By Lee H. Hamilton As election season approaches, I’ve been pondering a crucial issue about the role of government in our society. It’s that our government often fails — and that we need to address this. There’s ample cause for concern — the VA appointments scandal; the botched launch of the Affordable Care Act; the 28…

By Robin Alberti Hemp has a rich history in our country and is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world. Hemp can provide a sustainable agricultural system that can heal our farmland and economy. Cultivating this crop can provide desperately needed jobs in agriculture, manufacturing and retail. First, let’s get rid of a…

By Angelo S. Lynn Vermont is at it again: angling to be a national leader on yet another public policy issue. This time it’s the effort to reduce consumption of sugar-laden beverages. The angle? Pass a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. The Legislature, however, isn’t in the driver’s seat. Rather, the Alliance for a Healthier Vermont…

By John Herrick, VTDigger.org The Obama administration launched an initiative Wednesday, July 16, aimed at helping local communities better prepare for the impacts of climate change, but one of Vermont’s key recommendations to the president was not included. The state wants to use FEMA public assistance money to help rebuild culverts and bridges so streams…

By Morgan W. Brown Several years ago I advocated that courses in the humanities be offered and taught to those within Vermont who might have otherwise gone without the opportunities and benefits of these. For example: people living in poverty; people living homeless; persons incarcerated in jails, prisons or other institutions; people living in the…

By Lee H. Hamilton It’s no news that Congress is unpopular. In fact, at times it seems like the only real novelty on Capitol Hill would be a jump in its approval rating. So here’s the interesting thing: nearly three-quarters of Americans want to throw out most members of Congress, including their own representative, yet…

A Montgomery, Vermont, man was charged by the Fish & Wildlife Department for intentionally feeding bears.    Jeffrey Messier, 54, of Black Falls Road was charged with feeding bears after Game Warden Sgt. Carl Wedin received a report of a bear being killed in self-defense at a neighboring residence on June 22, 2014. Sgt. Wedin responded and…

Dear Editor, On Friday, June 11, I received an email notice of the awarding of excess millings from the repaving of Killington Road with the following chart. I thought a lottery was supposed to take place if there were not enough millings to go around? A town notice clearly stated: “If we do not have…

By Lee H. Hamilton Like other federal scandals before it, the mess involving VA hospitals has followed a well-trod path. First comes the revelation of misdoing. Then comes the reaction: a shocked public, an administration on the defensive, and grandstanding members of Congress. Finally, major reform bills get introduced, debated, then put aside when the…

“There they go again.” The Gipper (President Ronald Reagan) said it of Democrats in the 1980s for what he claimed was twisting the truth in congressional battles. The same phrase could be used in Vermont these days as opponents of Gov. Peter Shumlin and his administration produce a continous chorus of negativity about the state’s…