Senator Sanders

Health Centers The Community Health Center in Burlington will receive $10.9 million to construct a new building, The Associated Press, Burlington Free Press, WCAX, WPTZ and Vermont Public Radio reported."It is a good day for primary health care," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, who stood on a stage at the White House as President Obama announced the funding. LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, VIDEO and VIDEO

The Spotlight A few years ago Obama signed onto a Sanders' bill to quadruple funding for community health centers, so when Obama announced funding to expand 85 health centers, including one in Burlington, he put the spotlight on Sanders, The Burlington Free Press buzzed. LINK

Health Care Negotiators attempting to find a public option alternative told Fox News that since they are not able to expand Medicaid significantly they would instead expand community health centers as a sweetener for public-option supports like Sen. Sanders who want to see more people get insurance coverage. LINK

Health Care Senate Democrats on Wednesday largely embraced a compromise that dropped a "public option" from health care legislation. "Sen. Sanders went so far as to argue that the Medicare buy-in might be superior to the forms of public option previously under discussion," The Hill reported and MSNBC reported. LINK and VIDEO

International

President Picks up Peace Prize A wartime president being honored for peace, Barack Obama said Thursday that criticism of his Nobel prize as premature might recede if he advances goals such as a nuclear-free world and tackling climate change, The Associated Press reported. LINK

Slim Majority Back More Afghanistan Troops A bare majority of Americans support President Obama's plan to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, but many are skeptical that the United States can count on Afghanistan as a partner in the fight or that the escalation would reduce the chances of a domestic terrorist attack, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. LINK

Pakistan Detains Five Americans in Raid Tied to Militants  Five young Muslim American men from the Washington suburbs who disappeared late last month were detained in Pakistan on Wednesday in a police raid on a house linked to a militant group, American and Pakistani officials told The New York Times. LINK

National

Showdown Nears on Importing Drugs A bipartisan group of lawmakers hopes to finally win a long struggle to ease curbs against importing low-cost prescription drugs but will have to overcome the Obama administration and the pharmaceutical industry to do so, AP reported. LINK

Obama to Call on Bank Chiefs to Boost Lending  President Obama is summoning the chiefs of a dozen big banks to a White House meeting Monday to press them to do more for the economy, even as many of the firms are striving to get out from under the government's thumb, The Washington Post reported. LINK

Vermont

Snow Storm A storm that started before dawn on Wednesday set off hurricane-force wind gusts in some towns and dumped as much as a foot of snow in others - but also left some locations with just a couple of inches of snow and mild breezes, The Burlington Free Press reported. LINK

Farm Workers Sen. Patrick Leahy questioned the Homeland Security secretary about a crackdown on immigrant farm workers in Vermont. "You can't tell the cows we'll be back to milk you in six months, it doesn't work that way -- so the result is that many dairy farmers are forced to chose between their livelihood and immigration laws," Leahy said on WCAX. LINK

Truck Weights The federal government is lifting weight limits for trucks on Vermont's interstate highways as part of a pilot program. The goal of the one-year program is to solve a problem that sends heavy trucks through Vermont cities and villages instead of using interstate highways. U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy sought the measure, AP and WCAX reported. LINK and LINK