The days leading up to this year’s Easter weekend revealed the staggering breadth of human character, from the craven to the courageous, the vain to the valiant. The Mueller report and the president’s schizophrenic reactions to it (“total exoneration” one day, “total bullsh*t” the next) were…
As the landscape starts to green up, our thoughts turn to the upcoming growing season. No one is more eager for it than Vermont’s farmers.
Now that we have the 448-page Mueller report in hand, one thing is abundantly clear: There may not be fire, but there is plenty of smoke choking the truth.
More than a quarter, or 28.3%, of Vermont households spent 35% or more of their income on housing costs in 2016, according to a new report from the Vermont State Data Center. That is a very scary statistic.
The world had its heart broken this week.
Right whales aren’t exactly pretty. They are among the largest whales in the ocean, adults reaching 45 feet to 55 feet in length, and weighing some 70 tons, and their size alone makes them majestic, awe-inspiring creatures of the planet. But they’re baleen whales, not toothed whales; when th…
It is amazing that in the same week, it was science — not necessarily politics — that stole headlines: We took a photo (so to speak) of a black hole; and we found some distant human relatives.
This particular shoulder season can be taxing on us Vermonters: not a lot of green, too many relentless snowstorms, mud (and dog poop) and the ever-present slow start from the Red Sox.
Jenga is a maddening game. It requires a steady hand and steady nerves. You really want to believe it takes strategy to pull one rectangular, wooden block out at a time and not have the tall stack of blocks collapse into a dramatic heap. But there really isn’t much strategy involved; it come…
While more young Vermonters are finding their voices when it comes to social justice issues around the state, they also have an opportunity to offer key input when it comes to substance abuse policies that affect them as well.
On a cold winter night in March each year, several hundred people in the Burlington area get a taste of what homelessness feels like. It’s brief — just one night (this year the event was held twice) — and they’re not really on the streets. They’re participants in a fundraising event called “…
It’s hard to know what to make of Pete Buttigieg.
Bernie Sanders is not endearing himself to everyone these days.
Sometimes the best friend you can have is the one who’s willing to tell you the truth, even when you don’t want to hear it. That’s a friend the Democratic Party needs. Unfortunately, many in the party don’t seem to think so.
It would behoove us, in Vermont and the United States, to be hospitable, fair, inclusive and welcoming. The citizens of one Vermont community — Montpelier — acted upon those principles last November when they voted 2,857 to 1,488 to amend their city charter to allow residents who are not U.S…
Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book in 2000 that focused on how little things can end up making a big difference. “The Tipping Point” explains how ideas spread like epidemics and which few elements need to come together to help an idea reach the point of critical mass, where its viral effect becom…
Nancy Pelosi is offering some good advice.
The kids are all right.
The governor is trying to save the internet, and we could not agree with him more that it is the right thing to do.
It appears, at least for the moment, that opponents of the Trump presidency will be denied their Deus ex Machina — their clear (if not tidy) solution to the hydra-headed outrages, scandals and plain indecencies displayed daily by a president propped up by a cult of personality. Deus ex Machi…
New Zealand made a bold move.
A report released this month about the health of the state’s hospitals showed there is definitely cause for concerns.
Sen. Bernie Sanders may find himself stuck at the center of one of the most global hot-button issues.
If Rutland City Public School Board commissioner Michael Blow wants to be a helpful ally to students and parents of color he serves, he needs to choose his words more wisely. At a School Board meeting last week, Blow, in a well-meaning but misguided attempt to demonstrate his personal experi…
May history not repeat itself.
An editorial board with Gov. Phil Scott and Times Argus and Rutland Herald editors this week offered a stark reminder that most of the solutions to the state’s economic concerns hinge on luring and keeping more people in our state.
The U.S. Senate did right by the American people on Thursday.
Last weekend, a woman was attacked by a jaguar at a zoo in Arizona while attempting to take a selfie. The terrifying encounter occurred because the women deliberately crossed a barrier, putting herself in physical danger in order to capture the photo. Fortunately, both the woman and cat surv…
Open government is not a hard concept.
It’s early March, when a Vermonter’s fancy turns to self-preservation.
A report issued this week by the Energy Action Network sheds light on how well we are doing as a state on our energy and emissions commitments.
A bill introduced this week in the House of Representatives is generating a lot of debate across the nation. And rightly so.
The Momo Challenge is the latest internet boogieman to have parents clutching their pearls as they struggle to keep up with what our kids are up to online.
Believe it or not, the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire Primary are less than a year away (Feb. 3 and 11, respectively). Super Tuesday is March 3.
Today is Town Meeting Day. For Vermonters, it represents one of the tenets of local democracy. Citizens get to vote on budgets — and issues — that shape the direction of their town. It is representation in its most local form.
Next week, most towns in Vermont will ask townspeople to consider how public departments should be best funded — and governed.
Members of Congress could not wait to get their claws into Michael Cohen on Wednesday. As the nation looked on, the former personal lawyer to Donald Trump alleged that the 45th President of the United States had in fact committed crimes while in office.
A viral video of Sen. Dianne Feinstein being urged by a group of children and young adults to support the Green New Deal rippled across social media last weekend, laying bare the generational divide not only in concerns about climate change, but how we advocate for change in general.
The government of the United States and its people are headed in opposite directions. At best, this presents the prospect of prolonged struggle and discord between the two. At worst, it threatens the sustainability of participatory, healthy democracy, as the government imposes restrictions —…
Bernie Sanders is running for president again.
An effort aimed at keeping tobacco products and electronic cigarettes out of the hands of young people is under consideration at the State House.
The opioid epidemic continues to ravage our state.
Raising children means having difficult conversations. At various points in their development, we must sit children down to talk about serious and, at times, uncomfortable topics such as sex, drugs and death. In these conversations, we are challenged to push through the discomfort, be open, …
“You forget your youth, that which, reckless, rises up to betray you. It’s your youth, forgotten these years, that you ultimately regret.” — William Styron, “Lie Down in Darkness.”
We seem to have forgotten our filters. We all have biases and opinions. But that adage of “think before you speak” seems to have been lost. Now, in this world of social media and instant gratification and rapid response, we are more likely to shoot first.
According to published reports this week, former vice president Joe Biden is almost certainly going to enter the 2020 presidential race.
It’s not every day the Catholic Church actively seeks public input. Yet, here in Vermont, Bishop Christopher Coyne has been making it an increasingly regular occurrence. In recent weeks, Coyne has been crisscrossing the state, holding a series of town hall meetings in which local Catholics a…
This latest storm has provided Vermont with another ample snowfall. Winter enthusiasts are grateful to have a fresh blanket on which to play and compete.
As debate was ending in the Vermont State House last March and the Legislature was nearing final approval of laws that would impose the first serious restrictions on gun ownership in the state, Democratic State Sen. John Rodgers, of Glover, famously lamented, “I think maybe if we pass this b…
Do you act one way around people and have an alter ego online?
