It seems to be a bad joke on everyone. Snow where it hurts and now snow where it hurts (our economy here in Vermont) not to have it. Uggh.

http://www.AcehAid.org

Turned on the tube this a.m. to see what news from Indonesia (we don’t get much reception here) I happened upon live covereage of the deployment of yet 45 MORE Vermont National Guardsmen (and women). There have been so many vermonters sent to Iraq. And there will be more.

http://www.AcehAid.org

degrees farenheit. Today I won’t complain that I can’t walk the dogs because of my crutches!

Posted from BLInk!

50-60 mph winds all night and 20-40 all morning. The poor power guys are still driving around trying to figure out why the power went out in the middle of the night. Probably some stupid poplar tree somewhere in the woods. They snap like match sticks around here. We have a huge one down in our yard today.

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Halley Suitt is posting pictures that look like she has gotten at least 4″ of snow ther ein Boston. Here in Vermont it is COOOOOOL, but now snow! Apparently it snowed a bit on Thrusday but it was sunny so there was nothing left to show for it by the time I got home from Las Vegas.

Posted from BLInk!

I just discovered a great local treat and am going to help my new pal (and proprietress) Ann Zuccardy by blogging about it (since it can be ordered for holiday gifts!) It’s the Vermont Shortbread Company. Their site is getting updated, but you can email Ann directly for pricing and shipping info!

Ann leads a double life as a technical writer, currently on contract at IBM, but she is a consultant –  which is how we got to chatting initially.

I’ve been looking for news on this all morning and the Burlington Free Press finally has this on their website.

Preliminary results: Voters reject technical academy
Updated 11:14 a.m.

FREE PRESS STAFF REPORT
Preliminary results show a ballot proposal to build a new Regional Technical Academy was defeated 43,834-34,371 Tuesday, Melissa Hersh, the project manager for the academy, said Wednesday morning.

Slightly more than 56 percent of the votes opposed the academy proposal, while 44 percent supported it.

Voters in 25 districts in northwestern Vermont cast ballots on the proposal Tuesday. Ballot counting went well into early Wednesday morning. Officials had difficulty with the counting machines and some ballots had to be counted by hand because they had been folded.

Hersh cautioned that the results were preliminary, and poll workers still had to make sure all the ballots matched names on the voter checklist. She said firmer figures would be available late this afternoon.

The $44 million project would have merged the Essex and Burlington technical centers into a full-time, two-year academy. Planners had envisioned the school eventually becoming a four-year diploma granting institution.

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One of the local votes on Tuesday is to go ahead with the plans for the Regional Technical Center here in Vermont, bringing together and expanding upon the success of the exsiting Tech Centers in Burlington and Essex Junction. This has been a big controversy in Vermont and one that seems to be fueled by misinformation (or so say those on both sides of the argument). A lot of educators are against it even some that work at the existing Tech Centers. The problem is not in the desire to have the RTC, but in the actual current plan that is being voted on. My understanding is that voting against this plan does not mean that you are voting against the RTC but you are insisting that they go back to the drawing board and make a better plan. I really have had a hard time keeping on top of the arguments pro & con. Of course, everyone wants to see more opportunties created for people in Vermont and it will also benefit Vermont businesses – though this should not be the primary goal, otherwise, we are creating a worker mill.. I wish that teens did not have to worry about their careers at such a young age and can focus on developing life skills. I lived most of my life in NY State where BOCES has been a great success.

Posted from BLInk!

From today’s Burlington Free Press

About 600 Vermont Army National Guard soldiers were mobilized Friday morning to provide security in support of the U.S. war in Iraq, but Vermont’s soldiers are not scheduled to go into the turbulent country. They report for training Nov. 15.

Also two soldiers with Vermont ties died in the past few days in Iraq.

Norwich University graduate U.S. Army Maj. Charles Robert Soltes was killed in Iraq this week when the Humvee he was riding in was ambushed. He becomes the 14th with Vermont ties to die in Iraq.

Michael Voss, 35, moved to North Carolina nearly 20 years ago; many of his family members remain in Enosburg Falls. Voss was killed near Tikrit, Iraq, on Oct. 8. The service is to be held in North Carolina.

I see this tree all day long while I’m working. This tree is like the ocean. In the summer when it is full green and the wind is blowing, it is absolutely mesmerizing to watch it. I have never loved a tree before, but I love this tree.