By John Flowers, Addison Independent After 35 years in reporting, I thought I’d been through a lot as a journalist: Martial law in the Philippines; a couple of natural disasters — the big ice storm and rampant flooding in Addison County — in 1996; a double-murder/suicide; a visit by the Dalai Lama; local soldiers deploying…

By Sen. Alison Clarkson We are all adjusting to our new COVID-19 normal. The Legislature has just finished its first week of working remotely on Vermont’s response to this crisis. In each committee we are addressing different ways to respond to the anxieties and uncertainties we are all facing. This crisis is affecting almost every…

By Rep. Jim Harrison, Bridgewater, Chittenden, Killington & Mendon President Kennedy’s words, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country,” never rang more true than in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. We must all make sacrifices and help out where we can. The spread of the…

By Angelo Lynn On Friday, March 13, Gov. Phil Scott declared a state of emergency in Vermont in response to the coronavirus pandemic that has now established several beachheads in this country — most notably, a new epicenter is spreading in New Rochelle, New York, New York City and neighboring states, and into the Boston…

By Angelo Lynn Super Tuesday was exciting, shocking politics. Vice President Joe Biden’s surge from his seemingly moribund campaign prior to Saturday’s South Carolina’s blow-out to Tuesday’s victory in 9 of 14 states, many of which he had no ground game or advertising presence, was a stunning reversal of fortune for Biden and his chief…

By John Klar, candidate for 2020 Rep. governor Like a dragon eating its tail, Vermont’s bureaucracy continues to bloat like a runaway coronavirus, exponentially expanding “services” even as these very burdens drive more citizens into poverty, drug use, or emigration to more affordable states. A particularly virulent area of indefatigable expansion is schools. In 2013, Vermont held the…

By Jim Condos Following the results-reporting debacle during the Iowa Democratic Caucus, my office has been asked numerous times about Vermont’s presidential primary process, and if the problems that occurred in Iowa could happen here. The simple and straightforward answer is “no.” I want to take a moment to clear up how Vermont’s presidential primary…

By Anson Tebbetts Vermont’s rural communities are intricately tied to our economy, identity and way of life. At the same time, all of Vermont suffers when our farm and forestry sectors falter. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets and Vermont Farm to Plate are taking steps to build on our strengths and innovate…

By Patrick Leahy Hours before senators were sworn in to serve on President Trump’s impeachment trial, an independent, nonpartisan government watchdog confirmed what I have long suspected: When Trump froze congressionally appropriated military aid to Ukraine as part of an effort to compel Ukraine to investigate his political rival, he broke the law. That’s because…

By Paul Costello The temptation with bad news, like that of the closing of Green Mountain College, is to sit on one’s hands, paralyzed by structural change beyond immediate local control. The alternative is to come together, line up strategies and do what is in your power to move your community forward. That is just…

By David Van Deusen As president of the 10,000 member Vermont AFL-CIO (and as a former organizer with the Sierra Club), it was with keen interest that I read the recommendations of the Transportation and Climate Initiative.  This group, representing 12 Northeast states, is seeking to take steps to increase the price of fuel over…

Editor’s note: This was submitted by the Windsor Central Supervisory Union and may not represent the opinion of all school board members. After two years of studying the best and highest value means of addressing the facility deficiencies of the 60 plus year-old middle and high school facility, the WCSU (Windsor Central Supervisory Union) board…

By Steve Costello As a  former journalist who has seen a lot over the years, I’m not one to be easily impressed or inspired.  But as Gordon Dritschilo wrote (Gift of Life kicks off, Dec. 11) Stefanie Schaffer has recently done both. Read on, and I hope you’ll be inspired by Stefanie as well –…

By William J. Mathis Policy wonks, not getting the results they hoped for (and being a touch lazy) invented a new research method called the “intraocular traumatic test.” What that means is, look at the data and if the result hits you between the eyes, it’s significant. Naturally, this kind of eyeballing lends itself to…

By Leo Pond Republicans in both the House and the Senate have spoken out against the impeachment inquiry. Republicans in both chambers are doing everything in their power to prevent the impeachment inquiry from making any “groundbreaking” discoveries. These Republicans have interrupted a hearing already, setting it back three hours and causing a security issue…