Who won and lost the week in Vermont news and politics? These guys:

Winners:

Bipartisan bong rips — Plenty of Rs got down with the Ds and Ps as the House voted 98-44 to decriminalize up to an ounce of marijuana. Runner-up losers: Vermont political columnists who are running out of fresh — or dank — pot jokes.

Peter Galbraith — The Windham County senator didn't make many friends during his crusade against corporate contributions to political candidates, but the guy did get his amendment through the Senate. Runner-up loser: Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell for failing to stop Galbraith and flip-flopping on the issue.

Burlington Democrats — After a weeks-long stalemate, the other guys blinked first and Democratic council president Joan Shannon kept her job. Remember: their promise to turn over the presidency to a non-D next year only applies if the council remains split 7-7. Runner-up loser: Councilor Karen Paul, who pissed off members of her fragile coalition, prompting them to cut a deal with Shannon.

Losers after the break...

Tie score:

Jack Thurston — The NECN reporter's hard-hitting questions prompted a major television star to storm out of an interview earlier this week. Except that the star in question was Montel Williams, who hasn't been heard from since Oasis topped the pop charts.

Shumlin's lady love — Gov. Peter Shumlin, who defeated two women when he ran for governor, was all about electing women to office this week. First he wrote an op-ed in the Huffington Post; then he took his act to WCAX's "The :30." So what exactly would he do to increase the number of women in politics? It's not terribly clear.

Losers:

Vermont's congressional delegation — Dudes are out nearly five figures apiece, thanks to that pesky sequester and peskier paper of record. Bummer-town.

Jim Condos — Vermont's secretary of state got a little spanking from his old friends in the Senate Wednesday as they voted 29 to, um, 0 against his plan to move up primary elections by three weeks. He was spotted chewing them out for the vote outside the Senate chamber the next day.

VTel — Another state grant from the Vermont Telecommunications Authority to Springfield-based VTel is on the ropes, reports VTDigger's Nat Rudarakanchana. So much for that great hire back in January!

House committees — More drama in House Speaker Shap Smith's fiefdom this week, reports VTDigger's Anne Galloway. You know something's wrong when you have to schedule a "decorum session."

Welfare reform — Perhaps it's not the smartest thing to cut 12 positions devoted to finding Reach Up beneficiaries jobs when you're trying to cut the number of people on Reach Up? Or am I missing something?

The Winooski River — Talk about a shitty situation!