Discover More from This Author: Polly

Elect McCormack, Clarkson and White to Senate

October 26, 2022
Dear Editor, This election year, Windsor County has the opportunity to elect three excellent candidates to the state Senate. Representing the largest geographic Senate district in the state takes a special type of person. They must be willing to show up in every corner of a district that sprawls from Thetford to Weston and Springfield…

Consider women’s health care when you vote for abortion bans

October 26, 2022
Dear Editor, I believe that women’s health care, including abortion, is a medical issue, and making it into a political issue is a mistake. As Rev. Raphael Warnock, U.S. Senator from the state of Georgia, recently stated, “I happen to think that a patient’s room is too small a place for a woman, her doctor…

My boyfriend-husband: Part 2

October 20, 2022
Asking the hard question: Are we better together or apart? Years ago, when our children left our nest to build their own, my husband and I sat down and asked ourselves a very hard question. Are we better together—or apart? Our marriage is, and always has been strong, solid—and scrappy. It seems that two people…

Nearly $6M awarded to Killington for water quality

October 20, 2022
The town of Killington recently received official word of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and grant subsidy designated for clean water and drinking water infrastructure. The Agency of Natural Resources reviewed applications from around the state and responded with an allocation commitment of a $2.3 million ARPA grant and a $3.6 million fully forgivable…

Center Street to become one-way street

October 19, 2022
Staff report The Board of Aldermen unanimously voted Oct. 17 to make Center Street in Rutland a one-way street. The decision was made following an Oct. 11 community and economic development commission meeting, where the item also passed unanimously 5-0. The Board of Aldermen made the decision on Monday, Oct. 17 with no discussion, but…

Elective abortions: Dangerous misinformation vs. the facts

October 19, 2022
By George Till Editor’s note: Rep. George Till of Jericho is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist who has served in the Vermont State Legislature since 2008. Till is also an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the UVM School of Medicine.   A lot of misinformation is being circulated regarding Article 22/Prop. 5, which will appear as…

Killington Mountain Bike Club to host second annual Fox Haunted Hillside Relay Saturday

October 19, 2022
Saturday, Oct. 22 at 12 p.m.— KILLINGTON — Killington Mountain Bike Club, a chapter of the Vermont Mountain Bike Association, will host the second annual Haunted Hillside Relay Race, presented by Fox. The Fox Haunted Hillside relay is a fundraising event for the Killington Mountain Bike Club and will be held Saturday at the Base…

Vermont launches initiative to reduce rising number of suicides

October 19, 2022
Suicides in Vermont are at a 25-year high, and state health officials have issued a call to action for Vermonters to be partners in bending this curve. To help make this happen, the Vermont Dept. of Health and Dept. of Mental Health have launched Facing Suicide VT, a statewide prevention effort funded by the Centers for…

Time to button up your home

October 19, 2022
With heating fuel prices at their highest level in years and winter just around the corner, Button Up Vermont is getting the word out: The best time to weatherize your home is right now. The annual Button Up Vermont campaign, supported by a partnership of energy services providers and clean energy champions, works each fall…

100 years later, etiquette is still in style

October 19, 2022
By Liz DiMarco Weinmann As we navigate the return to in-person work, stricter dress codes, business travel and meals with clients, I’m hoping that the importance of being respectful to colleagues hasn’t disappeared entirely. But, considering the past few years of social isolation, it’s reasonable to expect that we all could benefit from a refresher…

Social Security announces 8.7% COLA

October 19, 2022
By Kevin Theissen It is now official that starting in January Social Security benefit checks will be going up by 8.7%. The CPI-W, which is the index used to calculate the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), rose by 8.5% over the last year to an index level of 291.8. The Social Security Administration (SSA) takes the…

Youth and novice deer hunting weekend is Oct. 22-23

October 19, 2022
Hunters encouraged to bring deer to check stations   Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 22-23 — STATEWIDE — Hunters who harvest a deer during Vermont’s Oct. 22-23 youth and novice deer weekend are encouraged to bring their deer to one of 19 biological reporting stations to help state wildlife biologists gather data on the health of…

Colors delight leaf peepers

October 19, 2022
By Julia Purdy Well, fall foliage has done it again... in spite of a slow start and drought that has hit some trees hard, Indigenous Peoples' Weekend (formerly Columbus Day) rewarded visitors and locals like with the progression of color that, like an orchestra tuning up, began gradually as one species after another reacted to…

On any given Sunday

October 19, 2022
By Dom Cioffi I took my father-in-law to a professional football game last weekend. Football is one of the few things we bond over, so if I must spend an extended amount of time with him, I prefer it to revolve around football. He’s originally from New York (having grown up in Brooklyn), so he’s…

The Brandon Free Public Library launches the Brandon Publishing Club

October 19, 2022
Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 5:30 p.m. — BRANDON — The Brandon Free Public Library is launching the Brandon Publishing Club (BPC). The BPC will offer programming to help people create and self-publish their own books. In partnership with local artists and educators John Brodowski and Ethan Nelson, the library will offer a series of events…