emoji that
WEEK IN REVIEW AUGUST 5-12, 2020 COMPILED BY SASHA GOLDSTEIN, MATTHEW ROY & ANDREA SUOZZO FILE: ALICIA FREESE
A voter in Burlington’s Old North End
FIRST LECTURE
Three Norwich University students among the initial 500 back on campus have the coronavirus, the school said. Testing, testing...
LAND HO!
VETO STANDS
Progressive city councilors in Burlington failed to override Mayor Miro Weinberger’s veto of a council-passed measure to hold a special election on ranked-choice voting in November. The final tally in the wee hours of Tuesday morning was 7-5, one vote short of the eight needed to overturn the mayoral decision. Councilor Ali Dieng (I-Ward 7) joined all six Progressives in the effort, but it wasn’t enough to reach a two-thirds majority of the 12-member body. Weinberger issued the veto, his first ever, last week, quashing a resolution the council had passed in July to hold the special election. In a one-page memo, the mayor wrote that it would be wasteful to spend $45,000 to print and mail local ballots in November when the question could be called on a Town Meeting Day ballot next March for free. He repeated that stance Monday night. “There’s a limit to what we can afford to take on in this environment,” Weinberger said, referring to how the coronavirus pandemic has squeezed city finances. He said the city must weigh the cost of special elections against “whether there’s a real reason to spend that money ... And in this case, because of COVID, the cost is especially high.”
802nice
COURTESY OF GREEN MOUNTAIN FIREWORKS
?? ? ?? ? ??
A 2019 Green Mountain Fireworks show
Councilor Jack Hanson (P-East District), a lead supporter of ranked-choice voting, decried the mayor’s response. “I don’t think stifling local democracy is a way to cut costs,” he said. Dieng urged his colleagues to support putting the measure to a vote despite their personal misgivings about the voting system. Several people who called in to the council’s Zoom meeting described the mayor’s veto as “undemocratic.” Also known as instant runoff, ranked-choice voting lets voters choose candidates in order of preference. Burlington’s resolution states that a candidate who earns a majority of the vote wins, but if none does, the election goes to a runoff. In each round, the person with the fewest votes is eliminated, and those losing votes are reassigned to the voter’s second-choice candidate. The process continues until only two candidates remain. The one with more votes wins. Burlington’s current system only requires that a candidate have a 40 percent majority to be victorious. Read reporter Courtney Lamdin’s full story at sevendaysvt.com.
More and more boaters have recently hit bottom in Lake Champlain due to low water levels, according to WCAX-TV. Fathom that.
URBAN EXODUS?
New UVM research found that young employed people are moving to the state, VTDigger. org reported. The great pandemic migration.
MYSTERY SOLVED
The man suspected of vandalizing a Black Lives Matter mural in front of the Statehouse died in a car crash on July 1. Case closed.
103,957 That’s how many people in Vermont had been tested for COVID-19 as of Tuesday. About 1,472 of those tested positive for the virus.
TOPFIVE
MOST POPULAR ITEMS ON SEVENDAYSVT.COM
1. “I’m in a Polyamorous Triad With My Husband and His Girlfriend” by Ask the Reverend. Our advice columnist has reservations about a reader financially supporting her husband’s girlfriend. 2. “Vermont Schools Face Shortage of Teachers for In-Person Learning” by Alison Novak. Education leaders from around the state say staffing is a major concern. 3. “Burlington Zoning Rules Delay Plans to Demolish Downtown Motel” by Courtney Lamdin. Plans to demolish the Midtown Motel at Main and Winooski streets could run afoul of zoning rules. 4. “Winooski House Candidate in Hot Water After DUI Arrest” by Kevin McCallum. Jordan Matte was one of three candidates for the twoseat House district when he was arrested. 5. “Vergennes’ Mayor Resigned Over Text Messages — Then Most of the City Council Bailed” by Colin Flanders. Long-simmering disagreements over the city’s police department erupted in mid-July.
tweet of the week @AliceFromQueens VERMONT PRO-TIP When harvesting blackberries it is important to wear pants. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SEVENDAYSVT OUR TWEEPLE: SEVENDAYSVT.COM/TWITTER
WHAT’S KIND IN VERMONT
BABY BOOM An effort to build a new childcare center in Grand Isle County will receive a little boost next month thanks to a local fireworks company. On September 5, Green Mountain Fireworks will host a drive-in pyro-musical — a fireworks show set to tunes — in a large field off Route 2 in Alburgh. The explosive event will benefit the Alburgh Family Clubhouse, a nonprofit aiming to construct a new center for up to 40 kids on the campus of the town’s K-8 school, the Alburgh Community Education Center. The clubhouse has secured $785,000 in grants to date. But before the group can re-
ceive those funds, it must find a way to cover the rest of the anticipated $1 million cost. That’s a monumental task in a town of about 2,000 people, said Gina Lewis, vice president of the nonprofit’s board. By contrast, the local library, which Lewis directs, runs an annual budget of just $15,000. Though the show’s tickets aren’t cheap — $100 per vehicle — the first $10,000 raised would go directly to the clubhouse; any further profits would be split evenly with the fireworks company. If organizers can meet their initial goal of selling 200 tickets, it would bring in $15,000 toward the center’s construction, “which would be huge for us,” Lewis said. While Green Mountain Fireworks owner
Matthew Lavigne hopes to recoup some of his anticipated $70,000 in costs, he said his main goal is to help out the community. He recently learned about the clubhouse while struggling to find childcare for his 2-year-old. “As a business, we really try to give back,” he said. There is one other motivation: that of the artist. Lavigne designed both the fireworks and the coinciding musical score, which will be broadcast through an FM radio signal so that attendees can listen in their cars. “Pyro-musicals are mostly just something industry professionals do for other industry professionals,” Lavigne said. “I don’t think any show like this has ever been done in Vermont.” COLIN FLANDERS SEVEN DAYS AUGUST 12-19, 2020
5