Dear Editor, In Michael Long’s letter “OneCare is not the problem with Vermont’s health care” published in the July 7 edition, he asserts that “fee-for-service … is the reason health care in the U.S. is the most expensive, but not the most effective.” That’s a questionable claim at best. Canada, for example, largely continues to rely on…

Dear Editor, I’m writing this, to welcome you new residents to Vermont. It’s been an intense year and a half; I’m sure you must feel relieved and grateful for having been able to find refuge and make a new start during such a challenging time. I, better than most, know what it’s like to pick…

Dear Editor, Education finance in Vermont is an often hard to understand and quite complex system. Act 59 of 2021 created the “Task Force on the Implementation of the Pupil Weighting Factors Report,” a group of eight Vermont Legislators who will spend time this sum- mer, as the name implies, determining the best path forward to implement the recommendations…

Dear Editor, I have never understood why vehicles needed to be able to go so fast. First, it could cut down on high-speed chases and crashes. For police, this could mean less time monitoring for speeders and focusing on more important things. Obviously you can go 60 mph in a 25-mph zone and still injure yourself…

Dear Editor, Blaming OneCare for the high cost of health care and the sluggish pace of reform grabs headlines, but it does not serve the public or advance understanding of our health care system and its impact on our lives and economy. OneCare establishes per capita contracts, disburses funds, and aggregates and analyzes data in…

Dear Editor, In the May 13, 2021, issue of the News & Citizen, Dave Yacovone informed us that the Vermont House of Representatives voted 146-0 to ban “forever” chemicals. One of the reasons he cited for the ban was the adverse health effects on fetal development. If he’s truly concerned about protecting fetal development, why…

Dear Editor, As a university student in Germany in 1966-67, I learned that teaching the history of Nazi Germany in German schools was strictly prohibited, much to the outrage of the younger teachers and their secondary school students. Students born during the Nazi regime and after were asking their parents, particularly their fathers, the painful…

Dear Editor, This is an important time in history, a tipping point. The view of adversity and divisiveness is fogging the lens. A refocusing of our attention may change the view so we can see the light in the shadows.  The restructuring of our country at this critical time requires a more expanded view of…

Dear Editor, The scarcity of animal meat caused by the Covid-19 pandemic will keep our outdoor grills safer this Independence Day. Folks who grill hamburgers and hot dogs face a nasty choice. The U.S. Meat and Poultry Hotline advises grilling at high temperature to avoid food poisoning by E. coli and Salmonella bacteria. But the…

Dear Editor, It’s been a tough year for all of us, but kids in particular have been significantly impacted by a year of remote or hybrid learning, disrupted routines and a lack of socialization and normal activities. Anxiety and depression have skyrocketed, social-emotional skills have taken a hit and many children have fallen behind in…

Dear Editor,  I am writing this letter in honor of Juneteenth, a day that commemorates June 19, 1865, when the last enslaved people in Texas were freed from captivity.  In many ways this represented a transition in our country. It was the final act to physically abolishing slavery. But that did not mean the legacy…

Dear Editor, Congratulations to Avery Provin, Jeannette Langston and everyone responsible for organizing Pride in Rutland! I lived in Rutland for most of my adolescence, graduating from Rutland High School in 1966.  During all that time I could not recognize that I was gay, having recently survived some horrific bullying in the small New Hampshire…

Dear Editor, “A rose by any other name would smell the same,” wrote William Shakespeare. Not so apparently, in the Raider vs. Raven standoff here in Rutland. The cancel culture has reached Rutland in the form of challenging the racist implication of the Raider team mascot, an arrowhead. Symbols have meaning, it is true. But…

Dear Editor, If anyone has the right to hold a soft spot in their heart for the Raiders, it is the extended family of Roger Laird. In the 1920s, as a Raider, Roger suffered a traumatic brain injury on the football field behind the high school on Library Avenue; one that would take his life…

Dear Editor, During my 35-year career as a naturopathic physician I noticed that the natural treatments that had been successful in keeping people healthy in the 1980s became less and less effective. During these years the toxic load of chemicals in the environment has increased drastically. One group of fluoride containing chemicals known as PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and…