Dear Editor, As the real winter too fast approaches, there are people and animals in dire situations, and having the good fortune to live in our neighboring towns, we don’t see the reality. My husband and I left the Paramount Theater in Rutland last week (a great place to volunteer for some wonderful shows)…

  Dear Editor, For the benefit of Vermont, it is our duty and our obligation to serve, educate, and sustain our citizenry, yet Vermont allocates fewer public dollars to its state college system than any other state. How do we ensure stability in our public colleges, engage the public, and insist that the Vermont Legislature…

  Dear Editor, Join Vermont students, advocates, nonprofit leaders, equity directors, and more for an event on Nov. 8. In 2023, the Vermont Student Anti-Racism Network and the Rutland NAACP sent out a survey asking about student experiences with racism in schools. We got alarming — but not necessarily surprising — results.  At this event,…

Dear Editor,   In August the Expeditionary School at Black River and Ludlow Legion hosted a sold out chicken BBQ, raising just over $2,000 and selling out of over 120 chicken meals.  At that time, ESBR was still in the midst of the Vermont State Board of Education’s Approval Process. Although it was important for…

Dumb and Dumber, the left’s two worst ideas By Jules Older Editor’s note: Jules Older is a Vermonter turned New Zealander who works as an executive consultant, medical educator, crisis counselor and writer. Don’t let that headline fool you — I bat left. I know the 2020 election wasn’t rigged, I think abortion is a…

  Dear Editor, Recently I bought a few chrysanthemums and asters from a local hardware store, but as I was about to plant them, I wondered if they too had been laced with the neonicotinoids I’d so carefully avoided when buying my summer bedding flowers. Neonicotinoids are neurotoxic insecticides. They are systemic, permeate the entire…

The meat industry scares me Dear Editor, I have no fear of zombies, witches, or evil clowns lurking on Halloween. What really scares me is meat. This is the industry that deprives, mutilates, cages, then butchers billions of cows, pigs, turkeys, chickens — animals who feel joy, affection, sadness, and pain, as we do ……

  Dear Editor, I am horrified at the collective punishment now being meted out to the civilians of Gaza. This is not the right response to the atrocities committed by Hamas on Israeli civilians. It will only compound the horrible situation by victimizing even more civilians, and indeed victimizing an entire population.  Denying water, food…

  By the Vermont State Colleges Labor Task Force Editor’s note: the VSC Labor Task Force is a group formed in 2020 that fights to bring faculty and staff voices and research to the decision-making processes that have accompanied the formation and ongoing transformation of the Vermont State University system.  Recent announcements from the Vermont…

  By Jody Boulay Editor’s note: Jody Boulay is a mother of two with a passion for helping others. She currently works as a community outreach coordinator for Addicted.org to help spread awareness of the dangers of drugs and alcohol. October is National Substance Use Prevention Month, which means more overdose prevention messaging should be sent to…

  Dear Editor, In 1973, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act became the first civil rights legislation protecting disabled people from discrimination. But no implementing regulations were enacted at that time. It took almost another four years, and consistent activism from people with disabilities culminating in a 26-day peaceful occupation of a federal building in San…

  Dear Editor, Given that the standard in Vermont concerning the disposal of food scraps as well as waste is to compost rather than to dispose it in the trash any longer, questions have arisen within my mind about whether it should still be permissible (read: legal) within the state to dispose of food scraps…

  Dear Editor, We’re being overwhelmed with advertising for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, but there are no ads for traditional Medicare. The reason for the MA ads is that the Medicare Advantage corporations are making huge profits. Medicare Advantage is privatizing Medicare. When you sign on for Medicare Advantage you are giving your Medicare dollars to an insurance…

  Dear Editor, History, as seen by average North Americans, is merely the empty passage of time into the present, thus ignoring the activity between then and now. Knowing what happened is helpful in knowing how we got here. A lack of knowledge is commonly defined as ignorance. Current positions, opinions and actions, when less…

Dear Editor, I am still waiting to hear why so many hold Trump in a positive way. Listing bad things about him is easy as he has done so many things that hurt this nation. I heard of a list of Trump accomplishments. What I found was an annotated list showing that 90% had nothing…