By Paul Costello As we come out of the crucible of the pandemic and look to a new year, we need more than recovery, we need to work together to advance renewal and resilience for our communities and economy. The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) has been asking Vermonters what recovery will look like.…

By U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) Jan. 6, 2021, will forever mark a day of infamy for our nation. It will be remembered because our beloved Capitol building — the very heart of our democracy — was stormed and laid under siege. Rioters broke through windows, doors, and security barriers in both the Senate and…

“This is not dissent. It’s disorder. It’s chaos. It borders on sedition and it must end now,” said President-elect Joe Biden. “Today’s violent assault on our Capitol, an effort to subjugate American democracy by mob rule, was fomented by Mr. Trump,” said James Mattis, former defense secretary under Trump. “Not everyone storming the Capitol is…

Dear Editor, On Jan. 6, 2021, thousands of neo-fascist Trump loyalists converged on Washington with the aim of forcing the annulment of the November election (which Democrat Joe Biden won by 7 million votes). There they were met by Donald Trump himself who addressed the mob, falsely claiming that he won, that he would never…

Dear Editor, The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights consists of 30 rights and freedoms that belong to every human being. In 1948, after the horror of World War II and the nearly 17 million people exterminated by the National Socialist Party (Nazis), concerned world leaders were guided by the esteemed formerfirst lady and human…

Dear Editor, If President Biden is interested in uniting our nation, the best thing he can do is to pardon President Trump in the first week of his presidency.  Both parties and the press would realize that our new president will focus on far more important issues. As Oscar Wilde noted, “There is only one…

Dear Editor, Trump says take the vaccine. Biden says take the vaccine. Scientists say take the vaccine. God says take the vaccine. Yet many of those who work with sick people won’t take the vaccine because their friend Dumbo the flying elephant says don’t take the vaccine. This is a massive failure of the churches…

By Brooke Geery As soon as  a mob of conspiracy-theory-inspired thugs breached the gates and began to the climb the steps of the Capitol Building on Jan. 6, the finger pointing began. Rightfully, many blamed Trump for inciting the coup, which for all intents and purposes, was a failure, as all it did was delay the…

By Haviland Smith Editor’s note: Haviland Smith is a retired CIA operations officer who was the CIA’s first chief of counterterrorism. Since his retirement in 1980, he has lived in Vermont. It is a fact that the best, noblest political movements often attract the worst kind of violent participants. These people barge in and commit the…

By Paul Costello As we come out of the crucible of the pandemic and look to a new year, we need more than recovery, we need to work together to advance renewal and resilience for our communities and economy. The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) has been asking Vermonters what recovery will look like.…

An open letter to Governor Phil Scott and the Vermont Legislature from industry leaders We appreciate the challenge of governing during a global pandemic. Instead of meeting with colleagues and constituents, we now rely on video chat, texts, emails, and phone calls. We are in an extraordinary time, where safety requires us to maintain physical distance from one…

Dear Editor, Trump reportedly intends to keep pushing the baseless claim that massive fraud of unbelievable scope robbed him of reelection even after Congress accepts the results, because  “Why should I ever let this go?… How would that benefit me?” That Trump plans to continue this demolition of democracy even after the almost certain inauguration…

Dear Editor, With the “year of Covid” barely behind us, we look forward to the New Year and the customary resolutions: reduce personal weight, reduce time on social media, and reduce consumption of animal foods. Yes, that. Nearly 40% of Americans are already eating more plant-based foods. Hundreds of school, college, and corporate cafeterias have…

Dear Editor, As we sprint away from 2020, and towards what we hope will be a happier new year, many of us have environmental resolutions front of mind. Leaders have resolved to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and host a global climate summit early next year. Many individuals are seeking to reduce their environmental footprint…

By Rob Riley Over the past year, I’ve heard two very different narratives about rural America. The first is that rural people face enormous economic and social challenges and the federal government does little to help them. The second is that the coronavirus pandemic has turned rural places into refuges where the urban elite — with…