Vermonter.com

Gas prices throughout Vermont are rising faster than the thermometers during the summer. As of mid-May, most pump prices are around $3.75 per gallon (see http://vermontgasprices.com for the dismal news). Thefts are on the rise both for gas and money to buy gas so perhaps it’s time to keep a shotgun handy and lock your doors. If gas prices keep going up, that will have a residual effect on many other things. For instance, I’ve noticed a lot of restaurants and closing for business lately. Costs money to eat out and food prices are also heading up. Remember how generous Asian restaurants used to be with rice? Not anymore. Yup, the even cost of rice is up too.

Looks like we’re in the midst of a perfect storm (or more appropriately “stuck knee high in the manure pile”). Thank you Bill Clinton for passing the highly controversial Free Trade Agreement before you left office. I wish they would outsource you and your wife to China. By the way, take George “WMD” Bush with you. He pretty much finished the job by running down the value of our dollar and sending what’s left of it to fund the ongoing madhatters tea party in Iraq.

Oh yeah, and let’s not forget the mortgage meltdown. A lot of greedy people made a lot of undeserved money by handing out loans to anybody or thing that lived, breathed or could sign a piece of paper, regardless of whether they could actually pay back the loans are not. Seems like a lot of crooked people should be getting the tar and feathers treatment. I would recommend jail but they’ve already squandered enough of our tax dollars. If these highly educated “professionals” are the leaders of our country, we’d probably best start learning to speak Chinese real soon. Dumb asses.

It’s going to be interesting to see how we get out of this huge mess. Kind of makes the cliffhangers on ABC’s Lost seem a bit pale in comparison.

If you tried to purchase concert tickets for Elton John’s upcoming performance at the Essex Junction Fairgrounds via the Flynn Theater website you probably didn’t do very well. I had an uneasy feeling at 9:55am that a perfect storm was coming. At 10am, when the tickets went on sale, the online ordering system crashed like a rock.
The website was swamped and apparently the server couldn’t handle the request load resulting in lots of time-out errors and most likely…no tickets. Forget about calling in as the phone lines were overloaded throughout most of the day as well. All in all, a pretty poorly planned system that just plain didn’t work. So what did? Apparently a lot of luck for those who did get through by phone. I would be curious to know if anyone actually was able to purchase Elton John tickets in Vermont via the Flynn’s website. The other lucky folks were the ones who lined up outside and those who hoarded up the limit of 4 tickets per person. I bought my tickets through one of these people at double the face value, yet still a good price considering what they are being scalped for on some of the ticket websites.

I hope that next time there is a major event such as this, the promoters have better sense than to trust a small, inadequately prepared local company to handle the online ticket sales. No offense to the Flynn but anyone in their right mind should have known that their small website could in no way handle the traffic that would be coming their way. A huge disaster waiting to happen and a lot of disappointment for many Vermonters wanting to see the show. As much as I don’t care for Ticketmaster, at least ordering tickets online would have been a fairly simple task.

Now, one of the the only ways to get an “Elton John Essex Fairgrounds Vermont concert ticket” is to pay overly inflated prices to the online scalper agencies. Odd how those websites work very well indeed and buying a ticket is quick and easy.
Hey promoters, the next time a big name concert comes to town, please hire out online ticketing to a professional service and don’t turn it into another small time “Jethro Bodine” disaster.

Gas prices are up over $3.50 a gallon and that really sucks. Meanwhile, most of us Americans are fatter than pigs on butcherin’ day. On the positive side, maybe that’s a wake up call for us to get off our fat asses and get some well needed exercise. Listening to Howard Stern this week and the misadventures of some of the crew’s trip to Amsterdam, brought up some interesting points…other than the two things Amsterdam is infamous for…drugs and painted ladies. It seems that almost everyone over there ride bikes and they’re all thin people. The Stern crew led by resident grizzly bear, Artie Lange mentioned that everyone stared at them in wonder, due to their portly American, super-sized physiques.

With cholesterol levels up as high as gas prices, maybe it’s time we should all grab a bike and one of them funny looking “turtle-head” helmets and hit the road. The Tour de Kingdom is taking place in the gorgeous Northeast Kingdom of Vermont in June. Seems like a great way to enjoy some scenery, breathe some fresh air and lose a few pounds. I draw the line at fitting up with the spandex biking duds though. Why is that everyone has to dress like a super hero to go for a bike ride? Maybe it’s because THEY CAN. The rest of us (myself included) would look like a trussed up pork sausage in one of those outfits. Jean shorts and a t-shirt should be fine for us locals!

I’ve always enjoyed Oakledge Park which is located along the shores of Lake Champlain in Burlington. With Spring finally here, I decided to take a walk in the park yesterday and noticed a new addition. If you’ve been to Oakledge Park, you’ve probably noticed the remnants of crumbling foundations and brick barbecues on the upper ledges and throughout the area. I always wondered what the origins of those artifacts were. Now, anyone can find out the history of Oakledge Park as there are a number of displays installed throughout the park with photos and diagrams that do a terrific job of presenting the park’s history. Plus, there is also a UVM website with much of the same information that is well worth a look.

Now that the holidays are over the next big thing coming up is tax time. Yup, it’s that ever so thrilling time of year when almost everyone has to dig out the receipts, sharpen the pencils and try to hold onto as much of their hard earned money as possible. Bend over and grab your ankles!

If you’re lucky enough to live in Vermont you’re gonna pay more, that’s for sure.  As economist Art Woolf explains, “I think it will bring attention to the fact that Vermont is a high-tax state,” says Woolf. “Any study that’s trying to rank states is going to have some kind of bias. You can’t put every factor in every kind of study. This study focuses on things that doesn’t make Vermont look too good. A lot of them are taxes. There are some liabilities in Vermont and this study points out what some of those are.”

I’m still scratching my head over all the nuttiness taking place throughout the Green Mountain State. On one hand, Vermont is bringing in all sorts of refugees from other countries (the latest being Iraq) and footing the bill. Yet, on the news the other night, there was a report that the amount of homeless in the Burlington area has doubled over the last few years and now includes entire families instead of just single men. The elderly cannot afford groceries, medical care and heating bills. Many roads and bridges throughout Vermont are  in drastic need of repair, drug crimes are on the increase and the list goes on. Seriously though, shouldn’t we clean up our own problems first before trying to save the world?
Meanwhile, illegal immigrants are working throughout Vermont and some of them are earning big bucks, tax free. I know of someone who is here illegally and pulling back $70,000 per year. This person has never entered H&R Block but knows the University Mall quite well. Best of all, it is YOUR tax dollars supporting people like this. Happy New Year indeed.

To top it all off, the American dollar has tanked to the lowest level in years and we’re a muskrat’s hair away from a recession. Not sure if that’s due to all the money being wasted for the war in Iraq or the housing crisis which basically allowed unscrupulous lenders to give loans to people they knew could never afford to pay it back. Anyway, it’s time to warm up the tar and feathers and make someone accountable other than the taxpayers.

Ok, so now you’re probably thinking “this is a pretty negative post”.

Yeah, I guess it is. Happy Valentine’s Day!

This is the day that fills many with fear and trepidation. The most rugged of men have been known to hide within the confines of their homes like frightened cavemen of the stone age. When it comes to driving, no Playstation or Xbox game comes anywhere close to the challenges that “Black Friday” offers. The sun goes down on Thanksgiving day. Sometime in the midst of the night, retail employees sleepily stagger their way to work like zombies possessed. It’s 4am and the crowds appear like creatures of the night in search of fresh blood or 42″ plasma TV’s reduced 50 percent. Oh the humanity!

In Williston, Best Buy employees wait like deputies in an old west town, waiting for the lynch mob to bust through the doors. Then it suddenly happens. The key is turned, the doors are opened and Black Friday has begun. It’s too late to stop the madness and mayhem as the first words uttered are “umh, where do I find the laptops that are on sale…y’know, the ones in yesterday’s flyer?”

And slowly, some of us dare to slowly sneak out into the world on Saturday, the day after. No bodies in the streets and relatively less bloody than previous years. But as one retail employee put it best “..this is the eye of the storm, the worse is coming”.

So hey, how about those gas prices?

I came across this interesting website the other day called the Vermont Bad Business Bureau. There isn’t much there now but I could see where it could become a valuable resource if it were to catch on. Nothing is more frustrating than to move to an area and not know which plumber to call, which car mechanic to trust or the reputation of a company where you’re considering applying for a job.

There’s some good recommendations there too…perhaps worthy of a subtitle “the good, the bad and the ugly”.  Anyway, it’s definitely worth a look at http://vermontbbb.com/

Is that pot smoke or corruption we smell in the Windsor County air?

According to a recent story on WCAX, Vermont’s Attorney general is questioning why a lawyer and acting judge is getting a break for growing felony amounts of marijuana.

Attorney General Bill Sorrell is concerned that Windsor prosecutor Bobby Sand is sending the wrong signal about justice in Vermont.

The case started last month when game wardens discovered 36 pot plants and two-and-half pounds of marijuana in the home of Windsor lawyer Martha Davis, 61, according to court records. She also serves on occasion as an acting judge in the Windsor Family Court. The wardens charged her with felony marijuana possession and cultivation. Those charges carry potential penalties of 30 years in prison and a fine up to 1-million dollars.

But County Prosecutor Bobby Sand initially amended the charges to a far less serious misdemeanor and the last week agreed not to charge Davis with any crime. Instead, he permitted her to enter the Court Diversion Program. That means all record of the charges will be permanently expunged if she successfully completes community service assignments.

Vermont’s Attorney General Bill Sorrell says giving the lawyer a break like that for serious felony charges sends the wrong message.

“If all first-time marijuana possessors and cultivators in Windsor County are treated with Diversion the I guess that’s the county in which you ought to be in that business although you run the risk that federal authorities would come in or the Attorney General’s Office would come into the case,” responded Sorrell.

Very informative article in the Sunday Burlington Free Press (10/21/2007):

UNH study: Income disparity grows fastest in New England
By Dan McLean
Vermont’s wealthiest households have seen their incomes grow faster than anywhere else in New England — helping to drive income inequality in Vermont and throughout the region, according to a University of New Hampshire study.

Although the region does not suffer from widespread poverty, the gap between rich and poor has grown more quickly in New England than in any other region in the United States from 1989 to 2004, according to “Changes in Income Distribution in New England,” a study conducted by UNH’s Carsey Institute.

Vermont, although not listed among the states with the highest inequality levels, had the second largest disparity change in the country, following Connecticut, the study said. Vermont moved from No. 47 to No. 31 in income disparity during the 15-year period.

“It surprised me,” Ross Gittell, the study’s author and a professor at UNH’s Whittemore School of Business and Economics, said of Vermont’s growing inequality. “I think there has been a takeoff at the top, and a hollowing of the middle class.”

Retirement is also a factor. Many retirees, who have made their money elsewhere, retire to Vermont with a healthy stock portfolio, he said.

Manufacturing jobs throughout New England have been replaced with higher paying jobs that require higher education levels and advanced skills, the study said; the declining number of unionized work forces is also fueling the gap in wealth.

The shifts are more noticeable in New England, the study said, because the region is well-educated, creating a high-tech work force. It’s also a relatively expensive place to conduct business, pushing low-skilled jobs elsewhere.

In Vermont, the top 20 percent of households saw their inflation-adjusted incomes, or real incomes, jump by 25.6 percent — the highest percent in the region — to $141,565; a household can include more than one earner.

Vermont’s typical wages are slightly below the U.S. level. In May 2006, the median wage for a Vermonter was $29,510 annually — meaning half earned more and half earned less, according to Labor Department data. The U.S. median wage was slightly higher at $30,388 a year.

Some of Vermont’s top earners have moved to the state for quality-of-life reasons, but continue to work at high-paying jobs — that helps drive the state’s income inequality, Gittell said.

Condon agreed, saying some recent Vermont residents “won their wealth in the rat race” and now work part-time from their homes in Vermont.

State labor data support the study’s conclusions about Vermont’s changing types of jobs.

Vermont’s manufacturing jobs dwindled by 17 percent — about 7,500 jobs — in the decade following 1996. In 2006, there were 36,243 manufacturing jobs in the state, according to Labor Department data.

“The companies are taking those jobs where they can pay them less: to other regions of the country and to other parts of the world,” Condon said.

A need to remedy?

Increasing income equality and the eroding of the middle class has serious side effects, Gittell said.

The complete article can be found here.

Island Pond, also known as Brighton, is a quiet little town in the far north reaches of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. Formerly a bustling railroad town with a busy main street, lumberyards and an Ethan Allen Furniture manufacturing plant, Island Pond is now best known as one of the snowmobiling capitals of the east…or perhaps better known for it’s controversial town constable, Teddy Miller.

Any Northeast Kingdom local from St. Johnsbury to Newport and all points in between knows the name “Teddy Miller” and probably has a story to tell. Teddy is famous (or infamous depending upon one’s point of view) for aggressive enforcement of motor vehicle violations in or about the Island Pond area. Some people claim to have been ticketed for minor infractions such as air fresheners hanging from rear view mirrors, traveling at 2 or 3 mph over the posted speed limit, accidentally making the wrong turns on one-way streets and the list goes on. One story claims that a local teenager was injured in a snowmobile accident. A friend of the injured teen on another snowmobile, rode along the roadside to get to a phone quickly in order to summon help for his injured companion. Supposedly, Miller asked the person seeking help how he got to a phone so quick. He was rewarded with a ticket for illegally riding a snowmobile along a roadway. This is just one local story and there are many more. Which ones are hard facts and which are “rural legends” are subject to debate. In any case, Teddy Miller has become a legend whether he intended to or not. He is also the topic on many Internet travel websites and snowmobiling forums.

(Read on …)