By Lyle Jepson and Mary Cohen Imagine a future for Rutland County in which young families move into efficient new homes close to high-paying advanced manufacturing jobs … recent college graduates shop downtown for “first day of work” wardrobes before starting jobs with local companies where they worked as student interns. … construction workers in…

The average nondegree grant is $1,800 By Scott Giles  Governor Phil Scott’s budget request to invest an additional $1 million in the nondegree grant program will pay off in real opportunities for Vermonters who need education and training for jobs that are waiting to be filled.  In fact, over the next decade, seven out of…

By Jon Margolis, VTDigger Vermont offers its citizens more opportunity to “access the American dream” than any other state. Vermont is one of the poorest states in the Union. Can both those judgements be correct? No. One of them must be wrong. Maybe both of them. But just look where they come from. They seem so … so…

Editors note: the following is an open letter to Ernie Herrman, CEO and president of TJMaxx Dear Mr. Herrman, I am writing to tell you that I have stopped shopping in TJMaxx stores since the election in November of 2016. That is when I became aware that you carry Ivanka accessories.  I’m sure that you…

Dear Editor, Is the Select Board crazy? The 1 percent local option sale tax component of the options tax contributes approximately $400,000 to $500,000 to the annual General Fund budget. Who do you think is going to make that up if it is rescinded? You and me in our property taxes. As it is, we…

By Lee H. Hamilton As a country, we make a habit of looking forward, not backward. But I’m going to ask you to turn your attention back a few weeks, to Barack Obama’s Jan. 10 farewell address to the American people. I’ve been reading presidential farewell speeches for many years. Most of them give good…

By Lyle Jepson Vermonters can no longer ask their economic development organizations to work in isolation and still expect success for our communities and our businesses. Over the last year, the Rutland region has proved that a common vision and a common direction – forged through persistence and hard work – can rapidly transform a…

Dear Editor, Gov. Phil Scott is attempting a “top-down” approach to check education spending because past legislative efforts have failed, and new initiatives are unlikely to win the approval of the Democrat-controlled Legislature. Democrats that are now expressing a newfound concern for local control seem to have forgotten that they championed the anti-school choice Act…

By Rachel Carter When choosing to purchase food, cost is often a deciding factor for consumers. Why buy a 12-ounce package of local bacon for $7.99 when you can get it for $4.98? Purchasing local food means you know where your food comes from, you’re buying food that is generally healthier, and you’re helping drive…

By Angelo S. Lynn Give Gov. Phil Scott credit for utilizing the element of surprise. In his budget address this past Tuesday, Jan. 24, he rocked Montpelier’s world by suggesting that public schools, K-12, freeze their budgets at current spending levels, force teachers to pay more for their health care plans (from roughly 15 to…

Dear Editor, I want to applaud Mike Solimano and his team for the terrific job that the Resort did with the World Cup. The combined efforts of the town and the resort prove that both are in this together. The positive impacts are sure to be real. Here is where we stand today: 1. Killington is…

Dear editor, I am not on board with designating $100,000 for support of Killington Resort’s efforts to bring back the World Cup. First of all, there are no guarantees that Killington will even be considered by the FIS (International Ski Federation, the World Cup governing body). The reason the World Cup came to Killington this…

Dear Editor, Martin Luther King, Jr., was a great man because he helped many people in need of his help. This happened when Rosa Parks got arrested because she did not give up her seat up on the bus to a white person. What MLK did was he organized a boycott where lots of people…

Dear editor, Well as you would expect, not a word was heard from the mountain with regard to the previous letters requesting the mountain to provide a senior taxpayers’ residential ski pass. I never thought it would be an easy task, but you never know. My philosophy, “if you don’t ask, you don’t get.” I guess…

By Rob Roper When I was in second grade, my parents moved our family from Virginia to Connecticut because Dad took a job in New York City. They chose the town of Riverside to live in based largely on the quality of the public school system. We were lucky to be able to afford to…