Dear Editor, My name is Michael Talbott and I am seeking your vote for Rutland City Board of Aldermen. You might know me as a teacher at Castleton University, where I’ve worked since 2014. Perhaps you’ve seen me working on the property I’m slowly restoring on the edge of our vibrant downtown. We may have…

By Don Turner Despite a strong economy at the national level, many Vermonters feel left behind. Across our state, thousands struggle to pay their bills and make ends meet. From burdensome taxes to sky-high insurance premiums, many individuals, families, and small businesses are stuck in a persistent economic cycle they didn’t create. Small towns and…

By Anson Tebbetts Vermont’s rural communities are intricately tied to our economy, identity and way of life. At the same time, all of Vermont suffers when our farm and forestry sectors falter. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets and Vermont Farm to Plate are taking steps to build on our strengths and innovate…

Dear Editor, The Rutland County Humane Society (RCHS) is excited about our new Dinner Card!  With it, cardholders can visit 13 participating Rutland County restaurants and purchase an entrée and their guest will receive an entree of the same or lesser value free. It’s a win for the cardholder, a win for the restaurant and…

Dear Editor, We are unsettled, anxious, heart-broken by the images of the inferno in Australia. Tens of thousands of people are displaced, millions of animals have died and Primal Spaces are burning, some having been wet and unignited for eons. Prior to the fires, unprecedented years of drought and heat had already ravaged the landscape…

By Patrick Leahy Hours before senators were sworn in to serve on President Trump’s impeachment trial, an independent, nonpartisan government watchdog confirmed what I have long suspected: When Trump froze congressionally appropriated military aid to Ukraine as part of an effort to compel Ukraine to investigate his political rival, he broke the law. That’s because…

By Emerson Lynn Sen. Ruth Hardy, D-Addison, has introduced a bill to create a Community College Scholarship Program that would provide tuition-free scholarships for Vermont residents attending CCV. It would, from the outset, require a $6 million appropriation. That’s a small amount of money that would yield profound benefits at a variety of levels, and…

Dear Editor, We at the Vermont Veterans’ Home want to thank our fellow citizens from Bennington and all of Vermont for their steadfast support of our veterans and our home during the past year, and your incredible kindness during the holiday season! In front of the home is a banner exclaiming, “Where Heroes Live,” this…

Dear Editor, On Monday, Jan. 13, I presented the following resolution to the Cavendish Select Board. I requested that this resolution be placed as an article on the condition that we discuss and vote on it at the annual town meeting in early March. The Select Board approved my request with the clear understanding that…

By Amy Spear Tourism is a significant economic driver for many of Vermont’s rural communities. Visitors spend more than $2.5 billion in Vermont each year, and the tourism industry employs more than 32,000 Vermonters. The tax revenue generated by the tourism industry each year equates to a $1,450 tax savings for every Vermont household. Yet,…

Dear Editor, The 2020 lieutenant governor’s race is not about the left versus the right. It is about the past versus the future. This week’s VTDigger article, where I learned about Sen. Tim Ashe’s decision, illustrates the deep divide between the prison guards of the past and our forward-looking, Small Towns*Big Hearts campaign. I entered…

Dear Editor, David Zuckerman has been at the forefront of Vermont politics over the last two decades in all the wrong ways. Throughout his time in the House, Senate, and as lieutenant governor, he has demonstrated that no tax is too large, no fee is too substantial, and no amount of frivolous spending is too…

  By Rob Roper The Vermont Legislature returns in January with a long list of daunting challenges, all with potentially astronomical price tags for Vermonters, who are already some of the most highly taxed people in the United States. Among this list includes a projected 6% increase in property taxes to fund an education system…

By Angelo Lynn Contrary to Trump’s juvenile tweet in the wake of Iran’s missile attack on two U.S. military bases in Iraq that “all is well… so far,” any realistic assessment of America’s position in the Middle East over the past couple of years would outline how much weaker we are today because of this…

Dear Editor, The end-of-year/New Year holidays seem to whiplash us from one extreme to the other: eat, drink and be merry v. the customary New Year’s resolutions: reduce social media, reduce weight, and embrace a plant-based diet! One third of consumers already report reducing their consumption of animal foods. Hundreds of school, college, hospital, and…