By Secretary of State Jim Condos 2020 was no ordinary year. Now three months into 2021 we have endured the health, societal, and economic challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic that have rocked our communities for over year. Many people have lost their lives, or their loved ones, along the way. Our country is experiencing…

Dear Editor, Most people who rent out a property they own through Airbnb or VRBO are people like myself who are just trying to make ends meet and be able to afford a small slice of Vermont. We rent out our vacation homes to pay the mortgage and the upkeep. There’s no big profit to…

Dear Editor, Over the past several weeks, we have seen a growing anxiety around conversations happening in the legislature regarding public employee pensions. We have seen a rise in misinformation and confusion concerning what is actually happening and why these considerations are occurring at this time. The reason I have prioritized this issue is simple:…

Dear Editor, Faithful political representatives of the people in ancient Rome participated in peaceful negotiation and regular compromise with their adversaries. This concept of “concordia” was so highly admired by the citizenry that a temple and a bronze statue were built for Lady Compromise, and people worshipped her as a god in heaven. The nation…

Dear Editor, As the elected legislative body in the town of Stockbridge, the Select Board received a petition to start the process of breaking up the merger of Stockbridge and Rochester’s schools in 2020. This merger created the RSUD or Rochester Stockbridge Union District. This merger was the result of the arduous and lengthy Act…

Editor's note: this commentary was signed by Alison Notte from Rutland City Public Schools along with 30 other  school board members from around the state.  Our Vermont legislators recently commissioned a state-of-the-art study to investigate how best to apportion funds to schools equitably.  Unfortunately for the students of Vermont, it detailed serious inequities in school…

By John Pelletier All Vermont public school students are supposed to be taught personal finance, but I would bet that many parents would have a hard time finding a young person who has learned about credit scores, investing or compound interest. And there probably are even fewer students learning about personal finance during the pandemic,…

Dear Editor, With the recent regime change in Washington D.C.  the Democrats are in charge of the executive branch, the House and the Senate.  Quite rapidly, we are witnessing corporate America and Big Green Energy flooding social media and legacy news with advertisements pushing the virtues of  transitioning to battery operated transportation. The external costs…

Dear Editor, It was not my first choice to write this letter. I would have preferred to be able to handle the Bird Feeding Problem within the Telemark Village Association internally.  But, sometimes you have to take a stand on something you believe is truly unfair and unjust. My husband and I have been living…

Dear Editor, Some years ago, a baby girl of Asian-African decent was born in America. She was named “Kamala.” She had a rough life growing up as a third-class citizen in this land of “white supremecy.” People of color have always been classed as second- or third-rate citizens. As she grew older, she decided to…

Dear Editor, Planet America has coarsened over the past 50 years. Back then, President Nixon was embarrassed out of office when his late-night plumbers got caught poking around the other party’s national headquarters. Now, Trump brings howitzers into Congressional chambers in broad daylight and feels no remorse. Then, interest rates were limited by law to…

By Lt. Gov. Molly Gray Each March we have the opportunity to celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month and to recognize the achievements of women in our communities and across the globe. Let us honor women this month by acting to address their economic wellbeing. The president and vice president paid tribute to…

Dear Editor, Young children are open to learning everything they can all of the time. That is why they pick up on parents’ beliefs including prejudices. If parents make positive comments about people from other races, or from different parts of the country or the world, then children take on those positive attitudes as well.…

Dear Editor, The old adage, don’t put all your eggs in one basket, is as true for energy as it is for eggs. Witness what has happened over the past few weeks. An energy spike in Texas causing rolling blackouts, leaving 2 million people without power, cold and in the dark. Here in Vermont, many…

Dear Editor, I hope this falls on the right ears. It has been a rough year for everyone, and it is not going to get any better whether Covid is controlled or not. Our economic situation in this country does not leave much for the average person any more ... as the days and years…