I reported on a Cindy Sheehan-related vigil last week in Enosburg Falls, Vermont. It's a small town best known as the home of Dairy Days. Most people in town know someone serving in the military, which made the vigil especially poignant. I talked to one young man whose brother was killed last year in Iraq. Find the article here.

I woke up this morning and found 7 stories in my local newspaper about the death of the pope. Why so many, especially when the other major issues in Vermont are getting so little coverage? I explored the question in a blog post this morning, on my Vermont-centric media/internet blog, 802 Online.

This is a link to two stories I wrote for Seven Days, the alternative weekly in Burlington, Vermont. Click on the cover image, or the story listed under features to see 'em, and click on my name (Cathy Resmer) to see my blog.

One story is about a Vermont wi-fi deployment company, one is about the public/private telecom network debate (it features a Vermont analysis of Penn House Bill 30).

My small town community newspaper was on the verge of folding, but seeing people become engaged in the national conversation about politics this year has inspired me to act to save it. I've now officially taken over as the editor and publisher of the Winooski Eagle, mailed free to every house in Winooski, Vermont. My first issue comes out tomorrow.

It's not on-line yet, but you can read my editor column at my blog, http://cresmer.blogspot.com. My mission: To use the newspaper to promote a culture of civility based on mutual respect and affection.

Not sure if anybody here cares, but I thought it might inspire others to deal with their disappointment with the election results in a similar fashion. That's my hope, anyway.