Dear fellow Montpelier residents and Capitol Plaza customers,

As Vermont’s primary land development law turns 50 years old, it is time for a major modernization of how it works. To improve both Act 250’s effectiveness and efficiency, the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) has agreed on a package of reforms with Governor Scott’s administration. No…

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 econom…

Small businesses face a critical list of legislative proposals this session that would raise costs and impose burdensome mandates that hinder their ability to operate. Vermont’s demographics have continued to erode over the past decade, aging population, declining enrollment, stagnant revenu…

Against the back wall of my UVM office sits an antique wooden desk. Its surface is bare of books and paper because it serves no mere utilitarian purpose. As the desk that once belonged to Vermont Sen. Justin Morrill, author of the Morrill Act of 1862 establishing the country’s first land gra…

Health care is again moving to center stage in this election year. A year ago, the Trump administration released a respectable report (“Reforming America’s Healthcare System Through Choice and Competition”) but neither Democrats nor Republicans have shown much interest in it since no major l…

Many letters have been written to support or oppose the impeachment of President Trump. None have been written on some issues that have arisen as a result of the impeachment hearings that should unite all Americans of all political parties. This letter does that.

There are few issues people care more about than transportation. How easily we may move about in the world — from home to job to school to the grocery store — has a significant impact on our well-being and on our family budgets. This is true whether you live in an urban area, a small town or…

This was the question I and a fellow Veteran For Peace asked folks as they entered and exited the Montpelier post office Saturday morning; we tallied up the results on a flip chart covered with plastic to keep off the melting snow. The whole point of our being out there was to respond to the…

This was the question I and a fellow Veteran For Peace asked folks as they entered and exited the Montpelier post office Saturday morning; we tallied up the results on a flip chart covered with plastic to keep off the melting snow. The whole point of our being out there was to respond to the…

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.

I am saddened beyond even the usual exhausted frustration with our commander-in-chief’s continual deranged behavior. This time, he has ordered people to kill a man, without the authorization of our elected Congress, without a declaration of war, and against the moral code of most Americans a…

The start of the new year provides an opportunity to reflect and set out our intentions for the months ahead. This year, I am asking all legislators to join me in committing to protect and expand access for Vermonters who are seeking public records.

Despite a soaring stock market and strong GDP growth, many Vermonters are still struggling to make ends meet. High taxes, skyrocketing insurance premiums, escalating utility costs and more, are keeping many stuck in a crisis of affordability. At the same time, small businesses that have been…

My friend, Bill, and I got into a discussion concerning which one of us knew more about Vermont geography. When we saw a mutual buddy, Pat, approaching, I made an impromptu bet with Bill. “I’ll bet you $5 I can work the names of at least 40 Vermont towns into a conversation with Pat,” I said…

It would seem once again Americans will sit quietly on the sidelines while their government unleashes another illegal war on the world. There can be no justification for this. Our leaders will say it’s needed to protect America’s interests and to protect our allies in the region. The interes…

I am writing for millions of Americans who are sick and outraged but completely unsurprised about the terrible decision of Trump and his hand-picked monsters to provoke a potential world war. Anyone who is following political news knows Trump campaigned on pulling troops out of the Mideast a…

While people are forming their resolutions for the New Year, our Connecticut River could use a few well-intentioned pledges. In that spirit, river users could make the following resolutions:

John McClaughry has challenged the proposed Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) as unnecessary and harmful. I do not share Mr. McClaughry’s views on climate change and have worked for years under former Governor Douglas and as a consultant to promote adoption of sound climate policie…

I feel Stephen Belcher’s letter deserves a response. He is correct that the people have a right to amend the Constitution. This has happened several times in our history. But what he is suggesting with gun control is to simply ignore the Constitution rather than attempting to amend it. This …

Funding from OneCare Vermont — the organization leading the state’s “all payer” experiment in health care reform — is keeping an innovative and proven system of support for vulnerable Vermonters called Support and Services at Home operating in all corners of Vermont.

I heard about the couple and puppy who were attacked by bear "hound" hunting dogs this past October on public land. I hope the Legislature will take up the hounding issue this session.

With so many young Vermonters taking an active role in speaking out on issues related to climate change, perhaps lawmakers should take seriously a proposal that will be coming their way this session that would require school districts to offer lessons on climate change.

On Dec. 17 the Georgetown Law Center revealed its long-awaited Transportation and Climate Initiative draft Memorandum Of Understanding. It will be open for on-line comments until Feb. 28. At some point after that Gov. Scott will be asked to sign Vermont into TCI. Presumably the legislature w…

We need a progressively funded, union based, green new deal — not workers paying more to get to work.

Christmas, 1914. The First World War had started only months before on July 28, 1914. The proximate cause of the war was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife by a teenage Serbian nationalist. But the origins of the war had deeper roots.

I saw a buddy last week and wished him a happy holiday. He was taken aback. “Please, Mark, save the political correctness for someone else,” he said. The fact is I wasn’t being politically correct; I was merely expressing the sentiment that the individual holidays seem to have evolved into o…

In reading the Democratic Party response to Representative McCoy’s piece, by Liz Filskov, Ms. Filskov’s approach to the “problems” people are facing is to tax and tax and tax some more. Some of us Vermont natives remember the 3% Vermont sales tax which now, in many municipalities, is at 7%. …

I am severely and deeply ashamed at the tweets coming from the hand of Donald Trump. Greta Thunberg has focused the world’s attention on climate change, while Donald Trump has denied it, calling it a Chinese hoax.

Blue vs. Gray. Blue vs. Red. Civil war once again. And just as threatening to our democracy.

Anyone who follows gun politics is certainly aware of what is happening now in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

As a former journalist who has seen a lot over the years, I’m not one to be easily impressed or inspired. But as Gordon Dritschilo wrote (Gift of Life kicks off, Dec. 11) Stefanie Schaffer has recently done both.

Being involved with Vermont’s child protection system is one of the most complicated experiences imaginable. From a child’s perspective, even at its best, it is often a traumatic transition. Children in foster care don’t choose where they are going, they often don’t have the opportunity to p…

The ultimate role of a prosecutor is to seek justice. My office is shocked and dismayed by the reports of maltreatment and exploitation of female inmates at the Chittenden County Correctional Facility. Our commitment to public safety and justice necessarily includes those committed to the cu…

On March 9, 1954, Republican Vermont Sen. Ralph Flanders stood on the floor of the U.S. Senate to condemn fellow Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy on his claims there were communists in the State Department. The Flanders speech was an immediate sensation, as Flanders’ courage to speak up again…

“Medicare for All” — the dream wherein every American regardless of age, status or wealth will have 100% access to health care. Medicare for All low cost/no-cost health care for all is the American dream.

Earlier this week, I got scammed for $500 and I wanted to warn others so they won’t get drawn in as well.

Our education funding system is broken. We all know it.

The topic of health care consolidation — or, the coming together of hospitals, doctors and other types of providers — has been in the news quite a bit recently. In fact, early last month, the Health Reform Oversight Committee of the Vermont Legislature heard from a Stanford University econom…

In 2015, after literally more than a hundred years of intermittent trying, Vermont’s educational leadership succeeded in giving its bureaucracy the power and duty to force mergers of Vermont’s public schools into larger districts (Act 46).

In 2015, after literally more than a hundred years of intermittent trying, Vermont’s educational leadership succeeded in giving its bureaucracy the power and duty to force mergers of Vermont’s public schools into larger districts (Act 46).

We may be about to witness something none of us have ever seen before, which is a large piece of public land with full public access and heavy public use being sold to a very private wealthy person who has stated he does not want the public on this land again after he buys it.

OneCare Vermont — the private, for-profit company tasked with carrying out the state’s health care payment reform effort — is running into trouble.

I was recently asked to become the ambassador for the forthcoming Gift of Life Marathon, set to begin next week on Dec. 10, and saying "yes" to this was one of the easiest decisions I have ever made. Just a little more than a year ago, I was injured in an explosion while on vacation, causing…

Gov. Scott recently took some heat from the media over a statement he made following the announcement by Energizer they would be closing their Bennington plant and moving its operations to Wisconsin. The governor said:

I think many Bernie supporters have just about had it with the national media. The attempt to erase Bernie and his movement of millions is amazing, considering the mainstream media and the Democratic establishment pulled this exact nonsense during 2016, although the DNC’s support of Hillary …

Policy wonks, not getting the results they hoped for (and being a touch lazy), invented a new research method called the “intraocular traumatic test.” What that means is look at the data and if the result hits you between the eyes, it’s significant. Naturally, this kind of eyeballing lends i…

It is the season of giving thanks. The autumn harvest is complete, and we thank farmers, particularly our Vermont farmers, for providing us with food. Thanksgiving is a special time for family and friends to reconnect, pause and enjoy a few hours together over a meal — a meal, thanks to a farmer.

Abraham Lincoln and many others in his time were against slavery. Yet they opposed its abrupt end on the basis of necessity. To push for the abolition of an institution too entrenched to fail, they feared they would destroy the economy and cause civil conflict. Thus, permitting the existing …