By Steve Costello As regular readers may recall, I am a lover of  fables, stories that for generations have carried a message. With the recent news about the purchase of two key downtown buildings by MKF Properties and plans in the work for a variety of projects downtown, I am reminded of one of Aesop’s…

By Lee H. Hamilton The Trump administration, like its predecessors, has shown an apparent appetite for the use of force overseas. The “mother of all bombs” dropped on Syrian troops, saber-rattling toward North Korea, proposed deployments of U.S. forces in 10 or more countries — all of this suggests a growing comfort with the idea…

By Sen. Bernie Sanders The good news is that Vermont has one of the highest high school graduation rates in the country; fully 88 percent of our kids leave high school with a diploma. All of us — parents, educators, community members and, most of all, our hardworking students — should feel great pride in…

By Senator Bernie Sanders President Trump’s budget is morally obscene and bad economic policy.  It would cause devastating economic pain to tens of thousands of Vermonters, making it harder for our children to get a decent education, harder for our working families to get the health care they desperately need, harder to protect our environment,…

By Larry Williams As the numbers of people who participated in the climate march recently showed, Vermonters and Americans across this country are concerned about climate change. Millions of Americans want action. And while the president and his cabinet are busy denying the science behind climate change, states, cities, businesses and individuals are tackling climate…

By Lee H. Hamilton I’ve had a number of conversations recently that convince me our country is divided into two political camps separated by a deep and uncomfortably wide gap. No, I’m not talking about liberals and conservatives, or pro- and anti-Trump voters. I’m talking about people who believe in politics and our political system,…

By Jon Margolis, VTDigger We have seen the enemy: teachers. They are bankrupting the state. They make too much money. Their benefits are too generous. They have too much political power. So, at least, one might think from some of the speechifying and commentating that accompanied the recent (and to be continued) flap over where…

By Mike Smith Race fans at Talladega Superspeedway call it “the big one.” It usually happens toward the end of a NASCAR race when drivers are tense, emotions are high, and the cars are tightly bunched, vying for a win. And then: a wrong move by one driver starts a massive chain reaction crash that…

By Angelo S. Lynn While Gov. Phil Scott’s coup to have the state negotiate teachers’ health care benefits has been the unforeseen show-stopper of this legislative session, that a bill moving toward legalizing marijuana made it to the governor’s desk is one of the session’s biggest surprises. Gov. Scott made it clear early in the…

By Lee H. Hamilton I have significant differences with Donald Trump’s political stances, but I want him to enjoy a successful presidency. It’s good for neither the country nor the world when a U.S. president struggles or fails. Yet I also believe that constructive criticism can help a president grow more capable. It’s in this…

By Annette Smith Prospective neighbors of wind turbines heard all the promises: “Quiet as a library.” “Like a baby’s breath.” “The same decibel level as a refrigerator.” The more brazen wind developers claimed, “You will not hear them.” Then the 450-foot wind towers with their bus-size nacelles and three-bladed fans were built. Sixteen in Sheffield,…

By Linda McGinnis Vermont is made up of communities that care about each other and our beautiful surroundings. It comes from our respect for the past combined with a passion for a sustainable future. It’s about taking care of what we have and innovating new products and services that help us shape that future. This…

By Lee Hamilton For the last few years, I’ve been keeping a file of clippings about the erosion of transparency and candor in government. I’m sorry to report that it’s getting rather full. This is not a good thing. Public officials should feel strongly obliged to do their business in an open and upfront manner.…

By Duane Peterson The American government has officially reversed course on protecting us from climate change. National security is the central priority we expect from the federal government, so this is truly alarming, for our nation and our planet. But despair is not an option. There are actions we can take as individuals to fight…

By Lee H. Hamilton The recent announcement by FBI Director James Comey that his agency is investigating links between members of President Trump’s campaign and Russia has upended Washington. Yet there needs to be an even stronger and broader investigation to get to the bottom of what happened. There are really two questions at hand.…