[harry chickpea]

WPTZ is NOT a Vermont newspaper, but a NEW YORK tv station.

Try WCAX.com sheesh.

[flu189]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

WPTZ is NOT a Vermont newspaper, but a NEW YORK tv station.

Try WCAX.com sheesh.

Both PTZ and CAX are pretty much the same, they cover Northern NY/VT/NH. PTZ seems to actually have a bit more substance to their reports and stories. The main papers Times Argus/Rutland Herald and the Burlington Free Press don't really cover much either, especially the latter in terms of stories with relevant news. I know not really much goes on here in terms of daily news, but when there is something the stories are pretty superficial. There are several other smaller regional papers in the state that I have read that at least have some better thought provoking reporting and commentary.

[68vette]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

WPTZ is NOT a Vermont newspaper, but a NEW YORK tv station.

Try WCAX.com sheesh.

WPTZ has a building located in Colchester, Vt. They cover the same news as WCAX. The only edge WCAX has over WPTZ are the school closings in the morning. Other than that they are the same.

[MRVphotog]

IMHO WPTZ is Plattsburgh/Burlington station while WCAX has been a Vermont tv station for at least the 40 years I have been watching the news. They have also produced many Vermont local shows, WPTZ does none of that. Sure, they both cover both sides of Champlain but WCAX is the Vermont station. I can see where new Vermonters would consider them the same. When I was in HS in the late 60's we got one station, WCAX, not sure if WPTZ even existed then. They produced a show back then on Sunday called Dance Date which was the Vermont version of American Bandstand. It was hokey with a local Vermont band each week but we loved it.

As a conservative I felt "on guard" all of the time.

Just for jollies what exactly did you feel you had to be "on guard" for?

[NYLIER]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

WPTZ is NOT a Vermont newspaper, but a NEW YORK tv station.

Try WCAX.com sheesh.

Sorry, I should have made another paragraph for the TV station. Sheesh

[harry chickpea]

Having worked for WCAX, and my father having worked for WCAX, my brother being friends with the ownership of WCAX, and my sometimes corresponding with Parsons about the news, I tend to get a little testy about the subject.

WCAX came first, I think channel 8 from Mt Washington came next, then WPTZ, then Vermont educational television, soon after, channel 22. I'm not sure when channel 6 in Montreal boosted their signal to reach deeper into Vermont. "You Can Quote Me" was discussing topics before many people here were born. "Across the Fence" was covering the ag and homemaking subjects for years - all core conservative programming, be it sometimes dull. In the context of this thread, Red Martin was about as conservative -in the true sense of the word- as you could get. Peter is no flag burner either.

Pucabear is correct, Vermont has gone liberal, to the dismay of many longtime residents. One way that we know that is a recent poll by WCAX, which discovered that a majority of respondents were in favor of strengthening the gun laws. Nary a peep out of Plattburgh on that.

IMO, WPTZ had a couple of things going for it - "Bird Birdan the Weather Man" who was a hoot, and being the place where Jeannie Mosse (sp?) of CNN fame had her first job in broadcasting. Having seen her first autrocious news reporting on WPTZ, and how quickly she cleaned it (and herself) up, I knew she was headed for bigger ponds.

Bird had his competition though. Sometimes channel 8 (owned by Jack Paar at the time) would show one of the engineers on top of Mt Washington reading the weather data. The fellow could have been a brother of Wally Cox, and was the first true geek that many new englanders ever saw or heard.

[arctichomesteader]

STATE v. ROSENTHAL, 1903, prohibited strict gun regulations as other states have: STATE v. ROSENTHAL.

It'd take a very drastic re-interpretation by the courts to change what the state Constitution says very clearly on the subject, and that doesn't appear likely. In the mid 1990's several towns/cities tried restricting carrying of guns (Rutland, Montpelier and others) and they were all struck down as un-Constitutional or repealed with the threat of lawsuit. Since then there has been passed pre-emption statutes by the state making it clear cities and towns can not restrict firearms (and hunting and trapping equipment), all they can regulate is the discharge in town/city limits in cases other than self-defense. I don't think VT is going to become like MA or NY anytime soon. Some bills have been recently (past couple years) proposed tightening restrictions (for example, prohibiting firearms on school grounds regardless of intent-current law prohibits bringing them in school buildings unless they're for a specific purpose such as a hunter ed class, they're allowed on school grounds if there is no criminal intent) but so far these bills have had very little support and have gone no where.

That aside, VT is very expensive, particularly given the lack of high paying jobs. You may consider Alaska too, if you're into outdoors stuff, the gun laws are similar to VT's and outside of a few more populated areas (Anchorage, Fairbanks, etc.) taxes are low or non-existant, and it's not so left-leaning.

IL for a person who likes guns? They're worse than NY excepting NYC! No legal carry except for politicans/police, need license (special ID) to own any gun, etc. Nebraska doesn't exactly have a good reputation amongst gun rights supporters FWIW...I think you'd regret either one of those states.

[flu189]

Regarding WCAX I hope my comments did not offend any long time Vermonters as I can truly understand and appreciate long standing established institutions which have been a part of folks lives for decades. Doing some research on the station history it truly holds its place as an important feature for providing information and entertainment, especially in the deacdes prior when the mediums we take for granted now did not exist. It is also impressive that Mr Parsons has a now over 40 year tenure here in an industry which sees so many people come and go. I guess my point as a relative newcomer comes from the desire to see a bit more in depth reporting on local and state issues, but that kind journalism would tend to track more into controversial waters by ruffling feathers and as we see with so much of the MSM too often trend into tabloid journalism. Anyway, I try to keep up with the majority of regional news and do appreciate the traditional and historical aspects of local media sources.

[harry chickpea]

One should never use a single news source as the basis of a truly informed opinion anyway, and you just pointed out the seductiveness of reality-tv news, which is neither real nor news. It IS rare to find a station that has remained as independent and consistent over the years as WCAX.

For Vermonters who take their news neat and dry, instead of sugared and with a twist, the station does fine. It does take some getting used to, just like good scotch, but as you get older, you appreciate it more.

[pucabear]

Originally Posted by MRVphotog

IMHO WPTZ is Plattsburgh/Burlington station while WCAX has been a Vermont tv station for at least the 40 years I have been watching the news. They have also produced many Vermont local shows, WPTZ does none of that. Sure, they both cover both sides of Champlain but WCAX is the Vermont station. I can see where new Vermonters would consider them the same. When I was in HS in the late 60's we got one station, WCAX, not sure if WPTZ even existed then. They produced a show back then on Sunday called Dance Date which was the Vermont version of American Bandstand. It was hokey with a local Vermont band each week but we loved it.


Just for jollies what exactly did you feel you had to be "on guard" for?

I felt that way because every move that is made by the state government directly impacted my life...and usually my wallet. Although always a conservative, I was never very political minded until I went to Vermont. I felt like I constantly had to defend my beliefs and loyalties.