Passamaquoddy hold tribal council elections

By Diana Graettinger
BDN Staff

INDIAN TOWNSHIP — Although he is under federal indictment for misappropriation of tribal funds, former Indian Township Tribal Gov. Robert Newell ran for a seat on the tribal council Wednesday. He lost — but not by much, 12 votes to be exact.

Pleasant Point and Indian Townships hold their respective elections the first Tuesday and Wednesday after Labor Day.

Patrick: State not ready for casino compact talks

By Stephanie Vosk

September 05, 2008

BOSTON — Informal conversations will continue with the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, but Gov. Deval Patrick doesn't yet seem to be ready to settle on a casino compact.

"There isn't a whole lot that meaningfully we can talk about until they have the land in trust," Patrick said yesterday during his monthly radio appearance on 96.9 WTKK.

Rally: Tax Indian Cigarettes

Marchers threaten Paterson with impeachment

Thursday, September 04, 2008

By Scott Rapp

Staff writer

About 50 people attended a rally Wednesday in Seneca Falls where speaker after speaker called on Gov. David Paterson to force Native Americans to pay sales tax on cigarettes they sell at their businesses.

They had a pointed message for Paterson, too.

"If you will not enforce the law, maybe we should ask that you be impeached," said Peter Same, a Seneca County lawmaker.

Tribe looking to speed up casino process

By STEPHANIE VOSK

Cape Cod Times staff writer

September 04, 2008 6:00 AM

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe hopes that negotiating a compact early might shorten the path to a $1 billion casino.

The tribe on Wednesday delivered a letter to Gov. Deval Patrick that seeks to begin formal talks about the proposed Indian casino in Middleboro.

The move comes at least six months before the tribe expects to have land there taken into trust.

For Immediate Release

To the Honorable James Douglas, Governor of the State of Vermont:

September 1, 2008

It is with frustration, I tender my letter of resignation, effective immediately, as I was under the impression my term expired July 31, 2008.

With no subsequent action taken by your office as to the status of Commission appointments, it has been brought to my attention that you may choose not to act on reappointments thus extending current member terms as long as March 1st, 2009.

While there may be an implicit sense of endorsement in extending my status as Chair, I find little solace in reading Title 3: Executive, Chapter11: State Officers and Employees generally &255. Term of office appointed without advice and consent of senate (VT State Statute):"The term of an officer appointed by the Governor, without the advice and consent of senate, shall commence on the day when such appointee qualifies, and shall continue, where no other term is fixed by law, until March 1 of the next biennial year and until his successor is appointed and has qualified."

Archaelogists uncover Colchester site

Alden Oliver of Underhill excavates a Severance Corners archaeological site in Colchester with the Vermont Archaeological Society on Sunday.

By Sara Buscher, Free Press Staff Writer • September 1, 2008

COLCHESTER — Real estate prices might rise and fall with economic trends — but when it comes to desirable land, some things never change.

That’s why archaeologist Charles Knight isn’t surprised one of Colchester’s newest housing developments is slated to be built on land known to contain American Indian artifacts.

“All of these drainages are loaded with Native American sites,” Knight said Sunday, gesturing across the rolling, grass-covered hills that spill downward toward Indian Brook, a tributary of Malletts Bay.

Issues pepper DNC      

Posted: August 29, 2008

by: Rob Capriccioso

DENVER - The official Democratic Platform is more Native-specific than any other party platform in history.

The document serves as a guide map of principles and efforts the Democratic Party aims to achieve over the next four years.

One-third of Native Americans lack health insurance

Thursday, August 28, 2008
Filed Under: National

Nearly one-third of all Native Americans lack health insurance, the U.S. Census Bureau reported on Tuesday.

According to the data, 32.1 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives went without health coverage from 2005-2007. That's more than twice the national average of 15.4 percent.

The rate is even higher than the three-year averages reported by the Census Bureau in 2005 and 2006. But it's about the same as the one reported last year.

EDITORIAL: Showing government inaction at its best

August 26, 2008

The compost wars continue, and at the rate we're going the 2024 presidential election will arrive before they end.

Down in the valley of the Intervale in Burlington there sits piles of fragrant compost, where Intervale Compost has been turning food scraps into "natural" fertilizer for the garden since 1987. Here the city of Burlington and its environs practice Big Green the way it is preached in Vermont, as a cultural, social and lifestyle religion.

Waste district seeks new compost sites

One should be concerned of the locations of composting facilities, considering the State has allowed all facilities to be constructed near or around Vermont waterways.

By Candace Page • Free Press Staff Writer • August 22, 2008

WILLISTON -- Who would have thought that disposing of Chittenden County's orange peels, wilted lettuce and plate scrapings would be trickier than a championship chess match?