By Dom Cioffi As my wife and I sat having dinner last Thursday night, I commented how disheartening the start of a new year could be. The company I work for experienced record sales in 2019, but all of that was erased on Jan. 1. Everything was reset and the pressure returned – and actually increased…

By Kevin Theissen By April 19, 2019, 137 million taxpayers had filed their federal income tax returns.  And they all made decisions about deductions and credits – whether they realized it. When you take the time to learn more about how it works, you may be able to put the tax code to work for…

By Susan Shea Late one January afternoon, my husband and I stood on the shore of a frozen pond below the summit of Camel’s Hump, admiring the view. Suddenly we heard familiar calls, and a flock of robins flew over. Robins? In winter? In the mountains? I was perplexed. Later, I talked with a birder…

by Cal Garrison This week’s horoscopes are coming out under the light of a Sagittarius Moon. The big news this week is that the Sun changes signs, entering Aquarius at 9:35 a.m. on Jan. 20. For those of you who are wondering, “Will there be any big changes now that Aquarius is at the wheel?”…

By Merisa Sherman It was still dark as we left the parking lot, and my beloved golden retreiver, Vespi, and I made our way toward our own little piece of heaven. As the sun ascended, so did we. It was a stunning morning, with the sky crisp and clear as it slowly turned from black…

By DJ Dave Hoffenberg This Friday head to Du Jour VT in Ludlow at 7 p.m. to catch pianist Jake McLaughlin. He’s there every three weeks so you’ll also have two opportunities in February. You can see him most Saturdays at The Castle, also in Ludlow. I saw McLaughlin last month at Charity’s and liked…

By Mary Ellen Shaw Many young people growing up in my era … the ’50s and ’60s … got their first taste of skiing right here in the city of Rutland. The place to do that was at the Rutland Country Club. The City of Rutland Recreation Department installed a 525’ rope tow there for…

Working the system By Dom Cioffi My 15-year-old son came home from school last week and announced that he had an important assignment to complete. Apparently, his Spanish teacher told the class that they had to go out to eat at a Spanish restaurant and then write a food review. I told my wife that…

by Kevin Theissen The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act is now law. With it, comes some of the biggest changes to retirement savings law in recent years. While the new rules don’t appear to amount to a massive upheaval, the SECURE Act will require a change in strategy for many Americans.…

Snow day! The announcement draws squeals of joy from students throughout the school district and groans from parents who must scramble to provide care for their kids and face a treacherous commute. But fourth-graders with overdue homework and harried parents aren’t the only ones whose fortunes hang in the balance when new snow blankets the…

This week’s horoscopes are coming out under the light of a Leo Moon. To tell you the truth I am a little discouraged and wary of saying anything. Why? Because even though it is my custom to avoid listening to what other astrologers have to say about things, last week, I broke that rule and…

By Merisa Sherman The howling wind cut across the exposed ridge line was trying to knock us off our skis.  Protected on the right by the track of the Mt .Washington cog railway, the mountain just dropped off into the valley on our left. One slipped ski and down we would go, 3,000 feet into the…

This week’s horoscopes are coming out under the light of a Gemini Moon that will be void-of-course from 7:08 a.m. until 9:11 p.m., when it enters Cancer on Monday, Jan. 6.This is what we could call an auspicious moment in time. Not only does the Epiphany fall on Jan. 6, also happens to be the…

Resolving to be better I had a conversation with some coworkers recently concerning New Year’s resolutions. Their opinions ran the gamut from not caring at all to caring very much about resolving to do one or many things differently in 2020. One of my coworkers followed the classic trajectory of signing up for a gym…

Two chipmunks vie for seeds on our front lawn. One lives directly underneath the bird feeder. Another hails from the far side of the house, address unknown. The chipmunks appear identical to me: same size, same stripes. Same interests, namely seed hoarding, aggressive chittering, jumping into the bushes and back out again, and brazen stiff-tailed…