National standardized test scores drop By William J. Mathis The latest round of flagellation of dead horse flesh has been provoked by the release of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores. After 20 years of overall progress, many of the scores went down. While all groups improved over the long haul, the gaps…

By Angelo Lynn The story of two hikers and their small dog being attacked by a pack of hunting hound dogs while hiking in the Green Mountain National Forest near the Goshen-Ripton border is as shocking as it is frightening. Frightening because the dogs surrounded and attacked the couple for much of the half hour…

Dear Editor, I would like to thank the over 300 people who came out to vote on March 5. With fewer than 60 people at the informational meeting the night before I was concerned about voter turn-out. Thank you to the team of people who ran the check in and voting from7 a.m. all day…

Dear Editor, I would like to take the time to thank each and every one of the 313 voters in Killington (we had a total of 314 who come out and voted, myself included) who came out and voted on Town Meeting Day. Collectively we passed all the articles as I hoped would happen, but…

Dear Editor, We, the SVA Board of Directors, wish to thank the voters of Poultney for approving a tax exemption for Stone Valley Arts at Fox Hill. As promised, we will invest these tax savings directly into the rehabilitation and preservation of this historic building. Our goal is to use these funds to help leverage…

By Rebecca Holcombe Vermont now spends tens of millions more dollars on child care and prekindergarten markets than it did only three or four years ago. Yet, a Joint Fiscal Office study recently found Vermont now has about 1,693 fewer regulated child care spots than we did in 2015 — a 25 percent decline. Before…

By Angelo Lynn Sen. Bernie Sanders launched his second run for president this past Tuesday with an appeal to continue the revolution he started in 2016 when he had the audacity to challenge the presumed Democratic designee Hillary Clinton. He was the rebel then, the long-shot candidate with the white-tasseled hair, still heavy Brooklyn accent,…

Dear Editor, In the aftermath of last Thursday’s electoral vote at the State House, the talk being bandied about by some members of the Vermont Legislature that they should give up their power to elect the state’s national guard adjutant general over to the governor is dangerously myopic in lieu of the threatening situation taking…

Dear Editor, My name is Lisa Ryan and I am running for reelection to the Board of Aldermen. My experience as a member of the Board of Aldermen since 2017 has been one of personal and collective growth. I have learned just how important it is to not only stay true to my beliefs and goals,…

Dear Editor, I am writing in enthusiastic support of Lisa Ryan’s reelection to the Rutland City Board of Aldermen. I have known Lisa Ryan since she was a student in the Rutland City Public Schools (RHS 2007) and recognized her strong character and sense of service even as a young woman. Lisa holds a BA…

Dear Editor, When I first bought a ski house in Killington in 2001, I never dreamed that in 2015, my wife, Rebecca, and I would decide to move up to live here full time with our two sons. There’s no question that Killington is a great place to live, but it has its issues (like…

Dear Editor, Hello taxpayers of Killington, it’s Jim Haff. I’m not on the ballot this year, surprise! But a good friend of mine, Chuck Claffey, is on the ballot, and I’m asking you to help Chuck become the next Select Board member for the Town of Killington. Chuck works for Nat West Financial as a…

Dear Editor, I have had many conversations with hundreds of people including local school leadership in regard to the current state of education in Vermont. I have written many commentaries that have been published in newspapers throughout the state as well as having met with the Governor and other officials. The state’s response as is…

By Emerson Lynn What passes for economic development in Vermont is largely ineffective and not suited for the 21st century, according to Peter Stromgren and Bill Schubart who co-wrote a recent op-ed that was widely circulated. They are correct in the sense that what we have – the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development…

By Lawrence Zupan “A, my name is Alice, and I come from Arlington, Vermont, and we sell... abortions.” The above variation on the children’s innocent alphabetical song game might well become reality if a bill currently under consideration by the State House Human Services Committee is actually passed into law. This ghoulish, grisly, and garish…