Today, as I watched the gang at Hudak Farm in St. Albans Town raise the giant female effigie that is their annual fall mascot and a local landmark, I decided I wasn’t quite through with the topic of Walmart.

Of all my beefs with the project (and they are many), perhaps the thing that disturbs me most is how the one little farm that stood up to raise objections in the permit process was not only the butt of some very unneighborly behavior; but finally was utterly and totally ignored by each level of permit review, despite their active participation in that process.

The selfish interests of the developer, JLD Properties can perhaps be excused.  Mr. Davis never once approached the Hudak family to ask how he could make his project less problematic to the farm; but, I suppose, business is business; and he simply got by with what he knew he’d be allowed to.

There was no consideration of the Hudak’s expressed concerns regarding traffic impacts when the Town DRB issued its permit to Mr. Davis.  

What excuse has the Town of St. Albans for not requiring so much as a couple of stop signs by the Hudak property so that the family might still have safe access to their farm fields across Route 7 after Walmart opened its doors?  

Speaking on behalf of the farm, Marie Frey told the DRB early on that, at the very least, some sort of overpass across Route 7 between the two sides of the farm should be considered.

I’ve been to plenty of DRB hearings where one person’s property would be negatively impacted by changes for which the neighbor was seeking a permit.  Almost without variation some offsets are required of the permit seeker in  order to address the neighbors’ concerns.

Nothing…nothing was asked of JLD Properties and Walmart.  Perhaps if the Hudak’s were dairy farmers rather than vegetable farmers they would have gotten more respect(?)  As it was, their own local permit body simply hung them out to dry.

Moving on to Act 250, for which one of the principle concerns is supposed to be preservation of a working landscape in Vermont,  Hudak Farm continued to participate in good faith and was completely ignored in the ruling.  Attention was paid to the interests of the City of St. Albans; to Hannafords’ and Maplefields’ business interests; but was a single thought given to the nearest business to be impacted by Mr. Davis’s Walmart?  

No.  

Though the farm is less than three-tenths of a mile from the proposed store entrance, the survival of one of the best local food sources in Franklin County was of so little interest to the District 6 Commission that they couldn’t even be bothered to consider it.

Next it was the turn of the Environmental Court to disregard the interests of the little family farm.  Still participating and getting nothing but grief for their trouble, Hudak Farm was once again ignored in the final ruling.  Adding insult to injury, the ruling even completely misplaced the location of the farm, saying it was not even located in St. Albans Town.  

It is, in fact, located partially in Swanton and partially in St. Albans Town.

When the Environmental Court decision was appealed to the Supreme Court of Vermont, even that body failed to require anything of the developer with regard to Hudak Farm.

It is that experience that continues to trouble me and makes me wonder whether Act 250 has been so weakened through the Douglas and Shumlin years that, faced with development pressures, traditional farming in Vermont will not have a chance of longterm survival.

And what a shame that is for all of us.  Just when the rest of the world is recognizing food instability as one of the chief threats to social stability; and that farmland should be valued as a precious commodity;  Vermont can’t even depend on the laws that were specifically crafted to protect local farming.

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The Walmart parking lot was full this afternoon so it appears that everyone got what they wanted.  

Of course the check-out clerk in Hannaford’s told me it had been very slow for a Saturday and that the parking lot at the two-day annual Crafts Fair, usually a huge draw, was practically empty.  

She said she’d heard from a friend that food prices over at the Walmart were not particularly low.  As she handed me my bag,  she shrugged and said,  “People will believe what they want to believe.”

Ain’t that so.

This diary is dedicated to my dear friend and inspiration, Marie Limoges, who, at eighty-seven years old fought harder than anyone else to educate the community to the mistake that is Walmart. Because even at her advanced age, she still cares what the future will bring for Vermont.

It’s mornings like this that remind me why I became a Progressive.

I opened my Freeps to find out what I missed at the Walmart opening in St. Albans, only to discover that Peter Shumlin was on hand, eager to wrap himself in hyperbolic “Walmart fever,” so that he might pick up the stink of cheap exploitation for the purpose of…cheap exploitation(?)

Quoth our good governor:

Anyone Who says Walmart and downtown can’t thrive together is dead wrong.  We’re here to prove it.

We? We?  

So, Governor, are we to understand that you have joined the Walmart club, embracing all that that represents…crap made in China, low wages, union bashing, predatory pricing, bait and switch and all?

You’ve had quite a change of heart since you appeared and spoke at the first event held at Hudak Farm in 2003 to raise awareness of the damage the proposed Walmart would mean to the local economy and the tragic waste of prime agricultural soil the project would claim.  Of course, back then, you were vying with Peter Welch (who also spoke) for the Democratic nomination to fill Bernie’s vacated congessional seat.  

I’ll be having a good look at your campaign finance records next year.

Well, sir, you may have noticed that our downtown, pretty as it looks in its TIF finery, has already gone south after more than ten long years of Walmart waiting in the wings.  

Gone are the pharmacy, toy and bookstore, clothing store and children’s shop that were the last to resign under the dark shadow of discount doom.  Well before then went the stationary store, supermarket, department store, shoe stores, menswear, appliance and furniture stores; more childrens and ladies’ wear stores… every department of J.C. Penney except women’s wear.  

Once the predatory giant marked St. Albans for its own years ago, no general merchandiser was foolish enough to set its sights on downtown.  We know because we have been told as much.

So, what are we left with in our pretty new cityscape?  Giftshops and galleries; antiques and vintage clothing; coffee shops, restaurants and bars.  All very nice places to visit, but you wouldn’t want to live there.

St. Albans is no longer the shiretown it once was; a place where working-class people gathered from all over the countryside to visit the post office and do their essential shopping while they gossiped with their neighbors, discussed local politics and made new social connections.

We still have the courthouse and city hall; and the post office is over there in the little shopping center, but it doesn’t have a generous lobby anymore, where people used to hang out and shoot the breeze for half an hour at a time.  

Now we all pile into our cars and drive to the edge of town, to hurriedly “get ‘er done” before heading home to the TV.

I know that shiretown will never return; that the worst damage has already been done to our downtown by Walmart and the culture of discount ultra-consumerism that it spawned.  It remains to be see whether or not the gentrified froth that remains of our traditional downtown can actually be economically viable.

I sincerely hope that it can; but Governor, if it turns out to be a dud, I will remind you of your words often and at inconvenient times.

Here’s hoping both you and Big Jim (who has expressed his wish to do so) get to serve out some years as Walmart greeters. You deserve as much.

It looks as if the jig may be up for Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Agency:

An opinion poll conducted by NHK of Japan, found that nearly half of those responding were against the Nuclear Regulation Authority’s plan to allow the restart of shut down nuclear reactors after safety checks. Only 19% of responders approved of the plan, 32% were undecided, and 45% were against it.

But PR life must go on for other Japanese industries; and so a refrigerator manufacturer, having the misfortune to be called “Fukushima Industries,” decided it was time to rehabilitate its brand.  

To inject what they thought would be just the right note of optimistic warm-and-fuzzy, the company chose a smiling (and presumably, unspoiled) egg wearing big red shoes and angel wings; and they named him “Fukupy.”

You heard that right: “Fukupy.”

The small, egg-shaped mascot greets visitors to the company website with the cheery message: “”I’m Fukuppy. I think I’m kind, with a strong sense of justice, but people say I’m a little bit scatterbrained.”

The unfortunate moniker works in Japanese by contracting the company name and combining it with the word for “happy.”   All this gets lost in translation, of course, leaving English speakers howling.

The company reportedly is going back to the drawing board with this one.

We really wish they would leave it alone…or better still, hand it off to the Nuclear Regulatory Agency; because Fukuppy says it all.

A piece of very good news for Vermont’s environmental community was announced earlier today.

Two organizations that are particularly near and dear to me, the Vermont Natural Resource Council  and Vermont Conservation Voters (formerly the League of Conservation Voters) have joined in a strategic partnership in order to more effectively pursue their shared mission to protect and preserve Vermont’s most valuable resources, its natural environment and sustainable communities.

VNRC, the state’s oldest Vermont-based statewide environmental group is known for its well-researched advocacy and focus on public education and citizen involvement. VCV has a legal structure that allows it to donate money to legislative candidates, lobby full time at the State House, and hold elected and administrative officials accountable for their votes.

I take particular pleasure in this announcement,  as I have the honor of serving on the board of the LCV.

The structure of the new union maintains each body as a separate entity with overlapping boards and a single Executive Director, Brian Shupe.  

Shupe is already well-respected for his leadership role at the VNRC, and is a perfect fit for the culture of both organizational bodies.

Why, after decades of independence, have these two notable non-profits chosen to make this move?

Beth Humstone, Chair of the VNRC’s Board of Directors explains it this way:

“We need to develop new strategies to meet new challenges and we think partnerships that can expand our impact are key,”

She joins VCV Chair Stark Biddle in emphasizing that the new relationship should bring greater power to the messaging of all Vermont’s many valuable individuals and organizational entities that labor to see Vermont accept a  leadership role in proactive efforts to meet our challenging resource future.

“We have big energy and conservation challenges – perhaps bigger and more complex than ever, and a closer alliance between these two groups, with their complementary missions, will be critical for the coming decades,” Biddle said.

As we embark on a new legislative session, let’s hope that this strategic alliance will bring new energy to the agenda for a sustainable future.

I have to add this embed of  the entire forum, as carried on the Fairewinds.org website.  It was a very compelling event that should not be missed.

Lessons from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident: A Panel Discussion from Fairewinds Energy Education on Vimeo.

And, from the Department of Duh! this updated update:  

After all that has transpired in the unfolding disaster, you well might ask what finally mobilized this belated appeal?

Over the weekend, human error caused another halt of cooling water injected into the destroyed Unit 1 reactor and knocked out systems designed to decontaminate radioactive gases in Unit 1 and Unit 2… Officials have acknowledged that the ground water has been contaminated with radioactive leaks which been leaking into the Pacific since soon after meltdowns following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

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For the benefit of those of us who can’t make it to Wednesday morning’s four hour (9:45 AM – 1:30 PM) forum at the Gardner Auditorium (Massachusetts State House) in Boston on the future of nuclear energy,  I am posting the link that has been provided for a live web cast of the event.

This will be a unique opportunity for the public to hear from and engage directly with some key figures of the post-Fukushima nuclear world.  On the program are former NRC Chair Gregory Jackzo, former NRC Commissioner Peter Bradford, former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, and Arne Gundersen of Vermont’s own Fairewinds Associates.

As devastation from Fukushima continues to unfold in slow-motion, new perspectives on the impacts of radiation, inadequate engineering, failed containment and waste storage are coming at us every day, in anything but slow motion.

Failure to apprehend the message could cost us our planet.

It’s too much information without a guide; and it has everything to do with making our future both safe and energy secure.

You won’t want to miss this web cast and may find yourself referring to it frequently in the future.

I wonder how many had the same thought when they read about the lead content that VPIRG has discovered in decorative paint on VPR pledge-drive mugs issued between 2002 and 2011?

Were these mugs manufactured in China?

This would not be surprising since China has become the primary manufacturer of similar goods over the past decade or longer.  Over that same period we’ve grown almost accustomed to news of Chinese products contaminated with toxins turning up in pet food, infant formula, childrens toys etc.

If not  China, there is still a strong likelihood that the mugs were produced anywhere but in the U.S.  

Judging from the consistent findings over those years, one would hazard a guess that they were all sourced from the same supplier or manufacturer, who either got religion with regard to lead paint or was dropped in 2012.

This story begs a second chapter, perhaps written by VPR itself, accounting for the source of the tainted tumblers and pointing to where else we might look for this hazard in our kitchen crockery.

Think “road rage” is a phenomena exclusive to big cities like LA?  Think again.

Yesterday, St. Albans experienced a fatal shooting, between apparent strangers, that preliminary reports say was due to that old black magic, “road rage.”

The victim, Anna Alger of Highgate, made the mistake of following a car that ran a red light and cut her off at an intersection; then getting out of her car to confront the driver.  The driver, who reportedly had multiple guns in his vehicle, exited and shot her not once, but six times.  

Ms. Alger later died at Northwestern Medical Center.

The shooter, Matthew Webster of Swanton, is being held on a charge of second degree murder.

The police say they aren’t blaming the victim but suggest that she should have gone to the police rather than following the dangerous driver and confronting him.

No kidding.

A witness to the shooting was Webster’s wife, who apparently followed Webster in another car after some sort of domestic dispute.

WCAX reports that Webster pled “not guilty” this morning in court.  I can’t wait to hear his defense.

The news from Japan isn’t good.  There is a contamination disaster unfolding at Fukushima that even the best efforts at spin can’t disguise.

They may have secured the 2020 Summer Olympics for Tokyo, but even that bit of good news may fall under a shadow if resolution to the radiation leaks does not soon come about.

Now, seventeen international experts have come together as signators of a  letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that pleads with him to intercede on behalf of the world so as to remove TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Country) from control of the Fukushima site.   TEPCO has proven hopelessly inadequate for the job of remediating the worst industrial accident in history.

According to Arnie Gundersen, Chief Engineer of Fairewinds Associates:

TEPCO…has no expertise in engineering and dismantlement.  The wrong skills are being used by the wrong people to attempt the present Fukushima cleanup.  In order for true progress to be made, TEPCO must be replaced and the Japanese people must be informed that their national liability from the accident exceeds a half a trillion US dollars.

The letter goes on to cite the wholly inadequate and fundamentally flawed guidelines that are currently in use regarding “safe” levels of radiation.  The false assumptions in those guidelines  mean that  women and children in particular are at risk.

Does it sometimes seem like those road works projects that delay traffic go on indefinitely?  

Well, according to State Auditor, Doug Hoffer, sometimes they sort of do.

In a new report examining two AOT projects, the state’s Number-Cruncher-In-Chief  details how one of those project’s extended delay cost you more than just lost time in traffic.  

The audit focussed on the Bennington Bypass, which was found to have been completed on-time; and  a paving project in New Haven which ran thirty-five days over schedule.

Twenty-four of those excess days (a 21% overrun) were determined to be the contractor’s own responsibility, and therefore subject to charges that recover some money lost by the state:

When a delay is caused by the contractor,  the Agency can charge liquidated damages to help recover costs associated with the delay and to provide an incentive for getting the job done on time.  In this case, the Agency charged the contractor $45,600. to cover the costs of project oversight; equal to 1.2%of the original $3.8 million contract.

The state audit revealed that the liquidated damages do not include the cost of flaggers, signage and traffic control personnel required to cover the delay, all of which added $70,000. to the cost of the overall project.  

Asks Hoffer:

Why should the state pay $70,000. for the contractor’ failure to finish the job on time?”

Why, indeed?

Another issue that was uncovered by the audit involves insurance.

“Our review of the contractor’s insurance certificates indicated that certain types of required coverage were excluded and coverage limits did not meet contract requirements,” said Hoffer

…and on four insurance certificates issued in connection with the contracts the state is not identified as an insured party.  This omission exposes the state to risk.

If there are savings to be found anywhere in the state’s operating expenses, sooner or later Doug Hoffer will find them.

…and that’s the way it’s done!

Okay, this one is mine; and I’d like to make several points, right from the start.

1) I know Vermont doesn’t have a “gun problem.” The entire country has a gun problem; and, ‘last time I looked, we’re still one of fifty states…red and blue.   As illustrated by the ease with which guns are transported state-to-state, single state solutions are ineffective at halting the spread of gun violence.

2) I am not advocating to do away with the Second Amendment, just for the freedom to discuss what I see as its lack of clarity and foresight.

3) I do not oppose gun ownership.

I will, however, passionately  advocate against the NRA, which I think has stepped out of its formerly useful role into a very dark place.

To me, the NRA has become an enemy organization, attempting to corrupt the democratic process for their own corporate interests.  I don’t see how they are any less of a threat to the stability of the nation than was the Communist Party at the height of its influence; perhaps more of a threat, because some of its accolades actually hint at justification for armed insurrection.

But where is the outrage?  I suspect it’s there, but lawmakers are too cowed by things like recall threats to really give it full-throated expression; and the rest of us just don’t want to mess with gun-toting hotheads.

And before this gets anyone going, let me just add that I know there are hotheads on both sides of the argument.  But, theoretically at least, only one side is armed.  

If this frank analysis doesn’t make you chuckle, that may be part of the problem.

It is my opinion that the greatest danger to everyone’s Second Amendment rights comes from those who would test them to the extreme.  There was a silent and self-limiting social contract in acceptance at the time of the Amendment’s adoption; one which simply no longer exists.

Anyone who insists that the eighteenth-century framing does not allow for some debate, is part of the problem.

When the NRA resists background checks at gun shows or other common sense regulations that the majority of Americans do favor; when they intimidate lawmakers and confront grieving communities following gun tragedies, they do greater damage to the heritage of the Second Amendment than I ever could by raising some common-sense questions about its parameters.   Just raising the questions does not mean that I will win the debate; or that your rights will be diminished in any way.

When lawmakers in Iowa inexplicably profane both the Second Amendment and the Disability Act by declaring that the blind cannot be prohibited from carrying guns in public, and the subject can’t even be raised for debate; the spirit of the Bill of Rights has been dealt a far greater injury than my innocent questions ever could inflict.

Here is one of those gnawing questions that I’d like to ask:  what have we become as a nation when an entire community (Nelson, Georgia) can be required by law to own and maintain a gun?  

Councilman Duane Cronic recently said that the law would give every family the right to protect themselves and their property “without worrying about prosecution for protecting themselves.”

I thought we already had that assurance from the law of the land.

And… what happens to the family that is discovered to not have a gun, or fails to “maintain” the mandatory weapon?  Just curious.

If the Second Amendment suffers a fatal blow, it will not be at the hands of those who are now asking simply for a common-sense reading.  It will be at the hands of the NRA and those who would test it as extremely as possible.

Yes, I know; these are just “anecdotes” and not representative of gun culture in America as a whole; but they do affect entire communities, as few “anecdotes” are likely to do.

Yesterday on NPR, I listened to a dystopic projection by some economist on where the U.S. is headed in terms of income inequity.  He saw the inequity growing and finally resolving into a society somewhat like Mexico, where roughly 17% of the population are millionaires and the remaining people live in permanent insecurity.  

Not surprisingly, he forsaw that the ultimate growth industry in the future would be marketing!

He felt that we would resign ourselves to providing some sort of universal healthcare, and universal education that would uplift the meritorious; but for the most part, once you and your family landed in that lower strata, there would be no way out.  He thought people would just learn to be content with less like so many have been in other societies.

Ha! thought I; you wish.

Unless you find  some way to deprive the underclass of all the media opportunities to see how the other half (or in this case, the other 17%) lives, it’s just a matter of time before that vast underclass rises up to try and violently take what they cannot hope to have any other way.  

Critical to this guys vision of the future was unlimited access to media (along the lines of an “opiate for the masses,” if you will);  so that’s pretty much game-over.

And who will the first victims be?  Not the fabulously wealthy, gated and guarded and flown from destination to destination.

As we see in our inner cities right now, the first victims will be other poor people who will endure an endless turf battle for what little is left for them.

And they will be armed like no underclass in history has been armed.   Oh, the wealthy will have far more and better arms; but the poor will be armed and dangerous…no more so than to one another.

Of course the poor will still be needed to fight our wars; and there they will continue to be turned into deadly weapons themselves, courtesy of PTSD and barely rudimentary mental health care for veterans.

So let’s all try to grow up and see if we can have this difficult conversation before it’s too late…if it isn’t already too late to do so.