By Marguerite Jill Dye It’s a time for new visions, hopes, and dreams, and to focus attention on the New Year. It’s a time to reassess our lives, and raise our vibrations to attract more joy. I want to invite newness into my life, and let go of old ways that are not beneficial. Out…

By DJ Dave Hoffenberg This Friday, Dec. 28, the place to be is the Clear River Tavern at 9 p.m. for the hip hop stylings of rapper Jarv. He is definitely the biggest act to ever hit the floor of the Clear River Tavern. With over 45,000 Facebook likes, he probably has more “Likes” than…

By Dom Cioffi The New Year is upon us and with it comes the inevitable pressure to make an annual resolution. This is the time of year when smokers vow to quit (or at least cut back), foodies resolve to lose weight (or at least eat healthier), and couch potatoes decide to get in shape…

By Jan Demers What happens when you are 1 percent over the eligibility limit? You need help and help is so close but the edge of the cliff is crumbling underneath you. She had come to our office 10 years ago and needed help paying for fuel. Year after year the cold of winter brought…

By Dick McCormack When the Legislature convenes in January, there will be an effort to amend the Vermont Constitution to alter the 1777 language prohibiting slavery, the first prohibition of slavery in North America. I think doing this is a bad idea.  As I understand it, supporters of amending object to the anti-slavery language because…

Dear Editor, The committee for the new public safety building along with representatives from each department and the design team met again after receiving the drawings which were presented in the Mountain Times. The main discussion was to assess the drawings which were according to our previous discussions. At this meeting we looked for ways…

Dear Editor, My heart is breaking for the child who felt so alone in our community that the only answer they could come to was violence. We need to wrap that child, and every child, in love. We need to do better. As grateful as I am for the advocacy (mostly by our youth) that…

Dear Editor, Throughout the course of this year I have had the opportunity to meet many first-responders in the fire service, emergency medical services, law enforcement, and emergency management through the governor’s Capitol for a Day initiative. I continue to be humbled and awed by your service and commitment to you communities. As 2018 ends,…

Monday, Dec. 31, 8 p.m. —RUTLAND— If ever there was a year that needed to end with a laugh, it’s this year. Say “goodbye” to 2018 with a hilarious night of laughter that everyone will enjoy, but that won’t break the bank. Paramount Theatre hosts the “First Night of Funny” on New Year’s Eve, Dec.…

Cal Garrison (a.k.a Mother of the Skye) writes weekly horoscopes for The Mountain Times. If you would like an emailed notification sent to you weekly, sign up for the newsletter, below. Copyright - Cal Garrison: 2018: © Want to hear more from Mother of the Skye? Check out Mother's Celestial Inspirations for a deeper look into this weeks horoscopes…

By Cal Garrison a.k.a. Mother of the Skye This week’s horoscopes are coming out under the light of a Cancer Moon that turned void of course for a couple of hours until it entered Leo at around noon on Christmas Eve. With the winds of change bearing down on us like gangbusters, the usual holiday…

By Curt Peterson It’s true, a lot of people read the New Yorker, at least in part, for the cartoons, and about 70 of them showed up for Edward Koren’s introduction of his new book, “Koren in the Wild” at the Norman Williams Library in Woodstock Tuesday, Dec. 11. The book consists of 200 Koren…

By Katy Savage Donald Billings doesn’t like to sit still. After relocating his Rutland restaurant, Roots, to Washington Street and reopening Dec. 7 with double the seating, Billings, the owner and chef, opened a market and deli in Killington. Now he’s ready to open another restaurant. Crux was scheduled to open on Killington Road this…

By Xander Landen/VTDigger The governor’s Marijuana Advisory Commission is recommending that before Vermont moves to legalize a commercial cannabis market, the state needs to find a consistent way to test drivers for cannabis impairment. The panel also urges policymakers in its report to pave the way for law enforcement to use roadside saliva tests to determine…

  Beginning Jan. 1, 2019, the state’s minimum wage will increase to $10.78 per hour. Also beginning Jan. 1, 2019, employers will see a reduction in the taxable wage base amount that they pay on unemployment taxes by $2,000. Nearly 22,600 employers remit state unemployment taxes to the Vermont Department of Labor on an annual…