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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Dear Editor, Secretary of Commerce and Community Development Mike Schirling highlighted actions his agency has taken to make a positive impact on Vermont’s previously lackluster economic development program: “focusing on fundamental activities, supporting economic growth, and affordability,” in a recent VTDigger piece. There are many moving parts to economic development. Presently, Vermont has spread those…

By James Ehlers As you know, 2019 is a constitutional amendment year, with the next one not coming until 2023. For this reason, I ask, on behalf of a broad constituency of Vermonters, for your consideration of and assistance in amending our Vermont Constitution beginning this coming legislative session. Vermont’s Bill of Rights, Chapter I…

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…