Maynard to leave Senate
Sen. Hull Maynard, a Rutland County Republican who has served in the Senate for 13 years, is resigning his seat, with just over one year left in his term.Maynard, 75, said the time is right for him to step down. He announced his decision at a Rutland County Republican Party event Thursday night and said he would likely submit his formal letter of resignation next week. Maynard is one of seven Republicans in the 30-member Senate. Gov. Jim Douglas will appoint an interim senator. Word has it that Rep. Peg Flory is among those interested.- Terri Hallenbeck

Flanagan won't be charged
As you read in today's Free Press, Sen. Ed Flanagan will not be criminally charged for his behavior at the YMCA earlier this year.The prosecutor said he would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Flanagan was aware of what he was doing. He said he believes Flanagan's head injuries from a car accident might have been responsible for Flanagan’s conduct.Flanagan, meanwhile, said he will decide after next year's legislative session which office he will seek in 2010. There seemed to be no question to the Democrat from Burlington that he would s

Douglas: Dems using law as cover to move primary
Gov. Jim Douglas said today that he thinks Democrats are using a new federal law as an excuse to move Vermont's 2010 primary to an earlier date.Speaking at his news conference this afternoon, Douglas, a Republican, said the Secretary of State's Office should seek a waiver from a new federal law. That law requires general election ballots to be sent out at least 45 days before the election, which would be virtually impossible to do with a Sept. 14 primary and Nov. 2 general election.The law is meant to ensure that overseas voters, particularly those in the military, have enough time to vote.Douglas said the state should put into place other means of gettin

Election thoughts
It was a rare Election Day without an election here in Vermont, unless you live in a place like Colchester that decided to build a new police station.All of you politically astute people out there must have been tuning into votes elsewhere, however, and drawing conclusions of some sort or another. I say unto you, share your thoughts:- Across the lake, New Yorkers decided on the Democrat over the Conservative for Congress. It is the first time since the Civil War era that the district hasn't sent a Republican to Washington. What happened there? Were voters turned off by the out-of-district push for the Conservative that drove the Republican out

Across the lake and here at home
“Matt Dunne is in the race for governor — pass it on,” reads the headline over an under-construction Web site for the newest Democratic gubernatorial candidate. Dunne, 39, a former state senator who now works for Google, becomes the fourth Democrat and third candidate to have served in the state Senate to declare he will vie for his party’s gubernatorial nomination in a primary. Sens. Doug Racine, D-Chittenden, and Susan Bartlett, D-Lamoille, and Secretary of State Deb Markowitz announced their intentions months ago — before Republican Gov. Jim Douglas rocked the state’s