Pope Francis got the world talking.
There’s a creature living under my back porch. I presume it’s a rodent, although rabbit, fox or possum would be all right, too. Skunk, porcupine or raccoon would not.
At first glance, it seemed impossible. On Aug. 18, Gov. Phil Scott issued an executive order to increase Vermont’s child care capacity as public schools announced reopening plans to provide some or all education remotely. The state dedicated $12 million in federal coronavirus relief funding …
I hadn’t thought about the dancing chicken in years. Back in college, we spent an inordinate number of the wee small hours across the river in Chinatown, sating our munchies with copious, steaming plates of clams in black bean sauce or shrimp with Sichuan hot peppers at one of the joints tha…
I’m often one of those “undecided” voters. It’s not that I don’t care or don’t have a point of view. It’s just that much of the time when I listen to a candidate, I instantly want to vote for the other guy. One campaign a few years back left me wondering if maybe we could rent a governor fro…
We are looking forward to all of the anger and contention going away in just a few weeks.
I can remember thinking, some 70 years ago, how good it was to be born into an American family. Odd as that may seem, this early childhood tie to country reflected a spirit of unity and trust we had as a nation. In a way, America was part of our extended family.
The last several weeks have seen an uptick in Republican accusations that a Joe Biden presidency would be an invitation to “court packing,” including expanding the Supreme Court in order to counterbalance the GOP’s years of stonewalling Barack Obama’s judicial appointments while accelerating…
The United States was born into a world where Britain and France were longstanding rivals, a competition that periodically descended into war. President Washington did his best to steer a neutral course, which pleased neither Britain nor France.
What a zoo! With a critical presidential election now only three weeks away, the brickbats are flying everywhere. It’s like that critical moment when two warring groups of kids come swarming out from behind their snow forts, laden with ammunition, and charge recklessly at each other. The dif…
Editor’s note: Vermont By Degrees is a series of columns written by representatives of colleges and universities from around the state about the challenges facing higher education at this time.
On Oct. 3, Pope Francis released to the world his Encyclical Letter titled “Fratelli Tutti,” which means “brothers all” and those are the same words St. Francis of Assisi so often used when addressing his followers. The Pope’s encyclical is a 90-page document, a statement that lays out, in c…
I live in Vermont: Manchester, to be more precise. My wife and I voted a couple of days after receiving our ballot in the mail from our secretary of state’s office. We opened the envelope that was sent to us and then opened our ballot. Before filling out our respective ballots, we very caref…
Many years ago, a friend of mine went to a remote island off the coast of Scotland, on a medical internship serving the small, rural population. She lived in a village on the east coast and drove around the island to see patients in their homes. One day, she related, she visited an old farme…
Registered voters across Vermont have received their ballots in the mail, and many have already been returned to town clerks.
There is an illusion, highly cherished by many Democrats, of a Vermont Republican Party, which is different than the national brand of Trump. One only has to look at the Vermont Republican online weekly newsletter of July 24 to see what Vermont Republicans who went to the convention thought …
I just took my mail-in ballot down to the mailbox. To anyone who might ask, “Is that safe?” I would answer, “This is Vermont. I don’t know where it could be safer. In any case, it’s done.”
As Vermont fights back against our triple crises – COVID-19, freshly exposed institutional racism, and an economy already being torn apart by growing inequality – we must not return to the old “normal.” That “normal” was failing our children, our working families and our communities. Measure…
I am a moderate. I’ve voted for Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives. Sometimes I vote to effect a balance between opposing views. Sometimes I vote despite a candidate’s views simply because I admire his character.
Late last month, the Vermont Senate cleared the final hurdle to ensuring the Global Warming Solutions Act becomes law with the upper chamber’s 22-8 override of Governor Phil Scott’s veto. I am thrilled to see the Solutions Act pass, with both chambers of the General Assembly upholding overwh…
Editor’s note: Vermont By Degrees is a series of columns written by representatives of colleges and universities from around the state about the challenges facing higher education at this time.
The leaves underfoot are spectacular. What isn’t so spectacular is that they’re underfoot, rather than still on the trees, in anticipation of “Indigenous Peoples Day” replacing Columbus Day somewhat like the District of Columbia NFL franchise transformed into the “Washington Football Team.” …
In 1980, historian Howard Zinn released “A People’s History of the United States,” a reader that became wildly popular in high schools across the country and sparked a revolution in the way that history is taught. Rather than putting students to sleep with factoids and timelines, teachers be…
A recent piece from The Conversation raises some interesting questions about what makes up a patriot.
On Tuesday, Donald J. Trump provided the nation with an exhausting, 90-minute barrage, outlining the damage electing him to a second term would do. In the first presidential debate with Joe Biden, the president’s unhinged bluster prompted the former vice president to say: “Shut up, man.” rep…
Little Poor Elijah enjoyed going to school. From his kindergarten’s giant indoor slide to the second-grade recesses he spent running around pretending to be a Buick, there was always plenty he could do to engage his imagination, as well as his arms and legs. He even enjoyed dodgeball, which …
There is not much to love about the United States right now.
I am a member of the Rutland City School Board, but I am speaking in this letter as a private citizen, not on behalf of the School Board.
The central government of the United States is still crumbling in the face of COVID-19, white racism, capitalist exploitation of both the poor and the Earth, political bribery and corruption, and the endless denial of science and climate change. The web of lies continues as the White House t…
There are two political advisers in play in this 2020 election, although their contributions will rarely, if ever, be officially recognized: Friedrich Nietzsche and Adolph Hitler. Nietzsche created the idea of the “Super-man” (“Ubermensch”) whose morality is to be “beyond good and evil,” and…
"The Great Seal of the State of Vermont is the official seal of the U.S. state of Vermont, used to emboss and authenticate official documents. It was designed by Ira Allen, brother of Ethan Allen and one of the state's founders. The seal depicts a 14-branched pine tree rising from the forest…
On these pages in recent days, there has been a lot of discussion about getting flu shots.
I have a dog named Grace.
We’re all grappling with a lot right now. From the heartbreaking impacts of the pandemic and our broken health care system, to the impacts of systemic racism, and the death of the incomparable Ruth Bader Ginsburg and its ramifications for the Supreme Court ... I could go on. But another inte…
Many of us love going to the polls on Election Day. Joining in-person with our friends, family, and neighbors to participate in the civic process has always been something I look forward to every election year.
One cannot argue against the basic human thesis that “All Lives Matter.” Most — if not all — believe that, for as long as humans have existed, virtually all advanced civilizations have supported and defended that proposition, many with their lives. In fact, that precept has never been in dou…
As if we needed another shadow obscuring the dwindling light of early autumn, we learned last weekend that within two hours of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — circling like a vulture — pledged that he, Donald Trump and their GOP Senate colleagues, woul…
Sitting here at my desk with a second cup of coffee, on the cusp of the autumnal equinox and gathering darkness, after our third straight night of frost, with morning sunlight flooding the yard and garage doors (just as I planned years ago), with Kiki snoozing in the recliner behind me, it w…
The 2020 elections might turn out to be the most consequential of the 21st century so far — for Vermonters and for all Americans. At the national stage, in the midst of a global pandemic and economic downturn, a heated and unusual presidential election is drawing closer to its end. Whatever …
In the last years of his short life, Randolph Churchill, Winston’s father, suffered a marked mental deterioration, most likely attributable to a brain tumor. Lord Randolph continued nonetheless to attend sessions of Parliament, where he’d rise and attempt to speak as he once had. The result …
I stand here today with an incredibly heavy heart. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — a tireless, legendary, champion of equality who reshaped our society for the better — passed away on Friday, the first eve of Rosh Hashanah. Adherents of the Jewish faith believe that a person who passes away du…
In March, the Vermont Legislature was concerned with the dangers of the evolving coronavirus that experts said could sweep the state infecting tens of thousands of Vermonters and killing hundreds. As a result of their concerns, the Legislature took several emergency actions to mitigate the s…
As a university professor who has worked for educators in the U.S. Congress and was raised by high school teachers, I’m constantly thinking about the education system and how best to equip the next generation of leaders. I’ve also been interviewing educators throughout Vermont, as schools ca…
It is encouraging that more Vermonters are getting back to work. For now.
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