By Lee H. Hamilton Editor’s note: Lee Hamilton is a senior advisor for the Indiana University Center on Representative Government and was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for over 30 years. It sometimes seems that Americans are hopelessly divided by politics, but I believe it will take politics to make our country…

By Angelo Lynn Editor’s note: Angelo Lynn is the editor and publisher of the Addison County Independent, a sister publication to the Mountain Times. As we enter the final weeks before the Nov. 8 elections, both state and national, let’s all reflect on one point that should, by now, be uncontested: Who you vote for…

By Mary Jo Teetor Editor’s note: Mary Jo Teetor of Poultney, a longtime member and trustee of the Lake St. Catherine Association, where she is currently the treasurer. She is on the water quality committee and has been a lay monitor on Lake St. Catherine for more than 20 years. There have been so many…

By Alison Whritenour, Donna Carpenter and Matthew McCarthy Editors note: This commentary was written by Seventh Generation CEO Alison Whritenour, Burton Snowboards co-founder, owner and chair Donna Carpenter and Ben & Jerrys Homemade, Inc. CEO Matthew McCarthy. These companies are all Certified B Corporations and longtime members of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility. Silence is…

By Jess Kimball Editor’s note: Jess Kimball is an administrative assistant at The National Midwifery Institute and managing editor of the Journal for Pre and Perinatal Psychology. Jess runs a private practice, Jess Kimball Wellness (formerly Sunflower Postpartum Care LLC), providing families with birth and postpartum doula support and lactation counseling. She is also a…

By Angelo Lynn Editor’s note: Angelo Lynn is the editor and publisher of the Addison County Independent, a sister publication to the Mountain Times. The latest news that a top-secret document describing a foreign government’s military defense readiness, including its nuclear capabilities, was found among the documents at ex-president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence is the…

By Alis Headlam Editor’s note: This commentary is by Alis Headlam, Ed.D., of Rutland. Headlam retired as a professional educator training teachers to teach literacy in institutions in the United States, Africa and Jamaica; is the former creator and member of the Multiracial Alliance of the Rutland Area; and is currently a member of Project VISION…

Dear Editor, Montpelier is now the second city in the state to decriminalize prostitution within its city limits, and I am deeply concerned for what this move will mean for Vermont. Regardless of where you stand on the issue of sex work, the reality is that wherever prostitution is decriminalized, there is a subsequent increase…

Dear Editor, Every indicator says we are rapidly approaching the implosion of healthcare in Vermont and probably the nation. The 2021 Vermont Household Health Insurance Survey indicates that 38% of Vermonters under age 65 are underinsured, as are 32.3% of those on Medicare. Since the Green Mountain Care Board has again approved large rate increases…

Dear Editor, U.S. colleges bear considerable responsibility for the student debt crisis. Colleges with fat endowments (and bloated tuitions) should be tapped to help address this crisis. How about increased federal and state taxes on endowments to help pay for the dangerous student-debt bailout idea? We hear billionaires should pay their fair share. Well, many…

Editor’s note: This commentary is a joint op-ed from Vermont Natural Resources Council, Vermont Conservation Voters, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, Conservation Law Foundation, Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club and Vermont Public Interest Research Group. When it comes to getting where we all need to go — which often needs to be by car…

By Paul Bean Editor’s note: Paul Bean is a resident of Northfield and a candidate for Vermont Senate in Washington County. In honor of Labor Day, I wanted to talk about our workforce. Vermont is a challenging place in which to live, and we want to ensure that our youth are being educated on the…

Dear Editor, There is a great deal of frustration in the community toward the Lake Bomoseen Association (LBA) and the Lake Bomoseen Preservation Trust (LBPT) right now and it appears that much of it has been self induced by the LBA board. The LBA and LBPT and specifically their boards take a position of authority…

By Peter Sterling Editor’s note: Peter Sterling is the executive director of REV, the voice of Vermont’s renewable energy business community who are working to eliminate our reliance on dirty fossil fuels by increasing the use of renewable energy and building a clean energy economy. Incredibly and finally, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has begun…

Dear Editor, The Lake Bomoseen Association was formed in 1954 in response to concerns over water pollution; both from private systems and the large hotels that discharged sewage directly into the lake. While working cooperatively with the town of Castleton and state agencies, this situation was greatly improved as the town sewer was extended along…