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State Secrets
Two state employees spent a year on paid administrative leave while their bosses apparently investigated their handling of millions of dollars in public grant money.
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Citizens Unite!
Vermont is fast becoming the epicenter of the national grassroots movement to repeal Citizens United. That’s the 2010 Supreme Court decision that obliterated federal campaign-finance laws and opened the floodgates for the sleazy, Super-PAC-funded attack ads clogging airwaves in primary states.
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License to Spend
The Department of Motor Vehicles is already synonymous with really long waits. But even by those standards, an unfolding fiasco inside the Vermont DMV is turning into a painfully drawn out — and expensive — affair.
Fair Game has learned that over the past six years, the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles has shelled out $18 million for a new computer system that today is barely usable. The launch of the new VT Driver & Registration Information & Verification Enterprise System — VT DRIVES — is three years overdue and millions over budget.
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In With the News
Welcome back to Fair Game. Notice anything different?
Either Shay Totten grew a beard and switched to contact lenses, or this column has a new author. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Andy Bromage, and I have the distinct honor of succeeding Shay Totten as Seven Days’ political columnist. Shay is a tough act to follow, but it’s my intention to deliver an equally satisfying weekly dose of hard-hitting, independent, investigative reporting — with a dash of attitude, of course.
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Fare Thee Well
But ’tis done — all words are idle.
From “Fare Thee Well” by Lord Byron
Yeah, yeah, whatever. This is my last column.
You’d think that after writing 184 Fair Games, hundreds of blog and Facebook posts, and thousands of tweets, coming up with a final 1600 words would be easy, right?
Not really.
Where to start? Where to end?
Deep breath.
I guess I could start at the beginning.
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Fight the Power
With 2011 coming to a close, several major policy questions remain unanswered: Will Vermont Yankee close? Can Vermont launch a single-payer health care system? Will Gov. Peter Shumlin ever visit Dominica again?
Scratch that last question; the gov’s on the Caribbean isle of Anguilla as Fair Game goes to print.
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Meet the New Boss
The Democratic machine that has dominated state politics for the better part of a decade is poised to reclaim the remaining brass ring of Vermont politics: mayor of Burlington.
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Split Decision
All eyes will be on Burlington this Sunday, December 11, as the city’s two major political parties — Democrats and Progressives — hold their mayoral caucuses.
The question is, will they nominate the same guy? The Democrats should have a candidate before 5 p.m., just as the Progs meet for a potluck dinner ahead of their 6 p.m. caucus.
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Was Ashe Aware? Did Miro Know?
The two Democrats running for mayor of Burlington may differ in style and political pedigree, but they share at least one common experience. Both sat on boards overseeing city projects that have become financial debacles: Burlington Telecom and the Burlington International Airport parking garage.
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Burlington's Bitter Ballot Battle
Butter side up or butter side down? That the question Democratic caucus-goers may be asking one another on December 11 as they choose between two mayoral wannabes: Tim Ashe and Miro Weinberger.
Dr. Seuss fans may recall The Butter Battle Book, a story about the Yooks who eat their bread with the buttered side up and the Zooks who eat their bread with the buttered side down.
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