Still truckin'

We're all adjusting to the realities of our temporary printing arrangements and the deadline issues they create. The real test will come when we start covering news events that take place in the evening. When that happens, our print edition and online edition will essentially become different publications, with the print edition lagging a day behind the online one on some content.

For my part, I had a look at Panera Bread's Act 250 application today and talked with state rail officials about the public meetings coming up next week on the New York-Vermont intercity passenger rail study. Both stories are scheduled for tomorrow's paper.

 

Conspicuous abscences

I was at two different events today where veterans were asked to stand and be recognized.

I won't claim to have seen everyone who stood at each event, and I may be off in my age estimates, but every single person I saw standing looked to be at least my father's age -- the Vietnam generation.

America has been at war for a decade. While we haven't seen the far-reaching drafts of Vietnam or World War Two, Vermont has always had a high proportion of its population serving and many who have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan -- or both -- have returned.

So, it surprises me that I didn't see any younger faces.

Early in the previous decade, I did a story on declining membership in veterans' organizations. I was told that the WWII generation was dying off and the Vietnam veterans never joined such groups in nearly the same numbers. I wonder what the situation with our current crop of veterans will be.

The creek done rose

When we started hearing how bad Barre was flooding last night, the weather radar showed what appeared to be a bigger storm heading right at us. I think, with the news from our neighbors up north, we should all be breathing a great big sigh of relief that we're safe down here.

The flooding of the press room in Barre has implications for how we will publish down here. Full details will be in tomorrow's Herald.

Meanwhile, I'd just like to say I was impressed enough by Rough Francis lead singer Bobby Hackney during our interview yesterday that I'm thinking about taking in the show. The main thing holding me back was what happened when I went to something similar at Merchants Hall last month. My ears didn't stop ringing for three days.

Have a good weekend everyone.

On parking and pooing

It was, you could say, a good news/bad news day.

The good news was that work began on the new digester cover at the sewer plant.

The bad news, at least for people who have been parking for free after-hours at the downtown deck, is you won't be able to do that much longer.

Both stories will be in, um, um - don't tell me, I know this one - oh yeah: tomorrow's Herald.

School Board will try selling Watkins before knocking it down

Late post today, I know. In addition to the story referenced in the header, I was also working on pieces on the new mural overlooking Evelyn Street and the governor coming to town to sign a bill letting motorcyclist veterans have their own special license plates. All these will be in, where else, tomorrow's Herald.

I thought the mural was pretty cool. It's the same artist who did the wall of the Co-op, and I did several double-takes when that first went up. I'm happy to see more of her work up around town.

It will, of course, provoke the usual grumbling from people who don't think anything short of PepsiCo moving its entire North American bottling operation to Rutland counts as progress for the city. I like anything that makes our "squat, unlovely city," as the New York Times called it, a little prettier.

It occurs to me now the body of this post has little to do with it's title. Well, I'm not renaming it now. Call the blog police if you must.

Remembering Peter Neary

I won't try to guess how many times I watched Peter Neary in action at Rutland criminal court, but I've filled in over there enough through the years that I formed an impression of him as smart, pleasant and decent.

The Deputy State's Attorney, who died over the weekend, always seemed to want to be fair. I mostly saw him conducting arraignments, and I can't remember ever seeing a hole in his arguments for more bail or more stringent conditions. I do remember, more than once, his willingness to work with opposing council to get defendants to drug treatment.

His death caught those of us in the newsroom who knew him by surprise. Our crime and court reporter, Brent Curtis, will have a piece in tomorrow's Herald collecting reactions from around the community.

Post-vote thoughts part III: A defense of negativity

Yeah, I know, I said I'd get to this on Friday. Friday got busy and I wound up working the weekend, so here it is now.

In many debates, there comes a time when to evaluate a pair of arguments, you have to look at who is making them.

An example: Tom Huebner gets up at a forum and says a rec center will help bring in business. Dave Trapeni gets up and says it won't. One of them has to be wrong.

Trapeni has kept a business running through a difficult economy, an accomplishment that deserves respect and indicates a certain type of expertise. What he doesn't do as the owner of a plumbing supply store, though, is convince high-income professionals to relocate to the area. Huebner, as CEO of the hospital, does.

So, who should we listen to on the subject?

I didn't hear that sort of point-to-point analysis from the pro-vote side. I've heard many from that camp talk about the need to constantly be "positive" and how negativity should be avoided. Such a comparison of credentials in an argument could be called negative and is unquestionably personal. It's also to the point.

What matters more -- if something is negative, or if it is right?

Skipping a couple days

I have one more post-vote thought, but I want to develop it a little more so it's not going up today. It won't go up tomorrow, either, because I'm out of the office, so check back with me on Friday.

Tomorrow's paper will hold an account of the outcome of the Letter Carriers Food Drive. My colleague Brent Curtis is, as I write this, at the health care forum on the Godnick Center and will be writing that up for tomorrow's edition.

I was at the energy efficiency shindig at GE tonight, and let me just say that I had an easier time getting on a military transport plane than I did getting into the GE plant. That story is being held, but should show up in the next couple days.

See you all on Friday.

Post-vote thoughts part II: Driving development

I'd like to thank Johnny, whoever he is, for joining the discussion by commenting on yesterday's post. Not only did he make it so legitimate comments here again outnumber the spam, he also reminded me of a key rule of internet discourse: whenever you say "nobody" did something (like change their mind on the bond) somebody is guaranteed to come along and say they did just that.

He also gave the perfect intro to my second thought: that a number of people who might otherwise have been sympathetic to the bond proposal did not buy into the notion of a rec center as a tool to attract businesses.

I agree that it doesn't make sense to expect businesses to suddenly flock to Rutland just because we added a shiny new rec center. Unfortunately, that was never the actual claim people like Tom Huebner were making. The real argument was more subtle: that a center would be one of several factors which, in combination with others, would make Rutland more attractive.

However, that also makes it a less urgent proposition. If the center by itself wasn't going to be the great lone attractor, it's easier to shrug and say "well, then, we don't need it right now."

The problem I have with that sort of thinking is it is shortsighted. It's the same thinking that has driven so much of this country to defer maintenance to the point roads and bridges are crumbling around us. We also can't judge any one project on its ability to fix Rutland's problems by itself, because no one project is going to do that.

Good planning does not take each expenditure purely on its own, but looks at them as part of an overall strategy. Alderman William Notte suggested last week that the vote might have gone differently if the city had a capital plan in place, and I think he may be on to something. It's hard to demonstrate how something like the rec center fits into a greater plan when you don't actually have a coherent, written-out greater plan.

Dorr Drive Bridge addendum

As he told the aldermen last night about the reopening of the Dorr Drive Bridge, Mayor Louras added that emergency vehicles over the weight limit will be able to use the bridge, but they will have to cross one at a time driving in the center of the bridge.

For those of you wondering what's so historic about the wall that's been delaying the bridge's replacement, I haven't been able to turn up anything in the archives but hope to get one of the historic preservation people in question to explain it in time for next week's column.