Dear Editor, We are in an intense fight to defeat the Coronavirus; to reduce passing it around and deaths.  If we really want to beat it, then we have to work together.  So here is my concern. First, a tiny list of some of what I believe the medical community considers part of essential health…

Dear Editor, Listen, people!  Vermonters have what it takes! We don’t run from problems, we run TO them. For generations we have prepared for this. Our tendency is to be courteous and law-abiding. We give each other space, naturally (and by the same token we don’t like to be pushed). We embody “Yankee ingenuity” —…

Dear Editor, The time is now for our Black River community. We are ready to make a big move. You have been hearing from us for three years now, in some form, about our mission to open an independent school in Ludlow, to serve any area student, tuition-free. A school whose independent status will allow…

By Jack Hoffman Let’s all take a deep breath. Before we jump to the conclusion that $600-a-week federal unemployment checks on top of state benefits are going to destroy the work ethic and wipe out the labor force, let’s remember why we’re doing this. The intended consequence of federal pandemic unemployment benefits through July is…

Dear Editor, Everyone is having to deal with disruptions to their daily lives in light of the COVID-19 crisis. Many of us are out of work, or adjusting to working from home. Families of school-aged children especially are going through major changes right now. Parents are having to be teachers as well as moms and…

Dear Editor, On behalf of the Killington Active Seniors, I would like to thank the many people who have reached out to offer help and support to us in these unusual times. I would particularly like to acknowledge the Killington Locals Group on Facebook who contacted me early on. I remember thinking that we should…

Dear Editor, Unless activists stop the plan, thousands of acres of Green Mountain National Forest near Killington and Mount Snow will be logged. “They are coming hard with the chainsaws to Green Mountain National Forest,” said Chris Matera, a civil engineer and founder of Massachusetts Forest Watch, a citizens group formed to protect New England public…

Dear Editor, While Vermont communities were watching for signs the federal government would help them weather the current public health issues, 130 federal legislators had their sights set on something else. These members of Congress had the audacity to jointly petition the House Armed Services Committee, just four days after the White House declared a…

By Meg Hansen Public health and the economy are two sides of the same coin. Yet, as the number of COVID-19 cases escalates and an economic implosion looms, crisis managers feel compelled to pick either heads or tails. President Trump, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick are eager to reopen…

By John Flowers, Addison Independent After 35 years in reporting, I thought I’d been through a lot as a journalist: Martial law in the Philippines; a couple of natural disasters — the big ice storm and rampant flooding in Addison County — in 1996; a double-murder/suicide; a visit by the Dalai Lama; local soldiers deploying…

Local businesses that benefit from events and the recreational opportunities here in central Vermont, are a big part of the Mountain Times. Our pages are typically chock-full of photos and news related to the ongoings throughout our region — many of which happen at Killington, Pico and Okemo Mountains this time of year. However, due to…

Dear Editor, I’m trying to make sense of the recent VPR-Vermont PBS 2020 poll done in conjunction with Castleton University.  I’m not having much luck. A strong majority, 74%, favored raising the minimum wage. A majority, 56%, favored the family leave bill even if it meant a tax increase. But, the poll said, if the election were held today…

Dear editor, Today I received a thin envelope from Census 2020 in my mailbox. It instructed me to respond by internet. It took me all of three minutes (I do live alone). This is the first time the Decennial (10-year) Census has been able to take responses by internet. It can be done the next…

By Marc Sherman We are facing an unprecedented catastrophe. Whether you believe the threat is real and upon us or you think it’s a hoax, the reality is people are suffering very real illness and very personal challenges. For my business, Stowe Mercantile, we have closed following the governor’s proclamation for food service businesses. We unfortunately…

By Art Woolf We are in the first weeks of what will probably be the fastest and largest employment decline in Vermont’s history. The economy will be in much worse shape than I imagined just a week ago. Today there are 314,000 jobs in Vermont. By May, we will have lost 28,000 of them. That’s more than 8%…