Congressman Peter Welch of Vermont is feeling the love from Republicans. Welch won both the Democratic and Republican nominations in August for re-election this year to a sixth term, and faces a little known candidate in November from the small Liberty Union political party. Winning both major party nominations is rare but not unheard of. Welch also was the pick of both parties in 2008 for Vermont’s only seat in the U.S. House. This year, he’s the only congressional candidate nominated by both the Democrats and the Republicans. Known as an open-minded liberal, Welch is praised by GOP leaders...

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released 128 pages of documents it obtained from the mayor of Rutland, Vermont, showing a concerted effort by the mayor and a number of private organizations to conceal from the public their plans to resettle 100 Syrian refugees into the small southern Vermont town. The documents include an April 14, 2016, email from Amila Merdzanovic, executive director of the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, to Mayor Christopher Louras, in which she wrote: I want to share with you the concern my HQ has about holding a public forum. If we open it up to anybody...

Judicial Watch Targeted by Obama Administration Federal Contractor Tells Local Official to Keep Syria Refugee Plans Secret Judicial Watch Targeted by Obama Administration Three years ago we reported on videos produced by the Government Services Administration (GSA) that show senior GSA officials and staff participating in costumed playacting and parodies. Here’s a flavor: The Rocky Jog – With the Rocky movie theme blaring in the background, senior GSA officials lead employees on an extended jog through the corridors of the GSA’s New York office and the streets of Manhattan. The jog is initiated by Ben Kochanski, deputy regional commissioner,...

The University of Vermont is holding a free three-day retreat 'specifically for white students' to 'engage in building a stronger and inclusive campus community.' The program entitled Examining White Identity: A Retreat for Undergraduate Students Who Self-Identify as White, is being sponsored by the university's African, Latino, Asian, Native American and Bi/Multiracial Student Center (ALNA). ALNA's new retreat will take place over a November weekend, nearly a year after it held a similar three-day retreat discussing the topic of white privilege.