Dear Editor, The spoiler effect — a problem that we know all too well, yet too little about. Each time the presidential election comes around we are met with the inevitable frustration and disillusionment caused by our two-party system. Instead of voting for who we truly believe in, we often cast our ballots for whomever…

Dear Editor, I can’t understand why Vermont will stop updating its Covid dashboard. Everything Health Commissioner Mark Levine says about this sounds dangerous and contradictory. How can the absence of daily Covid reports when Covid is on the rise again be beneficial to our awareness of the dangers and spread of the disease? Erin Petenko's…

Dear Editor, When Donald Trump was in office, he and Mitch McConnell made three lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court. McConnell went so far as to defy Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dying wish — that the next president appoint her replacement — by packing the Court with Amy Coney Barrett just eight days before the 2020…

I don’t know whether to ride my mower or push my snow-blower. Given what April brings to us. A drift, a daffodil. A decision better left to not deciding. Letting the sun do what it will by the end of the afternoon. Letting the grass stick through. Letting the blades decide to mow or throw…

Dear Editor, I am Peter Duval and I am a candidate for governor of Vermont. If you are concerned about climate, carbon offsetting and trading, food self-sufficiency, the cost of living, mass extinction, or the war in Ukraine then this may be the campaign for you. The campaign will question assumptions and rationalizations, and connect…

Dear Editor, If you missed the performance of “Carmina Burana,” you missed a unique musical treat. I took in the performance at the Casella Theater at Castleton University on April 30. This is one of my all-time favorite choral works and this performance did not disappoint. The Castleton Unversity Chorale, Rutland Area Chorus, Cimonetti Treble…

By Editor, In 1972, Richard Nixon signed into law, the Clean Water Act which gave the United States the lofty charge of making any navigable waters “fishable and swimmable” again, by 1983. It is in my opinion one of the great and most virtuous laws ever passed in the United States. A great deal has…

Dear Editor, For the last 17 years, I have worked as a fuel and propane delivery driver serving the residents of Vermont. I am just one of the many drivers and employees in the home heat industry working to make sure you and your loved ones stay warm during the long, dark and cold Vermont…

Dear Editor, The American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) tournament will be returning to the Green Mountain National Golf Course in Killington next month. The event will return to a full field this year with some of the best national and international junior golfers from June 20-23. As we know, Green Mountain National is one of…

Dear Editor, Have you noticed all the litter on the roadsides? Litter is even floating in our rivers and lakes! It makes us look like we don’t care about our state. Guess what, it’s just not Vermonters who are littering; it’s also visitors from other states! However, it is our responsibility, as Vermonters, to clean…

Dear Editor, Now that we are retroactively able to change our gender identity on Vermont birth certificates the next logical step is to allow change of our ethnic identity as well. Sen. Elizabeth Warren can be Native American, all the white people who ran Black organizations (along with would-be rappers) can be Black. There should…

Dear Editor, Recently we took a 1,000-mile round trip to Washington, D.C. in our Chevy BOLT EV. Still, on the cold side, the BOLT that can get up to 300 miles in summer is averaging about 200 miles in this weather. Obviously, we needed a fast charger plan. Our clear-eyed report of the pros and…

Dear Editor, Where are all the geese? Where is all the honking and splashing on Otter Creek, the signs of spring that usually come as a relief from the existential dread of yet another winter with temperatures too warm, mud season too soon? They’re usually so reliable that I don’t even note the date of…

Dear Editor, We are so excited to have passenger rail service between Burlington and New York, but people need to beware of the new faster trains and recognize their danger. Please remind your readers over and over, and readers, tell your friends and neighbors, stop walking along the local railroad tracks. It may have seemed…

Dear Editor, Proposition 5 is framing abortion as the exercise of reproductive freedoms and rights, but is the absurdity here not giving you pause? The legislative majority has declared through Prop. 5, that this constitutional amendment is needed because Vermonters’ reproductive rights are at risk. Since when are reproductive rights at risk in Vermont? Fact…