By Jay Diaz Editor’s note: Jay Diaz is a general counsel for ACLU of Vermont. With Vermont’s primary election approaching on Aug. 9, it’s time for many voters to decide which candidates are best aligned with their values — and that includes candidates for county prosecutor. Vermont’s elected prosecutors, known as state’s attorneys, have tremendous…

By Jonathan Dowds Editor’s note: Jonathan Dowds is the deputy director of Renewable Energy Vermont. New Hampshire households are about to get hit hard, really hard, by rate hikes that will increase electricity bills by more than $70 a month. These unprecedented rate hikes reflect surging natural gas prices and New Hampshire’s ill-fated decision to…

By Linda Bowden Editor’s note: Linda Bowden is AARP Vermont’s volunteer state president. We are paying more for nearly everything today – from groceries to gas to housing. As inflation reaches its highest in 40 years – rising 7% last year alone – Vermonters are asking what Congress can do to help them pay for…

By Roxanne Vought Editor’s note: Roxanne Vought is the executive director of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility. She lives in Weybridge. For those of us who envision — and strive each day toward — a just, thriving, and transformative economy that works for all people and the planet, the final week of June 2022 was…

By Steph Yu Editor’s note: Steph Yu is the deputy director of Public Assets Institute, a non-partisan, non-profit organization based in Montpelier. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has devastating effects on anyone who can get pregnant. Plain and simple, this ruling is a clear effort to assert control over women’s…

By Angelo Lynn Editor’s note: Angelo Lynn is the editor and publisher of the Addison County Independent, a sister publication to the Mountain Times. Seemingly, the troubling aspects of the Trump drama never end. After the fourth day of testimony by the House committee looking into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, inspired by ex-president Donald…

By Peter Sterling Editor’s note: Peter Sterling is the executive director of Renewable Energy Vermont. Over the last decade or so while most of us weren’t looking, something very concerning has happened in Vermont: it has become easier to build commercial strip development like a Dollar General store in a rural town than to build…

By Laurie Gagne Editor’s note: Laurie Gagne is the retired director for Edmundite Center for Peace and Justice at St. Michael’s College. Investment in education, anti-poverty programs, and other human needs are essential to keeping our communities safe. My faith community, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, has worked in Vermont for decades on…

By Gregory M. Thayer Editor’s note: Gregory M. Thayer is a candidate for lieutenant governor. When we look at shootings, we need to stop blaming inanimate objects — the guns— for these tragedies. They are not the problem. Criminals or mentally ill people intent on murdering people will always succeed. Either they’ll acquire a firearm…

By Dan Smith Editor’s note: Dan Smith is president and CEO of the Vermont Community Foundation, which is based in Middlebury. We are out of words. The list of available adjectives is too commonplace to hold any real meaning. These events are not aberrations of a functioning society — they are the convulsions of a…

By Brian Searles Editor’s Note: Brian Searles, of Burlington, has served as Vermont secretary of transportation, as a police chief, as director of the Police Academy, and as executive director of the Criminal Justice Training Council. In the wake of yet another mass shooting in the U.S., we mourn the child victims and again ask:…

By Falko Schilling Editor’s note: Falko Schilling is the advocacy director for the ACLU of Vermont. This legislative session impacted Vermonters’ civil liberties in significant ways, both good and bad. Specifically, while Vermont continued to adopt smarter criminal justice policies this year, we have also seen a shockingly inadequate response to the opioid crisis and…

By Kesha Ram Hinsdale and Mike Honda Editor’s note: Mike Honda is a former teacher, principal, and school board member and served in the U.S. Congress for 16 years (D-CA) where he co-founded the Equity and Excellence Commission under President Barack Obama. Kesha Ram Hinsdale is a Vermont state senator, the first woman of color…

By Julia Purdy “Many very educated people who are environmentally conscious don’t want mining anywhere,” said Slack, “and yet they fully support, in many cases enthusiastically, renewable energy. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.” John Slack is a geologist who was interviewed by the Maine Monitor, a public-interest newspaper out of Hallowell,…

By Annette Smith Editor's note: Annette Smith is the executive director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, a non-profit that believes Vermont’s economic growth depends on its environmental health. It was founded in 1999 by citizens in southwestern Vermont who joined together to deal with an inappropriate industrial development project. When it comes to building…