Lobbyists, flag thieves, health care haters, jets, the news and maybe you!
Behold, the Scoreboard for the week ending Friday, July 5:
Winners:
Dzemila Heco — Nearly six years after an accident on Route 15 in Essex rendered her paraplegic, the Essex Junction woman won a $43.1 million verdict in her lawsuit against car seat maker Johnson Controls. The Burlington Free Press‘ Sam Hemingway, who first reported the story Monday, quoted a legal expert calling the verdict the largest in state history.
Vermont businesses — They’ll pay less in unemployment insurance taxes now that the state has repaid a loan from the U.S. Department of Labor. Runner-up loser: Unemployed workers, whose benefits were capped at $425 at the height of the recession.
Health care reform haters — Vermonters for Health Care Freedom scored a rare round of press hits this week when it circulated a letter written by. U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Darell Issa (R-Calif.) taking aim at the state’s new health care exchange.
Davis love — Gov. Peter Shumlin jumped on the #TeamWendy bandwagon last week when he called Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis to congratulate her on her famed filibuster to halt an anti-abortion bill. Does his call mean the Democratic Governors Association, which Shumlin chairs, is trying to recruit Davis to run for governor? Not necessarily. Shummy dodged that question at a press conference earlier this week.
Stannard love — VTDigger’s Andrew Stein doled out the love for lobbyist extraordinaire Bob Stannard in an unsurprisingly entertaining exit interview this week. Is this the last we’ll see of the Manchester native in Montpelier? I highly doubt it.
F-35 publicity — First came the Boston Globe. Then Harper’s. Now the New York Times.
Losers and ties after the break…
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
