Whose is biggest?

“Ours!” claims Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.

“No, ours!” insists NRG Systems.

“Yeah, but ours has a hot feature,” adds National Life.

Each of these Vermont companies is touting its solar-power array — which goes to show that, to alternative-energy advocates, size does matter.... Read more

In March 2006, Democrat Hinda Miller lost the mayor’s race to Progressive Bob Kiss in the city’s first demonstration of “instant runoff voting.” According to election officials, IRV went off without a hitch — more than 99 percent of the ballots cast were deemed valid — and for a time state lawmakers debated whether to adopt IRV for statewide races. But Miller, who’s also a state senator, was sharply critical of the procedure.... Read more

Burlington’s relative vigor in the face of a global economic swoon is the incumbent mayor’s best selling point in the upcoming mayoral election. Even challengers to Progressive Bob Kiss preface their criticisms with nods to the success of his party’s development efforts over the past 25 years.... Read more

Independent Dan Smith is running for mayor — literally. At 10 a.m. on a recent weekday, the 34-year-old newcomer to city politics has been up for hours, making phone calls, knocking on doors, even getting in some early-morning outdoor recreation.... Read more

During last week’s Seven Days-sponsored debate on the Burlington waterfront, one audience member stood up to say she’s heard a lot of talk about “style, leadership and charisma” in this mayoral match-up. She wanted to know from the four candidates in attendance how they “differ substantively” on the issues that matter most to voters.... Read more

If politics makes for strange bedfellows, Kurt Wright’s mayoral candidacy may be remembered one day as Burlington’s weirdest orgy. Newcomers to Queen City politics will be excused if they can’t make heads or tails of Wright’s political alliances based on who’s backing the Ward 4 city council president and Republican state lawmaker.... Read more

Will organizers of this summer’s Lake Champlain quadricentennial extravaganza summon the candor to acknowledge the repulsive aspects of the French colonial legacy in Vermont — especially the enslavement of Africans? Ray Zirblis hopes so.... Read more

“Density” is a word local politicians bat around a lot, but opinions definitely vary on how tall and tightly packed downtown Burlington’s buildings should be. The range of opinions will become clear when a local developer asks for permission to erect a building that violates the city’s freshly minted zoning laws. If Redstone Commercial Group is allowed to build what it wants in the block that encompasses Pine, Main, King and St. Paul streets, the result could change the Queen City skyline.... Read more

Last month, a case between a local synagogue and a grieving Burlington couple was finally laid to rest in the Vermont Supreme Court. For months, Boris and Marina Katsnelson had been battling with Temple Sinai over who “owned” their daughter’s grave. At one point, exhumation was on the table.... Read more

On a Thursday morning in early January, the Burlington Business Association hosted the first scheduled debate among the city’s four mayoral candidates. The first question of the day went to the first-term incumbent, Mayor Bob Kiss, who was asked to define his job and explain how his “background, experience and style” fit the Queen City’s personality.... Read more