Dear Editor, At the end of September, I talked to my daughter’s pediatrician about getting a current Covid vaccination for my 12-year-old daughter. The office told me (which I know to be true, having heard this from Health Commissioner Mark Levine through many news outlets) that the state has prioritized doling out vaccinations to…

Dear Editor,  I knew Tom Fagan really well. But I never met him in person! Despite that fact, he is the reason I was in Rutland’s Annual Halloween Parade this year (2023)! Let me explain: I grew up in a little seashore resort town called Wildwood Crest, New Jersey, located near the southern tip of…

Dear Editor,  For years, I often have asked people conversationally the question, “What is the one thing that notably separates humans from most other animals?” Some answers included bipedalism, brain size, religion, etc. At no time, however, did any woman or man answer, “menopause.”  Menopause is a natural evolutionary selection in human females with profound…

  Dear Editor, In late June, The Vermont Federation of Sportsman Club announced it was building a war chest to file challenges against Vermont’s existing high-capacity magazine ban, as well as a new 72-hour waiting period that was just passed this year.   We at Cragin’s Gun Shop in Rutland are confident that neither of…

  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…