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by Chris Graff Those who have written off Governor Peter Shumlin as too wounded to be effective are ignoring history and the power of a governor. As for the history lesson, consider Governor Deane C Davis: Polling showed in 1970 that the governor was one of the most unpopular politicians in the country. He was so weak that his own lieutenant governor challenged his re-election in the Republican primary. In-depth polling in 1970 showed that Vermonters thought that Davis was cold and impersonal, didn’t care about the average man and, most importantly, that he had lied to them.

At the heart of the dispute was the 1968 campaign when Davis quite openly said he would support a sales tax for the state, but would only propose one as a “last resort.” After he was elected and appreciated the full extent of the state’s budget crisis, he ended up proposing a sales tax in his inaugural address – and that’s what touched off the anger and distrust.

In addition to the more than a foot of natural snow its received since Thanksgiving, Bolton Valley Ski Area, the most convenient and affordable big mountain skiing just minutes from I-89, will open for the 2014-2015 ski and snowboard season this Friday, December 12 with the longest Opening Day in Vermont. Lifts will turn for skiers and riders from 10 am – 10 pm, and the day will include a host of special lift ticket deals, an opening day party and more.

Bolton Valley snowmakers continued to make snow during this recent cold snap as well, and with a major storm headed to North Country on Tuesday and Wednesday, resort officials are anticipating a snow-filled initial 12 hours on the slopes.

When Mount Snow’s visionary founder, Walter Schoenknecht, stood atop Mount Pisgah in over a foot of freshly fallen snow back in autumn of 1949, he knew he had found the perfect place to build his dream ski resort. Only a few years later, Walt had purchased the land around the base of the mountain from the family of Rueben Snow and subsequently renamed the mountain in his honor – from which the name “Mount Snow” was derived.

On December 12, 1954, Mount Snow opened for the first time to skiers with two rope tows and two chairlifts that transported guests up to seven trails. In only a few years since its debut, Walt had transformed the mountain into the premier winter playground of the East with expanded terrain and off-the-wall amenities for the time like a heated outdoor pool, an indoor skating rink and state-of-the-art chairlifts.

Progressive Party members voted at their Burlington caucus on Sunday to endorse Steve Goodkind as the Progressive candidate for the 2015 mayoral race. The Party also endorsed candidates for at least half of the upcoming city council races. Prior to the vote, Goodkind addressed the approximately 60 caucus participants, speaking about his experience as the former director of the Department of Public Works, and the many improvements he made over the years to help the city of Burlington function better. He said that many of the voters he’s spoken with are discontent with the job that Mayor Miro Weinberger is doing, especially in regard to city development, and Goodkind is running in part to provide them with another option on the ballot.

“Although there are plenty of things we should be saying ‘no’ to, this will be a positive campaign,” Goodkind said. “For every issue I raise, I’ll offer a viable alternative. I will stand for choices, not just for change.”

Wet, heavy snow spreading across Vermont is causing significant damage and causing thousands of power outages. Green Mountain Power reports at 7:30 pm Tuesday that 13,000 customers are without power, despite having already restored power to more than 6,000.

“We brought in more than 200 additional line workers and tree trimmers ahead of the storm, so we have an extensive workforce helping us get the lights on,” said Dorothy Schnure, GMP spokesperson. “As the storm continues, we are seeing a tremendous amount of damage. Falling trees have broken poles and brought down power lines, and we expect additional damage to continue as long as the snow falls.”

Before the storm, GMP prepared by not only bringing in additional line workers and tree trimmers from around the region to support GMP crews, but also deploying support staff to strategic locations across the state. In total, hundreds of workers are tackling the outages around the clock.

AccuWeather reports Tuesday afternoon that colder air will invade the storm in the Northeast bringing heavy snow in upstate New York and a change to snow in other parts of the mid-Atlantic and New England Wednesday into Thursday. A surge of warmer air and heavy rain will continue to push northward through New England and into New Brunswick and Nova Scotia into Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the slow movement of the storm will allow cold air to catch up with lingering moisture farther to the southwest in the Northeastern states Wednesdayinto Thursday.

Burlington College has executed a purchase and sale agreement with developer Eric Farrell today at its Board of Trustees meeting by unanimous vote. The deal includes an increase to two acres of public green space and another $150,000 to the school. The purchase and sale agreement mirrors the Memorandum of Understanding with one major difference. Of the 33 acres of property, the College will retain six acres and Farrell will purchase the balance.

Due to the ongoing cash flow needs of the College, the agreement now calls for a non-refundable upfront payment of $150,000 on December 19th, assuming conditions of the agreement are met. This means that $150,000 will be deducted from the sale price of $7,650,000 upon closing, scheduled for January 20, 2015. The Memorandum of Understanding had a sale price of $7,500,000.

The University of Vermont Medical Center (formerly Fletcher Allen Health Care) is again being counted as a top performer among leading academic medical centers in the 2014 University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) Quality and Accountability Study, nationally recognized as the most important analysis of its kind. UHC is an alliance of nearly all of the academic medical centers in the United States. Excellent results in infection prevention, low rates of complications and readmissions, and overall efficiency of care contributed to the high ranking.

Dr John Brumsted. VBM file photo.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Members of Vermont’s Health Care Is a Human Right campaign are calling on Gov. Peter Shumlin to “equitably” finance the state’s planned universal health care program. Advocates say the Shumlin administration’s single payer program should be supported by a progressive tax structure that doesn’t shift costs from large businesses to smaller ones and individuals.

“Green Mountain Care should be funded by a mix of income taxes on earned and unearned income, wealth taxes and a graduated payroll tax for businesses with exemptions for the smallest of businesses,” said James Haslam, executive director of the Vermont Workers Center, at a news conference Monday.

TDI New England announced Monday that the company has filed a state permit application seeking approval of its proposed New England Clean Power Link project. The application states that the project, once completed, will provide $136 million in ratepayer relief for Vermonters as part of a total public benefits package of $298 million. Over the 40-year life of the project, TDI estimates the project will create approximately $1.5 billion total economic benefits to the State and its residents.

GMP's Mary Powell received a national award last night. Powell, president and CEO of Vermont's largest electric utility, was just named Power-Gen 2014 Woman of the Year at a ceremony in Florida. Judges selected Powell because of how she has advanced the power generation industry, the positive impact she has made on her community, and her leadership.

By a margin of 46 to 26, Saint Michael’s College adjunct faculty on December 1 voted to unionize through the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). In November, adjunct professors at Burlington and Champlain colleges voted to join the SEIU.

All 101 adjuncts teaching this fall semester at Saint Michael’s were eligible to vote, meaning about three-fourths of those eligible actually voted.

Dean of the College Jeffrey Ayres said that throughout the process to unionize the College promoted a neutral stance and provided information to adjuncts to be sure they had all the details needed for the vote. "The College has encouraged participation in the vote by all eligible adjuncts,” Ayres said. “Adjuncts are an important part of the College in providing an excellent educational experience."