Vermont remains the lowest among all states for COVID-19 cases. That is a comforting fact given what is happening throughout much of the nation. It is also true that this is not the time for complacency. As of today, Aug. 1, it is required to wear masks when in public places and indoor businesses.
One of our reporters has been covering an ongoing issue in a community that has proven to be increasingly divisive. Several community members have reached out to us to tell us how grateful they have been for the coverage. But a small minority of individuals have become a larger minority in a…
The stirring tributes delivered by former presidents Bush, Clinton and Obama at the funeral of Rep. John Lewis, a near mythic figure of the Civil Rights Movement, were heartbreaking reminders of the attributes we’ve come to expect from America’s leaders.
The Preamble of the U.S. Constitution begins with the ringing declaration: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Libe…
Currently, Vermont is in the envious position of having the lowest COVID-19 infection rate in the United States, if not the world, so let’s not mess with it by opening our schools.
I watch the news the most when the country is in trouble. I’ve been watching a lot lately, by which I mean the past four years.
The month of July put one of the world’s greatest pieces of architecture back in the news again. The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul is now a functioning mosque once more. This huge building was originally built by the Roman Emperor Justinian I between 532-537 of the Current Era, when the city was …
In 1970, when Gov. Deane Davis signed Act 250 into law, he advanced a vision shared by Vermonters who wanted to protect Vermont’s unique cultural and historic ties to the land by addressing the environmental impacts of development, while allowing for economic prosperity. Fifty years later, m…
Roughly five months ago, the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic was sinking in. Since then, our nation’s response has been scattered, at best. Here in Vermont we nervously enjoy what seems to be a bit of relative safety. Our mountains and dense forests have protected us thus far. There are no …
I worked for Vermont state government for more than 30 years, in five different communities and from my home. Much of state government, its departments and agencies, are largely based in a few Vermont locales. I have come to believe there are real advantages, potential savings, efficiencies …
If the Agency of Education is “teleworking” (per their recorded phone greeting), and if Secretary of Education Dan French is “working in the corner of a bedroom to plan and coordinate the state’s response to this emergency” barely three weeks before teachers are scheduled to return to school…
A recent email from Donald Trump is an exclusive message for me unequaled anywhere else in the country. Nobody else got this message. Just me. It has just been “unlocked” to use the President’s words, as an “exclusive DOUBLE ENTRY” offer just for me. If I act now any contribution I make will…
At a time when the state is facing unprecedented levels of unemployment, it also is seeing significant growth in its clean energy industry.
When I was 16, in late summer 1968, my father refused to rent one of his apartments to a Black man. My parents owned about a dozen apartments in Rutland, most low-end rentals with just one bedroom, some with two, and one had three bedrooms, if my memory is accurate.
One of the classic shibboleths of the teaching profession has always been if summer vacation were a long weekend, August would be Sunday night, prompting a surge of both anticipation and dread as we shifted gears, preparing for new students, perhaps different classes, while still trying to c…
While watching the tributes to John Lewis on the occasion of his death, I recall his visit to Vermont in 2007 when he was the commencement speaker and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Vermont. At that time, I was a member of the UVM board of trustees. The evening before …
Open letter to Marlboro College alumni:
Editor’s note: The following open letter was distributed to the Harwood Unified Union School District earlier this week. It was then reposted and referenced by educators, parents and decision-makers throughout the week across Vermont. It is edited here to remove several dated time references.
There is a grim set of interconnecting issues shaking the stability of the United States as the central government crumbles in the face of COVID-19, white racism, capitalist exploitation of the poor and the Earth, political bribery and the denial of science. Many themes are haunting.
In just over three weeks, the tally will be complete on which Vermonters will represent their respective parties going into the General Election in November.
I’ve been accused of having “Trump derangement syndrome,” which I’ve got to admit is a pretty fair assessment of my political leanings at this point. What surprises me is that everyone else isn’t similarly afflicted. For instance, I find myself increasingly frightened lately, aren’t you? The…
“The IRS finally caught up with Louis,” says the ominous voice on the radio. “I hadn’t paid the IRS in eight years,” says Louis. “They were going to take my house; take my paycheck.”
Since its foundation, the Republican Party has been a staunch defender of capitalism that, under certain circumstances, can morph into fascism. Such was the case in Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany — both capitalist nations — as well as in many Latin American countries. Why capitalism …
We all know the old saying, “Those who do not know the past are condemned to repeat it.” The fact this saying is so well-known doesn’t mean it’s trite or false. It isn’t. It’s too, too true. Trumpism is a cult and not knowing the history of cults makes one, or one’s society, condemned to be …
Last night was a hot one, after a hot day, and today has dawned with a promise of more. Kiki and I enjoy the breeze of the ceiling fan, she in her chair and I in mine. Out the office window, I see blue skies and a few scattered cumuli. But she has far keener ears than mine, and every so ofte…
It’s unclear how many American schools will be able to fully open this fall. It’s not unclear, however, what President Trump wants. When asked what he’d tell parents worried about their children’s safety, he replied with his customary coherence, “Schools should be opened. Schools should be o…
John Lewis, a member of Congress since 1987 in Georgia’s 5th Congressional District, will be remembered as a civil rights hero. His legacy will be passed on to school children for generations to come.
The essential structure of a profit orientation to the way our society operates is the reason people concerned about a livable future are out on the streets now.
Danziger
The growing concern on the minds of Vermont families right now is what will happen for students this fall.
I’ve always thought of days like this as being of the city, even though I’ve stayed far away from pavement for several decades of summers. It’s pushing 80 degrees and it’s not yet 9 a.m. I’m walking along the shore, past one of Woodbury’s many ponds, thinking maybe I should have gone swimmin…
On July 10, Education Secretary Dan French announced that the Agency of Education, Vermont Superintendents Association, Vermont Principals Association and the Vermont School Boards Association are not interested in forming a statewide planning commission for the reopening of schools that inc…
Not many people alive today know that, exactly 100 years ago, Vermont’s normal schools — the state’s higher education facilities located in Johnson, Lyndon, Castleton and Randolph — were ordered to close down. At that point, those four schools were primarily dedicated to the training of the …
As we watch from our relatively safe corner here in Vermont, the bulk of our country is floundering and now schools have become the latest hot potato. Firstly, I think we all can agree we have major concerns about the health of our economy, our own health and that of our families, and the so…
George Kistiakowsky was there on the morning of July 16, 1945, when the first atomic bomb (Trinity) was detonated by the U.S. Army in the New Mexico desert. Kistiakowsky was a science professor at Harvard University and part of the Manhattan Project that developed the bomb.
Recently, On Faith columnist John Nassivera noted that 82% of white evangelical voters would vote for Trump in 2020. He speculated this is a consequence of unreasoning fear, that the group is obsessed with persecution and martyrdom, and that evangelicals may erupt in violent rage if Trump lo…
Vermont’s drinking water is under threat from dangerous substances found in products we use every day. PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances) are toxic chemicals detected in public water supplies, private wells and groundwater in many cities and towns across the state, spurring lon…
“Never spend your principal, my boy. Never! It’s like suicide: a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” I can’t remember, for the life of me, who gave me that Micawberish bit of advice. But he was dead right. Faced with problems I considered otherwise insurmountable, I twice liquidated …
Proposed Act 250 changes are smart policies that support smart growth.
It is reassuring that state and private colleges and universities around Vermont are taking bold measures to keep students and staff when they return to higher learning this fall.
Christopher Wren was England’s genius architect. He was born nearly 400 years ago, and he made London beautiful after the Great Fire destroyed most of the old city. He was buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral, his masterpiece, and his epitaph concludes, “If you seek his monument, look around you,”…
If you think, in light of all that has transpired during the past year, religion will have little to do with the 2020 election, think again. On July 1, the Pew Research Center released the results of an in-depth study it has just concluded which found: “If the 2020 presidential election were…
Being able to get outside — in the garden, for a hike or a paddle, or sitting around a campfire with friends — has made the past four months of working from home and social distancing far more bearable than they would have been without the ample access to nature we enjoy here in Vermont.
Last week, most Americans celebrated their first mask-wearing, socially distanced, COVID-19 pandemic Fourth of July. No town organized fireworks or festivities. No large gatherings. Not like it was last year, that’s for sure. But did the coronavirus keep us from having fun?
The 6th of July. A humble date; no need to capitalize it. Everybody who has a job is back at it. The glorious Fourth is over, and to borrow a bit of Kipling, “The tumult and the shouting dies.” The cool front that’s been hovering over us is moving out, and we’re about to get July in earnest.…
I have a couple of questions more mystifying than I ever would have imagined since no one in your party — save the unexpectedly heroic Mitt Romney — seems willing to address the topic, which is Donald J. Trump, who, against all odds, as well as the rules of civilized behavior, remains presid…
Five Questions With
Just over three months ago we started “Five Questions With ...” to put a human face to this pandemic. Today marks the final installment in this stage of the project, but it will continue with a new set of questions more focused on Vermont’s recovery. Here, Paul Costello, of Montpelier, offer…
Marlee Brunton, of Middlesex, talks about the pandemic and its effects on her family.
Marlee Brunton, of Middlesex, talks about the pandemic and its effects on her family.
Alayna Martel, of Barre Town, is a registered nurse at UVM Medical Center. She talks about how, as a frontline workers, her life has been affected by the pandemic.
Gayle Townsend-Lang, of Rutland, works full time wearing many hats for the Rutland City Public Schools as “Miss Gayle.” Here she talks about how she has been affected by the pandemic.
Stefanie Schaffer, of Rutland, talks about how she has been coping with self-isolation and dealing with the pandemic.
Stefanie Schaffer, of Rutland, talks about how she has been coping with self-isolation and dealing with the pandemic.
Yankee Notebook columnist Willem Lange, of East Montpelier, talks about how he has been affected by self-isolation and the pandemic.
CPA Thomas Lauzon, of Barre, discusses how his life has been affected by the pandemic and self-isolation. Earlier this spring Lauzon was named to the governor’s Economic Mitigation & Recovery Task Force.
Chrispin White, of Rutland, discusses how he has been adapting to self-isolation and how the pandemic has been affecting him.
Christina Sweet, of Rutland, discusses how she and her family have been affected by the pandemic and self-isolation over these months.
Educator and Vermont Mountaineers General Manager Brian Gallagher, of East Montpelier, discusses how the pandemic has affected his life. Earlier this spring, the Mountaineers’ organizers announced they would cancel the 2020 season.
Cat Heatley, of Rutland, talks about how her life has been affected by the pandemic in recent weeks.
Cat Heatley, of Rutland, talks about how her life has been affected by the pandemic in recent weeks.
Salon owner and fitness instructor April Rogers Farnham, of Plainfield, talks about how she has been affected by self-isolation.
Barre Partnership Executive Director Tracie Lewis talks about self-isolation and how the pandemic has been affecting her life.
Montpelier writer Thomas Greene discusses how he has been affected by self-isolation and the pandemic.
Drew Smith, of Rutland, talks about self-isolation and how the pandemic has affected his life.
Jessica Van Orman talks about her experience in self-isolation and how the pandemic has affected her life.
Artist Jen Rondinone, of Rutland, reflects on self-isolation and how the pandemic has affected her and her family.
Mark Breen, the "Eye on the Sky" guy from the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, shares his thoughts in self-isolation and how the pandemic has been affecting his life.
Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe discusses how self-isolation and the pandemic have affected his life.
Executive Director of the Paramount Bruce Bouchard, of Rutland, talks about how his life has been affected by the pandemic and its consequences.
Stay-at-home mom and low-income advocate Roni Lynn Shrout, of Montpelier, discusses how the pandemic has affected her family.
Carrie Allen, of Rutland, explains how she has been coping with self-isolation and what she hopes will come from it after the pandemic is over.
Vermont cartoonist Tim Newcomb provides a bit of levity to his answers about self-isolation and how he is coping.
Recovery Vermont’s Melissa Story, of Montpelier, shares her thoughts on self-isolation and how it has affected her.
Major Jackson is a poet and professor at the University of Vermont. He lives in South Burlington.
Former governor Jim Douglas shared his thoughts on self-isolation.
Danziger: Five Questions With