Dear Editor, In Morrisville, a recent Front Porch Forum post reads: “Vote down the school budget! They don’t want to just survive, they want to thrive.” Is this really where we are in 2024? Are Vermonters really ready to let our most vulnerable children be the victims of state level politics? The Brigham Decision was…

Dear Editor, Vermont stands as a beacon of community values. Yet, beneath this facade, our education system has harbored inequities for decades that undermine these very principles. Enter Act 127 — a legislative commitment to Vermont’s constitutional guarantee for equity, opportunity and fairness for every child in our state. For decades, Vermont’s education funding system, while…

Dear Editor, Under political pressure from animal rights groups, in coordination with a national organization, Senate bill S.258 was passed and is now in the House. This bill would remove the authority for rulemaking from the Vermont Fish and Wildlife board (Board) and transfer it to the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife. This moves…

Dear Editor, Governor Phil Scott’s decision to veto S.18, legislation that would ban the sale of flavored tobacco and nicotine products in Vermont, is a win for small businesses, the economy, and adults’ right to make their own choices. Proponents of bans like this argue they are necessary to protect public health by preventing the…

Dear Editor,   The Killington highway and roadway workers did an excellent job all year long maintaining my road and area roads. Innsbruck Lane is a steep road that intersects Merrill and George Streets. Snow plowing is difficult on most narrow roads but particularly challenging here. The team plowed early, often, and skillfully to maintain a…

Dear Editor, It’s time to change our state government’s archaic tax system and truly make it fair for every single Vermonter. Vermont’s current tax system employed by the Legislature needs a true and absolute overhaul!   First, it is exclusive. Second, they want to tax everything, and in some cases they are. We need changes under both…

Dear Editor, Democracy has much to recommend it: access to public officials and opportunities to complain.  Unlike a monarchy, with a single person in charge, a democracy gives ordinary citizens the chance to think beyond their private concerns and ponder the public good. Through argument and persuasion, citizens in a democracy have a chance to…

Dear Editor, The Killington Food Shelf located at The Little White Church would like to thank Jay Hickory for his efforts of collecting nonperishable food, paper goods and toiletry items every weekend at the Killington transfer station. These donations fill our shelves for people in need. Jay Hickory suggested this idea and Lucretia Wonsor, our…

Dear Editor, My concern is the Telephone Gap project plans, primarily in Rutland County, of the Green Mountain National Forest and the public comment period that ends on April 8. Old growth forest stands are extremely rare in this publicly owned forest and it is not being managed to promote them in any significant way.…

Dear Editor, After 39 years of business, we are happy to announce our retirement and the sale of the Killington Deli and Marketplace. We would like to take the opportunity to thank our community for all your love, friendship, and support over the years. Moving here in 1985 from New Jersey, not only did we…

Dear Editor, I understand the Forest Service is planning to log stands of almost 12,000 acres of mostly old and mature forest in the Telephone Gap area of the Green Mountain National Forest just east of Pittsford. That is bigger than the whole city of Burlington. (Google it for yourself: Telephone Gap Project.)  We all…

By Pati Beaumont Editor’s note: The following commentary was written by Pati Beaumont, chairperson of the Slate Valley Unified Union School Board, as an open letter to the Slate Valley Unified Union School District community and published here by request. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the 2,472 individuals who exercised their…

  Dear Editor, I am shocked that 11,800 acres are slated to be logged in the Green Mountain National Forest’s Telephone Gap Area. While the Forest Service’s Plan is attention grabbing, it misses the fact that the best protection for biodiversity and earth’s climate is to let forests mature. Animals of the forest need wild…

Dear Editor,  On behalf of Community Care Network and its two agencies, Rutland Mental Health Services and Rutland Community Programs, I extend my sincere thanks to the voters throughout Rutland County for their support in approving funding for our programs during the recent March Town Meetings.  For Rutland Mental Health Services, town giving supports a…

  Dear Editor, With Easter and Mother’s Day approaching veterinarians are urging cat owners to be aware that lilies, commonly added to spring bouquets, are highly poisonous to cats. These include the Lilium and Hemerocallis species, which are commonly referred to as tiger lilies, daylilies, and Asiatic lilies. All parts of the lily plant are…