Dear Editor, Voting by mail should replace voting at the polls in its entirety.  The two institutions that can definitely be trusted is the County Board of Elections and the United States Postal Service.  The money saved by eliminating the need for poll workers could be used to offer free postage on the envelopes used…

Dear Editor, I am encouraging my fellow voters in Brandon, Sudbury and Pittsford to cast one of their two votes for State Representative for Stephanie Jerome when you submit your November ballot. Stephanie Jerome has been a quick study during her first term in Montpelier — definitely serving our three towns, and all of Vermont,…

Dear Legislators: Thank you for investing federal Coronavirus relief funds to support people in Vermont struggling to put food on the table. We appreciate those investments made during the summer legislative session, and want you to know they have been used well. They are an important first step in what we know will be a…

Dear Editor, I am writing in response to an email sent this afternoon, questioning the risk of Covid-19 exposure that a member our staff might be posing to our community. I am the General Manager of The Karr Group, and have spent much of my summer weighing the heavy questions of risk and safety, in…

Dear Editor, The Vermont Legislature is about to give its final approval to a bill called “The Global Warming Solutions Act.” Needless to say, the bill, H.688, does not solve global warming. In fact, the bill is downright bad climate policy because it prioritizes emissions reductions over environmental protection. The bill: Establishes targets for the…

Dear Editor, In 1970, when Governor Deane Davis signed Act 250 into law, he advanced a vision shared by Vermonters who wanted to protect Vermont’s unique cultural and historic ties to the land by addressing the environmental impacts of development, while allowing for economic prosperity. Now, 50 years later, many still hold that vision of…

Dear Editor, One of the brilliant features of the original Act 250 lets the public have a real voice in the proceedings of an Act 250 permit application. No other state or local permit proceeding allows such meaningful participation. The Legislature is now considering H.926, changes to Act 250. Among other things, H.926 will reduce…

Dear Editor, I am optimistic about our future. We are experiencing two societal traumas, one new and one as old as our history, which will either make us stronger or pull us further apart. I choose to engage with the challenges before us and work with you to improve the systems that lie at the…

Dear Editor, I’d like to tell a story that I’ve never told in print before. I’ve written hundreds of policy-oriented pieces for local and national newspapers, but I’ve never told this story because it’s very personal. I’m telling it now because I want everyone to know what guides me and directs my work. This traumatic…

Dear Editor, Readers who care about animal welfare should ask U.S. Senators Pat Leahy and Bernie Sanders to support federal funding for cultured-meat research. Cultured meat is grown from cells, without slaughtering nonhumans. It has the potential to eliminate unimaginable levels of suffering. After all, we kill tens of billions of land animals and over…

Dear Editor, My name is Brittany Cavacas. I am writing this letter to formally announce my candidacy for the Vermont State Senate in Rutland County. I am running as an Independent. I feel that before you select a candidate, it is best to get to know that candidate first. When it comes to myself, I…

Dear Editor, Congratulations to the Rutland Region Chamber and REDC for making the decision to finally merge the two organizations to better serve the business community and the greater-Rutland region. I’ve long thought they could provide improved services and become more efficient together, provided there was solid leadership at the top. Lyle Jepson is an…

Consider an alternative way to earn a high school diploma Dear Editor, Vermont schools are preparing for September openings amid Covid-19. School administrators, in consultation with staff, families and public health officials, have been working hard to reinvent our educational systems in ways that provide students with rich learning, while keeping students, staff and the…

Dear Editor, I want to thank all who took the time to vote either via an absentee ballot or in-person on Aug. 11. It was a record turnout for an August primary in Vermont. Something we can all take pride in. Hats off to our town clerks and their election teams for the job they…

Dear Editor, The River Road and Route 4 Killington river/wetlands is essential to Killington’s economy, used daily by kayakers and anglers. The town of Killington refuses to follow DEC guidelines and to install baffles. They just removed the dams, causing the beavers to cut down more trees and brush to rebuild the dam. Thus, causing…