By Lauren Hierl Like so many aspects of our lives, the 2020 legislative session in Vermont has been unprecedented. For the first time, lawmakers figured out how to do committee work and hold votes virtually. Instead of adjourning before the election season got underway, as typically happens, lawmakers were merely on a break until Aug.…

By Jim Condos Dismantling the U.S. Postal Service during a pandemic will suppress the voting rights of American voters and is a disgrace to democracy. During any election year, and especially during a pandemic when voters are increasingly turning to mail-in voting as a safe and secure way to exercise their sacred franchise, we rely…

By Betsy Bishop and Aly Richards When we look years ahead, how do we picture Vermont? Where are our workplaces centered, where are our homes in relation to our workplaces, and how do we see working parents in our state thriving? Vermont is in a pivotal moment. Amid the economic and emotional pain caused by the Covid-19…

By Rob Katz, Vail Resorts CEO What will the 2020-21 ski and snowboard season look like? We are still in the heat of July – still celebrating the successful opening of our resorts for summer —  and that is the number one question we are getting across our 34 North American resorts. What lies ahead…

By Governor Phil Scott Earlier this summer, my team set a goal for our state: If our positive health trends continue, let’s return to in-person instruction for our kids in the fall. Our core principle has been to help school districts safely provide every child with an education that is as good or better than…

By John R. Kasich This op-ed was first published in the Boston Globe July 22, 2020. It is republished here with permissions. America, we’ve lost our way. As a nation, and as individuals, we’ve been thrown off course by an endless barrage of shocking words and divisive deeds from the president who is supposed to lead…

The federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) pumped $1.19 billion into the Vermont economy in April, May, and June to help employers hang onto nearly 114,000 jobs during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. To put that in perspective, in normal times Vermont has about 315,000 non-farm payroll jobs, and the state’s total output of…

The following editorial was first published in the Deerfield Valley News in Wilmington, Vermont. Just in case readers haven’t noticed, it’s an election year. Of course, there is much focus on the presidential election. Understandably so, given all that is at stake with the future of the country and everything. But there are also statewide…

By Alis Headlam It was a perfect storm. Jim Baker arrived in Rutland to take the helm as chief of police at a time when drugs, housing and crime were devastating the city. This was 2012. A vision was created under his leadership with the help of Joan Gamble and a large group of concerned citizens:…

By Timothy R. Burgess In 2004, convicted and sentenced to a term in Vermont’s correctional system, I had been back in Vermont for 12 years. It was the experience of being in prison that really showed me how institutional racism in our little state was flourishing. I had a visit from my family, and it…

By Leo Pond The Black Lives Matter movement has driven another political “wedge” between the left and the right. The Black Lives Matter movement has advocated against police brutality and for equality, so why is it so hard for the right to support it? The right thinks that this movement forgets about all other races,…

By David F. Kelley If we cut the distance between two points in half, no matter how often, it brings them closer together, but they never meet. When I was practicing law I came to the conclusion that finding the “truth” was, very often, the same way. We rarely got to “the whole truth and nothing…

Vermont was a leader in the abolition of slavery By Bill Clark May 25, 2020, was Memorial Day. A day set aside to pause and remember and pay tribute to all the brave Americans who have given their lives over the years so that this great American democracy can continue to live on. A time…

By Eric Booth and Paul Gambill Look at a particular artwork with others and personal opinions and positions arise; join in making an artwork with others and connections bloom. The state of our union is jumbled, tense with differing opinions and opposed positions—our strengths disoriented, our consciousness of unacceptable systemic oppressions rising. But the power…

By Sen. Bernie Sanders Editor’s note: The following is Sen. Sanders prepared remarks June 25, ahead of the Senate’s consideration of a proposed $740.5 billion military budget authorization. Sanders’ amendment to the National Defense Authorization. Mr. President, if there was ever a moment in American history when we needed to fundamentally alter our national priorities,…