At 11:00, he acknowledges Melissa Jenkins. Good to see POTUS in VT.

CLICK HERE
There are lower forms of life everywhere, including here in the Northeast Kingdom.

And from The Caledonian Record:

home : top news : top news Share March 28, 2012 3/28/2012 3:49:00 PM Police: Couple Lure Jenkins To Her Death + click to enlarge Associated Press ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. (AP) – A Vermont snow plow driver and his wife lured a popular prep school teacher from her home by pretending their vehicle had broken down, then beat her, strangled her, and stripped her body naked and threw it into the Connecticut River, court documents say. Allen Prue, 30, and Patricia Prue, 33, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in St. Johnsbury to second-degree murder in the death of Melissa Jenkins, whose SUV was found idling along a remote road Sunday with her unharmed 2-year-old inside. The Prues ordered held without bail. Allen Prue and his wife wanted to “get a girl” on Sunday night, although he and his wife “didn’t plan to get one forcefully,” according to court documents. Police gave no further details on a possible motive. “They knew Miss Jenkins and had snow plowed her driveway a couple of years ago,” Vermont State Police Maj. Ed Ledo said at a news conference earlier in the day at which he announced the arrests. After the court appearance, Allen Prue’s mother, Donna Prue, said that her son has never been in trouble with the law before and that she has faith he didn’t commit the crime. “I do not believe he would ever do this, because he didn’t have it in him. I have nothing against her (Patricia); I don’t have nothing bad to say about either one,” Donna Prue said. Police were called Sunday night after Jenkins’ son was found alone in her vehicle on a back road in St. Johnsbury. Jenkins’ former boyfriend told police she said that she had gotten a call from a person who used to plow her driveway and that she was going to help them, the documents say. The ex-boyfriend told police that Allen Prue had once asked Jenkins out on a date, and that she felt uncomfortable around him. Allen Prue later told police he and his wife were driving along the remote road when Patricia Prue called Jenkins and told her they had broken down. The court documents describe the encounter this way: When the 33-year-old Jenkins arrived to help, Allen Prue grabbed her and strangled her. They then put the body in the backseat of their car and drove to their home. At some point Patricia Prue strangled Jenkins as well. Back at their home, they put Jenkins’ body on a tarp, removed her clothes and poured bleach on her body. The Prues also removed their clothes and put them on the tarp They then drove to a boat access at the Connecticut River, which separates Vermont from New Hampshire, and put Jenkins’ body in the water, weighing it down with blocks and concealing it with brush. They took the tarp and the clothes to New Hampshire where they burned it. The death of the well-loved science teacher at the school, once attended by President Calvin Coolidge, shocked people in the town of 6,200 in northeastern Vermont about 40 miles south of the Canadian border.

R.I.P.

There’s a fascinating article in Friday’s New York Times about what author Eric Weiner calls ‘thin places,’ best defined (in his words) as locations where heaven and earth get close, where transcendent feelings may arise.  The picture above shows one.  It’s a certain corner on a trail called Carriage Road on Burke Mountain.  If you’re a decent skier and have spent time here, you know EXACTLY where this spot is.  There’s another spot on the mountain, at the divide between Upper and Lower Willoughby that can also be described as a thin place.  The panorama that unfolds to the north looks more like a painting than reality…it’s a jaw-dropping view of Willoughby Gap, with Mounts Hor & Pisgah girding the depths of the lake.  Just to the northwest, another fifteen or so miles north is Jay Peak, and beyond, the Eastern Townships of Quebec.  This weekend, with strong March sunshine and temperatures sitting right around the freezing mark, we got in what will probably be the final days of decent skiing.  A big warmup is underway, and this winter of our discontent will soon make way for a very early spring.

Take the few minutes to read the Times article and hey, we’d love to hear about (and see pictures of) YOUR thin places.

p.s.  If you’d like a hi-res large copy of the picture above, drop us an email: vermontmornings@gmail.com

Our first legitimate snowstorm of the season yesterday dropped about seven inches here on Pudding Hill.  Across the valley, Burke Mountain logged in with ten inches plus, but the winner, as always, was Jay Peak, which as of Saturday night, had just under four FEET of fresh new powder.

It’s all a bit too late to help the economy…we’re wrapping up the President’s  Week holiday for Southern New England and the New York metro, but at least it brings a little sense of normalcy to what has been a remarkably unusual winter.  And as February wraps, sugaring can’t be too far behind.

Not the deer, they’re for real, four beautiful white-tailed does, and the picture was taken on Monday evening right outside the front door of Vermont Mornings corporate headquarters.  But…they’re far healthier than normal for late February, and that’s because they’ve basically had access to food all winter long.  As of the 20th of February, we’re still waiting for our first full-fledged snowstorm of the winter.  The nature of things around here is that whatever small amounts of snow we get will linger because of the cold temperatures.  So it LOOKS for all intents and purposes like winter, but normally at this time of year, we have six-foot tall snowbanks and a bad case of cabin fever.  What we have this season is mostly open ground, few if any snowmobilers (critical to our tourism-based economy) and a bunch of seniors (80+) who swear they’ve never seen a winter such as this.  I don’t know what you would call it…I just call it WEIRD.

But…the skiing at Burke Mountain, our local favorite, is fabulous.  C’mon up.

OR…you can listen to the live broadcast Tuesday from 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM EST and call in to show your support.  Go to www.magic977.com to listen.

Maybe there are no more heroes left in the world, but there’s no question that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one.  Few have done more to create positive change in this country, during any era.

There’s also no question that racism and bigotry remain embedded in these United States.  It may not be nearly as overt as it was a half-century prior, but megalomaniacs like Newt Gingrich are intelligent enough to couch their brand of racism in code.  That’s the true legacy of how they have spun political correctness:  Coded, shaded communication that hides the true agenda of those whose fear of change manifests itself in the most despicable ways possible.

BUT…there are a few hard-working angels out there and Julie Hansen, the Head of School at The Stevens School in Lyndon Center (on the Lyndon Institute campus) is one of them.  A true First Amendment School, in past years, their annual candlelight vigil to honour Dr. King was held an hour south, at Dartmouth College.  But this year, they decided to host their own, partly in response to the tremendous LACK of response to anti-Semitic graffiti discovered nearly a year ago.  Swastikas and the words “Die Jew” appeared on a building at a public park in early Spring and stayed there through the summer.  A young lady (the daughter of a dear friend) brought it our attention, we brought it to the attention of Amy Ash Nixon, a writer for the Caledonian Record (and another angel.)  There was a written response from several evangelical Christian pastors, not a peep from those who are resp0nsible for the running of the park, blather from the municipal administrator and grumbling from a chief of police who apparently had better things to do than investigate what even he acknowledged was a hate crime. Shame on all of them.

But kudos to the 100+ people, young and old, who showed up on a chilly January night to watch Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, share their thoughts and sing.

Yes, we’ve made great strides.  But there’s still…so much…to accomplish.  Don’t. Ever. Stop.