Dear Editor, Rachael Ray, alumna of Lake George, N.Y., cooked, entertained and gave back to over 400 admiring fans, mentors, lifelong friends and family in her high school auditorium on April 29 for her 14th annual cooking show to raise money for the school and town she calls home. At the start of the show,…

By Lee H. Hamilton I had the good fortune last week to spend some time in Washington, D.C., with about a dozen former members of Congress. As you’d expect, we got to talking about the current Congress. Very quickly it turned out that the same question was troubling all of us: Why is it held…

By Douglas R. Hoffer, Vermont State Auditor The unfortunate situation with the EB-5 program presents an opportunity to reflect on the state’s approach to economic development. Among other responsibilities, the state auditor’s office examines various programs to determine whether they achieve the goals established by the legislature. That is, are we getting our money’s worth? To…

By Maxine Grad and Willem Jewett It may be accurate to observe that Governor Shumlin’s accomplishments during his final legislative session have been modest but it goes a bit too far to cast off the work of the General Assembly as “an uninspired, housekeeping session that was remarkable for how few initiatives lawmakers tackled,” as…

Dear Editor, Another legislative biennium has ended and Vermont has begun to enter the doorway of an historic transition in state government. Next January we will have a new Governor, Lt. Governor, Speaker of the House and President Pro Tem of the Senate — and it is possible that Vermont’s path forward could look far…

Dear Editor, In light of the thief of investor funds at Jay Peak and Burke and the Town of Newport, it is so ironic the state of Vermont approvals got things moving so fast. The lack of oversight with EB-S funds by the state, the movement of funds from People’s United Bank to a brokerage…

By Rob Roper Vermont Business Magazine (VBM) wrote about some good news for a Vermont economy that has otherwise been pretty moribund for several years. The bright spot is our tech industry. As the VBM article points out, “Vermont’s tech sector makes up a quarter of the state’s workers and 40 percent of its wages,…

By Paul Costello At the Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) we get to work with rural towns throughout Vermont where we rally everyone to pull together, review all the issues before the community, evaluate potential collective action, set priorities, and line up together to advance the economy, attract youth, build senior housing or children’s…

By Jon Margolis, VTDigger.org (Editor’s note: Jon Margolis is VTDigger’s political columnist.) The 2016 session of the Vermont General Assembly did not legalize or decriminalize marijuana. It did not pull the state’s pension fund money out of coal or oil company stocks. It did not establish a commission or an agency or even a part-time…

Thank you to all my dear friends, my family and so many Killington well wishers who came out to celebrate my retirement. I’m touched by the outpouring of kind words and fond memories recalled. My life at Killington has surely been interesting, I always enjoyed hard work and helping my friends, my community and of…

Dear Editor, Last week a noted economist pointed out that Vermont’s exports have dropped 25 percent since 2010 while, nationally, exports have actually risen by 17 percent in that same time. This is troubling news especially when you consider that the exporting industries inside Vermont are the ones with the best wages, upward mobility for…

Killington continues to deliver the longest season in the East; conditions and temp better than reported Dear Editor, I have seen photos of Don McNeil (a.k.a. Shortski) in The Mountain Times more than once this year along with commentary that he has perfect attendance at Killington. I am the other person with an unbroken record…

Dear Editor, Vermont is riddled with lobbyists and bad money skills. Our state is truly suffering from the good ol’ boy club, a.k.a. nepotism. A friend of mine recently turned me onto money trails in Vermont, and it’s a sordid mess. However, our problems are solved by better ethics. A major criterion for ethics grading…

It seems that refugees are all anyone is talking about in Rutland. Beyond a simple statement in support of the effort, I’ve largely listened over the past few days. I didn’t want to add to the cacophony of refugee discussion without taking the time to collect my thoughts and express them simply and clearly. As…

By George Jaeger Among the most disturbing aspects of this bizarre election season is the absence of any serious discussion of America’s foreign affairs. Endless debates have produced simplistic themes that play to the gut feelings of parts of the electorate. But relatively little attention has been paid to the most critical world issues America…