Editorials

By John Vogel Editor’s note: John Vogel of Williston is a retired professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. The shortage and cost of housing in Vermont is a problem we can solve. Other states are showing us how.  In Minneapolis, apartment rents have declined by 4% over the last five years,…

By Angelo Lynn Editor’s note: Angelo Lynn is the editor and publisher of the Addison Independent in Middlebury, a sister paper to the Mountain Times.  Vermont Republicans running for election to the House or Senate have two ready-made campaign issues — inflation and high property taxes — and many are using it to their full…

By Elizabeth Bridgewater and Chris Campany Editor’s note: Elizabeth Bridgewater is the executive director of the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust. Chris Campany is the executive director of the Windham Regional Commission. Housing remains at the top of the media cycle for good reason: there are still not enough homes for people. Recently, Vermont’s Department…

By Jeffrey Reel  Editor’s note: Jeffrey Reel is a writer living in Hartland and author of “Uncommon Sense: The War on Hunger and Other Myths. How Our Adversarial Relationship With Life Undermines Our Best Intentions.” Critical thinking has been described as an ability to question; to acknowledge and test previously held assumptions; to examine, interpret, evaluate, reason,…

By Rep. Brian Cina Editor’s note: Brian Cina is a state Representative for Chittenden 15 (Old North End | East District, Burlington). Cina is also on the House Health Care Committee and House Ethics Panel. This commentary was originally addressed to the members of the Vermont General Assembly, Governor Scott and Administration, Lieutenant Governor Zuckerman,…

By Gov. Phil Scott Editor’s note: At a press conference Thursday, Sept. 12, Governor Phil Scott discussed the costs and barriers to implementing the Legislature’s Clean Heat Standard, and the impacts it will have on affordability. This is the transcript of that speech. Last year, I vetoed S.5, the so called ‘Affordable Heat Act’ which…

By Ann Manwaring Editor’s note: Ann Manwaring of Wilmington, a former Democratic state representative who served from 2007-2017. For six of the 10 years I was in the Legislature, representing the towns of Wilmington, Whitingham and Halifax, I was on the Appropriations Committee. We spent a good deal of our time in that committee listening…

Do all of these generational shifts matter? By David Moats Editor’s note: David Moats, an author and journalist who lives in Salisbury, is a regular columnist for VTDigger. He is editorial page editor emeritus of the Rutland Herald, where he won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for a series of editorials on Vermont’s civil union law.…

By Karen Horn Editor’s note: This commentary is by Karen Horn of Moretown, where she serves on the planning commission. She retired as director of advocacy for the Vermont League of Cities and Towns in 2023. As for so many others, our property taxes went up by 26% this year, an appalling and unsustainable amount.…

By Leslie J. Matthews Editor’s note: Leslie J. Matthews, co-chair of the Vermont Workers’ Center campaign team. On August 12, the Green Mountain Care Board approved a 19.8% increase for BlueCross BlueShield premiums on Vermont Health Connect individual plans, along with a 22.8% increase for small group plans. This is the third year in a row with…

By David Moats Editor’s note: David Moats, an author and journalist who lives in Salisbury, is a regular columnist for VTDigger. He is editorial page editor emeritus of the Rutland Herald, where he won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for a series of editorials on Vermont’s civil union law. Vermont Republicans are in a bind. One…

By Angelo Lynn Editor’s note: Angelo Lynn is the publisher of the Addison Independent in Middlebury, a sister publication to the Mountain Times.  Here’s the only good news about the bad news concerning Vermont’s health care system — it’s so bad reform can’t wait. We absolutely must make substantial changes and do it quickly. That’s…

By Angelo Lynn The tectonic plates of this presidential election are shifting so quickly it’s hard to keep up. With President Biden announcing Sunday, July 21, he was stepping aside and throwing his support to Vice President Kamala Harris, there was a moment of anticipation that Democrats would see a scramble between top contenders for…

By Bill Schubart Like a good novel, our lives have a narrative arc, during which we are actively participating in and relevant to our world. We are born, rise slowly into sensual consciousness and gradually process what we see and feel. Our juvenile perceptions gradually become knowledge, and, if all goes well, that knowledge binds…

Dear Editor, Editor’s note: This letter is in response to Don Tinney’s commentary in the July 3 edition. Tinney is the president of Vermont-National Education Association (NEA), the union of 13,000 Vermont educators.  Tinney’s “hit piece” on Governor Scott is nothing new for the Vermont-NEA, although I’m surprised by the shrillness of the tone. Perhaps he realizes how…