Dear Editor, While waiting for a resolution to the Covid-19 crisis we need to be looking to the future of  health care in general. We have continued to struggle with unaffordable premiums, unaffordable deductibles, and unaffordable co-pays, forcing choices between health care and food, rent, mortgages, clothes, tuition,….add to that the millions of people who…

Dear Edtior, Like many organizations and programs, Southwestern Vermont Council on Aging (SVCOA) has faced its share of challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic, specifically around maintaining high levels of service to older Vermonters in our region amidst an unprecedented increase in service demand. Thankfully, SVCOA is backed by a compassionate, hardworking and committed volunteer roster,…

By Lee H. Hamilton We are living in a difficult time. Our country and its communities are deeply polarized; many Americans distrust one another as well as the government and other institutions. The novel coronavirus has deepened our problems in a way none of us imagined. The number of Americans who have contracted Covid-19 has…

By Nick Richardson, president and CEO of the Vermont Land Trust For some it may feel too soon to ask this question, as new cases of Covid-19 are reported every day and the economic impacts for our state and our country grow more severe. Yet it’s this question we must ask relentlessly over the days…

By Joyce Judy, president of Community College of Vermont The Vermont State Colleges System is weathering the roughest days of its 60-year history. The potential changes facing our sister institutions are painful and the challenges are real. While the Community College of Vermont (CCV) is not immune to these challenges, we are fundamentally unique, financially…

By Dr. Karen M. Scolforo, president of Castleton University You may have seen the recent news coverage regarding the challenges faced by the Vermont State Colleges System (VSCS), many of which were highlighted last summer in the VSCS white paper, Securing the Future of the Vermont State Colleges, and exacerbated by the novel coronavirus global…

Dear Editor, With many people isolating at home to benefit public safety, and uncertainty the only certainty these days, it’s been inspiring to see how Rutland County has responded to the Covid-19 pandemic. From hanging up lights and rainbows to making masks and putting out signs encouraging people to wash their hands, stay one cow…

Dear Editor, The League of Women Voters urges everyone to participate in the 2020 Census, now underway. The U.S. Constitution requires the federal government count everyone living in the country every 10 years. Every household should complete a Census form (either online, by mail, or by phone) by Oct. 31, 2020. Participating in the Census…

Dear Editor, Closing NVU-Lyndon, NVU-Johnson, and Vermont Technical College’s (VTC) Randolph campus would migrate Vermont’s higher educational engine to the Champlain Valley. The Burlington metropolitan area already exerts economic and political dominance over the rest of the state. Depriving Vermonters of access to educational and cultural resources in this manner would be unfair and inequitable. The Vermont State College (VSC)…

By Richard Slusky The coronavirus pandemic has brought to light the many fractures in the U.S. health care system, particularly the inadequate access that many low- and middle-income people have to health care services when they are most needed, and their dependence on employer-sponsored health care plans. Perhaps it’s time to reconsider the concept of universal…

By Lisa Loomis, The Valley Reporter In the midst of this time of self-isolation and social distancing during Covid-19 our lives have changed in so many ways that it’s hard to keep up. A lot of these changes have been difficult and scary and painful. But at least one change in how Vermont conducts itself…

Dear Editor, First, a little history: 2008 saw the worst financial crisis in this country since the Great Depression. In response to the economic devastation, congress enacted the Troubled Asset Relief Program to bail out America’s big banks, to the tune of $700 billion. Today, with the coronavirus pandemic hitting small businesses harder than anybody…

Dear Editor, I felt like an imaginary, old fashioned Italian woman today. I decided it was time to pack away the big, heavy down comforter as deep winter is over in Vermont. So, I filled my big bath tub with lots of soap, bleach and hot water. Then I submerged the queen sized white comforter…

Dear Editor, Covid-19 is impacting families all across Vermont and the nation. We have known from the beginning that group living settings are particularly susceptible to rapid infection. We have seen in other countries and states that the outcome of not taking strong preventative measures in prisons is a spike in cases of infection. We…

Dear Editor, From Ayn Rand to Ronald Reagan, America’s conservative heroes have preached “public is bad, private is good.” Yet public means “accessible to or shared by all members of the community,” while private means “intended for or restricted to the use of a particular person, group, or class.”  We’re paying a great price for…