Discover More from This Author: Polly

Be alert to avoid moose on the roadway

September 14, 2022
Drivers need to be alert and cautious because moose are on the move, according to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Dept. (VTF&W). Moose are more likely to be crossing roadways at this time of year, especially after dark or early in the morning because this is breeding season for moose. “Motorists hit 49 moose on…

Ludlow Expeditionary School forges ahead

September 14, 2022
The third year of the Expeditionary School at Black River (ESBR) has seen an increased number of students, school officials report. This year’s community of students come from Ludlow, Mt. Holly, Andover, Cavendish, Charlestown (New Hampshire), and even a foreign exchange student from Germany, whose mother was an exchange student at Black River High School…

Rochester continues to grapple with 26,500 square foot high school

September 14, 2022
Town Meeting Day vote will ask voters if it's worth $1 By Ethan Weinstein/VTDigger This summer and beyond, residents of the town of Rochester are trying to figure out what to do with an empty high school building — four years after its last class graduated. Following the district mergers and school consolidations that resulted from…

What does equity mean?

September 14, 2022
By Alis Headlam Editor’s note: This commentary is by Alis Headlam, Ed.D., of Rutland. Headlam retired as a professional educator training teachers to teach literacy in institutions in the United States, Africa and Jamaica; is the former creator and member of the Multiracial Alliance of the Rutland Area; and is currently a member of Project VISION…

On the legalization of sex work

September 14, 2022
Dear Editor, Montpelier is now the second city in the state to decriminalize prostitution within its city limits, and I am deeply concerned for what this move will mean for Vermont. Regardless of where you stand on the issue of sex work, the reality is that wherever prostitution is decriminalized, there is a subsequent increase…

Addressing the health care crisis

September 14, 2022
Dear Editor, Every indicator says we are rapidly approaching the implosion of healthcare in Vermont and probably the nation. The 2021 Vermont Household Health Insurance Survey indicates that 38% of Vermonters under age 65 are underinsured, as are 32.3% of those on Medicare. Since the Green Mountain Care Board has again approved large rate increases…

Colleges are also billionaires

September 14, 2022
Dear Editor, U.S. colleges bear considerable responsibility for the student debt crisis. Colleges with fat endowments (and bloated tuitions) should be tapped to help address this crisis. How about increased federal and state taxes on endowments to help pay for the dangerous student-debt bailout idea? We hear billionaires should pay their fair share. Well, many…

Vermont adds hMPXV vaccination opportunities, but supply limited

September 7, 2022
Vermont has expanded eligibility for the hMPXV (human monkeypox virus) JYNNEOS vaccine to certain groups at higher risk of contracting the virus and has increased vaccination opportunities, but officials caution that vaccine supply is still limited at this time. hMPXV can spread to anyone through close and often skin-to-skin contact with someone who is infected.…

New RNESU superintendent reflects on Covid lessons

September 7, 2022
By Mat Clouser/The Reporter During the Covid-19 pandemic, youngsters have seen the brightness of their childhoods darkened by the specter of disease, uncertainty and the real-time fissuring of a society in which many have been taught to trust implicitly. New Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union Superintendent Kristin Hubert knows this all too well but remains steadfast…

Vermont’s opportunity to ensure accessible electric vehicles — for consumers and climate

September 7, 2022
Editor’s note: This commentary is a joint op-ed from Vermont Natural Resources Council, Vermont Conservation Voters, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, Conservation Law Foundation, Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club and Vermont Public Interest Research Group. When it comes to getting where we all need to go — which often needs to be by car…

New Covid-19 booster vaccine now available

September 7, 2022
Bivalent vaccine offers protection against new virus variants State health officials announced Tuesday, Sept. 6, that Vermonters will be able to receive the newly approved Covid-19 vaccine booster shots starting Wednesday, Sept. 7. The updated boosters are designed to be a match for the BA.5 Omicron variant currently affecting most people. Last week, the CDC…

Man shot by Ludlow police officer dies

September 7, 2022
Michael Mills, the man who was shot by a Ludlow police officer on Aug. 15, 2022, has died. Mills was 36 years old at the time of his death Aug. 25 at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. The New Hampshire Chief Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on Mills and determined the cause…

Vermont has a workforce crisis

September 7, 2022
By Paul Bean Editor’s note: Paul Bean is a resident of Northfield and a candidate for Vermont Senate in Washington County. In honor of Labor Day, I wanted to talk about our workforce. Vermont is a challenging place in which to live, and we want to ensure that our youth are being educated on the…

Rutland retires Raiders mascot, again

September 7, 2022
By Katy Savage Rutland City School Board members voted 6-4 Tuesday, Aug. 30 to once again retire the Raiders moniker following state legislation that essentially requires all schools to stop using racist mascots. The discussion on Tuesday was brief and followed an earlier ad-hoc committee meeting on Aug. 23. Karen Bossi, who suggested changing the…

New Fair Haven Middle School opens just in time

September 7, 2022
Staff report Repairs and upgrades of the new Fair Haven Union Middle High School were finished just in time for school to start. The building received its certificate of occupancy on Monday, Aug. 29, just two days before the first day of school. “It was definitely tight,” said Slate Valley Unified Union School District Superintendent…