By Dom Cioffi One of the first jobs I had as a teenager was at a local record store (of course, this was back when record stores actually specialized in selling records). It was a huge thrill to be around all that music, to talk about music and to enlighten people about music. My infatuation…

By Laurie Morrissey It’s just a tiny black dot moving very, very slowly. But if you’re interested in astronomy, this is an exciting dot. It is Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system, passing between the earth and the sun. The transit of Mercury is a relatively rare event, so sky-watchers are hoping for…

So far, the Internet-intellectual music criticism addressing the politics of Beyoncé’s new visual album “Lemonade”—an R&B confession of marital discord that attempts to locate, within its narrative of the spiritual-psychological consequences of infidelity, a counterintuitive yet interrelated locus of black feminist empowerment—has coexisted in equal superabundance with apolitical scuttlebutt inquiring as to the real identity…

By Jon Margolis Editor’s note: Jon Margolis is VTDigger’s political columnist. Republicans in the Legislature think state government spends too much. They might be right. For the last several years, state spending has grown faster than the state’s economy. From 2010 to 2013, Vermont’s gross domestic product grew 2.4 percent. Growth since then has been…

By Daris Howard As I stood in the grocery store checking my list, I thought I heard someone call my name. I turned around, but I didn’t see anyone I recognized, so I went back to my list. I heard my name again, but this time there was no mistaking it. I turned to see…

By Cal Garrison, a.k.a. Mother of the Skye This week's Horoscopes are coming out under the light of a Pisces Moon, in the wake of the May Day rituals: it is a powerful time of the year. If your eyes are open, you can see it everywhere. By the first of May, in the Northern…

By Dom Cioffi It was supposed to be one of those perfect afternoons: the sun was shining, the temperatures were comfortable, the sky was a piercing blue and devoid of clouds, and I had nothing to do. My wife had left town with her tennis team for a match so it was just my son…

By Dom Cioffi I take coaching seriously. Because of this, most of the kids who play or have played on my teams probably think I’m too serious (this includes my own son). But I look at it this way: if you’re going to play a sport and you want to improve, there’s only one way…

By Lani Duke RUTLAND—Neal and Patricia Whitney began opening their home to high-risk girls in need of foster care about 1993. In 2008, they were named Rutland's Foster Parents of the Year. Over time, they provided a home to more than 200 children through the Vermont Department of Children and Families. In 2012, the DCF…

By Leonard Perry, UVM horticulturist and Charlie Nardozzi, garden consultant It’s vegetable planting time in most of the area. In valleys and warm areas plant tomatoes, peppers, beans, lettuce, squash and cucumbers at the end of May. Many gardeners like to plant around Memorial Day. In colder areas you may want to wait until early…

By Joe Rankin “Boy, he’s really red! I don’t think I’ve ever seen them that red before,” my wife said admiringly of a male purple finch crunching sunflower seeds at the feeder. He was a nice burgundy. The male goldfinches were getting yellower, but still looked scruffy. The birds made me optimistic that spring would…

I write this on the heels of Earth Day, 2016. I have been working too much. For the first time in my life, I am really caught up in the rat race. It is difficult to separate myself from it, because my endeavor is literally to save the world one rooftop at a time, but…

Last week I wrote an NBA-related article about the league’s shift toward conference parity and, at the end of the piece, I speculated that the regression of the Western Conference was one of the reasons the Golden State Warriors were able to achieve a record-setting 73 wins. A friend, discussing the article with me, argued…

Back in the 1950s when I was a child if you wanted an ice cream soda or a sundae, you could head to one of the downtown Rutland drug stores. They had lunch counters where you could get sandwiches and ice cream treats. These stores were not part of a chain and they didn’t offer…

Cal Garrison a.k.a. Mother of the Skye This week’s Horoscopes are coming out under the light of a Sagittarius Moon, with levels of tension being induced by aspects that will make it hard to take care of business and get our needs met, at the same time. Most of the stress comes from a waxing…