Judge Rules in Favor of Entergy in Vermont Yankee Case; Plant May Operate Beyond 2012

Entergy has won a preliminary injunction against the state of Vermont to keep the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant open beyond March of this year. U.S. District Court Judge J. Garvan Murtha handed down the decision this afternoon, ruling that the federal Atomic Energy Act preempts state law.

Staff writer Andy Bromage will have more on this story later this evening.

Click here to view the full 102-page ruling.

Here's Gov. Peter Shumlin's statement on the decision:

"I am very disappointed in today’s ruling from the federal court. Entergy has not been a trustworthy partner with the state of Vermont. Vermont Yankee needed legislative approval 40 years ago. The plant received approval to operate until March, 2012. I continue to believe that it is in Vermont's best interest to retire the plant. I will await the Attorney General’s review of the decision to comment further on whether the state will appeal."

VT Bill Aims to Add PTSD to List of Conditions Eligible for Medical Marijuana

For many marijuana users, forgetfulness and drowsiness are simply the drug's unintended side effects. But for those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), especially combat veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the ability to smoke pot, relax and briefly escape the horrors of the past is just the right prescription for what ails them.

At least, that's the thinking of House Rep. Jim Masland (D-Thetford), who introduced legislation this week to allow people who suffer from PTSD to use medical marijuana to alleviate their symptoms. The bill, H.568, would add PTSD to the current list of "debilitating medical conditions"  that qualify patients for participation in Vermont's medical marijuana registry.

In 2004, the Vermont legislature created the medical marijuana registry for patients who suffer from end-stage cancer, HIV/AIDS or multiple sclerosis. In 2007, the law was expanded to include any medical condition that results in persistent or severe pain, chronic wasting, nausea or seizures. Currently, 411 Vermonters are on the registry.

Masland says he introduced H.568, in part, at the request of a constituent, a combat veteran, who claims that using cannabis to relieve his symptoms is "pretty nearly the only thing that helps."

"I work with veterans from time to time so I understand their plight," Masland adds. "if there's something that we can do to help them, then I think that would be a fine thing."

Mad River Food Hub's Grand Opening is a Meaty Matter

As a dairy farmer himself, it's no surprise that Gov. Peter Shumlin took the time out to cut the ribbon at the Mad River Food Hub's official grand opening today.

Perhaps a greater testament to the importance of this particular project was the number of legislators who followed him up the snowy driveway behind the Shaw's Supermarket in Waitsfield to tour the food storage and production facility. Senate license plates lined the parking lot and when the Governor asked for a show of hands among legislators, it seemed that nearly half of the assembled group raised theirs. They had all made the trek from Montpelier, then had to return for the day's session by 1 p.m.

Other attendees, mostly agricultural advocates or farmers hoping to learn more about the new resource, stuck around for in-depth tours and question-and-answer sessions.

The warehouse was hushed as Shumlin declared to the roughly 50 gathered guests, "This is yet one more example why Vermont has such a bright agricultural future." 

However, Mad River Food Hub founder Robin Morris was the real star of the event. The venture center is the brain child of the former chief financial official of American Flatbread. It was also his idea to open the facility as an L3C, a privately owned company with a social mission and limited profit. That way, the Mad River Food Hub is not dependent on public funding.

"Occupy Central Vermont" Targets Montpelier Landlord Jeff Jacobs — With Art

Few people in Montpelier — outside the realms of politics, media and state government — rise in popularity/notoriety to the level of becoming household names. Capital City landlord Jeff Jacobs is one of the few exceptions. Even those who've never rented one of Jacobs' apartments or leased one of his many downtown commercial spaces have likely heard his name. Jacobs' reputation definitely precedes him.

Ever heard of the guy who tried to put a McDonald’s in a historic downtown building with plans to outfit it with a three-story fryer vent? That was Jacobs. The 67-year-old recluse — well, reclusive from Vermonters, anyway — was also the man who tried to sell the city of Montpelier the airspace over the north branch of the Winooski River for $495,000. Seven Days profiled Jacobs, one of the largest private landlords in Montpelier, in this March 9, 2011 cover story, "Capital Capitalist: Meet Jeff Jacobs, Montpelier's most notorious landlord." 

Plenty of Montpelier-area artists also know Jacobs' name, and more than a few blame him for last year's demise of the much-beloved Langdon Street Café, a popular community meeting space and artists' enclave, which was housed in a Jacobs' building. And, though few would dispute that his properties are well-maintained — some even meticulously restored to museum-like standards — many of his downtown retail spaces have remained unoccupied for months, sometimes even years.

In response, Montpelier artists have begun hanging local artwork over Jacobs' vacant store windows (see photo), in an effort to both beautify the space and protest what they say is the landlord's hostile business practices.

Miro Worship: An Ode to Weinberger

As campaign season heats up around the country, it's a safe bet the internet will soon be deluged with music videos produced by musically inclined boosters in support of their preferred candidates.

Typically, this is a national phenomenon reserved for presidential elections. (Remember Obama Girl? How about Hank Williams Jr.'s "The McCain-Palin Tradition"?) To our knowledge, there has never been an original music video made in support of a local candidate for any office at a town, state or federal level — though why "Bernie and the Jets" doesn't exist yet is beyond us.

That all changed today when Nate Orshan — aka Nato — threw his musical weight behind the Democratic candidate in Burlington's mayoral race, Miro Weinberger, with a song and video called "Let's Go Miro."

In just under three catchy-as-hell minutes, Orshan espouses Weinberger's various virtues, including that he's a "Green Mountain Boy through and through," has "mad negotiation skills" (skillz?), and will "get with our creditors and sort out all our bills." High praise. Though that last one is a touch confusing, since in general pop-music parlance, when you "get with" someone, it means … er, something other than negotiating. Then again, that could well be a creative strategy for reining in the city's debt.

 

Alice Eats: Garage Beirut

1238 MacKay Street, Montréal, Québec

It's not really a garage, more of a basement, though one with a big window letting in plenty of light. Beirut, though, is entirely accurate to describe this cozy restaurant, decorated with historic photos of the Lebanese capital.

When most of us think Lebanese food and Montréal, fast-food names such as Basha and Amir come to mind. Garage Beirut, located near Montréal's "Concordia ghetto" may have a similar menu, but the handcrafted food has little in common with such chains. Canning jars stuffed with house-pickled turnips fill one corner shelf to declare the difference, too.

For a broad overview, we ordered the $22 mixed grill, which the menu said included five brochettes and grilled vegetables. We asked for a $5 order of hummus, but were told it was already included with the dish.

The puréed chickpea dip was nutty and fabulously creamy. Decorated with sprinkles of paprika and filled with viscous olive oil, the flavor leaned more toward the umami than the earthy-but-tangy hummus I prefer. Nonetheless, the cumin-scented dip was a delight that I couldn't stop eating off the fresh, chewy pita that came with it.

Montpelier's PoemCity Wants Your Words

April is the cruelest month, wrote T.S. Eliot in his famous 1922 poem "The Wasteland." (Except he spelled it "cruellest" because, you know, he moved to England.) Is it a coincidence that in contemporary times April is also National Poetry Month stateside?

In Montpelier, Vt., it's the month in which passersby find poems by current Vermont scribes posted in store windows all over downtown. (In the photo, see people engaged with last year's batch.)

For the third year, our capital city brings us PoemCity — formerly known as Poetry Alive — and its organizer, Montpelier Alive, is now soliciting submissions. After all, it's a sad window that doesn't have words in April.

The monthlong poetry fest, underwritten by the Vermont College of Fine Arts, will include a reading by newly minted Vermont Poet Laureate Sydney Lea, a poetry slam with Slam Master Geof Hewitt, and other events.

"PoemCity's philosophy is that everyone is a poet," says Rachel Senechal of the Kellogg-Hubbard Library, a copresenter of the project. Be that as it may, pros and amateurs alike should send in their submissions by February 1. Poets thereby agree that PoemCity can use their work in displays, promo materials and "associated online, print and other media avenues." Word.

Here are the other instructions:

Send one to three poems in Microsoft Word email attachments to [email protected], or hard copy to PoemCity 2012, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street, Montpelier, VT 05402.

Photo courtesy of Montpelier Alive.

Shumlin Halts Hiring of State "Spin Doctors"

When Gov. Peter Shumlin took office, he pledged to eliminate all the "communications" people from state agencies. He ended up hiring two press secretaries for his own office and gave new titles to some of the communications directors appointed by his predecessor. But the agencies have largely remained free of new flacks.

So it was surprising to find two employment ads in the Seven Days classified section this week looking for a "communications coordinator" at the Agency of Natural Resources and a "director of communications" at Department of Tourism and Marketing.

In addition, the Green Mountain Care Board, the panel devising the governor's universal health care plan, has set aside $50,000 to hire a public relations firm to "build public confidence in our process and decisions," "inform the public of actions of the GMBC" and "develop and communicate a GMCB identity distinct from the State agencies and Legislature."

Seven Days asked the Shumlin administration about the seemingly contradictory policy over the weekend and got a swift response from Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding.

"I'd say the governor was about as angry and frustrated as I've heard him at the end of the week, first over the PR firm, then when I told him about the positions being advertised, which neither of us were aware of," Spaulding said by telephone Sunday. "He's made it clear individually and through me to the cabinet on multiple occasions that he does not want PR spin doctor communicator positions in state government."

Spaulding said the gov ordered "the immediate and full stop" to the two agency job postings so they could be reviewed, and urged the Green Mountain Care Board to shelve its public bid for PR assistance.

Temple Grandin to Speak at Vermont Grazing and Livestock Conference

There’s exciting news for the ag aficionados out there: Temple Grandin is coming to town.

Well, she's coming to Fairlee, Vt., which might be a bit of a hike for some. But the trip is worth taking: Grandin is a pioneering thinker in livestock handling, behavior and processing — in other words, the real deal (and something of a rock star, in my humble opinion as an amateur cattle farmer).

Grandin is speaking on Saturday, Jan. 21, at the 16^th annual Vermont Grazing and Livestock Conference. (If you're not interested in attending the whole conference, you can buy a $10 ticket to Grandin's talk.) Perhaps best known for her work in slaughterhouse innovation — equipment she designed is used in half of all cattle processing facilities in North America — Grandin has written bestselling books on animal behavior, consulted for corporations such as McDonald’s on animal welfare, and inspired the excellent HBO biopic Temple Grandin.

Grazing: Unified Press From Citizen Cider

I don't kick back with hard cider too often, but Unified Press will probably change that.

This libation landed on my radar earlier this week, when someone "liked" Citizen Cider on Facebook and my pulse quickened — a new local ciderhouse? Yup. Turns out that over the last few years, three friends — a farmer, a chemist and a wine expert— have been quietly piecing together a cider operation inside an old railroad depot in Essex Junction.

Two years ago, the trio purchased a 1950s cider press, which they reconstructed and used to press local apples and experiment with blends. "We wanted to make something to appeal to the beer crowd and the Champagne crowd, and also for people who are into wine," says Kris Nelson, who also works at Vermont Wine Merchants. 

Nelson, Justin Heilenbach and Bryan Holmes finessed those test batches into something sublime. They like prosecco and vinho verde, and it shows: Their signature cider, Unified Press, is zesty and slightly off-dry, with pear and citrus notes alongside the obvious apple flavors. At 6 percent alcohol, it's a touch more bracing than the average hard cider, and entirely made from local varieties such as Mac and Northern Spy, among others.