This week Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie called for a renewed look at Jessica's Law, debate began over the governor's call for a special session to examine sex offender laws, a Montpelier compost company was forced to shut down, a civil rights committee heard stories of racial profiling in Vermont, and demand for wood pellet stoves soared to an all time high.

These were some of the voices in the news this week:

Debate escalates over tougher sex offender laws

(Dubie) "What I'm suggesting is that now is the time to send a message that we're not going to accept violent sexual crime against women or children in our state and a 25 year minimum mandatory sentence sends that message."

Special legislative session still uncertain

(Shumlin) "This gentleman would have still carried out exactly the same actions because none of those 3 actions would have kept that guy away from his niece so the question obviously is why would we rush back... to Montpelier?"

State cracks down on compost operations

(Annette Smith) So why it's okay for a multinational corporation to pollute the groundwater and continue to use a toxic substance ...and not take any action while going after the composters who do not seem to have any environmental impact is really wrong.

Committee looks at issue of racial profiling in Vermont

(Saxman) ``During that year he was stopped 13 times by the police, never given a traffic ticket, never arrested for anything...yet he was regularly subjected to stops. On his first day in Vermont, he was stopped twice.''

Demand increases for pellet stoves

(Merrill) "We are talking to 40-50 people a day in here. And on a Saturday it's nothing to see 150 people in here looking at stoves. Because they just cannot afford their fuel bill. Their pre-buy has come in and they just cannot come up with $5,000 to $6,000, whatever it's going to cost them for their fuel for one year."

Photo: Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie holds a news conference in Montpelier, Vt., Monday, July 14, 2008. Dubie says Vermont must crack down on sex offenders, and he's calling on the Legislature to convene in a special session next month to pass new laws doing so. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)