By Lee H. Hamilton Given all the words and images devoted to the midterm elections over the past few weeks, you’d think the results had told us something vital about the future of the country. In reality, they were just a curtain-raiser. It’s the next few weeks and months that really matter. The big question,…

Dear Editor, Vermont’s not-for-profit hospitals congratulate all of the candidates who have been elected to serve our state over the next two years. Like all Vermonters, our hospitals believe in providing more affordable access to everyone, preserving quality and protecting the right patients have to choose their doctor and hospital and make their own healthcare…

Dear Editor, First, I would like to thank The Mountain Times for printing my concerns with regard to the repealing of the option tax. Secondly, I attended Tuesday’s select board meeting and much to my disappointment the attendance by local residents was sparse, to say the least, with such an important issue on the agenda. However many of…

By Emerson Lynn If several Vermont environmental groups and key policy makers have their way, the Legislature will impose a tax on gasoline and heating fuels, raising the price of a gallon of gas an estimated 45 cents. This will be Vermont’s way to help cut greenhouse gas emissions. They are delusional. Vermonters pay considerably…

By Jack Hoffman There wasn’t a lot of substance in this election season. “Where’s the beef?” isn’t a question we hear much during campaigns anymore, as Jon Margolis lamented in his column in VTDigger.org last week. But while candidates may not need to offer thoughtful, workable proposals or even clearly define problems to get elected,…

Dear Editor, Now that the truth is out of the bag, thanks to Vermont Digger and others, it is clear that our Legislature passed Act 48 with the intent to capture and control Medicare and Medicaid payments and services. What is unclear is, with all the denying coming from the administration and their representatives, did…

Dear Editor, The November elections are over, and though I was not re-elected as Representative for my district, I am feeling appreciative of my supporters and honored to have served for the last two years. I remain optimistic about our future. When we take stock of our assets, and plan with intentionality for the communities…

Dear Editor, We would like to deed our house to the State of Vermont. We have a nice home in a “gold town.” Our house has been listed for sale for over a year. We have lowered the price significantly and still draw little interest. Although we had never planned to move out of Vermont,…

Dear Editor, On a typical foggy morning in September I was commuting to work on my bicycle and every car was shrouded in a 50-foot cocoon of visibility. It occurred to me that what I was seeing was similar to how so many of us live in our own protective cocoons, and how we cope…

Repealing the option tax will make it harder to pay for upcoming expenses Dear Editor, In response to Mr. Freund’s letter “Repeal once percent option tax for a stronger community” in last week’s edition (Nov. 13-19), which I read carefully, he makes some valid points. But what he failed to do is offer any solutions…

Dear Editor, With Thanksgiving around the corner, we’re entering a time of year that is often a period of reflection and optimism, highlighted locally by the approach of the Gift-of-Life Marathon. Growing up, my mother taught by example, and one of the lessons was about the importance of donating blood. She was unable to donate,…

By Steve Costello When I was a little boy, one of my favorite stories was the folk tale about stone soup. I remember being inspired by the thought that stones could be the key ingredients in what turns out to be a delicious meal for an entire community. They can’t, of course, but the magic…

Dear Editor, In response to Diane Rosenblum’s letter to the editor last week titled “Oppose the option tax” I just don’t understand why one would write such a letter without facts. Green Mountain National Golf Course does not have $5 million debt. As of Dec. 31, 2013, the debt was $3,850,000. There has been no…

Dear Editor, Local option taxes were authorized by the state legislature to “reduce the dislocations in those municipalities that may be caused by reforms to the method of financing public education under the Equal Educational Opportunity Act of 1997.” In other words the option taxes were authorized to mitigate the egregious tax increase caused by…

Dear Editor, I fully support the recent Mountain Times letters endorsing retaining the 1 percent option tax. True the original purpose was for economic development, however, times have changed and Town needs have changed. Just like Green Mountain National Golf Course, which when purchased, was thought to be able to provide sufficient economic income growth…