Well, I thought I had a nice varied collection of stories for this week’s Vermont media roundup. But heck, five of the eight nominees have something to do with how the excesses of Donald Trump are reverberating here in our B.L.S.

Apologies, but that’s the world we’re living in and my starship is on the fritz.

A stark warning about Trump from someone who’s been right more than most. Journalist David Goodman hosts “Vermont Conversation,” a blandly-named weekly show on Radio Vermont/WDEV available afterward as a podcast under the auspices of VTDigger. This week’s guest was author and Dartmouth prof Jeff Sharlet, who has spent years chronicling the dark corners of the far right. He has foreseen the persistence of the Trump phenomenon, its return to power, and its authoritarian intent. He told Goodman that he and his colleagues have “all been surprised by the speed with which it’s happening,” and said that the opposition has a lot of work to do.

Sharlet said he’s seen “a lot more people tuning out than in the first Trump administration. And I want to say to people, you don’t have that privilege.”

Echoes of fascism in a small rural library. In the latest installment of her podcast “Rumble Strip,” Erica Heilman takes us to the Haskell Free Library in Derby Line, VT and Stanstead, QC for an audio accounting of authoritarianism’s jackbooted footprint. The feds’ crackdown on the security-imperiling cross-border traffic at the library, announced after a deliberately provocative visit from dog-killer and Trump functionary Kristi Noem has left both communities shaken. For no reason whatsoever except that our federal government feels compelled to act like a bully.

A tale of two governors, illustrated. Jeff Danziger, political cartoonist and Vermont resident, still bringing the heat after all these years:

Two Rutland Aldermen have a problem with the Constitution. From the Rutland Herald’s Gordon Dritschilo (possibly paywalled?), the city’s Aldermen (yes, they say “men”) passed a resolution “affirming the constitutional rights of everyone in Rutland,” which would seem like a no-brainer, but it only passed after a couple of conservative Alderfolk tried to water it down. Tom Donahue and former (Republican) state representative Larry Cupoli couldn’t actually oppose constitutional rights, but they tried their damndest to remove material that might be offensive to the big manbaby in the White House. Cupoli also sought to postpone action, but was voted down. Both men caved when the resolution came to a vote; it passed unanimously.

Gotta watch out for those kindergartners. Final Trump-related item. The Shelburne News reports that even as two Nicaraguan high schoolers in the Champlain Valley School District prepare to leave the country on orders from Orange Hitler, the feds are also kicking out a kindergarten student from the district. Well, the student and family.

They are still in debt from the costs of emigrating to the U.S., and as usual no evidence has been presented that any of them pose a threat. But out you go! And leave the juice box on your desk.

Proposed apartment development sparks fears among some residents. First of two stories from the Hardwick Gazette, accompanied by a disclaimer. Yours Truly serves on the Board of the community-owned nonprofit, but I’d spotlight these stories in any case. The affluent town of Greensboro is pondering a plan to convert the underused town hall (in severe need of repairs and upgrades) to apartments, an apparent no-brainer what with sky-high real estate costs and a need for affordable housing. A recent public meeting produced many expressions of support, and a disappointing selection of small-minded, short-sighted objections. One resident, who is not at all prejudiced I’m sure, worried about “the quality of the people” who would live there. There were also concerns about parking (it is to laugh; Greensboro has far more space than vehicles), the size and number of apartments, and the biggest laugh of all, that the development wouldn’t ease the housing crunch. Well, not by itself.

It’s utterly predictable but always disappointing when a reasonable proposal is met with a flurry of NIMBYism and rank prejudice. but that’s our B.L.S. for you.

Small streams can mean big problems. Also from the Gazette, a story of a mountain stream that flooded a Hardwick home in July 2023 (and flooded the site again last year), even though it was too minor to appear on any federal or state maps. But a foundation that helps the private sector develop flood risk models had rated the stream “a 9 out of 10 in terms of flood risk.” The family who lived there accepted a buyout, the home has been removed and the lot reseeded, but it makes you wonder how many other properties are imperiled by small waterways. (When we were moving to Vermont, we looked at a rural house with a seasonal stream that passed directly beneath. Kinda glad in retrospect that we gave it a pass.)

A new science center opens its doors, softly. This week’s palate cleanser comes from the Newport Dispatch, which reports on the “soft launch” of MemSEC, the Memphremagog Science and Education Center. MemSEC director John Aldridge says the center will offer “a year-round opportunity for folks to engage with the natural world.” MemSEC had already been offering educational programs on board the Northern Star cruise vessel; now it will have a land-based facility that’s easily adaptable for a variety of uses. Displays will tell the story of Lake Memphremagog, the process of stream formation, wildlife habitats on land and under water, and the history of the Abenaki people in the area.

That’s it for this week’s roundup. Same time next Sunday?