Cruisin 93.7

Saturday, May 19, 2012

• F-35 Fighter Jets in South Burlington? Air Force Idea Bombs and S...

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  A U.S. Air Force colonel presiding over last Monday’s hearing on the pros and cons of hosting F-35 fighter jets in Vermont asked the audience to hold its applause until the end of the evening.

  The crowd did not obey orders.

  In the South Burlington High School auditorium, people spilling out into the hallways hooted and hollered as a parade of citizens spoke about an Air Force proposal to base as many as two dozen of the new-generation warplanes at Burlington International Airport.

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  F-35 Fighter Jets in South Burlington? Air Force Idea Bombs and S...
• E-Gads: The Town of Castleton Pulls the Plug on a Digital Democra...

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  You can track down a lost pet, publicize a bake sale, rally neighbors to help a family in need. All are benefits of Front Porch Forum, a hyperlocal, web-based service that combines the functionality of classified advertisements with the small-town appeal of useful gossip.

  What’s not to like about it? Plenty, according to the town of Castleton, which claims the online networking tool turned debate among local citizens into cyber feuding.

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  E-Gads: The Town of Castleton Pulls the Plug on a Digital Democra...
• Vermont's Dwight Asset Management to Shed Jobs After Goldman Sach...

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  Several money managers are likely to lose their six-figure Vermont jobs in the coming weeks when Goldman Sachs, aka Wall Street’s “vampire squid,” completes its takeover of a Burlington-based investment firm. 

  Some lower-level employees will also be let go. The anticipated layoffs at 29-year-old Dwight Asset Management, one of Vermont’s few finance-sector powerhouses, will diminish the Queen City’s standing in the industry and deal a blow to Burlington’s economy.

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  Vermont's Dwight Asset Management to Shed Jobs After Goldman Sach...
• On the Canadian Border, a Wind Project Sparks International Intri...

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  At a boisterous rally on Sunday in Derby Line, residents expressed concerns about noise, aesthetics, possible damage to local wildlife and property values in opposition to a two-turbine wind development.

  But this was not your typical antiwind protest. Because the proposed turbines are a stone’s throw from the U.S.-Canadian border, the familiar arguments about wind development were elevated from local controversy to international dispute.

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  On the Canadian Border, a Wind Project Sparks International Intri...
• Fresh Opposition: Will Burlington City Councilor Paul Decelles Be...

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  Last week’s dustup over a controversial city attorney nominee provided a glimpse of what Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger can expect from a new city council still learning how to work with — and against — a new mayor.

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  Fresh Opposition: Will Burlington City Councilor Paul Decelles Be...
• Should the Burlington Free Press Share Its Almost-Pulitzer Glory?

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  The Burlington Free Press made news last month when it was named a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize — the most prestigious award in journalism. The Pulitzer board did not pick a winner this year in the “editorial writing” category, but on April 16, it announced that Vermont’s largest daily newspaper had made the short list, for a “campaign that resulted in the state’s first reform of open government laws in 35 years, reducing legal obstacles that helped shroud the work of government officials.”

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  Should the Burlington Free Press Share Its Almost-Pulitzer Glory?
• Nuke of the North: Québec's Gentilly-2 Reactor Faces VT Yankee-S...

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  A decades-old nuclear power plant that sits about 135 miles from Burlington was scheduled to close in 2012 but is now seeking a new lease on life.

  For years, nearby residents paid the reactor little mind — indeed, many were unaware of its existence — until antinuke activists sounded the alarm about the plant’s safety and reliability record. Those concerns were fueled, in part, by unscheduled outages; releases of radioactive isotopes, notably tritium, into the environment; and tons of spent nuclear fuel stored on-site in dry-cask containers.

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  Nuke of the North: Québec's Gentilly-2 Reactor Faces VT Yankee-S...