Dear Editor, To the volunteer firemen and women of Proctorsville, Cavendish, Ludlow, Springfield, Chester, Reading, Weston, Mount Holly, Ascutney, Walpole, and Weathersfield who rallied to our house in the early hours of Feb. 15 to fight our house fire we are eternally grateful. Through your efforts you were able to control an inferno and save…

Dear Editor, I am writing to thank Killington voters for supporting Article 6 of our town budget. Article 6 allocates $500 to Habitat for Humanity of Rutland County. Rutland Habitat is a non-profit organization with no paid staff. Every dollar donated goes directly to the cost of building affordable housing in Rutland County. Habitat is…

By Will Patten On Feb. 1 I attended a meeting of Vermont business leaders to discuss the importance of early childhood education. Governor Phil Scott came to address the group and received a spontaneous and enthusiastic standing ovation—not because he had cut business taxes or gutted regulations but because a few days earlier he had…

By Angelo S. Lynn Congressional Republicans called Trump’s bluff Friday, March 24, and guess who backed down? Trump did, with his tail between his legs. Trump had tried to make it a game of “chicken,” carelessly threatening Republican opponents last Thursday that if they didn’t pass TrumpCare he would “come and get them,” but it…

By Robbie Maher In the midst of the Trump administration, the rights of a free press are questioned daily in tweets and from the podium in the White House briefing room. Concern about First Amendment rights is nothing new inside the less-than-democratic halls of public high schools. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled multiple times…

Dear Editor, Hi, Jonas here from KES, and I love Trailblazers. I only moved up here this year, and one of my favorite things about this new school is Trailblazers. And no, it’s not just because we get out of school early. It’s riding Killington with my friends, having fun, riding all of the mountain…

Dear Editor, Last week, the Republicans in Washington revealed their plans for replacing the Affordable Care Act. Unsurprisingly, their plan would hurt poor and working-class people and women while creating billions of dollars of new tax giveaways to corporations and the wealthy. Simply defending the Affordable Care Act (popularly known as “Obamacare”) is not enough.…

Dear Editor, In light of the so-called travel ban being effective the day before St. Patrick’s Day, I offer a perspective on the executive order: “Céad míle fáilte,” Irish for “a hundred thousand welcomes.” Irish immigrants who left home in the 19th century to find work and build a life in America were allowed to…

Dear Editor, In his recent commentary in the Mountain Times, “Something to Write Home About,” Windsor County state senator Dick McCormack opines about “respecting the education fund.” He claims that he would never  raid the education fund for other purposes, due to his strong support for Act 60. Contrary to his present-day promise, McCormack fully supported…

Dear Editor, Much has changed as I attended the town and school informational meetings for my 47th year as a resident of Killington. In the olden days years ago hundreds of residents took the day off to review the reports and future of our town. I can remember Oren Bates who owned a lot of…

Dear editor, ARC Rutland Area, an organization that works with citizens with developmental disabilities and their families, wants to thank the Rutland Lodge of Elks #345 for sponsoring a Valentine barbecue and dance for approximately 95 members, family and friends of ARC Rutland Area on Sunday, Feb. 19. We would like to give special thanks…

Dear editor, If you were to ask a dozen people who attended the first annual Killington Irish Festival to sum up their experience at the event I would bet the stock reply would be, “It was Grand.” But of course, I’m a little biased. Under the direction of Tracy O’Dwyer Buckley (who did her mother…

By Angelo S. Lynn By now, the biggest sin of the GOP health care bill is well known: it’s a tax cut bill masquerading as a health care plan. Simply put, it takes health care away from lower-income and middle-income Americans who need it most, and it cuts taxes on the rich and super-rich by…

By Lee H. Hamilton As you watch the healthcare proceedings on Capitol Hill, imagine what things might be like if we lived in more functional political times. In particular, what if Congress were run by pragmatists? It would not change the issues at hand. On the one side, you’d have the Republican majority in Congress,…

By Sen. Patrick Leahy This is the first Sunshine Week, since it began in 2005, when the public’s right to know has been under direct assault, and on several fronts. “Fake news,” “alternative facts,” retaliatory restrictions on press access by the White House, and demonizing attacks on the working press are eroding the public’s access to…