I am writing to express my thanks to the offices of Sens. Bernie Sanders, Patrick Leahy and especially to Congressman Peter Welch for taking time out of their busy schedules to meet with me and other advocates last week in Washington, D.C., to talk about federal Parkinson’s research funding …

The question of this election is: Are they too darned old?

Vermont is known for its beautiful landscape and green mountains, and we work hard to preserve the open space, the trees, the environment, the air quality, the water, the wildlife and the wetlands, but we often forget to protect and preserve the peace and quiet. Peace and quiet is the essenc…

The AR-15 is a weapon of war. I see over and over people claiming these guns are totally different from what the military uses and should not be called an assault weapon or a weapon of war, but this is demonstrably wrong.

The Red Sox's sad and droopy-looking appearances on the field look like they are not even trying to win games, as they appear to be giving up. In a recent tennis match, a player got fined for trying not to win. I think the Sox need to be fined by MLB for not trying to win.

American health care nightmare stories now come one right after another. The current nightmare: suing patients for unpaid bills. NPR reports, “There are no good national data on the practice, but journalists have reported on hospitals suing patients all over the United States…”

Greta Thunberg has achieved notoriety by observing the obvious and then publicly shaming those in power who choose to ignore her. The "obvious" in this case is the rapidly unfolding climate catastrophe caused by the accelerated release of greenhouse gases into Earth's atmosphere by humans si…

This week will see soldiers entering the battlefields of the War on Terror who were born after the war started. Men will be fighting in a war their fathers fought in before they were even conceived.

The article in the papers, "Lamoille County teacher sues over firing," is another example of dysfunctional supervisory units in Vermont.

The Trump administration is operating concentration camps for migrants near the border of the United States and Mexico. Anyone more offended by this term is, at best, ignorant of the conditions and signs that precede mass atrocity.

Across the country, more than 870,000 satellite customers rely on the ability of companies like AT&T to deliver network programming no matter where they are located. Here in Vermont, there are thousands of loyal DirecTV customers in the state. But if Congress does not reauthorize the Sat…

It has been 18 years since the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Two-thousand, nine-hundred and seventy-seven people died that day in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Since then, hundreds of first responders, construction workers, residents and countless volunteers are…

Rutland is losing its identity. It is known as a retail-oriented town with very little choices.

The piece in the Thursday, Sept. 5, edition of the [Rutland] Herald by Mr. Denny needs to be addressed.

I have been watching the news, and it seems government has been on a merry-go-round. It seems they found a merry-go-round that has brass rings in them. They always seem to get the ring that helps other countries out, like sending them money to rebuild their country and whatever they may need…

The recent revelations by the U.S. Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights in which a nurse was reportedly compelled, under pain of a loss of employment and potential loss of a nursing license, to assist in an elective abortion procedure in violation of her conscience, are nothing s…

I thought a newspaper was supposed to be unbiased but the Rutland Herald is proving me wrong.

Being the invisibly small creatures we are, the anthropocentric egotism of humankind seems ridiculously out of proportion to our place in the cosmos. We are dots on a dot in a dot. And, dots don't matter. In a universe of unfathomable gigantism, dots only matter when they clump together. Ind…

One of our local propane retailers in the Rutland area has been running a commercial that illustrates how the average cost to operate a 40-gallon water heater per year with propane is far less than with electricity.

The NFL and college football, as well as high school and junior leagues, need to be reevaluated. The 2020s call for some damage control with regards to brain injuries. Back in the 1960s, when Vince Lombardi was coach and the Packers were king, things were different. The guys were normal size…

This is an open letter of thanks to all the members of the racing community and EMS community. As a current health care professional and former EMT, it took all I had to sit in my seat and not try to rush and render aid; however, I knew the right people were there, hands on.

I feel obliged to respond to the anti-union diatribe by Mark Mix in the August 31 Weekender Edition of the Rutland Herald. Most importantly, no worker in Vermont is forced to pay union dues in order to work. Those who opt out of union membership pay a fee that supports the negotiation and en…

Before our public works director of Brandon rides into the sunset, I want to thank Daryl Burlett for serving the town of Brandon in doing an outstanding job in directing people, funding, and attitude in getting done and/or setting up future projects. At the wastewater plant he found the fund…

It has long been my contention that our system of electing the president of the United States, via the Electoral College, is both unfair and outmoded.

Presidential electors elect the president of the United States. The popular vote in each state, as the U.S. Court of Appeals just affirmed, is merely a suggestion to the electors as to how they ought to vote. Since, in the popular vote we elect the electors, their names ought to be on the ba…

I am writing in regards to the recent articles on the Rutland City water meter project. As your paper wrote a month ago, this project is going well with a few bumps along the way. I believe this is a huge understatement.

I was born in Vermont and still have family there, though I recently moved to New Hampshire. I see from reading your paper online that the 2020 election is clearly on everyone's mind. I thought I would share some thoughts as a young person looking forward to raising a family in safety and pr…

Many of the pundits in the media who bemoan “extreme income inequality” seem somewhat silent about “health care inequality” and are skeptical of solutions such as “Medicare for All” or something similar. They invariably bring up the cost (taxes) as if premiums, deductibles and co-pays don’t …

I oppose the use of state funds to pay for family planning services for which federal funds are available. Rather than pay more of my hard-earned tax dollars to Planned Parenthood, I urge the state of Vermont to recruit and assist other providers who can provide the same services using the T…

How much further are we going to allow this president to drag our country down?

It is not my intention to denigrate the dead, or to speak evilly of them. However, in today's Sunday Review of the New York Times, Christopher Leonard, who has written extensively on the Koch brothers and their financial interests, notes that they have "... financed a network of political ac…

I’ll say one thing for Deb Billado’s Tuesday commentary — she got the headline right.

Are buses becoming obsolete? Fixed-route bus ridership has been on the decline for years but customized service requiring 24-hour reservation is increasing but costly. With taxpayers subsidizing 80-90 cents for every operating dollar spent and 100% of the capital costs, more innovation is ne…

With all of the trials and tribulations in our country, it seems ludicrous to sound off about such a trivial matter.

The American Medical Association's Journal on Pediatrics has just published a study linking low levels of fluoride exposure, during fetal development, to lower IQ in children.

Vermont media coverage of so-called white nationalists is becoming annoying. These individuals are hungry for attention and the media is giving them plenty of it.

If I may, a brief note from myself to everyone. Looking back on the anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair held in Bethel, New York, in 1969, 50 years ago today, I find myself checking in retrospective, my own life in the past 50 years.

It is fair to say we live in the age of political correctness gone mad.

“I like Trump because he says what’s on his mind. I like Trump because he attacks his critics. I like Trump because he tells it like it is. I like Trump because ... blah, blah and more blah.”

I know now I can't vote for Donald Trump for the presidency, now after his pronouncement that mentally ill people are the cause of mass shootings. This demonizing of a person or group of people has been his trademark. Enough is enough.

We agree with the recent letters from State Sen. Joe Benning (July 26) and Rutland resident Hurley Cavacas (July 31) about the need for civil political conversations and the harm to our society from political polarization.

In this case, think before gobbling.

I have to say I find myself outraged that a nation founded on the ideal "all men are created equal and endowed with certain rights" is now under attack by a movement claiming the white race in America is endangered by the presence of people with a different skin pigmentation.

The Alzheimer's Association Walk to End Alzheimer's is the world's largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer's care, support and research. I will be joining participants of all ages in the fight against the disease at the Walk to End Alzheimer's on Sept. 7 at Main Street Park …

Many things make me proud to live in the Rutland region, but recently two great community efforts have proven exactly how much a group of civic-minded locals can accomplish. The path at Northwood Park, which was littered with logging debris after a winter logging project, was beautifully cle…

Our committee (Brittany, Nicole, Kevin, Erron, Chuck, Ricky, Dan and myself) wanted to send out a big thank you to all of the local organizations/vendors, volunteers, first responders and participants for their support of the 2019 National Night Out event this past Tuesday [Aug. 6].

Greta Thunberg is a 16-year-old Swedish schoolgirl who, for the past year, instead of attending school, has spent every Friday sitting in front of the Swedish Parliament building with a sign that says: “Strike for Climate.”

The state's juvenile detention facility in Essex Junction is again in the news. This time, a judge ordered a bunch of changes and set time limits. Restraints, isolation and mentally ill juveniles are the new court-ordered issues.

We are coming up on the fifth anniversary of the Rutland Plywood fire, on Aug. 21, 2014, a day that changed a lot of people's lives.

Everyone praises attempts by individual citizens to reduce their carbon footprints by reducing their consumption of goods and thus, the production of goods. I know that from personal experience. No one objects even though those attempts reduce our city’s, state’s, nation’s and world’s GDP.