VT DOC Ends Contract With "Problematic" Massachusetts Prison

The Vermont Department of Corrections (DOC) has stopped sending inmates to the Massachusetts jail where Vermont offenders rioted last summer over substandard confinement conditions.

Vermont Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito confirmed this week that the state did not renew its contract with the Franklin County Jail & House of Correction before it expired June 30 and has not housed any offenders there since May. Beginning in 2010, DOC was sending about 100 inmates to the Greenfield, Mass. jail, a move that saved corrections department about $357,000.

Pallito was not immediately available for further comment. But Sen. Dick Sears (D–Bennington), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he visited the Massachusetts lockup with the commissioner last September and described it as "problematic" on several fronts, including its lack of outdoor recreational facilities as well as the inability of inmates to have physical-contact visits with their loved ones.

"Initially, a lot of us here in southern Vermont were glad to see the Franklin County contract, because offenders would be closer to home than if they were in Newport or St. Albans," Sears said. "But it just didn’t work out the way we hoped."

"Upon further investigation," Sears added, "we realized there were a lot of other issues there."

At Brock Fundraiser, Maine Gov. Paul LePage Doubles Down on "Gestapo" Comment (AUDIO)

Updated below: Maine Democratic Party chair questions LePage's fitness for office; Vermont Dem chair says Brock should condemn remarks. Update #2: Comment from Anti-Defamation League and union representing IRS workers. 

Following a fundraiser for Vermont Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Brock Thursday morning, Maine Gov. Paul LePage repeated and elaborated on controversial comments he made over the weekend equating the Internal Revenue Service with the Gestapo.

Standing by Brock's side at the Sheraton in South Burlington, the Maine governor said, "What I am trying to say is the Holocaust was a horrific crime against humanity and, frankly, I would never want to see that repeated. Maybe the IRS is not quite as bad — yet."

LePage then said, "They're headed in that direction."

Asked if he had a sense of what the Gestapo did during the second world war, LePage said, "Yeah, they killed a lot of people." Asked whether the IRS "was headed in the direction of killing a lot of people," LePage answered: "Yeah."

LePage's words went well beyond a controversial comment he made in his weekly radio address over the weekend. Speaking about the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision largely upholding the Affordable Care Act, LePage told his radio audience that, "This decision has made America less free. We the people have been told there is no choice. You must buy health insurance or pay the new Gestapo — the IRS."

(Part 2 of the full audio — including Brock's response — after the jump)

Hinesburg Farmers, Other Organic Growers Appeal Ruling in Monsanto Lawsuit

Updated below with Correction

Organic farmers from around the country — including David Zuckerman and Rachel Nevitt of Full Moon Farm in Hinesburg — are taking their lawsuit against seed giant Monsanto to the next level.

Having lost round one in federal court in February, the farmers have appealed the case and are asking another court to pre-emptively block Monsanto from suing them for patent infringement should their crops become cross-pollinated with the agri-giant's genetically-engineered seed.

The Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA), representing 83 farmers and farm organizations that claim more than 300,000 members, argue that they are forced to sue Monsanto pre-emptively to protect themselves from the company's "abusive lawsuits" against unsuspecting farmers whose organic crops become contaminated.

In February, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York sided with Monsanto and dismissed the case, saying the organic farmers' fears about contamination "do not amount to a substantial controversy and that there has been no injury traceable to defendants."

Last week, OSGATA appealed that ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. The Northeast Organic Farmers Association of Vermont and Rural Vermont are co-plaintiffs in the case. Click here to download the farmers' appeal brief.

Dreams for Downtown and the Waterfront Move Closer to the Drawing Board

Visions of a radically remade downtown and waterfront took a small step closer to reality Tuesday evening as Burlington planning commissioners got a power-point preview of the "Plan BTV" report.

A draft version of the document — the product of a week-long public brainstorming session held in January — will be released online in a few days. By the end of July, the city will release the report in magazine format, in the hope it will evolve into the first-ever master plan for Burlington's urban core.

The report is replete with heady ideas. And judging from public participation at the public design "charrette" back in January, some proposals — such as the greening of streets between the Church Street Marketplace and the waterfront — will win wide favor. Others, like construction of a parking garage in the slope below Battery Park, seem likely to generate agita.

Frustration and Mystery Surround Contaminated Compost

It was two weeks ago that Tom Moreau, the general manager of the Chittenden County Solid Waste District, noticed his tomato plants were curling and wilting. That compelled him to alert the public that soil and compost from CSWD's Green Mountain Compost might be toxic. He suspended sales and sent off samples for testing.

Now that lab tests have confirmed that both bulk and bagged soil and compost from GMC is laced with two persistent herbicides — clopyralid and picloram — the fallout is broad. As CSWD scrambles to do damage control, the state is trying to pinpoint where the de-listed substances came from. Gardeners, meanwhile, are salvaging what they can of their plants.

Alice Eats: Sky Burgers

161 Church St., Burlington, 881-0642

For some reason, Sky Burgers is one of those places I just don't think of when considering my Burlington dining options. I should. It's a fun concept — creative dinners in burger form.

Sunday, I finally got it together to visit Sky Burgers for the first time since opening day, when I accompanied former Seven Days food editor Suzanne Podhaizer on her First Bite meal there. I was impressed at how the menu had grown, both in scale and innovation. There were far more than house-ground beef patties and chicken breasts. Burger options now range from quinoa to lobster.

However, in the spirit of outdoor dining and the pleasant weather, I ordered exclusively from the summer specials menu. That's where I found the new-and-improved fish taco. It was slaw-covered and soggy when I tried it two and a half years ago, but it's now a darn fine replication of fish-taco flavors in patty form.

The mahi mahi patty was lightly crusted in bread crumbs to approximate the feel of fried chunks of fish. The "slaw" was still there, but much less of it and not at all soggy. In fact, until I rechecked the menu, I thought it was supposed to be plain cabbage. Pico de gallo and crispy tortilla strips added even more crunch, but it was Holy Chipotle aioli that defined the creamy, spicy flavor.

Weinberger Nominates Eileen Blackwood for City Attorney, Would Be First Woman in Top Legal Job

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger's first pick for city attorney ended badly, but his new nominee appears likely to win confirmation when the City Council meets on July 16.

On Monday, Weinberger announced the nomination of Eileen Blackwood (pictured with the mayor), a former president of the Vermont Bar Association and for many years the principal in a Burlington law firm.

This time, Weinberger gave prior notice of his pick to city councilors, who had "a very positive response" to Blackwood, the mayor said at a City Hall Park press conference. He called Blackwood "one of the most respected and admired attorneys" in the state, and pointed out that she would be the first woman to serve as Burlington city attorney.

She and her wife, mental health counselor Lynn Goyette, were also among the first couples to be joined in a Vermont civil union in 2000.

In brief remarks at the press event, Blackwood steered clear of controversy. In particular, she and Weinberger were not seeking her exemption from the city's stepped pay system, which entitles her to earn what the mayor said would be "a little under $110,000." That's "somewhat less" than what retiring city attorney Ken Schatz makes, Weinberger noted.

Growing Issues: Burlington's Urban Ag Task Force Seeks Feedback On Its Draft Report

Want to raise alpacas on Peru Street? How about cherry trees on Washington Street, or goats on Grant Street? If you're an urban farmer, gardener, beekeeper or tender of livestock within Burlington city limits — or want to be — the Urban Agriculture Task Force wants your feedback ASAP.

Last week, the Urban Agriculture Task Force released its long-awaited draft report of recommendations to the Burlington City Council on how it should manage and regulate the interests and needs of residents who raise food within the Queen City. The 70-page report is chock full of advice and recommendations for dealing with the needs and interests of Burlington residents, such as master gardeners Michael Rooney and Susan Dorn (right), whose urban farming — in their case, unpermitted hoophouses — conflict with neighbors' aesthetic desires and local zoning ordinances.

City council created the citizen-led task force in March 2011 in order to study issues of urban ag and provide policy recommendations for raising livestock, composting, farming and community gardens. For years, the council has heard growing complaints about conflicts over greenbelt veggie patches, crowing roosters and how many pigs or sheep are appropriate in the backyard of a two-bedroom duplex. Rather than addressing each of these problems piecemeal, the council opted to take a more holistic approach to urban agriculture.

Grazing: A Tasty Showdown Inside Red Hen's Ice Cream Case

Last week I received an email from Red Hen's buyer, Hannah Conner, that the Middlesex café would soon carry pints of Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream, an Ohio brand that has picked up many accolades. On her website, creator Jeni Britton Bauer extolls the virtues of Ohio cream from grass-grazing cows, as well as her eclectic ice-cream-making crew. She writes, "We create ice creams we fall madly in love with, that we want to bathe in, that make us see million-year-old stars," — in flavors as Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk, Bangkok Peanut, and Wheatgrass Pear, & Vinho Verde. For realz.

That Red Hen would cast their ice cream net way beyond our dairy motherland to Ohio was worth a peek, especially since everything here — coffee, bread, cheese, sausage, wine — is usually spot-on delicious.

So when I stopped in yesterday and lifted the top of the ice cream case, it was a tantalizing surprise to see Jeni's rubbing shoulders with a simply packaged local brand: Stowe Ice Cream. It had just been delivered that morning, the first batch that Red Hen would ever sell, and each flavor was handwritten across the top. 

This may seem like a no-brainer for a die-hard locavore, but not for me. If I couldn't visit Ohio anytime soon, why not taste Ohio in ice cream form? And then compare it to a home-turf hero. It was hot enough, anyway.

An Old Tower Clock Is Discovered Anew at Green Mountain College

Green Mountain College's Ames Tower was looking pretty shabby, so facilities director Glenn LaPlante was inspecting its domed cupola, airborne in a hydraulic lift, paint scraper in hand. And that's when he made an amazing discovery: a glass-encased, art deco clock, still in "excellent condition," LaPlante declared, despite a layer of 1960s-era paint.

It was time to call in an expert and, as it happens, there was one nearby. Joe Duffy operates, with his brother, Christopher, Church Specialties right in Poultney. Their specialty? Church bell and clock tower restoration. The college contacted Joe Duffy to come and look at their clock, which he determined is a Telechron model.

Inventor Henry Warren established the Telechron company in Ashland, Mass., in 1912 and made battery-powered clocks. Three years later, he invented a "self-starting, synchronous motor consisting of a rotor and coil," reports college spokesman Kevin Coburn. When Warren retired in 1943, General Electric absorbed the business, and clocks labeled "Telechron" or "General Electric" were made in the Ashland plant.

In fact, it's still operating. Duffy got in touch and agreed to deliver the GMC clock to Ashland.

He said it could be functional again with a new motor and some "superficial cleaning," says Coburn.

Why was the clock painted over? No one at the school remembers. "The Ames building was dedicated in 1908, and photos show a clock, but it couldn't have been this one," Coburn says. "We think in the 1930s it was replaced with the Telechron, and painted in the ’60s." And then, everyone simply forgot about it.

Coburn says the clock should be returned in about three weeks and once again will tick off the minutes in the life of a small Vermont college. "We want it in place when students arrive the third week in August," he notes.

Just in the nick of time.

Photo courtesy of Green Mountain College