Dear Editor, On Oct. 20, 2015, two dozen members of Gun Owners of Vermont went to an advertised “fall regional meeting” of Gun Sense Vermont (GSV) which was supposed to be a public forum. We did this because we wanted to have a conversation with the officers and members of GSV and the general public…

Dear Editor, I was never scared of all the witches, zombies, and assorted goblins wandering around on Halloween next Saturday night. What really used to scare me was the meat industry. This is the industry that mutilates, cages, and butchers billions of cows, pigs, and other feeling animals, that exposes thousands of undocumented workers to…

By Steve Costello As many of your readers may recall, I enjoy perusing “Aesop’s Fables” from time to time, and look for lessons that apply to life, work and community. Three recent events, a speech by incoming Rutland Police Chief Brian Kilcullen, a conversation with filmmaker Art Jones, and an Associated Press article about Rutland’s…

By Rob Roper A recent article about the new school district consolidation law, Act 46, quoted a state legislator whose reaction seems to be representative of many parents, local school board members, students, and law makers who value and hope to preserve Vermont’s 150-year-old school choice tuitioning system: “I don’t think we can still have…

Dear Editor, It’s been some time since I last wrote. I’ve been waiting for answers to my questions. The question seems to be simple: why does the town of Killington have two sets of books for financials? I’ve asked our town manager in the beginning of this barrage of letters to the editor, his first…

Dear Editor, There have been several issues before the Select Board recently, both old and new that I would like to continue to update the community on: Road signs and maintenance as well as the search for a new town manager. First, as we have all probably heard by now, our town manager Seth Webb…

By Wendy Reese As an appointed Pittsfield Select Board member, one of my greatest concerns in our town is dissemination of information, particularly when it comes to town business. While we post about meetings in three public locations and we have the minutes and agenda on the town website, you have to be proactive to…

By Gov. Peter Shumlin When I came to office in 2011, I made expanding broadband Internet access to every last mile a priority. No one thought achieving that goal would be easy, especially since previous governors had set similar goals, only to fall short in the end. The same features that make Vermont an ideal…

By Deborah T. Bucknam, Esq. Act 46, the new state law which provides for mergers of school districts into larger districts, protects forever all school districts’ present systems, whether the district tuitions its students or operates its own school, or a combination of both. The State Board of Education has interpreted Act 46 to mean…

Dear Editor, I support David Rosenblum who called out leaders on road safety. Rosenblum is a stalwart volunteer for the town and I fully understand his frustration with paid bureaucrats’ inaction. I’d wager things would play differently if said bureaucrats resided in the town locale. Municipalities get sued all the time for avoidable tragedies. We…

Dear Editor, I got interested in hydroelectric power in an instant on Dec. 26, 2008. While driving and listening to an NPR news piece regarding the skyrocketing price of oil, I had an epiphany. I live in a mill town and there are five dams within one mile of my home. I was deeply disturbed…

By Gov. Peter Shumlin Last week, the Vermont Highway Safety Alliance held a rally for safe roads on the state house lawn. In attendance were bicyclists, motorists, equestrians, motorcyclists and pedestrians and more than a few who could claim to be all of the above. The rally was a reminder of the recent tragedies we’ve…

By Lee H. Hamilton People who care about the United States’ place in the world often fret about challenges to representative democracy from other countries. I’d contend that the more formidable challenge comes not from abroad, but from within. For starters, it’s hard to make American representative democracy work. Our country is large, growing, and…

Dear Editor, Virtually all media coverage depicts marijuana legalization as a done deal, just waiting for Shumlin’s signature in 2016. Vermont’s lawmakers and officials have stepped right in behind Shumlin and the paid marijuana lobby to make us believe this. So far, it appears that those who defend legalization of social marijuana are those who…

Dear Editor, In February of this year the stop sign and attached street sign at West Park Road and Killington Road was knocked down, allegedly by a town snow plow. The sign and the post lay in the snow for several weeks until they disappeared. During at least two successive Selectboard meetings I brought the…