Discover More from This Category: Letters

Board minutes lack transparency

January 19, 2022
Dear Editor, I have attended and spoken at two recent Killington Select Board meetings, the public TIF hearing of Jan. 4 and the next meeting of Jan. 10. After attending both, I must begin to question whether the people of Killington are being provided a complete and accurate representation of discussions, questions and answers. At…

Let’s move on from Rutland school mascot

January 19, 2022
Dear Editor, Now that the Rutland City School Board has reinstated the Raider name, it is time to move on for our community. A few people, not living in our great city of Rutland started this process, coupled with some members of the board, and even a now former humanities teacher at the high school.…

What are the valid selection criteria Vermonters should be using to screen Congressional applicants?

January 12, 2022
Dear Editor, Please consider this an open letter to Vermont voters. What are the valid selection criteria we should be using to screen Congressional applicants? During the 1970s orchestras across the United States became concerned that members weren’t chosen by ability, but handpicked by the conductors. They designed an interesting, novel and effective solution to…

More heroes than we thought 

January 5, 2022
Dear Editor, It has taken post-World War II America a long time to figure out that police, firefighters and the military are not the only heroes in our society. It is true that country music singers, rappers, movie stars and billionaires have been getting more and more traction in recent decades. Outstanding individual pay-it-forward-type citizens…

A way to give the unvaccinated the treatment they want

January 5, 2022
Dear Editor, All indications are that, with the new omicron variant, we are in for another surge in Covid hospitalizations. After more than a year and half into the pandemic, our health care workers are exhausted and our hospital facilities stretched. At the same time, those who do not wish to take the vaccine and…

Stop the fluoridation of the Rutland City water supply

January 5, 2022
Dear Editor, The Rutland City Aldermanic Public Works Committee is preparing to re-examine the practice of fluoridation of the water supply. I made the request for this fresh look at the Nov. 1 Aldermen’s meeting, and the request was supported by 11 local and area citizens and approved unanimously by the board. Here are seven…

Killington’s community of giving

January 5, 2022
Dear Editor, As the new executive director and vicar at Mission Farm, I am impressed and overjoyed at the outreach and kindness shown in the Killington community. I have witnessed the partnership of the Killington Ski Resort and the town of Killington come together to help individuals, families and businesses through the difficult days of…

Governor fails the test on statewide mask mandate

December 29, 2021
Dear Editor, I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed I am with our governor and his flunkies with regards to the non-masking of Vermonters. Historically, people do not do things by themselves, but have to be directed in order to have anything happen. We are not a proactive species. He needed to enact a…

People need to see Covid-19 as the public health crisis it is

December 29, 2021
Dear Editor, Discussion and debate about whether to wear a mask as a means to halt the spread of Covid-19 is traveling around Vermont like a wildfire, or, perhaps better said, like a virus. The matter comes up frequently at the governor’s weekly press conferences. Select boards up and down the state, from Hardwick to…

Policy makers need to look at the broad impacts

December 29, 2021
Dear Editor, Public health experts are critical participants in the development of government policies dealing with challenges like the pandemic. But their perspective is only one consideration in the development of effective and rational public policy. These folks may know more about limiting the transmission of a pathogen, but their prescriptions have consequences that fall…

Donations needed to rescue German shepherds and their puppies

December 22, 2021
Dear Editor, A ruling was made last week in the VT Superior Court, WRJ, on the return of German shepherd dogs and their puppies to the owner of the puppy mill from which they were recently rescued by VT state police and local humane societies. While the details of this horrific situation cannot yet be…

Killington taxpayers deserve to know risks, TIF isn’t silver bullet

December 22, 2021
Dear Editor, Editor’s note: this was submitted as an open letter to the Killington Select Board on Dec. 10. As the Select Board leads the effort to bring a TIF (Tax Increment Financing) District to Killington, it appears obvious that the Board and SP Land are orchestrating an effort to promote this project in the…

Spiro fought hard for CU

December 22, 2021
Dear Editor, Jonathon Spiro was the perfect president to lead Castleton University through the dual challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and the proposed merger of Castleton with its northern brethren. He was and still is completely committed to the university’s success, to its students and its faculty and its staff, and to its role in…

Weed dealers don’t put fentanyl in cannabis

December 15, 2021
Dear Editor, A news story published by WCAX Nov. 21 said that Brattleboro police are warning Vermonters that “fentanyl-laced marijuana” has been found in our region, and that it caused one person to overdose Saturday. The next day, similar reports were published by the Brattleboro Reformer and MyNBC5. I felt an immediate need to address…

A Republican’s appreciation of Sen. Leahy

December 15, 2021
Dear Editor, Sen. Patrick Leahy’s recent announcement has caused me to reflect on his legacy and his many years of service to Vermont and the nation. Until recent events, I considered myself a lifelong Republican. Although I now consider myself an independent, I still firmly believe in limited government, self-reliance, public safety and free enterprise.…