TUESDAY'S HUM (5-23-06)

LOCAL NEWS

APPRISAL ON APPRAISAL

Free Press with breaking report on $405M Roman Catholic Diocese of Vermont real estate appraisal. Holy pocket change, Batman! The diocesan offices and old orphanage are worth over 11 mil by themselves! You know the buildings - they're the ones halfway down North Avenue with the beautiful view of the lake.
Rice High School is appraised at almost 11.5 million and the biggie is MSJ in Rutland, valued at 16M. Wow.
Find out more here.

ADDRESS THE PRESS
Speaking of the Free Press, they're on the road, holding a series of informal chat sessions with residents. If you have a beef with the paper, or just want to see a Gannett face, hop over to the Williston library tomorrow at 7 p.m. or scoot over to the city hall in SB next Wednesday at 7.
Ol' Charlie in Burlington says the Free Press is kinda like the weather. In Vermont, complaining about both is second nature. But Ol' Charlie also says that the local paper is a damn good one for a market this size; he says try to find a better daily in the U.S in a small market with limited revenue ops.
So there you go, folks. Send Ol' Charlie some names of papers with circs of 100,000, give or take, that shine through the fog of declining print numbers nationwide.
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LOCAL WEATHER

APRIL FLOWERS, MAY SHOWERS?
What's wrong with 6 inches of rain in May? Writers, movie buffs, readers, sex maniacs and cooks are having a ball this May. But we do agree with Monty on Church Street: " Can somebody stop this !@#$% rain!!!"
Although this is the wettest May on record, it's not surprising. Remember last July when it rained every weekend - or October, when the foliage trips were usually taken in the rain. Oh, well.
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FIVE CORNERS UPDATE
Excruciatingly long wait at the Essex Junction Five Corners Light yesterday. I was able to get out of my car, walk to the Brownell Library, sign out 'The Vermont Book Of Days', read it and bring it back before the light changed.
'The Vermont Book Of Days' is an interesting story. It's a family affair, a native family that loves Vermont history and is also media savvy. Their quick historical snippets (we love snippets) can be heard on WVMT, seen on VPR and viewed online or in book form.