by Mary Ellen Shaw As I was visiting with friends recently the conversation turned to the cars we have had over the years. For most of us at the table the earliest memories went back to the 1950s. I remember going to look at cars with my parents in 1952. I was 8 years old…

Spreading the love by Dom Cioffi I remember hearing a faint cough as I passed by a coworker’s desk last week. It was the kind of cough where you can hear the phlegm inside the lungs; the kind of cough that alerts you that someone is either headed into a sickness or recovering from one.…

Taxes are one of the biggest budget items for most taxpayers, yet many have no idea what they’re getting for their money. We all want to mitigate taxes and make sure you pay exactly what you owe – and not a penny more – but that doesn’t always make it feel any easier when writing…

By Brett Amy Thelen Every once in a while, as I’m tramping through the winter woods on my snowshoes, it occurs to me that I am walking on top of frogs. In winter, our thoughts naturally turn to the species who remain within our sight – the chickadees at our feeders or the foxes who…

By Cal Garrison a.k.a. Mother of the Skye This week’s horoscopes are coming out under the light of a Pisces Moon. In its new phase, with both the Sun and the Moon at the third degree of Pisces, we are looking at the beginning of a new cycle, when the year is at the end…

By Duncan W. Campbell Editor’s Note: This article is part of a partnership in which Castleton University student journalists are teaming up with University of Vermont students to provide news stories for local papers. The program is funded by a grant through UVM. They are 20-to 40-year-olds who live and breathe the winter sport that…

By Merisa Sherman The morning started with freshies. Road crew was working so hard, but had yet to plow my road. It was just gorgeous — an untouched ribbon of white, so inviting as the snow reached from treeline to a not-quite-hidden guard rail. The lights from the condos were glowing through the  5 a.m. darkness…

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Dear Editor, When I was listening to the impeachment of Donald J. Trump, something just crossed my mind: I hope that every American university,  college and high school student in the United States had an assembly in the auditorium to watch it on a big screen. I know this will live in part of our…

New England teams sweep podium for the first time with Vermont in first, New Hampshire second and Maine third By Polly Mikula A team of three snow sculptors from the Woodstock area have won the U.S. National Snow Sculpting Championship held in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Jan. 29-Feb. 1. The competition attracted the most talented snow…

Dear Editor, On Thursday, Feb. 6, James Hall had a letter in the Rutland Herald discussing Nancy Pelosi’s childish, provocative comments about Trump’s Tuesday night campaign speech. Hall further indicates that the Democratic Party under her is withering away. Hall further states her “disrespectful arrogance” was on display in front of “God” and everyone present.…

Dear Editor, I was still trying to get used to the idea that some Americans are going to jail because they don’t show up in court when hospitals sue them for unpaid medical bills when I came across other news that seemed at first like satire.  The state of Utah has a “Pharmacy Tourism Program”…

Dear Editor, Did you know that patients fighting cancer need more blood than patients fighting any other disease? Cancer patients use nearly one-quarter of the nation’s blood supply. In fact, five units of blood are needed every minute to help someone going through cancer treatment. Yet, only 3% of people in the U.S. give blood.…

By Jake Claro I encourage everyone to read through the Vermont Agriculture and Food System Plan recently released by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) and the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) in fulfillment of Act 83. The jointly created 2020 plan takes a balanced and honest view of multiple agricultural industries…

By Sen. Dick McCormack “Half-baked idea” usually refers, insultingly, to an idea that hasn’t been thought through. But I offer an idea that I admit is half baked. Because no one in Vermont is talking about it, because the idea contradicts the largely unchallenged assumption that folks, regardless of ideology, party or cultural background, consider…