Vermont

VESTAL, N.Y. -- UMBC's offense struggled throughout yesterday's America East semifinal against Vermont. But the Retrievers maintained their poise and took advantage of some clutch free-throw shooting plus tough defense in the final minutes to make school history. Ray Barbosa went 15-for-15 from the free-throw line, scored a game-high 29 points and teamed with Cavell Johnson to spark a late rally that carried UMBC to a 73-64 victory over Vermont in an America East semifinal at the Binghamton University Events Center.

DERBY, Vt. - Even though what they were doing was perfectly legal, Mark Emmons and Hal Parker still felt they had to sneak. So, they showed up at the municipal building here at 7:30 a.m. yesterday. Town Clerk Nicole Daigle arrived a little later. She was opening the building for only a few moments, on what would normally be her day off, so Emmons and Parker could get a civil union license - on the day that Vermont became the first state in the nation to legalize unions between gay and lesbian couples.

BURLINGTON, Vt. - The shorthand description for Ed Flanagan has been repeated so often, the words string together as one: firstopenlygaystateofficial. He is that, having come out in 1995 shortly after winning his second of four terms as the state's auditor. But now as Flanagan runs for U.S. Senate - if successful, his tagline no doubt would become firstopenlygaysenator - coming out has also boxed him in. "I am a proud gay American. However, my public service career is not defined by my private life," said Flanagan, a Democrat.

WASHINGTON - With a fiercely independent streak reflecting his home state of Vermont, an unassuming Jimmy Stewart demeanor and a tendency to side with the opposition party on major national issues, James M. Jeffords has often been the subject of "will he or won't he?" speculation. He kept his colleagues guessing about his intentions during the Clinton impeachment saga, finally becoming one of only five Republican senators to vote to acquit the president. And six years earlier, he sent dizzyingly mixed signals about his support for a key Clinton economic stimulus plan, eventually joining the GOP in opposing it. This week, the unpredictable Vermont native, who has spent 35 years as a Republican officeholder, is causing his colleagues to hold their breath once again, waiting for today's announcement at which he is expected to shift the balance of power in the evenly divided Senate by leaving the GOP and, most likely, becoming an independent allied with the Democrats.

An article on Page 1A Thursday about Fred Tuttle's run for a U.S. Senate seat in Vermont incorrectly reported the political affiliation of the state's governor. Vermont's governor, Howard Dean, is a Democrat.The Sun regrets the errors.GRANVILLE, Vt. -- When it comes to political campaigns, this one is surreal.The candidates for the U.S. Senate seat here dine together with their wives. They campaign together, like they did in this postcard-perfect mountain town yesterday. And by the time this topsy-turvy campaign is finally over, they might even vote for each other.

Brett Harvey was 5-for-7 from 3-point range and finished with 23 points as Loyola beat visiting Vermont, 79-66, Friday in the season opener for both teams. Harvey's 23 came in front of an announced sellout of 2,100 at Reitz Arena. Vermont pulled within four, 48-44, with 16:48 to play, but a free throw by Tony Lewis and a three-pointer by Harvey on a fast break put the Greyhounds (1-0) up by eight. Jawaan Wright added 11 points, including seven in a row midway through the second half, as Loyola built its lead to double digits.

VESTAL, N.Y. - Taylor Coppenrath and T.J. Sorrentine proved too much for UMBC to stop yesterday. Coppenrath scored 33 points inside and Sorrentine put on a clinic from the outside to score 20 as Vermont eliminated the Retrievers in an America East tournament quarterfinal, 76-61. Neither the outcome nor the starring roles was unexpected. Vermont (22-6) entered the tournament at Binghamton University's Events Center as the top seed after winning the title as the second seed each of the two previous years.

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- With leading scorer Brian Hodges sidelined by an ankle injury, four players in the lineup with four fouls for the final minutes and Vermont's sellout crowd roaring, the odds were against UMBC yesterday. But paced by a career-high 26 points from junior guard Jay Greene, 21 from senior guard Ray Barbosa and a 12-point, 12-rebound effort from junior forward Darryl Proctor, the Retrievers beat the odds and the Catamounts, 75-73, at Patrick Gymnasium before an announced 3,266.

RAGGED POINT - The mother eagle was hissing, brandishing her talons and otherwise causing a ruckus - her way of letting Craig Koppie know she would have none of his plan to spirit one of her eaglets off to Vermont. But Koppie, an endangered species biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, would not be deterred. With help from his New England colleague, Michael Amaral, he would get the bird and two others to Vermont, the only state in the lower 48 without a breeding bald eagle population.

Burlington, Vt. -- It's 5 o'clock in the evening, and the protesters are here. First two, then four. Eventually eight show up in front of the Unitarian Church on Pearl Street, even with the temperature dipping below freezing. Rush hour traffic, if you can call it that in this city of 39,000, rumbles past. A grandmother in a cherry-red coat clasps in her mittens a dog-eared poster with the word "peace" written in permanent marker. A Quaker couple huddling nearby wield two signs, one urging prayer for war hostages (and their captors)