By Barrie Dunsmore How will it end? When will it end? As a  geezer with the newspaper column, those are the questions I am constantly asked. (If I knew the precise answers I could start a new career in Las Vegas.) Of course neither I nor anyone else knows how and when the presidency of…

Dear Editor, There’s a bit of a misrepresentation in the third sentence of Brett Yates’ otherwise excellent piece “Good things for bad people” published in the Aug.23-29 edition of the Mountain Times, in regards to the infamous Google memo. It reads: “The engineer, James Damore, asserted that the relative absence of women in Silicon Valley…

Dear Editor, Anyone watching the network news lately would think that Adolph Hitler, the entire Nazi Army and a legion of Civil War Reconstruction Klansmen had risen from from the dead and invaded the United States. I have never seen so much outlandish hysteria perpetrated by the media in my entire life. In trying to…

Dear Editor, Throughout the ages many attempts have been made to revise history. Some, such as the burning of books, have had mild success in encouraging some and intimidating others to join in the hateful venture. Others have bred the spreading of false or modified reports of events by way of angry opinion in ways…

Dear Editor, Lately much has been made about the cost of the proposed land purchase for the new Public Safety Building. Having been on the Firehouse Committee I can state unequivocally the committee exhausted all possible sites available with the criteria of land cost, development cost, and location along with other more specific criteria within…

Dear Editor, The following is in no way to disparage those who put in their effort to select a site, nor negotiate the sale price for the proposed firehouse. The following are facts we the citizens need to consider. An acre of land is 43,560 square feet, times 4 it equals 174,240 square feet. Fifty…

By Angelo S. Lynn Walls to divide, or bridges to unite? On the campaign trail, politicians of all stripes promise big things — but few were as boastful, wasteful and wrong-headed as “The Donald” was during his run-up to the Republican convention and throughout the general election. After his first eight months in office, he’s accomplished…

Dear Editor, Many of you will recall that two years ago KMS received our first accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. As part of that accreditation process, KMS is required to submit two-and five-year reports. What they didn’t mention is how amazing everyone here is to work with, and what a…

By Lee Hamilton One reason I consider myself fortunate to have led a life in politics is that, over time, I’ve had a chance to work with nine presidents. From Lyndon Johnson through Barack Obama, I’ve talked policy, politics and, sometimes, the trivial details of daily life with them. Johnson was a deal-maker — always…

By Mike Smith In the early 1960s we still had racist state laws defending the widespread practice of segregation. Slowly — too slowly for many black Americans — those laws began to change. However, racism and bigotry don’t end by changing laws. In many respects, integrating lunch counters, schools and bathrooms is the easy part.…

Dear Editor, Thousands of Vermonters follow their doctors’ advice and get an annual mammogram screenings. About 10 percent the time, they will get called back for an additional views.  Being told that you have to come back for more views can be stressful, but most of the time, it should not lead to additional cost…

By Bob Englehart, CagleCartoons.com

By David Russell Editor’s note: This commentary is by David Russell of Perkinsville, who is a retired renewable energy and securities consultant and whose writing appears in venues including the The Hill and Huffington Post. Military analysts surmise that North Korea has a small nuclear weapon it can mount on the ballistic missiles it has…

By Jack Hoffman Economist Art Woolf wrote recently that Vermont spends too much on education because taxes are too low for many residents. Woolf was referring specifically to resident homeowners who qualify to pay school taxes as a percentage of their income rather than on the value of their property. According to Woolf, because their income-based taxes are…

By Lee H. Hamilton Do ordinary citizens still have a voice in Washington and in their state capitals? Despite the cynicism of these times, my answer is, yes, we do. But we have to exercise it. I don’t just mean going to a town hall meeting and yelling, or shooting off a letter or email.…