By Narain Batra Editor’s note: Narain Batra is a media and First Amendment scholar affiliated with the diplomacy and international program in the graduate college at Norwich University. He lives in Hartford. Joy to the world! Freedom is rising. On Dec. 6, we saw another embodiment of what the American dream is made of: A…

By Angelo Lynn Editor’s note: Angelo Lynn is the editor and publisher of the Addison County Independent, a sister publication of the Mountain Times.  It’s hard to overstate the impact Sen. Patrick Leahy has had on Vermont, and the nation, during his 48-year tenure at the U.S. Senate. Reading a complete list of his many…

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.  Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s announcement to launch a paid leave program for state employees is a cynical, political move that has sparked deserved criticism. With Democrats pressing for a universal paid…

By Walt Amses Editor’s note: Walt Amses is a writer who lives in North Calais. Between the time I’m writing this and you’re reading it, there likely have been several mass shootings, bringing the total to well over 600 so far this year, a number that, however astounding, increases annually in a country with more…

By Emerson Lynn Editor's note: Emerson Lynn is the former editor and publisher of the St. Albans Messenger. He is also the uncle of Polly Mikula, editor/copublisher of this publication. OneCare is the accountable care organization whose purpose it is to shift Vermont’s health care spending from a fee-for-service model to one in which hospitals…

Editor’s note: Angelo Lynn is the editor and publisher of the Addison County Independent, a sister publication to the Mountain Times. Since Election Day, Americans have seen a sea-change of political fortunes and attitudes: from the conservative Trump-supporters who expected the red wave to push Democrats from power and hobble President Joe Biden’s next two…

By Gov. Phil Scott At 4 a.m. the day before every election, my team and I set out on a 14-county tour, visiting all of Vermont’s 14 counties in one day. This 500+ mile tour was a way to put things into perspective. It reinforces how beautiful our state is and how much it has to…

By Steve Costello Editor’s note: Steve Costello is one of the organizers of the Gift-of-Life Marathon. As we approach the 20th annual Gift-of-Life Marathon Blood Drive, during a period of divisiveness and ugliness nationally and at times even in Vermont, I’ve been reflecting on some of the people who’ve become synonymous with the GOLM and…

By Cheryl Mitchell Editor’s note: Cheryl Mitchell is president of Treleven, a retreat and learning program located on her family’s sheep farm in Addison County. She does freelance consulting on issues related to children, families, social policy and farm to community work. She can be reached at cheryl.w.mitchell@gmail.com. There is a lovely new project emerging…

By Bill McKibben Editor’s note: Bill McKibben is an internationally known climate activist and writer who lives in Ripton. I am writing this dispatch from a southbound train, which left Middlebury at midday and is making its way — not too fast, not too slow — through Rutland and toward Penn Station in New York…

By Rick Weinstein Weinstein has a Ph.D. in Antarctic microbial ecology from Cambridge University and was a biology lecturer at the University of Tennessee for 15 years. He now lives in Stowe. There is no such thing as cold. That might sound idiotic coming from a Vermonter, but it’s true. In actuality there is only…

By Linda Johnson Editor’s note: Linda Johnson is the executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Vermont. It is difficult to comprehend that there is yet another mass murder of children in our country. Nonetheless, a young 18-year-old boy who appears to have been bullied, dropped out of school, was unemployed, fighting with his parents and…

By Angelo Lynn Editor’s note: Angelo Lynn is the publisher of the Addison Independent, a sister publication to the Mountain Times. If commonsense gun control legislation can’t convince Republican Senators to protect their constituents for fear of upsetting the gun lobby and white supremacists within their party, perhaps portraying the problem as a public health…

By Sen. Patrick Leahy Editor’s note: The following is a statement made by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, on the Senate floor Wednesday, May 11, during discussion about the Women’s Health Protection Act; a federal act that would protect a woman’s right for health care (and abortion) even if Roe v Wade is overruled. This federal…

By Jacob Pluta Editor’s note: Jacob Pluta is the principal broker of White Cap Realty and a board member of Rutland Young Professionals. From 2014 to the present day, Vermont’s real estate market has swung from a sluggish buyer’s market to a frenzied seller’s market. I became licensed to sell real estate in Vermont in…