The last thing you do in the middle of a crisis is kick the can down the road. Yet, that's exactly what the Legislature just did on Vermont's mounting pension liabilities.

We have just reached 412 parts per million, the highest level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in 3 million years. According to the World Economic Forum, our threshold for dangerous global warming may be as soon as 2027-42.

It is clear to me we need to keep the new mascot, the Rutland Ravens. There has been so much discussion here in Rutland since last summer around the mascot. This conflict first came to my attention last July, when an RHS parent called me and asked me not to be in favor of changing the mascot…

The recent op-ed in this paper by Suzanna Jones characterized the Vermont Natural Resources Council very accurately (as did her commentary last legislative session regarding H.926, another attempt to repeal the heart of Act 250). It is because “VNRC has been engaged in public policy since 19…

While recent news of the cancellation of Montpelier’s hotel project is troubling, those familiar with Act 250 are not surprised. The decision to terminate the project is yet another example of how truly broken our state’s principal land-use law is. Montpelier’s current problem is high-profil…

Doomscrolling — Merriam-Webster is “watching” this term. I wish they would cease this behavior immediately. It can lead to acknowledging and then to trouble. The fact they are watching it at all alarms me. At the rate things are going, I fear the future.

Imagine you’re President Joe Biden. You’re looking for nearly $2 trillion to fund vital repairs and improvements to America’s infrastructure. You learn of a warplane, the F-35 Lightning II, that may cost as much as $1.7 trillion to buy, field and maintain through the next half century. Also,…

If there is anything editors and lovers of the written word dislike more than a cliche, it’s the incorrect use of a word in a sentence. It drives them up a wall. Homophones are words that have the same sound as other words, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Writers sho…

While Vermont public school officials are carping about returning to the classroom post-COVID-19, calling for higher taxes to pay for their pensions, and are otherwise consumed with controversies over mascot names and what flags get to fly on school grounds, Vermont families have been drivin…

I’ve been watching the work of the Legislature closely this year as a business owner concerned with the economic toll the pandemic has taken on our state. The majority of the Legislature’s work this year has revolved around the pandemic and offering economic relief to Vermonters. There is re…

“Pit of despair” was an unfortunate headline for a recent Rutland Herald editorial about the federal deficits and debt. The editorial quotes an economist from the “right-leaning” American Enterprise Institute who says, “the political parties will continue to do their cyclical thing: Your def…

Before I ran for office, I studied and taught history. The stories of the people who fought to amend the U.S. Constitution are some of the most compelling stories I shared with my students over the years. From the first 10 amendments to our national Constitution — that powerful Bill of Right…

President Joe Biden’s long-awaited American Jobs Plan has finally arrived, weighing in at $2.3 trillion in spending over 8 years. In today’s dollars, this is almost five times the new funding provided in President Obama’s 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. And yet, as many have bee…

This week, President Joe Biden made good on a campaign promise by signing an executive order creating a commission to examine Supreme Court reforms.

Two seemingly unrelated announcements made news the same morning: a Vermont House proposal to overhaul the pension systems for teachers and state employees was shelved, and the Hilton Corp. backed out of a controversial plan for a Hampton Inn in downtown Montpelier, ending a project that wou…

Mental health has been having a moment. During the pandemic, all of us, whether we are patients or counselors, have at times felt overwhelmed. We’ve faced new stressors, but we’ve made ourselves available to each other in new ways and faced challenges with creativity and resilience. At The H…

Since moving to Rutland last year, I’ve been asked countless times “Why Rutland?” often with the added implication Rutland is a “dying town” and “there’s nothing to do here.” However, my perception has been quite the contrary. My partner and I absolutely love the local restaurants, farmers’ …

Dear Governor Scott:

Many of us are celebrating the fact “science-based” is no longer a banned phrase in our new national administration. Not surprisingly, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Rochelle Walensky, has an impressive background in her science-based profession…

Simplicity, equity and let’s-just-call-it-what-it-is. Those were among the key reasons the Vermont Tax Structure Commission recently recommended the state abolish the homestead property tax and move to an income-based school tax for all resident homeowners.

In the last week, many major corporations have suddenly started to develop a conscience. I don’t believe for a second that it’s a real conscience. It’s more like money or bottom-line kind of conscience. Like a fighter exhibits a weakness in the ring for his opponent to exploit, so are these …

Open letter to Stuart Mills, Heartland Communities of America

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, commemorating more than 80 years since the onset of the mass annihilation of Europe’s Jews. In addition to 6 million Jews, Roma, Catholics, political dissidents and others were genocidal targets as well. The Holocaust, a most powerful example of terror dir…

I have always wondered why there are very few comments regarding the letters and commentaries I have done regarding downtown Rutland. Thursday there were two very interesting commentaries.

Paul Jarris, MD, one of the best public health commissioners (2003-06) Vermont has ever had, often said forthrightly “about 40% of what Vermont spends on health care is simply wasted.”

I’m an Eagle Scout, Dartmouth graduate, former EMT, husband to a maternity nurse and father of two. I write to you today concerning a current standing order for the Vermont State Guard as relayed to me through the adjutant general’s office as well as the commanding officer, Colonel Gilhooly …

I believe teachers have as important a role as parents in molding a child for his/her role in the community. Without teachers, without public schools, our society would not exist as it currently does. This is not hyperbole, it’s the truth.

Saturday, the day before Easter, April 3, I lost my only grandson. My son lost his only son. My daughters lost their only nephew. His circle of friends, classmates and teachers are now grieving with us over his tragic and senseless death. All due to a careless moment involving a loaded gun i…

All parts of Vermont leadership should put their shoulders to this problem.

We’ve done this before. In 2008, the Legislature passed a plan that, if it had been followed, would have eliminated our unfunded pension liability by 2035. But the plan relied on, among other things, the good faith and discipline of the Legislature in the years in-between to reverse what had…

As faith leaders from diverse theological backgrounds and denominations, we represent a variety of beliefs and viewpoints on complicated, moral issues. We write today as one religious community, and we write to stand with Vermont’s women. We come together in support of women’s reproductive l…

I was glad to see the letter in the Herald Wednesday from my former CSJ marketing colleague and fellow professor, Russell B. Lennon, objecting to Stuart Mills and John Weatherhogg’s rude dismissal (excoriation) of Gordon Dritschilo for doing his job. Mr. Dritschilo’s questions regarding Hear…

Last week, the Vermont Senate voted to support S.101, a bill meant to encourage more downtown development, in part by eliminating the state-issued permits for projects that need new wastewater hookups. It’s no surprise that developers heavily back this bill, even though it puts our waterways…

The Republican legislatures of several states are in the process of passing or, as with Georgia, have already passed, laws restricting the ability of Black people and other minorities to vote in elections.

The Vermont General Assembly is dominated by Democrats. And now it is the Democrats and the House leadership (with Republican support) that are seemingly hell bent on radically diminishing the retirement pensions relied upon by unionized state workers and teachers. The Democratic Party leade…

I read poetry on my own year-round, but in April, poets read to me. In celebration of Poetry Month, libraries and other organizations sponsor special events, and readings are my favorites. Hearing a poet read their work aloud is like watching a play on stage instead of reading it on the page…

For many decades, there has been significant distrust of government. The 1960s and ’70s, and the Vietnam War and Watergate turned the tide of public sentiment from which it has never regained its footing. There is no point in placing blame, said events are too far in the rear-view mirror and…