While the drug raids in Barre were a triumph for law enforcement, they are unlikely to make a significant difference in central Vermont's drug trade. The laws of supply and demand still hold true. In the wake of the raids, there is likely to be a short-term disruption in supply; with demand holding steady, the price of drugs will rise -- making Barre a more lucrative market. Major drug crackdowns in other cities have put numerous people behind bars and broken up criminal organizations. But the aftermath often brings an increase in violence and crime, as other dealers and suppliers rush to fill the vacuum in the market's structure. This time, most of those arrested were local residents; but Barre has just become an even more attractive place for dealers from supply centers like Springfield and Holyoke, Mass., and New York City. [continues 55 words]
I hope you are so involved in holiday rapture that you won't read this. I have to confess to an error, always an embarrassment, and I'm hoping to do it before as small an audience as possible. I will, however, make it up to you by giving you an extraordinarily helpful last-minute shopping tip at the bottom of this column. Not surprisingly, my miscue was mathematical. The widely held belief is that media types go into newspapering and television and radio and the movies and magazines because we crave a platform from which to spew some partisan or moral venom. The widely held belief is wrong. We work in the media because we are absolutely, genetically incapable of successfully executing a math problem. [continues 470 words]
We Vermonters are ferociously proud of the farms that dot our landscape. We beam with pride when the late afternoon sun gleams off the rounded top of a silo. We admire the grazing Holsteins backdropped by mountain ridges and tip our caps to the work ethic of a farmer mowing hay ahead of an approaching summer storm. We wave to Maw and Paw Kettle standing out in their farmyard, Paw in his overalls gripping a pitchfork, Maw in her gingham dress and apron, her hands still dusted in flour from baking pies. [continues 586 words]
Thank you to State's Attorney Sands for encouraging dialogue about our futile drug "war." Certainly most drugs are harmful, but it's illogical to add more harm and pretend it's fixing the problem. Let's try harm reduction. Decades of harm enhancement policies have exacerbated the problems. We have overcrowded jails disenfranchising people from society. We arrest dealers but addicts find, and/or become, new dealers. Jail is renowned for making drug connections and only works if nobody is released. [continues 234 words]
It is the most rapidly acting and most abused of all opiates. Typically a heroin abuser may inject up to four times a day. The younger you are when you become addicted to heroin, the harder it is to stay clean for the rest of your life. Most new users of heroin are under the age of 26. Chronic users can develop collapsed veins, infections of the heart lining and valves, and liver disease. After about a week of vomiting, cold sweats, involuntary leg movements, and excruciating bone and muscle pain and delusions and diarrhea you may be able to quit using for a while. Sudden withdrawal by heavily dependent users who are in poor health can be fatal. [continues 151 words]
Your "Just say no to legalization" editorial which appeared on Dec. 6 is a discouraging reference to Robert Sand, Windsor state's attorney's article on drug legalization. Sand is opening a discussion on how to handle a burgeoning drug problem which needs discussion and enlightenment. Some of the brightest minds of the past century, starting with the late Milton Friedman, have made a case for legalization and have been justly critical of the clear lack of success in the war on drugs. Your editorial says "The damage caused by alcohol and tobacco suggests, not legalization of drugs but containment of the damage that drugs do." So far there is little evidence that any containment is working to accomplish anything but the overloading of our judicial system and the crowding of our jails and prisons. There is no easy answer, but discussion and perhaps new legislation is needed. There are numerous organizations proposing serious changes in our national policies. [continues 111 words]
I was appalled by the ex-officer article printed in the Rutland Herald on Dec. 6. It must be nice to be so perfect you thought this would be of interest to your readers. Think again. Cathy Fleming Rutland [end]
I hope the good people of Vermont realize Windsor County State's Attorney Robert Sand is not alone in his negative views on our War on Drugs. His stand, so fairly represented in Susan Smallheer's excellent Herald article, "State's attorney critical of drug laws" (Thursday, Nov. 30) deserves an airing. After all, our freedom of expression, if not exercised, becomes silent acquiescence to laws and policies we are better without. As a retired police captain, with 20 years service in law enforcement, I know Mr. Sand speaks a truth few in government dare acknowledge. That truth is: "The drug war is counterproductive and accomplishes none of its goals. Instead it leads to greater threats and harms to our citizens and provides a lucrative market for criminals and their gangs and syndicates." [continues 451 words]
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION -- Windsor County State's Attorney Robert Sand says he thinks illegal drugs should be decriminalized and a different approach used to help people who use the drugs. "It's hard for me to see the vast resources expended on drug cases," said Sand. "Don't get me wrong," Sand told the Rutland Herald. "Drugs are bad for you, they impair your judgment, they affect your memory, they reduce your inhibitions in a dangerous way. They're not good for you." [continues 253 words]
MONTPELIER -- It would be a profound mistake to legalize drugs, according to Vermont's top law enforcement officer. Public Safety Commissioner Kerry Sleeper said he disagreed strongly with one of the state's veteran prosecutors, Windsor County State's Attorney Robert Sand, who last week said he wanted to spur a dialogue to examine whether drug laws were really helping Vermonters. Sand said he favored the legalization of drugs -- "to get drugs out of the hands of criminals." Sleeper, who Friday accepted a $1.75 million federal grant from Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to help fund Vermont's Drug Task Force, said that his main disagreement with Sand was over the effects of drug use. [continues 756 words]
Robert Sand, Windsor County state's attorney, renewed a perennial debate last week when he suggested that the war on drugs has been a failure and that legalization and regulation of drug use ought to be considered. Sand's statement brought a strong response from Public Safety Commissioner Kerry Sleeper, who said that protecting people from drugs was an important role for law enforcement. The nation has a troubled history with drugs and drug enforcement, partly because of Americans' appetite for drugs and partly because of the political overreaction, bordering on hysteria, that evolved in response to widening drug use. [continues 466 words]
I commend Windsor County State's Attorney Robert Sand for having the intellectual integrity and political courage to point out the self-defeating nature of our approach to drugs (Herald, Nov. 30). I was a probation officer for 25 years, most of which was in the federal system here in Vermont, before retiring in 1997. My career coincided with the ramp-up of the "War on Drugs," and I had the opportunity to observe its ineffectiveness first-hand. The various drugs that we classify as illegal are usually dangerous substances and certainly pose both individual and public health problems. However, we selectively decide which substances to criminalize. Once we criminalize a substance, we transform a health problem into a social problem. We create a market incentive -- and by criminalizing a drug, we ensure that the only ones who will respond to that market incentive are those willing to operate outside the law. Operating outside the law means that the usual mechanisms for resolving business conflicts -- suing for breach of contract, for example -- are not available. Hence, when business conflicts arise, they tend to be resolved by extra-legal means, i.e., violence. We also artificially inflate the price of the commodity we have criminalized, meaning that huge profit margins are available to those willing to break the law. We transform health problems into social problems, to the detriment of everyone in our society. And because it is so profitable, we create a powerful market incentive for people, especially those marginalized due to discrimination or lack of education, to enter the market. In my career I saw numerous drug pushers who were ill-equipped to operate in the legitimate economy, but who made fortunes (and wreaked untold havoc) by selling drugs. [continues 125 words]
It would be a profound mistake to legalize drugs, according to Vermont's top law enforcement officer. Public Safety Commissioner Kerry Sleeper said he disagreed strongly with one of the state's veteran prosecutors, Windsor County State's Attorney Robert Sand, who last week said he wanted to spur a dialogue to examine whether drug laws were really helping Vermonters. Sand said he favored the legalization of drugs -- "to get drugs out of the hands of criminals." Sleeper, who Friday accepted a $1.75 million federal grant from Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to help fund Vermont's Drug Task Force, said that his main disagreement with Sand was over the effects of drug use. [continues 755 words]
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION -- Windsor County State's Attorney Robert Sand is tired of wasting money and wasted lives. Sand believes it's time for Vermont to start rethinking how it handles illegal drugs. Sand, who has been a prosecutor for 15 years, the last nine as the head of law enforcement in Windsor County, says he favors the decriminalization of all drugs and a health-approach to people who use drugs. "It's hard for me to see the vast resources expended on drug cases," Sand said, adding that he wished more resources would go into prosecuting the physical and sexual abuse of children. [continues 661 words]
The first Nationwide Red Ribbon Campaign was started in 1988 (organized by the National Family Partnership) as a way to honor the memory of Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, a Drug Enforcement Administration special agent killed by drug traffickers in 1985. He believed strongly, "I am only one person, but I want to make a difference." Youth and adults together in their communities can unite to take a stand against drugs. October 23-31st is Red Ribbon Week, a time to show your personal commitment to a drug-free lifestyle. The traditional symbol is a red ribbon. If you do not have one, anything red will stand out if many people put it on together as a way to say no to drugs. [continues 95 words]
The family of a Brandon man who died in a jail more than a year and a half ago is suing the state, claiming that while he was suffering from severe heroin withdrawal, he failed to get necessary medical care while behind bars. The lawsuit was filed last week in Rutland Superior Court on behalf of the late Robert Nichols' estate, which is administered by his wife, Eva Nichols. Robert Nichols died Feb. 5, 2005, while in the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington. [continues 831 words]
RUTLAND, Vt. -- The family of a heroin addict who died in jail is suing the state, claiming he wasn't properly treated for withdrawal symptoms after being arrested. The lawsuit was filed last week on behalf of the estate of Robert Nichols, of Brandon, who died died Feb. 5, 2005, at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility, in South Burlington. It names the state and medical contractor Prison Health Services as defendants and seeks unspecified damages, claiming proper procedures weren't followed when Nichols went into withdrawal in jaul. [continues 219 words]
The family of a Brandon man, who died in a jail more than a year ago, is suing the state, claiming that while he was suffering from severe heroin withdrawal, he failed to get necessary medical care while behind bars. The lawsuit was filed last week in Rutland Superior Court on behalf of the late Robert Nichols' estate, which is administered by his wife, Eva Nichols. Robert Nichols died Feb. 5, 2005, while in the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington. [continues 831 words]
A Winooski man was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years to life in prison for the random beating death of a Japanese graduate student six years ago. Jacob Sexton, 24, apologized to the family of 37-year-old Atsuko Ikeda, a St. Michael's College student, who was killed when she road her bicycle past his home. Sexton had said he had been on a drug binge when he made the decision to kill the next person he saw. Ikeda's sister traveled from Japan to attend the sentencing, WCAX-TV reported. [continues 140 words]
It's going to be an even bigger pain to get a sniffle in Vermont starting Saturday, when a new state and federal law requires consumers to essentially register their purchase of specific over-the-counter cold remedies. This is a necessary inconvenience -- for shoppers and pharmacists alike -- because an ingredient found in these medications is key in the manufacturing of methamphetamines, addictive drugs with names like crystal ice, crank, speed and black beauties. These drugs can cause brain damage, psychotic behavior, body convulsions, open sores from picking at skin, and death. Methamphetamines are "cooked" in makeshift laboratories and involve highly flammable materials that can ignite, explode and threaten surrounding areas with fire and toxic fumes. Everyone nearby can be at risk, even the innocent. [continues 215 words]
Why the Feds Want to Know If You Have a Stuffy Nose The days of dashing into the local pharmacy between sneezing fits to grab a box of tissues and a package of decongestant -- hoping to escape before your cold germs have a chance to glom onto innocent bystanders -- are over. New laws regulating the sale of many popular cold medicines mean you'll have to spend a little time at the pharmacy counter and provide proof of who you are. [continues 751 words]
A University of Vermont sophomore who filed a lawsuit last week alleging UVM subjected him to disciplinary proceedings based on an illegal room search has agreed to drop the case pending the signing of an out-of-court agreement. Ian Collins, 19, of Mount Washington, Mass., was suspended and ordered off campus and was subject to university disciplinary proceedings after an Aug. 26 incident in which campus dormitory staff, accompanied by UVM police acting on a statement from Collins' roommate, searched Collins' dorm room and found marijuana and paraphernalia used to smoke marijuana. [continues 564 words]
The Bush administration should be glad the American public's attention is fixed on Iraq. No, really. While the news out of Iraq is trending from bad to worse, it's still better than the news from Afghanistan. After leading a coalition that successfully ran the Taliban out of power in 2001, the administration turned its attention to what President Bush called the "axis of evil," namely Iraq, Iran and North Korea. But we seem to have turned away from Afghanistan a bit too soon. [continues 421 words]
Judges who recently ruled in favor of a student's right to wear a controversial T-shirt to a Vermont public school acknowledged the complexity of student free-speech issues in their opinion, comparing the topic to unsettled waters "rife with rocky shoals and uncertain currents." The ruling upheld the right of Williamstown teenager Zachary Guiles to attend school wearing a T-shirt that criticized President George W. Bush as a "chicken hawk in chief" and alluded to alleged substance abuse as a younger man with a picture of a martini glass and cocaine. [continues 760 words]
MONTPELIER, Vt. --A public school's censorship of images on a student's politically charged T-shirt violated the student's right to free speech, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday. The three-judge panel overturned a federal court ruling that said the Williamstown middle school had authority to ban pictures of drugs and alcohol on the shirt that was critical of President Bush. Principal Kathleen Morris-Kortz had said the images, including cocaine and a martini glass, violated the school's dress code policy that prohibits clothing that promotes the use of drugs or alcohol. [continues 374 words]
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that a Vermont middle school violated a student's free-speech rights when administrators ordered the 13-year-old to cover up images on a shirt critical of President Bush, and then punished him when he refused. The decision from a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York could prove a sweeping victory for the rights of students to political speech, lawyers said. "This is a victory for free speech in schools in the United States generally," said Stephen Saltonstall, one of two lawyers who represented student Zachary Guiles and his family in their lawsuit against school officials in Williamstown. "The ruling has broad national implications. It's really a total victory for the First Amendment in schools." [continues 493 words]
For more than a decade, Mark Tucci has been perfecting the art of suffering. And before his journey is over, he is bound to become a master. But despite his body being wracked with uncontrollable spasms, a feeling like his legs are being electrocuted and arms that don't react to his thoughts no matter how hard he concentrates, Tucci, of Manchester, does not cry for his own suffering. Tucci, 49, does, however, weep when he thinks about the suffering of others, like when he thinks about dear friends who struggled through their last hours on a hospital bed, contorted, and their "medication" - only a breath away - blocked from ever reaching them by the government. [continues 1790 words]
Burlington police said Wednesday that the 28 drug arrests they made in the past five weeks are the result of doubling the size of their drug unit and focusing patrols in residential neighborhoods. The arrests suggest that Burlington's greatest drug problem is shifting away from heroin to crack and cocaine. Marijuana and prescription medication, including OxyContin, continue to account for a portion of the arrests. The 28 people charged vary in age, gender and neighborhood, including a 61-year-old woman and her 17-year-old granddaughter. The charges range from possession of drug paraphernalia to sale of narcotics and cocaine. [continues 272 words]
To the Editor: We in America have been snapped out of one of our delusions by Hurricane Katrina. Potential disasters, such as a city built on land that is 6 feet below sea level in a hurricane zone, can no longer be ignored. A less obvious disaster, but perhaps more catastrophic, is the harm caused by "The Drug War." The obvious difference is that the former took place within one week; the latter has been taking place over decades and is still happening daily. Each disaster has been that "elephant in the living room" that few people want to see or talk about. Each "elephant" is consuming billions upon billions of tax dollars. [continues 304 words]
Police in Vermont must knock before raiding a home or risk having any evidence they discover thrown out of court, despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to the contrary, an Essex County judge has ruled. Judge Robert Bent, presiding over a drug case in Vermont District Court in Guildhall, wrote in an opinion released Monday that Vermont's constitution gives criminal defendants greater protection than that afforded by the U.S. Constitution against unreasonable searches and seizures. "Evidence obtained in violation of the Vermont constitution, or as the result of a violation, cannot be admitted at trial as a matter of state law," Bent wrote, quoting a case he cited as underpinning his ruling. "Introduction of such evidence at trial eviscerates our most sacred rights, impinges on individual privacy, perverts our judicial process, distorts any notion of fairness and encourages official misconduct." [continues 638 words]
When half a dozen or more federal employees endorse a lame, dishonest idea, we have a problem. Here's how it unfolded: U.S. Border Patrol agent Steve Garceau staked out a house in Orleans County near the Canadian border one night in January 2003 and caught a guy picking up 45 pounds of pot. He'd planned to deliver it to someone else at a restaurant in Stowe. Garceau handed the chap over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, who cut the fellow, identified in court papers with the pseudonym John Smith, a deal: We'll let you free if you agree to tell us more about this and future marijuana sales. [continues 692 words]
More than 200 Vermont college students were denied federal financial aid in the past six years because they admitted to a drug conviction or declined to answer the question. Vermont's rejection rate -- 204 out of 172,625 applications filed, or 0.12 percent -- is the lowest in the nation, according U.S. Department of Education figures released Monday. Over the same time period, the policy resulted in 541 of 322,761 applicants (0.17 percent) being denied aid in New Hampshire and 669 of 356,394 financial aid applicants (0.19 percent) in Maine. [continues 611 words]
The Low-Down on High Crimes in the United States There's a drug epidemic in this country. Each year it claims 100,000 American lives and costs our country an estimated $58 Billion, according to the Greater Dallas Council on Alcohol and Drug Addiction. That's enough dough to buy every student in the United States a state-of-the-art computer. The potential for addiction is enormous, with 14 million Americans meeting the criteria for abuse disorders. Users of this terrible drug are 50 times more likely to snort cocaine, yet it is by far the most commonly used drug in the country, especially among youth. [continues 1030 words]
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security proposal to turn two temporary U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints along interstates in central Vermont and northern New York into permanent stations staffed by dozens of agents drew questions, opposition and praise from lawmakers and state and local officials Thursday. "We find nothing to be concerned about," said Hunter Rieseberg, town manager of Hartford, where Border Patrol agents have run a checkpoint out of an Interstate 91 rest area since December 2003. "There's no reason why we would not welcome them as part of our community. We think they'll be great neighbors." [continues 417 words]
Standing near the center of a remote, ice-covered lake on an unseasonably warm winter day, Jeana at first wanted nothing to do with the five-foot saws and giant iron tongs stacked nearby. Her immediate task, to be shared this day with seven others who also battle mental illness, would be to help extract 60-pound blocks of ice in preservation of a Vermont tradition that predates electric freezers. Her long-term task, like theirs, would be to get well enough to live independently - in large part through a program that promotes the healing power of physical labor done in a group. [continues 1150 words]
MANCHESTER -- Reaction to a new policy that sanctions K-9 patrols of school grounds to deter drug use has been largely positive, officials at Burr and Burton Academy say. Headmaster Charles W. Scranton said there has been overwhelming support for the patrols despite the potentially controversial step taken by the school last month to authorize police dog searches for illegal drugs and related paraphernalia. "We expected there would be people that would question the rationale," he said. "Like any other policy we might look at it again six months down the road and see what adjustments might be necessary, but for now we're going ahead." [continues 675 words]
As he opened his remarks about medical marijuana, Dr. Joseph McSherry said he couldn't be as informative as he would like to be. "I asked a very good friend, who happens to be a medical marijuana patient, what I should tell you today," McSherry said. "He said to tell you not to ask a doctor. Doctors don't know (expletive) about medical marijuana." McSherry, a neurophysiologist and PhD associated with Fletcher Allen Medical Center and the University of Vermont, said his friend is largely correct: There have been few scientific studies on the effects of marijuana as a medicine, and even less research has been conducted on its medical effects in humans. [continues 642 words]
I would like to take this time time to applaud Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester for taking a step against teenagers and drugs. I think having the drug dogs go into the school is a wonderful thing. Unlike the Rutland City school system, who apparently thinks it is a joke. I approached the vice principal of Rutland High School and the assistant superintendent about having the high school searched because of the use of the "Happy Trail" on a daily basis by the students to get high and also use tobacco. And I guess no one in Rutland cares about this. Because the request I made was never brought to the attention of the School Board like the assistant superintendent said it would be at the next meeting. If anyone ever asked my opinion of the Rutland City school system, I would tell them to stay as far away as they could, because it is a joke. Rutland [end]
In his Jan. 4 article, Benjamin Dangl is to be commended for raising awareness of the supply-side drug war's utter failure. Creating a global welfare state in which every developing country is paid not to grow illicit drug crops is an expensive proposition. The militaristic approach is no bargain either. Destroy the Bolivian coca crop and production will boom in Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. Destroy every last plant in South America and domestic methamphetamine production will increase to meet the demand for cocaine-like drugs. The self-professed champions of the free market in Congress are seemingly incapable of applying basic economic principles to U.S. drug policy. Instead of wasting scarce resources waging a futile supply-side war abroad, we should be funding cost-effective drug treatment here at home. Robert Sharpe Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy [end]
MONTPELIER -- The Senate on Friday gave final approval to a bill that would create a drug database to help prevent the illegal use of prescription drugs. The electronic database would hold information about prescriptions written or filled. The database is designed to crack down on the illegal use or sale of dangerous drugs, such as painkillers OxyContin and Percocet, which has become a problem in Vermont, officials said. "A surprising number of heroin addicts first became addicted to prescription drugs," said Sen. James Leddy, D-Chittenden, a member of the Judiciary Committee that drafted the bill. The state is seeing "a tremendous impact from the abuse of legally prescribed medicines." [continues 222 words]
Washington and Morales Tangle Over the Coca Leaf and the Drug Trade After winning a landslide election victory on Dec. 18, Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales announced plans to fully legalize the production of coca leaves and change the rules of the U.S.-led war on drugs in his country. White House officials are wary of any deviation from its anti-narcotics plan in Latin America, a strategy they claim has been successful. However, U.S. government statistics and reports from analysts in Bolivia tell a different story. [continues 250 words]
ST. JOHNSBURY -- Before dawn in a snowy parking lot, the first patients arrive for their daily doses of methadone. One by one, they climb into what looks like a big white camper. Inside the 38-foot truck converted into a clinic they talk to a nurse who is standing in an office behind plate glass. They down their liquid medicine out of a plastic cup and within minutes are on their way home or off to work. By 8 a.m., the clinic has served nearly two dozen patients. [continues 897 words]
LUDLOW -- Two years ago Paul Faenza, 47, retired as a New York City police sergeant and moved to Mount Holly with his wife and two children. He has come out of his retirement to serve as the new project assistant for the Black River Area Community Coalition, an anti-drug and -alcohol initiative serving Ludlow, Mount Holly and Plymouth. BRACC Coordinator Brigid Sullivan said Faenza's nine years of experience in narcotics investigation and enforcement will be used to educate students and parents about the risks of youth intoxication. [continues 203 words]
BURLINGTON, Vt. --A U.S. Border Patrol agent has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements stemming from the release of a drug smuggling suspect in exchange for information about future smuggling. Steven Garceau, 33, entered his plea Tuesday. A second agent, Ross Schofield, 33, is scheduled to plead Thursday. The charges stem from a Feb. 5 incident in which Garceau and Schofield went to the Newport City Motel and apprehended a man who just received a shipment of 60 pounds of marijuana, the indictment says. The agents then took the man and the drugs back to the Border Patrol's Newport station. [continues 143 words]
CABOT - Ginger Katz knows something about denial and enabling, two factors that contributed to her son's death by heroin overdose nine years ago. Since that time, she's dealt with the disaster by speaking out to kids, parents and whomever will listen about her son's killer. Sunday night, Katz brought her presentation to the Cabot School before a crowd of about 100 students and parents. The 58-year-old Norwalk, Conn., mother spun a heart-wrenching tale that detailed her son Ian Eaccarino's introduction to the drugs that ended his life on Sept. 10, 1996. [continues 589 words]
The Rutland Area Prevention Coalition wishes to thank our partners in the community who helped in the celebration of National Red Ribbon Week (October 23-31 this year) -- a time set aside to stress the importance of healthy lifestyle choices, especially among youth. Anti-drunk-or-drugged driving messages are appropriately part of this event. Last week, drivers along South Main Street and Route 7 south noticed clusters of red vehicles placed prominently at several auto dealerships: Smith Buick/Pontiac/GMC, Formula Ford of Rutland County, Alderman's Chevrolet, Alderman's Toyota/Scion, and Shearer Honda. We wish to thank the managers who agreed to participate with us, and all the staff involved in moving and arranging the vehicle displays. The ribbon of red/maroon vehicles along the road was impressive. [continues 214 words]
Cheech Marin and Thomas Chong have been talking about doing a reunion film sometime in the very near future. The question on all of our minds is: Will they film on location in the Cambridge School District? In Wednesday's Banner, we ran a story with the headline "CCS is 'higher' than rest of nation." That refers to an informal study conducted within the school system which found that Cambridge' students are using more drugs and alcohol than their counterparts at both the county and national levels. [continues 391 words]
MONTPELIER - The Vermont Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union will go to federal appeals court this week, trying to reverse a lower-court ruling allowing officials at a Vermont school ban images of drugs or alcohol on student clothing. The ACLU will also ask the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York to overturn another lower-court ruling allowing the federal government to conduct random screening of automobiles and luggage on ferries that cross Lake Champlain. The ACLU claims the ferry searches violate passenger rights under the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment protecting against unreasonable search and seizures, while the Williamstown Middletown School's dress code violates a student's First Amendment right to free speech - a political statement that used drug and alcohol images. [continues 641 words]
Inside Vermont
