Category Archives: Town Meeting Day

Vermonters at several dozen March town meetings added their voices to the national debate on guns and tar sands oil transport by approving resolutions seeking tighter controls.
At least six municipalities voted to ask lawmakers to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, require background checks for every gun sold and make arms trafficking a federal crime.
“Our efforts cannot bring back the 20 innocent children murdered in Newtown, Conn., or the 33 people murdered with guns every day in America,” organizers of Communities Against Assault Weapons said on their petitions. “But we can prevent future tragedies by passing common sense legislation.”
Spurred by the Dec. 14 school shooting, the grass-roots group saw its nonbinding resolution — based on language from Mayors Against Illegal Guns — win passage in Bradford, Hartland, Norwich, Strafford, Thetford and Woodstock. It was tabled in Vershire and set for a vote April 6 in Hartford.
The other nonbinding resolution considered by multiple municipalities asked voters to “Keep Vermont Tar Sands Free” by blocking the use of a 1950 pipeline to transport Canadian oil through the state. Continue reading →

BELLOWS FALLS — Authorities say a Vermont man who stood up to speak at Town Meeting collapsed and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
John Fuchs of Bellows Falls was standing up to speak Monday night about the ongoing renovations to the library at the Rockingham Town Meeting.
The Eagle-Times reports (http://bit.ly/WspdV3) he suffered seizure-like symptoms, dropped the microphone and fell back into his chair about 7:30 p.m. Audience members performed CPR on him for about 15 minutes as emergency crews arrived at the Bellows Falls Opera House.
First responders used a defibrillator on Fuchs several times as he lay motionless in the aisle before he was taken to Springfield Hospital.
Selectboard Chairman Thomas MacPhee announced Fuchs’ death at 10:11 p.m. Selectman Stefan Golec led a moment of silence for him.