Immigration policy based on the detention and inhumane treatment of migrants is cruel and ineffective. Families do not flee their homes and venture into the unknown to seek safety without extraordinary fear and desperation driving them. One’s own home is where one feels safest, despite all e…

I am angry and upset. I was raised in a nation that was created and based upon the Judeo-Christian faiths, their ethics, their fundamental precepts and moral code.

As a Vermont citizen and Michigan native, I want to thank U.S. House Representatives from Michigan, Justin Amash, Fred Upton and Rashida Tlaib, for condemning the racist tweets and comments by White House occupant No. 45. President Donald Trump seeks to divide the American citizenry for his …

As Americans, we seem to have a difficult time connecting our own actions to consequences; such as how our rampant consumerism is leading to environmental degradation, species extinctions and human exploitation; such as how our addiction to automobiles is leading to global CO2 increases; and…

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is an essential tool for protecting America’s national parks and public lands. We should know; cumulatively, we have spent over 50 years with the National Park Service (NPS), protecting and preserving our nation’s most treasured natural and cultura…

In a recent commentary (June 27), Mr. Ellis takes John McClaughry to task over a piece John wrote earlier (June 22). Mr. Ellis is certainly entitled to his views, even though there is little I agree with as well.

One of my many detractors recently favored me with a copy of Kevin Ellis’ lengthy and indignant objection (June 27) to my June 22 commentary on the steady conversion of the Transportation Fund from maintaining our roads and bridges into a weapon in the enviros’ never-ending war against the m…

The Gill Odd Fellows Home would like to respond to the June 15 article, “CMS reveals nursing homes shortlisted for quality issues,” on the journalism site, VTDigger.

A recent On Faith column by playwright and former professor John Nassivera managed to make several egregious blunders of fact, all of which together suggested wrongly that the state of Israel is practicing DNA-based racism, and that Ashkenazi Jews are discriminating against non-Ashkenazim to…

After a week spent canoodling with his two favorite murderous dictators — Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un — even taking time to shake hands with his “good friend” Saudi Crown Prince Bone Saw (strictly platonic for now), Donald J. Trump made a triumphant return to U.S. soil ready to party. Eve…

Time Magazine’s June 3/10 issue (P.24) had an interview with Jeff Daniels who portrays Atticus Finch in the new Broadway version of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which recently won a Tony award for best featured actress. The show set a record at $1.77 million the first week of May at the Shubert …

As a teacher I always think of the year as being July 1 to June 30. So it’s time to reflect on the past year. The first year in well over thirty years that I did not spend in a high school classroom.

Activists and politicians around Vermont are preening with pride about having passed the nation’s broadest ban on plastic bags and plastic products, with a promise (in the form of a study committee) of more to come. As citizens of an ostensibly free society founded upon the principle of limi…

If you have ever wandered the halls of a high school on your way to an event, you’ve seen the proudly exhibited artwork by students: smudgy charcoal renderings of fashion-model faces, crude piles of clay resembling bowls, lots of amateurish effort but precious little actual talent, certainly…

Poor Elijah and I observe an annual graduation ritual. It long ago became clear to us that his chances of being invited to deliver a commencement address at Harvard, the Air Force Academy or anywhere other than my house were understandably slim. That’s how we wound up convening on my porch.

Poor Elijah and I observe an annual graduation ritual. It long ago became clear to us that his chances of being invited to deliver a commencement address at Harvard, the Air Force Academy or anywhere other than my house were understandably slim. That’s how we wound up convening on my porch.

The June 18 Rutland Herald article titled “Student artwork censored” was both horrifying and cruel. Poor baby students! They were uncomfortable seeing paintings of man’s cruelty to man, much less man’s cruelty to women. It is unthinkable that a young, bright, talented student should have a y…

Some have suggested that the end of this year’s legislative session was marred by embarrassing tumult, intra-party bickering and failure. I have a completely different take.

It seems weird that the two papers (Rutland Herald and Eagle Times) that Chester-Andover-Cavendish residents have daily access to didn’t mention that the Green Mountain Union High School girls track team won the Division IV state championship (June 1) in Windsor. They both wrote stories abou…

Democratic societies need accurate information on which to base their decisions. Deniers of human-caused global warming dispense incomplete and misleading information, recycle myths and attack the credibility of climatologists to obstruct progress on averting climate catastrophe. Dan Monger’…

A lot of grumbling and criticism has greeted the end of this session of the state Legislature, both how it ended and what it accomplished.

Every year, when budget writers in Montpelier begin their work and legislators begin to determine what to spend, the backdrop of these conversations is marked by an unavoidable reality: Vermont has a serious problem with its unfunded liabilities.

If you value the future of Vermont’s flora and fauna, please read and pay it forward.

I am writing to thank the Brandon, Leicester, Salisbury, Goshen and Pittsford mosquito district for their work and dedication toward treating our huge mosquito problem starting back in 1978. I moved to Brandon in 1988 and the district was very small and did not have the funds to spray and tr…

The 2019 legislative session is now history, and it’s worth taking stock of its accomplishments, both positive and negative.

I’m back on the road, walking faster than I could the last seven months. Ice and snow are long gone; the temperature is above 50; and even the relentless showers have abated, at least for the afternoon. Repaired quadricep is responding pretty well after 10 months and I’m thinking of hedging …

Part of the joy of having a dog is taking them with us on walks — we all benefit from the exercise, time together and viewing nature. We also love to go walking in nature preserves and conservation areas to do the same.

History is a drama of ideas acted out by real people. The difference between John Locke’s words in his essays about government and Thomas Jefferson’s words in the Declaration of Independence is that Jefferson was proposing that his words come to life.

On May 17, 2019, the Vermont Senate and House both passed House Bill H.512 and sent the bill to Gov. Scott for his signature. We encourage Gov. Scott to sign this important legislation.

In 2017, they told us, “we can’t do right by working Vermonters because we don’t have the votes to override the governor’s veto.” Then we gave them enough votes to do just that. On Friday, the Vermont speaker of the hgouse sought to adjourn without achieving a livable wage.

To the sane individuals in this nation, there are two things Trump wants, and the reasons why.

I was about to head to Charleston, South Carolina, for two weeks of training for my job. I didn’t make the trip with any co-workers; however, I wasn’t alone. I was accompanied by my usual travel companion, my Inner Reactive Voice, also known as IRV.

The Republican of Springfield said the following in an editorial:

The foothold trap is legal in 44 states and all of Canada. After banning most traps in 1997, Massachusetts wildlife officials cited the beaver population had increased from 20,000 to 70,000, and the number of complaints of beaver damage has grown from about 400 to about 1,000. In 2018, the c…

“Where the cattle stand together, the lion lies down hungry.”

Tulsi Gabbard, a candidate for president from Hawaii, will confuse some observers for a while because she is so different from what we have seen and what people have come to expect. We have to start to comprehend the ramifications of her offer to serve the people, rather than just competing …

Vermont’s House of Representatives recently passed H.107, a bill to create a statewide paid family and medical leave program. It’s now being considered by the Senate. That may sound like great news for working women and families struggling to get by, but these are the workers who are most li…

Vermont House Bill H.57 and Senate Proposition 5 to amend the Vermont Constitution guarantees a woman the right to terminate her pregnancy at any time. Proponents claim granting this right codifies federal law and widespread practice in the United States. These pieces of legislation are in r…