Dear Editor, Last March my wife and I spent two weeks way down south. One week was on the Florida coast just north of Miami, the second on coastal Georgia.  While it was wonderful to enjoy warm weather, the beaches and lots of sunshine, we could not fail to notice the profound cultural differences.…

  Dear Editor, The unhousing—eviction—of people in the motel voucher program is continuing as planned by the governor and legislature. Approximately 760 households are being evicted this month.  Some of the 1,100 households scheduled to be booted out on July 1 have apparently been given a temporary reprieve. I cannot believe the insensitivity and ignorance…

  Dear Editor, The Pete Giancola Gift-of-LIfe Mini Marathon Blood Drive is fast approaching — but appointments are not filling fast at all.  At this point last year, we had twice as many appointments as we have right now for the July 11 drive, which will be held at the Rutland Elks Club and the…

  Dear Editor,  In my letter to the Brattleborow Reformer on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009, with the   headline, “Homelessness is a sign of a society that’s failing,” I wrote, “We spend a lot of time preaching about the importance of good deeds and gratitude, and not enough time making any tangible change. It’s really…

  Dear Editor, Saturday, June 24, marks one year since the Supreme Court of the U.S. overturned Roe v. Wade in the case titled Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.  With that decision, the court ended the federal constitutional right to abortion after nearly 50 years and allowed states to ban abortion. This was a…

  Dear Editor, I am reaching out because our show is planning to return to Vermont in August 2023! We’re looking for leads throughout the state, specifically interesting characters with fascinating items and lots of them! The way we find people and collections for our show is through spreading the word far and wide so…

   By Faith Gong Editor’s note: Faith Gong has worked as an elementary school teacher, a freelance photographer, and a nonprofit director. She lives in Middlebury with her husband, five children, assorted chickens and ducks, one feisty cat, and one anxiety-prone labradoodle. In her “free time,” she writes for her blog, The Pickle Patch. I…

  Dear Editor, Killington Fire and Rescue was once a respectable agency made up of members that love the town they serve. Now it has gone from a group of people that are there to help the neighbors, to a boy’s club forcing out anyone the current chief and his buddies do not align with.…

Minimum wage boost needed Dear Editor, On March 29, Vermont senior U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was grilling Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on the illegal union-busting activities used by that corporation.  In order to embarrass our senior senator, Schultz shot back with the fact that Vermont has a paltry minimum wage of only $13.18/hour. His…

  Dear Editor,  The American Red Cross experienced a concerning shortfall in blood and platelet donations last month. The Red Cross collected over 26,000 fewer blood donations than needed in May to meet the needs of patients. The need for blood is constant, with someone needing a blood transfusion in the U.S. every two seconds.…

Dear Editor, Reading about the housing crisis in Vermont and all over the country, and how a judge could change in one stroke of his pen the fate of hundreds of unhoused Vermonters, it is one grave sign that our society and our governments (federal, state and local) are moving toward a catastrophic end. I…

  Dear Editor, Two years ago my spouse and I, ages 74 and 75, resided at the Sonesta ES Suites in Burlington. We stayed there for four weeks. We paid. We awaited a new condo to be ready that we had purchased.  We soon noticed that there were others housed there because of being homeless.…

  Dear Editor, In response to a local Protect Our Wildlife representative’s letter in Front Porch Forum I’d like to offer a timeline as to how we sportsmen and women lived without “help” before the advent of non-consumptive users. This information is available to the public on the Fish and Wildlife Department’s timeline page.  Here…

Dear Editor, I read with interest the editorial discussing litter and some of its causes (“Green Up: Plan to make it fun” April 27, 2023).  However, as a frequent cyclist on Vermont’s roads (preferably the gravel ones) I have an additional perspective.  Moving at a slower pace than in a car, one sees in greater…

  Dear Editor, I’ve run the Killington Softball League every year since 2004. I took one year off in 2009 and was begged back the following year because of how poorly it was run. I’m not saying this to brag, it’s just I’m good at running this league and one reason people like playing in…