Wake-Up Call: Thursday, September 4, 2008

With the PolitickerVT.com Wake-Up Call e-mailed to your inbox, phone, Blackberry or PDA first thing in the morning, you can get a rundown of Vermont's top political headlines. Sign up to get the Wake-Up Call delivered every morning.

This week, Politicker.com will be at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. Stay tuned to Politicker.com over the course of the week for live updates from the convention.

With the PolitickerVT.com Wake-Up Call e-mailed to your inbox, phone, Blackberry or PDA first thing in the morning, you can get a rundown of Vermont's top political headlines. Sign up to get the Wake-Up Call delivered every morning.

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Douglas arrives at the Republican National Convention

Gov. Jim Douglas (R-Middlebury) has just arrived in St. Paul, Minn., for the Republican National Convention, according to campaign manager Dennise Casey. "I'm looking forward to spending time with the Vermont delegation, taking in the historic nomination of my colleague Governor Palin and hearing Senator McCain's nomination speech," Douglas said in an email to PolitickerVT.com on Wednesday. (PolitickerVT.com, Jennifer DePaul)

Link: http://www.politickervt.com/jenniferdepaul/1586/douglas-arrives-republican-national-convention

Officials worked to protect Douglas on job cuts

MONTPELIER — Internal e-mails on a continuing round of state government job cuts show high-ranking administration officials worried about protecting Gov. Jim Douglas and saying members of a key House committee are "like children." (Times Argus, AP)

Link: http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080904/NEWS01/809040371/1002/NEWS01

Officials tell Welch state needs more money for heating aid

WATERBURY — In the cramped cellar level of a state office building in Waterbury, more than 24,000 applications for fuel assistance compete for space atop metal filing cabinets and wall desks.

The pleas for help have come in at a record pace this summer, eclipsing by 20 percent the number of applications received by the Agency of Human Services last year. (Rutland Herald, Peter Hirschfeld)

Link: http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080904/NEWS03/809040380/1004/NEWS03

Capital candidates to square off

MONTPELIER – Rep. Jon Anderson can't claim to have knocked on every door in Montpelier, but he may come close.

"When I started this campaign, I split the city up into 35 neighborhoods," said the incumbent Democratic state representative. "And now I've visited 34 of them."

This is Anderson's first actual political campaign to be one of Montpelier's two representatives at the Statehouse, and that may explain his quest to shake hands with every available voter in the city of 8,000.  (Times Argus, Daniel Barlow)

Link: http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080904/NEWS01/809040378/1002/NEWS01

Vermont Republicans excited about Sarah Palin

MONTPELIER—Vermont Republicans are pleased with John McCain's pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate.

Revelations about Palin's family have not dampened the enthusiasm of the state's delegates to the Republican National Convention. (Boston Globe, AP)

Link: http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2008/09/03/vermont_republicans_excited_about_sarah_palin/

Town residents to vote on local option tax

The fate of a local option tax in Rutland Town is now in the hands of the voters.

Members of the Select Board unanimously agreed Tuesday to put all three local option tax proposals on the November ballot. (Rutland Herald, Patricia Minichiello)

Link: http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080904/NEWS01/809040383/1002/NEWS01

Vt. 911 calls go to 'black hole'

MONTPELIER—Officials running Vermont's Enhanced 911 emergency calling system said they were trying to determine what emergencies the system missed Wednesday when, for a period of nearly two hours, 911 calls placed in northern Vermont failed to connect. (Boston Globe, AP)

Link: http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2008/09/03/vt_911_calls_go_to_black_hole/

Vermont Yankee inspector dies in Pa.

MONTPELIER – Lawrence Hochreiter, Gov. James Douglas' appointee to a panel overseeing an inspection of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant, died Wednesday after collapsing while teaching at Pennsylvania State University. (Times Argus, Louis Porter)

Link: http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080904/NEWS02/809040333/1003/NEWS02

General fund shows surplus; enterprise funds in deficit

Little more than two months after the close of the fiscal year, Treasurer Wendy Wilton informed the Board of Aldermen Tuesday that the city will likely have a half-million-dollar surplus in the general fund budget. (Rutland Herald, Stephanie Peters)

Link: http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080903/NEWS04/809030383/1002/NEWS01

Rutland County contenders square off in primary voting

A pair of incumbents would like to return to Montpelier next January to represent Rutland District 1-2 in the Legislature.

Rep. David Potter, D-Clarendon, and Rep. Joseph Baker, R-West Rutland, are seeking re-election in the two-seat district comprised of their hometowns as well as Proctor and part of Ira. (Rutland Herald, Sandi Switzer)

Link: http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080904/NEWS01/809040382/1002/NEWS01

Styx and Stones

As the sun rose on the second day of the Republican Convention in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Gustav had diminished and things were back to normal for the state delegations. (Burlington Free Press, Chris Roy)

Link: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=PluckPersona&U=0526b103e0204690bb9a267e6eef5ff1&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3a0526b103e0204690bb9a267e6eef5ff1Post%3a4f1f8b01-4bc3-46d0-8070-33652c182c07&sid=sitelife.burlingtonfreepress.com

Pollina defends keeping funds

BRATTLEBORO -- Independent gubernatorial candidate Anthony Pollina defended his decision to keep contributions while making a campaign stop in Windham County.

But instead of simply focusing on the campaign contribution attacks, Pollina used the Wednesday visit to Brattleboro as a springboard to discuss recent cuts to the state budget and his energy plan for the future of Vermont.  (Brattleboro Reformer, Chris Garafolo)

Link: http://reformer.com/ci_10377750

With the PolitickerVT.com Wake-Up Call e-mailed to your inbox, phone, Blackberry or PDA first thing in the morning, you can get a rundown of Vermont's top political headlines. Sign up to get the Wake-Up Call delivered every morning.