Last week, the citizens of Deer Isle, a town of about 1900 residents off the coast of Maine, voted at their annual town hall meeting in favor of a resolution that "commands Maine's member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the second Maine Congressional District to oppose all legislation brought before the U.S. House of Representatives that provides further funding of the U.S. warfare and U.S. military occupation in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan." The resolution passed with a 67% "yes" vote.

Governor Doyle signs race-based mascot bill, witnessed by students from Prescott High

Gov. Jim Doyle has signed into law SB25, requiring the Wisconsin Department of Instruction to set up a process to mediate disputes about schools that use race-based mascots. Noting that Wisconsin is the first state in the nation to enact legislation of this sort, Barb Munson of the Wisconsin Indian Education Association said, "I have seen the best spirit of Wisconsin in action - people of all ages, races and ethnicities working together to make things better for all the children in our state."  Full WIEA statement here, Wisconsin Radio Network report here.

By an overwhelming 26 to 4 vote, the Vermont Senate voted to deny a request by Entergy Corp., the operator of Vermont's sole nuclear plant, to extend its forty-year lifespan by an additional twenty years, forcing a shutdown of the aging reactor by 2012. The vote marks the first time a state has moved to shut down an operating reactor, and deals a severe blow to the troubled nuclear industry, which had hoped for a revival after President Obama made massive federal loan guarantees to promote construction of new nuclear plants a centerpiece of his proposed energy policy. Pictured:  Collapsed cooling tower, 2007