By JOHN FLOWERS
MONTPELIER — Sen. Claire Ayer, D-Weybridge, will be wielding greater influence in the Vermont Legislature when the new term opens in January. Ayer, who this month won a third term in the upper house of the Legislature, was unanimously elected majority whip of the state Senate during a Democratic caucus in Montpelier on Monday.
“I see this as a lot more work, but also a great learning experience,” said Ayer, who along with Sen. Harold Giard, D-Bridport, ran unopposed for re-election on Nov. 7.
“I expect to be involved in lots of different kinds of legislation,” she added.
As majority whip — also referred to as “assistant majority leader” — Ayer’s responsibilities will include:
By MEGAN JAMES
MIDDLEBURY — Maxamed Ibrahim has two families on two continents — one in Somalia, where he lost his mother, father and three sisters to famine and civil war 11 years ago, and another in Hinesburg, where he moved at the age of seven with his adopted mother, Dorothy Delaney. The humanitarian aid worker had found Ibrahim wrapped in an old blanket in the corner of a feeding center in Africa, unresponsive and ill with tuberculosis.
Now a senior at the Gailer School, 18-year-old Ibrahim will speak at the Middlebury school’s open house on Thursday, Dec. 7, about his journey back to Africa last summer, where he met his only surviving natural relative, his uncle. It became clear after this meeting that he belonged to two cultures and two homes.
