Vermont has always been known for being fiercely independent. A free republic for 14 years before joining the Union, Vermont is one of four states aside from the original thirteen colonies that were once independent, sovereign nations. Secession is still a popular issue in Vermont, and the Green Mountain Boys, the 18th century informal militia led by Ethan Allen, are revered in Vermont to this day. Its contrarianism has led to interesting voting patterns in national elections and on a state level, Vermont’s was the first state legislature to legalize gay marriage, even while it has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the nation.
Both lawyers running for Vermont Attorney General in the Democratic primary August 28, incumbent Bill Sorrell and challenger TJ Donovan, have accepted campaign donations from people who are or have been their adversaries in court.
Vermont is a place where the protest vote can be in the majority and Vermont protest itself is currently in full bloom across the state.
In a fundraising email, the Republican candidate for Governor of Vermont claimed that Governor [Peter] Shumlin is making marijuana decriminalization one of his top priorities
Two artists who own a mountaintop home in Vermont say that a ruling allowing a power company to use eminent domain to erect a giant communications tower very close to their home will make it uninhabitable.
Roger Pion, 34, rode his parents’ 20,000 pound tractor into Newport, Vermont, on his way to the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department’s new building, where he rolled back and forth over seven of the sheriff department’s cruisers
The State of Vermont is once again defending its police in court against charges of taser abuse, but this time the taser use was fatal for a disoriented, unarmed artist suffering the after-effects of an epileptic seizure.
Vermont officials are denying reports of police violence at a protest by telling the public in effect: “Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?” Yet by all reports and videos the police violence started after (not before) the road had been cleared and busses of dignitaries had been let through.
