By Angelo Lynn Here’s a challenge for Vermont residents: Find an area dedicated to public use that needs cleaning up and work out a way to get it done. Why do it? Three reasons: First, it’s not that hard. Second, it’s rewarding. Third, it’ll make life in the neighborhood more pleasant and special. We mention this…

By Rob Roper After watching the debate in the State House over the $15 minimum wage it is hard to see how any rational or compassionate person could have, at the end of the day, supported the policy. The potential good that it may have done for a small minority of people was far outweighed…

By Angelo Lynn Republicans in Congress said the tax cuts passed earlier this year would do great things for the economy and help individual Americans. While most Americans were opposed to it, Republicans nonetheless claimed it to be a huge accomplishment, and told us just to wait to see all the good that would come…

By Angelo Lynn Gov. Phil Scott’s line-in-the-sand mantra not to raise a single tax or a single fee has made politics in Vermont’s capital more strident, divisive and unruly. The irony is that the governor himself is mild-mannered, affable, pragmatic and someone who seems to get along with almost everyone. But in this session he has…

By Harrison Bushnell My first food was a testament to Vermont’s economy. As a baby, the story goes, my parents held me as we admired the steaming arch at our neighbors’ house. They took a small spoon and let me taste my first few drops of Vermont ambrosia: maple syrup. The only problem was, the…

By Bill Day "Trickle Up"

Dear Editor, Drivers impaired by opioids, cocaine, marijuana and other drugs pose a threat to every Vermonter and visitor that drive our highways. On July 1, Vermont will become the ninth state to legalize recreational marijuana. Even proponents of legalization acknowledge that driving while high on marijuana is unwise and unsafe. There also is universal…

Dear Editor, Thank you to Casella Waste Management as well as to Southwestern VT Sales Coordinator Lisa Hotchkiss for her amazing customer service and communication that was outstanding through every facet of our third annual Community Clean Up  in the towns of Danby and Mount Tabor. Its donation has significantly impacted these communities as a…

By Rob Roper Vermont’s student test scores are falling. It’s no longer a blip, but a trend. As State Board of Education member Bill Mathis said, “When you have two different tests showing much the same thing, you have to pay attention to them.” Those two tests are the Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and…

Dear Editor, Thanks to the previous Killington Select Board (Patty, Chris and Ken) I now have to pay $50 more per month towards my mortgage escrow account. I previously voted not to change the bi-annual tax collection to quarterly. Now that the quarterly annual tax collection is now changed to an “odd” three time annual…

Dear Editor, On April 12, the House released a draft of the Farm Bill that aims to significantly erode nutrition programs that support millions of Americans, including SNAP (known in Vermont as 3SquaresVT), our nation’s largest hunger-relief program that helps 75,000 Vermonters feed themselves and their families. The House Farm Bill endangers the long-term bipartisan…

By Senator Patrick Leahy Editor’s note: This is a transcription of Leahy’s address on the floor of the Senate, April 12, 2018. Yesterday, Vermont set an example for the Congress. A Democratically controlled Legislature and a Republican Governor, in a rural state with a strong gun owning tradition and few gun laws, worked together to debate,…

By Anson Tebbetts The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Boston regional office announced that the Vermont Agency of Agriculture has made significant progress toward meeting the state’s water quality goals. In a letter to the agency dated April 2, EPA regional administrator Alexandra Dapolito Dunn noted, “Your staff have clearly been working hard to get new programs…

By Jon Margolis, VTDigger OK, enough for a while of all this chit-chat over minimum wages, family leave, getting the goop out of the lake, and guns (especially, mercifully, guns). Let’s turn to one of the eternal verities: politics. Not that they aren’t all connected. The wages, the lake goop, the guns (especially, heaven help us,…

Dear Editor, Governor Phil Scott signed a proclamation for Child Abuse Prevention Month on April 3. I appreciate the ceremony at the Statehouse and the attention that it draws to the need that every child has, to be loved and safely nurtured. Every child, every day requires at least one adult who provides that love…