By Timothy R. Burgess In 2004, convicted and sentenced to a term in Vermont’s correctional system, I had been back in Vermont for 12 years. It was the experience of being in prison that really showed me how institutional racism in our little state was flourishing. I had a visit from my family, and it…

Dear Editor, Editor’s note: The following is a letter Sen. Dick McCormack sent to Gov.Phil Scott, Dr. Mark Levine, Lt. Governor Zuckerman, and the Senate on July 2. I think the time has come to require that all people wear face masks in public and keep six feet of separation. I applaud the administration’s frequent…

Dear Editor, Serving my community has become a way of life for me. Besides for my family, my life’s passion has revolved around public service. Giving back, leading during good times and bad, and being a voice of reason have been driving forces behind my public service. Since 2005, I have had a role in…

Dear Editor, The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically changed so much of our daily lives in such a short period of time. The challenges we face as a state will be enormous in the coming year, if not longer. Preliminary revenue forecasts for the fiscal year that began July 1 are down significantly for the state,…

By Leo Pond The Black Lives Matter movement has driven another political “wedge” between the left and the right. The Black Lives Matter movement has advocated against police brutality and for equality, so why is it so hard for the right to support it? The right thinks that this movement forgets about all other races,…

By David F. Kelley If we cut the distance between two points in half, no matter how often, it brings them closer together, but they never meet. When I was practicing law I came to the conclusion that finding the “truth” was, very often, the same way. We rarely got to “the whole truth and nothing…

Dear Editor, In a recent opinion piece Windsor County State Senator Alison Clarkson, asks, “What kind of America do we want to be?” It is an important question. The causes that Senator Clarkson supports and how she votes is not the America or Vermont that I envision. It is not an America of compassion, liberty or equality. Alison…

Dear Editor, As I watched the Gubernatorial Candidate Forum on Environmental and Social Justice sponsored by the Sierra Club on June 17 it became abundantly clear that Rebecca Holcombe should be the Democratic nominee to square off against Gov. Scott in November. On the one hand Holcombe was well versed, assertive, and yet humble in her style…

Vermont was a leader in the abolition of slavery By Bill Clark May 25, 2020, was Memorial Day. A day set aside to pause and remember and pay tribute to all the brave Americans who have given their lives over the years so that this great American democracy can continue to live on. A time…

Dear Editor, Remember how Democratic candidates told us again and again during the presidential primaries that Americans love their private health insurance, love their employer-sponsored plan, and it shouldn’t be taken away from them? Well, the “radical left” didn’t take away health insurance, and health care, from as many as 27 million Americans. Mass unemployment from…

Dear Editor, I’m running for governor to bring a much-needed outsider’s perspective to a fundamentally broken political system. We don’t need people with decades of state house experience. We don’t need people who are beholden to PACs, lobbyists or deep-pocketed influencers. We need people like you and me, who bring common sense solutions and real…

Dear Editor, When I talk to people who know I’m running for Rutland Town’s House seat (Rutland-4) in the Vermont Legislature, their initial responses are largely the same. “That’s great news,” they say. Then a pause. “But why run now? There’s the coronavirus pandemic, the economic fallout, the social justice issues. Nothing will be easy.”…

Dear Editor, As I pen this letter directed to the citizens of Rutland Town, the Legislature is still in session, working well past our normal adjournment date. For many weeks now, we have been working remotely from our homes. Due to the pandemic, “Zoom” and conference calls are a reality for all of your elected…

By Eric Booth and Paul Gambill Look at a particular artwork with others and personal opinions and positions arise; join in making an artwork with others and connections bloom. The state of our union is jumbled, tense with differing opinions and opposed positions—our strengths disoriented, our consciousness of unacceptable systemic oppressions rising. But the power…

By Sen. Bernie Sanders Editor’s note: The following is Sen. Sanders prepared remarks June 25, ahead of the Senate’s consideration of a proposed $740.5 billion military budget authorization. Sanders’ amendment to the National Defense Authorization. Mr. President, if there was ever a moment in American history when we needed to fundamentally alter our national priorities,…