Discover More from This Category: Opinions

Understanding Trump is to know why Dems can’t cave

January 30, 2019
By Angelo Lynn What happens when Democrats and Americans begin to confront Trump? When they call his bluff and simply say, “This will hurt you more than it will hurt us.” Democrats were at that point with the government shutdown but they had three important reasons not to give in: First, they’re in the right;…

Electric vehicles save in the long run

January 30, 2019
By Ross Sneyd As with most adages, there’s truth to the one we hear a lot. Vermont can be an expensive place to live. After we pay the rent or mortgage,  taxes, health care, transportation and heating, there’s often not much left over. It’s a fact of our rural economy. But that’s no reason to…

The truths about the public safety building

January 30, 2019
Dear Editor, There have been many misconceptions by the general public regarding the need for a new Public Safety Building. The major objection is to the cost, with no real regard to the pressing need due to the antiquated facility (Oren Bates Firehouse). The old firehouse is not in need of repair, it is in…

Women lose opportunity under school mergers

January 30, 2019
By Pamela Frasher As a record number of female members of Congress are sworn in this month in Washington, D.C., things are different in Vermont. Here, top state officials are removing elected officials from local office, and the removals disproportionately affect women. In interpreting Act 46, Vermont’s 2015 school consolidation law, the state is attempting…

Grateful for state’s politics?

January 23, 2019
By Angelo Lynn As political partisanship reaches an all-time high in the country (recent studies show the nation’s two major political parties have never been further apart in terms of their priorities and ideology), Vermont’s political leaders offered a different scenario on the opening days of this biennium. In Gov. Phil Scott’s inaugural address on…

State farmers need to look at new approaches

January 23, 2019
By Anson Tebbetts As we enter a new year, many Vermont dairy farmers, as well as farmers nationwide, continue fighting through their economic fog. Trapped in an antiquated federal dairy pricing system, Vermont’s hard-working stewards of the land are at the whim of a highly competitive global structure. Compensation for their milk is out of…

Paid family leave would add to state un-affordability

January 23, 2019
By Rob Roper As a result of the November 2018 elections, Vermont Democrats and Progressives achieved veto-proof majorities in both chambers of the Legislature. Their first priority flexing this new muscle is to pass a mandatory, government-run, paid family leave program that will require a new payroll tax. This proposal demonstrates exactly why Vermont is…

State should invest in its college students

January 23, 2019
Dear Editor, As a young and native Vermonter who is committed to this state it has been frustrating to watch many of my peers leave Vermont for more affordable college opportunities. I know this frustration is shared and felt by many Vermonters. These include small, large, local business owners and employers who are struggling to…

Trump’s troubles over wall a harbinger of politics in 2019

January 16, 2019
By Angelo Lynn Just 16 hours after Trump’s prime-time speech from the Oval Office urging support for his border wall fell flat Tuesday night, news organizations reported he slammed his hand down on the table and walked out of a Wednesday afternoon meeting with Democratic congressional leaders declaring angrily that trying to negotiate was a…

The carbon tax – a wolf in green clothing

January 16, 2019
By Lawrence Zupan “If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street, If you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat. If you get too cold I’ll tax the heat, If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet…  TAXMAN!” Though that’s from a 1966 song by The Beatles (“Taxman”), with our Legislature plotting to…

Thanks for your support

January 16, 2019
Dear Editor, Each year the staff and volunteers at Black River Good Neighbor Services collect food and toys during December and distribute them to deserving families throughout the area. This distribution dates back to well before the creation of BRGNS, but our staff and volunteers are proud to continue the tradition and to serve our…

Government shutdown assistance offered

January 16, 2019
Dear Editor, By the time you are reading this we hope that the government shutdown has ended. But if not, the folks at Black River Good Neighbor Services in Ludlow want to remind any government employee who is having trouble meeting financial obligations that we stand ready to help with food or heating assistance. We…

Regulating cannabis the Vermont way

January 16, 2019
By Josh Decatur On July 1, 2018 Vermont became the ninth state to allow the legal possession and consumption of cannabis for adult use. In other words, cannabis is now legal in Vermont. Under current law, any Vermonter 21 years of age or older can cultivate up to two mature and four immature plants and…

VSAC study of college completion identifies urgent needs

January 16, 2019
By Scott Giles Nearly every conversation about the economic future of our state begins and ends with the need for greater workforce development and for Vermonters to get the education and training required for the available jobs today and the ones coming down the line. Economists project that by 2020, nearly seven out of 10…

Our love affair with pizza pie

January 9, 2019
Dear Editor, Pizza is a big and tasty business in America; luscious and lip-smacking. In 2015, $38.5 billion worth of pizza was sold nationwide, according to Pizza magazine. The story of America’s love relationship with pizza began in 1905 in New York City—not Italy. Drum roll, please. Put your hands together for Gennaro Lombardi—then say…