By Gail Johnson The question “Can Rutland have it all?”—an expanding commerce base, increased employment, new residents—isn’t rhetorical any more. The three issues are easily combined in conversations, editorials, and now in a story that made front page of The New York Times on Jan. 2, 2017, “Ailing Vermont Town Pins Hopes on Mideast Refugees.”…

Dear Editor, Up until a few years ago, ski passes for seniors were given at age 65 and at age 72 you were considered a “super senior.” That super senior season pass was $549. So, why did the mountain raise the age of the super senior pass to 79 and charge $200 more? That’s because the information…

Dear Editor, On behalf of the Bennington-Rutland Supervisory Union (BRSU) we would like to offer our sincerest thanks and praises to the organizations that graciously donated gifts and food items to students and families throughout our school district during the holiday season. Thanks to BROC-Community Action in Southwestern Vermont for their donation of toys and…

Dear Editor, Well, you folks have done it again! For the 44th time, you have reached deep in your pockets and created the magic of Christmas in Rutland County. There is no room here to thank the many residents, visitors and local businesses who together made it possible for the WSYB Christmas Fund to reach…

By Jon Morgolis, VTDigger Fake news has not come to Vermont. Not that some Vermonters don’t consider a report in the newspaper or on TV here and there to have been inaccurate or biased. But that’s not what fake news is. Fake news is a completely invented false item, like the one about the Pope…

By Rob Roper During the gubernatorial campaign Phil Scott set a goal to expand Vermont’s population from 625,000 to 700,000 over the next 10 years or so. This is a pretty tall order (maybe unattainable), but the governor-elect’s call does raise an important issue. Our state’s population is stagnant, and if we want to be…

By Deb Markowitz Editor’s note: This is a final note from Secretary Deb Markowitz as she helps the Agency of Natural Resources transition to a new leadership team. Six years is a long time to serve as Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources. From the moment I arrived at our offices in Waterbury, people…

Dear Editor, The appearance of snowy weather tends to mark the start of the holiday season here in the Rutland region. It’s a time of year when we focus on gathering with friends and family to enjoy festivities and create memories. It is also the time of year that youth look forward to being home…

Dear Editor, First it’s out, then it’s in, now it’s out again. According to one Select Board member a calendar year report would be better. Who cares!! Manage the golf course using comparative data. Make sure the data is accurate and current. Ask some smart people to study the reports and advise the board. But…

By Lee H. Hamilton As Mario Cuomo said, politicians campaign in poetry but have to govern in prose. Now we have a president-elect who campaigned in tweets...but still will have to govern in prose. So, like a few thousand other Americans, I’d like to give him some advice. Not on the substance of policy itself…

By Jon Margolis, VTDigger Vermont, they say, is a well-educated state. Whatever that means. The criteria for what qualifies a person as “educated” are debatable and subjective, so let’s stick to objective, empirically verifiable information: Vermont has one of the highest college graduation rates in the country. According to an analysis of Census Bureau data…

Dear Editor, I am a proud product of Vermont public schools. I was raised in North Pomfret, Vt., and attended a series of one-room schoolhouses, serving students from kindergarten to fifth grade. Most of our schools (there were four) had fewer than 14 students per building spanning several grade levels. One teacher working with an…

Dear Editor, Since the details of Entergy’s plan to sell the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant to an expert decommissioning firm were made public earlier this month, there have been some misinformed media reports and public statements claiming that buyer NorthStar has no experience decommissioning nuclear power plants. This is simply untrue. Entergy has stated…

By Emerson Lynn Monday, Dec. 19, Vermont’s electors met in Montpelier to do what is expected of them, which is to commit themselves to the losing candidacy of Hillary Clinton. Of all states, Vermont gave her the highest percentage support, which means, obviously, that we gave President-elect Donald Trump the least. Because Mr. Trump is…

Dear Editor, The Rutland United Methodist Church held a luncheon in the Church Fellowship hall on Dec. 6 to distribute funds raised at the October Chocolate Festival and Silent Auction. It is fitting that this can be part of our Christmas spirit to the community. Pastor Rogers and the co-chairs presented 13 different Rutland area…