Dear Editor, All indications are that, with the new omicron variant, we are in for another surge in Covid hospitalizations. After more than a year and half into the pandemic, our health care workers are exhausted and our hospital facilities stretched. At the same time, those who do not wish to take the vaccine and…

Dear Editor, The Rutland City Aldermanic Public Works Committee is preparing to re-examine the practice of fluoridation of the water supply. I made the request for this fresh look at the Nov. 1 Aldermen’s meeting, and the request was supported by 11 local and area citizens and approved unanimously by the board. Here are seven…

Dear Editor, As the new executive director and vicar at Mission Farm, I am impressed and overjoyed at the outreach and kindness shown in the Killington community. I have witnessed the partnership of the Killington Ski Resort and the town of Killington come together to help individuals, families and businesses through the difficult days of…

By Angelo Lynn It’s no surprise that Covid-19, the delta variant and its effect on our collective lives will be remembered as the top story of 2021. It’s likely the twists and turns of this pandemic will remain dominant in our lives in 2022 as well. To that end, it’s not hard to see the…

By Betsy Bishop Editor’s note: Betsy Bishop, of East Montpelier, is the president of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. The last two years changed our communities and how we do business. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Vermont businesses rallied, innovated and pivoted. Still, not every business was able to stay open.  And now, as we work…

By James Maroney Editor’s note: James H. Maroney Jr., of Leicester, is a former farmer who has a master’s degree in environmental law and policy from Vermont Law School. The passage of Vermont’s Global Warming Solutions Act in 2020, over the strenuous objections of our Republican governor, was a remarkable testament to the depth of…

Dear Editor, I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed I am with our governor and his flunkies with regards to the non-masking of Vermonters. Historically, people do not do things by themselves, but have to be directed in order to have anything happen. We are not a proactive species. He needed to enact a…

Dear Editor, Discussion and debate about whether to wear a mask as a means to halt the spread of Covid-19 is traveling around Vermont like a wildfire, or, perhaps better said, like a virus. The matter comes up frequently at the governor’s weekly press conferences. Select boards up and down the state, from Hardwick to…

By Katherine Sims Editor’s note: Katherine Sims is a Democratic state representative in the Orleans-Caledonia district and the Rural Economic Development Working Group (REDWnG) of the Vermont House of Representatives, a tri-partisan group working together to advance legislation and policy initiatives that strengthen the economy in rural Vermont communities. Working lands are central to Vermont’s…

Dear Editor, Public health experts are critical participants in the development of government policies dealing with challenges like the pandemic. But their perspective is only one consideration in the development of effective and rational public policy. These folks may know more about limiting the transmission of a pathogen, but their prescriptions have consequences that fall…

By Dan Galdenzi As Vermonters, we take on a certain reputation — or maybe, more accurately, a set of stereotypes — that come immediately to mind for non-Vermonters. Whether earned or not, those stereotypes are part of being a resident in this unique community. In fact, there was a study recently that said Vermont was…

Dear Editor, A ruling was made last week in the VT Superior Court, WRJ, on the return of German shepherd dogs and their puppies to the owner of the puppy mill from which they were recently rescued by VT state police and local humane societies. While the details of this horrific situation cannot yet be…

By Sandra Paritz Editor’s note: Sandra Paritz, of Montpelier, directs the Poverty Law Project at Vermont Legal Aid. Years ago, when my 3-year-old son first saw someone sleeping in the doorway of a building in the cold, he asked: Why is he sleeping there? Won’t he be too cold? Why doesn’t he have a home?…

Dear Editor, Editor’s note: this was submitted as an open letter to the Killington Select Board on Dec. 10. As the Select Board leads the effort to bring a TIF (Tax Increment Financing) District to Killington, it appears obvious that the Board and SP Land are orchestrating an effort to promote this project in the…

By Peter Sterling Editor’s note: Sterling is the interim executive director of Renewable Energy Vermont. Talk to anyone who has tried to bring renewable energy to Vermonters and they will tell you the same thing: despite our green reputation and the thousands of Vermonters who have asked for leadership to avoid the existential crisis climate…