Dear Editor, I read with interest and disappointment your lead article on the controversy at the Bridgewater Select Board meeting. The disappointment is that we did not expect our local government to emulate what sadly enough we are seeing on the national scene. One would think that the simplicity of the issues and the immediate…

Editor’s note: This commentary is by five medical doctors, Meghan Gunn, Ebrahim Ghazali, Judy Orton, Ann Marie Swann and Jaclyn Lozier; Kelsey Pierce and Emily Rice, physician's assistants; Bridget Bromirski, pediatric nurse practitioner; and Lynn Mann, doctor of osteopathic medicine. We are writing this in response to the many “anti-masking in school” groups that have…

By Eric Davis The Vermont Department of Health reported on Tuesday, Aug. 31, that there were 968 new cases of Covid-19 reported in the state over the past week, and that there were 36 people hospitalized with Covid. The count of new cases and hospitalizations in Vermont is now the highest it has been since…

By Chloe Learey In 2012, the Local Child Care Planning Council of Humboldt County in California uploaded its video “A Day Without ChildCare” to YouTube. Nearly 10 years later, the points it raised are even more salient, especially magnified by the Covid-19 pandemic. The premise is basic: People who do not have child care are…

By Lewis Mudge Vermonters should be proud that we continue to outpace the country in vaccines. I say we double down and once again show the rest of the country how we are a little state with big ideas. I tip my hat to Gov. Scott’s recent request to the White House for more refugees…

Dear editor, During last Wednesday’s community meeting on Aug. 11 in Rutland’s gym at St. Joseph’s College, there were many stupendous ideas expressed on ways to spend the initial $4.4 million Covid funds that will be coming to Rutland City. Rutland Free Library needs money to modernize the building and its technology. Main Street Park…

Dear Editor, My wife and I were driving along River Road in Killington, Sunday evening, Aug. 15, around 6:15 p.m., about one mile farther down from the Killington town hall (on the dirt road). We spotted what looked like a black cat with a very long tail. We were traveling about 15 mph, enjoying the…

By Ivy Scott and Camille Caldera, Boston Globe correspondents Better late than never, as the saying goes. Massachusetts residents who only recently got immunized against Covid-19 cited a variety of reasons for waiting: a torrent of misinformation on social media, concern that the vaccine would exacerbate preexisting medical conditions, and skepticism of the health care…

By Angelo Lynn Editor’s note: This commentary is written in collaboration with The Boston Globe, which has provided news reports, charts and graphics on the Covid-19 virus to participating papers throughout New England. Their initiative seeks to more fully educate the public about the virus and the benefits of getting vaccinated. Each participating paper was…

By Reps. Michelle Bos-Lun, Westminster, and Mike Mrowicki, Putney Climate change and its resulting weather variations are contributing to floods and massive roadway erosion in some parts of Vermont and floods and droughts in other areas this month. A large section of northern Vermont experienced abnormally dry conditions in July, but southern Vermont endured two major storms…

Dear Editor, Summer is synonymous with creemees, and well-timed ones at that. Dairy, as an industry, has supported Vermonters for 150 years. Summer is a wonderful time to celebrate the food that dairy provides, and the hardworking families who have produced that food while stewarding the land and landscape that sets Vermont apart from so many…

Dear Editor, Education finance in Vermont is an often hard-to-understand and quite complex system. Act 59 of 2021 created the Task Force on the Implementation of the Pupil Weighting Factors Report, a group of eight Vermont legislators who will spend time this summer, as the name implies, determining the best path forward to implement the…

Dear Editor, Virtually every business owner or manager Green Mountain Economic Development Corp. works with as the regional development corporation for Windsor and Orange counties, cites the lack of decent housing and child care as the most important factors hampering recovery from Covid. We believe this is true throughout New England and beyond. Both were…

By Chris Winters, Vt. Deputy Secretary of State It is important we all understand the strengths of American democracy, as well as its weaknesses. If we are to work together as a nation to address the limits of "the great experiment," and ensure our government is truly created of, by and for the people, having…

By Shayne Spence Editor’s note: This commentary is by Shayne Spence of Johnson, who was a Republican candidate for the Vermont House in 2020. With an ongoing battle taking place over the future of voting rights and access, on the federal level and in many states, we often hear about the For The People Act,…