Dear Editor, President Biden is absolutely correct in starting the process to reform the American higher education system. Simply forgiving loans and making higher education “free” is fraught with fundamental issues and will only lead to financial disaster unless tuition reform becomes part of a bigger plan hopefully based perhaps on the extremely successful Swedish…

By Angelo Lynn Last Tuesday, Jan. 26, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott proposed a dream $6.83 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2022: It proposed no increase in proposed taxes or fees, it avoided cutting any essential services, and it added $210 million in new investments to bolster the state’s economy. In recent times, that’s unheard of…

Vermonters interested in conserving wildlife are encouraged to donate to the Nongame Wildlife Fund on their state income tax form this year, the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Dept. stated this week. The fund helps protect some of Vermont’s most threatened wildlife such as bald eagles, lake sturgeon, spruce grouse, and Indiana bats. Donations are leveraged…

Over the past two years, Vermont’s Natural Resources Conservation Districts (NRCDs) installed 14 acres of high-priority forested buffers along approximately 11,000 linear feet of streams and other surface waters through a Vermont Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) grant to improve water quality across the state. According to the department, the ecological and economic benefits of planting…

By Sen. Dick McCormack It requires real effort to focus on anything but Covid and the transfer of power, but life and its lesser concerns go on. A tri-partisan group of senators is co-sponsoring S.17, a bill I’ve introduced to require civics education for a high school diploma. The ideological diversity of the bill’s sponsors…

By Rep. Jim Harrison Last Tuesday, Jan. 26, Governor Phil Scott addressed a virtual joint assembly of the Legislature, to highlight his administration’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year beginning July 1. The plan included use of $210 million of “one-time money” (such as a budget surplus from the current year or extra money…

Joins nearly 100 criminal justice leaders in calling for urgent action Attorney General TJ Donovan has joined nearly 100 criminal justice leaders in urging President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to take all actions within their power to immediately and definitively end the death penalty in the United States. In a letter sent…

By Anne Wallace Allen/VTDigger Among the millions of people who left the U.S. workforce last year, most are women. And nowhere is that more evident than in Vermont, which led the nation with the largest share of unemployment insurance recipients who were women. New research from the Joint Fiscal Office shows that about 73% of the…

By Lola Duffort/VTDigger An unexpected surplus in tax receipts is not just good news for the state’s coffers. It’s a boon to Vermont’s schools and to property owners, whose education taxes might otherwise have skyrocketed next year. With the state’s revenue upgrade in hand, the House Ways and Means Committee last week green-lighted legislation that would raise the average education…

By Brooke Geery Second-grade teacher Jen Ellis’s handmade, upcycled mittens set the Internet ablaze after they were worn by Sen. Bernie Sanders at the 2021 inauguration. Since she is busy and satisfied with her current career, Ellis has opted against going into full-time mitten production. But for those who would love to get a pair…

While the recent Bernie meme and sweatshirt sales have sold out and all proceeds are going toward Senator Sanders' home state of Vermont for the Meals on Wheels programs, we, at the Vermont Association of Area Agencies on Aging (V4A) couldn’t be more ecstatic. Carol Stamatakis, president of V4A and executive director of Senior Solutions,…

Governor Phil Scott unveiled his proposal to add $3 million to the base funding for the Vermont’s Working Lands Enterprise Initiative for Fiscal Year 2022 on Tuesday, Jan. 26, during his annual budget address. The Vermont Working Lands Coalition celebrated this proposal this week and encouraging Vermont legislators to support the significant one-time investment. “We…

Feb. 1, the Vermont Community Foundation (VCF) announced that it has partnered with the Community College of Vermont (CCV) to expand pathways to promising jobs for high school seniors across the state. To help the Vermont high school class of 2022 chart and start their career training, the Community Foundation will offer $1,000 in stipends…

Rutland Young Professionals announced the results of its 2021 members of the year awards on February 1. The Young Professional of the Year award recognizes an emerging leader under the age of 45 who lives/works in the Rutland Region, demonstrates leadership qualities in both his or her personal and professional life, and is active in…

By Brooke Geery Shortly after the permanent sign for Flannels Bar & Grill went up at 74 US-Route 4 in Mendon, the people who’d named the restaurant sold it to Avery Chipka and Hunter Pike. This wasn’t all that surprising — the location has changed hands several times over the years. In the 60s it…