Got A tIP for ANDY? andy@sevendaysvt.com
and in liberal Vermont that means President Barack OBama will help downticket Dems by turning out the party faithful. Second, U.S. Sen. Bernie SanderS (I-VT) is up for reelection and Hoffer said the Progfather has “offered to campaign with me as often as I can manage. “I think that could be very valuable,” Hoffer said. “Particularly in areas where Salmon is strong, where Republicans are strong, Bernie polls well ahead of anybody else.” Third, Hoffer is counting on improved name recognition on the second go-round. And finally, he said he “learned a lot” from the 2010 race and that “this time I can work harder and smarter for sure” — a candid admission for a guy who’s better at policy than retail politics. State Dems gave Hoffer their endorsement last weekend, 33 to 1. State Rep. Tim Jerman of Essex Junction stood up to acknowledge the elephant, er moose, in the room: that Hoffer is seen by some Dems as having “baggage from the other party” — meaning Progressives — or as having been “too aggressive” toward some Democrats. “That’s exactly what you want in an auditor,” declared Jerman.
ride to the rescue on this one — on his two-wheeler. It’s Way to Go week, after all. Appropriately, Weinberger was spotted early this week riding his bike down Battery Street. Two problems: He was sans helmet and his shoelace was untied. “Guilty as charged,” Weinberger tells Fair Game. “I got my hair cut and left my helmet at the barber shop. I didn’t realize until after the shop had closed.” Was the well-coiffed mayor trying to avoid helmet hair? “It was absent-mindedness,” he says, “not vanity.”
OPINION
Inch by Inch, Code by Code
Warm Weather
4t-leunigs051612.indd 1
5/14/12 3:09 PM
is coming!
Summer for Free!
Summer Special
Cannot be combined with any other offer. Expires 5/31/12
Cannot be combined with any other offer. Expires 5/31/12
Pay for 9 months, get the summer free!
or
Pay for 4 months, get 1 month free!
05.16.12-05.23.12 SEVEN DAYS
The Burlington Free Press has devoted a lot of “reporting” to the big changes taking place on College Street — from its new, $2.4 million printing press to the newspaper’s impending change to a Seven Days-ish tabloid format. Last Sunday, the Gannett-owned Freeps broke more news about its evolving business plan. The bottom line: Say goodbye to free news online! Starting June 7, subscribers will pay about $5 more per month for home delivery, because it includes access to the online content. Online readers will get a few articles a month for free, then face a paywall. During a Free Press live chat on the paper’s website, several readers complained about having to “subsidize” the paper’s new digital platforms when all they want is the old-fashioned newsprint on their doorstep for the old-fashioned price. Gotta love those old-school Vermonters. Freeps associate editor mike killian patiently explained to readers that the free lunch is over. Costs are up, and the price of a paper has to go up, too, to reflect “what our news and advertising content are really worth.” In making readers pay, the Freeps is bowing to an economic reality that has prompted the New York Times and countless other daily newspapers to put their “content” behind a paywall. Luckily, there’s at least one free news source left in Vermont! m
Listen to Andy Tuesday mornings at 8:40 a.m. on WVMT 620 AM. Follow Andy on Twitter: twitter.com/Andy Bromage.
Send Andy an old-fashioned email: andy@sevendaysvt.com.
Dedicated to improving lives. Since 1966. Essex (802) 879-7734 x 2 • Williston (802) 860-3343 • S. Burlington (802) 658-0001 or (802) 658-0002
EDGEVT.COM 4T-sportsnfitnessedge051612.indd 1
5/15/12 9:46 AM
FAIR GAME 13
Become a fan on Facebook: facebook.com/sevendaysvt.fairgame.
SEVENDAYSVt.com
Is the city of Burlington waging a war on gardening? Not exactly, but the Queen City’s heavy-handed zoning ordinance has snared a pair of green-thumbed homeowners who were just trying to grow their own grub. As reported last week on the Seven Days staff blog Blurt, Burlington homeowners michael rOOney and SuSan dOrn were ordered to take down a pair of greenhouse-style hoop houses in their front yard on South Willard Street near Champlain College. Apparently, any structure that sits on your lawn for more than 30 days requires a zoning permit. The hoop houses were built two years ago, but it took until this past April — when the kale and Swiss chard were already knee high — for someone to complain, anonymously, to the city. Code-enforcement director Bill Ward says his office is obligated to investigate complaints, but that busting codebreaking urban gardeners is “not at the top of our priority list.” Rooney and Dorn haven’t decided whether they’ll seek permits for the structures — at $90 a pop — or just take them down. Rooney, for one, worries that losing an appeal could “set a precedent” that could come back to haunt other urban gardeners in Burlington. Perhaps Mayor mirO WeinBerger can
Stop the Presses!