You have to give Gov. Jim Douglas credit for impeccable political maneuvering. Just take his “time out” recommendation to the legislature concerning the future of Vermont Yankee.... Read more

As officials scurry to find the source of a radioactive leak contaminating groundwater along the Connecticut River, one can’t help but wonder: Shouldn’t regulators have noticed this sooner?

Short answer: yes.... Read more

Don’t fret, nuclear power lovers. Vermont Yankee and its corporate owner, Entergy, won’t let a good lie keep them down.

Sure, they might use up a half-life for misleading regulators and lawmakers about the existence of underground pipes carrying the radionuclides. But there are more near misses where that one came from.

Since buying VY in 2002 for $180 million — Entergy now claims it’s worth $800 million — the New Orleans-based company has employed a simple, four-step method to navigate Vermont’s political and regulatory waters.... Read more

It seems like public workers and elected officials are lining up to take symbolic pay cuts to prove they, too, “feel the pain” of Vermont taxpayers.

At year’s end, Vermont State Employees Association (VSEA) voted overwhelmingly to accept a 3 percent pay cut and two-year wage freeze, to save state government about $5.6 million in FY 2010.... Read more

The upcoming legislative session is likely to see a return of the same old problems that have befuddled lawmakers for years: How to spur job creation, plan for the state’s energy future, reduce health care costs and balance the budget.

Ho-hum, right?... Read more

With national health care reform on life support, Vermont lawmakers may be under increasing pressure to do something when they convene in January.

Advocates for a “Medicare for All” system, also known as “single payer,” will hit the ground running on day one of the 2010 legislative session.... Read more

While most of us are watching the mail for holiday cards this week, Vermont state employees are keeping an eye out for a different kind of missive: a ballot asking them to accept or deny a 3 percent pay cut as part of a new, two-year labor contract.

The roughly 8000 members of the Vermont State Employees Association are being asked to accept the pay cuts, which would be followed by a wage freeze for two years. Their health care and fringe benefits remain intact under the deal, and in two years they would regain the 3 percent cut.... Read more

The jaw-dropping $6.8 million retirement package awarded to the outgoing president and chief executive officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont may have been illegal, according to the state’s top insurance regulator.

The finding was issued last month by Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration commissioner Paulette Thabault in a six-page “show cause order” denying the insurance company’s proposed rate hikes for roughly 6000 health savings accounts customers.... Read more

Push comes to shove this week for Mayor Bob Kiss and State Auditor Tom Salmon — two pols near and dear to this columnist.

As far as news goes, they just keep on giving.

On Thursday, Mayor Kiss and his administration will provide the city council with more information regarding Burlington Telecom’s proposed refinancing. The mayor hopes this will assuage council concerns.... Read more

It’s Thanksgiving and, at our house, the table talk is likely to turn to politics. In Vermont the big question is: Can the Republicans hang onto the governor’s seat in an increasingly liberal state?

Conventional wisdom would give the Democrats the upper hand next year. It’s been a tradition since the 1960s that the two parties alternate holding the governor’s seat.... Read more