SHELBURNE – I recently read Senator Ron Wyden’s memoir, “It Takes Chutzpah.” Ron was fresh out of the University of Oregon School of Law in 1974 when Ruth Haefner, a retired social worker in Portland, asked him to help her co-found an Oregon branch of the Grey Panthers. Ruth’s friend,[Read More…]
Columns
Joy is a resistance
BURLINGTON – When was the last time you experienced joy? Take a moment: the birth of a grandchild, a perfect summer day, being in the presence of a dear one, that time you couldn’t stop laughing? Has it been a while? Are there days or headlines or experiences that steal[Read More…]
Not So Bird-Brained: Avian Tool Use
WASHINGTON, D,C. – On an otherwise unremarkable day in 2023, Jason Love and his colleagues were gathering in a parking lot when they saw something that, as far as we know, no one had ever seen before. Love, the associate director of the Highlands Biological Station in North Carolina, and[Read More…]
Black Locust: an invasive with roots?
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The coming of autumn often makes trees harder to identify, but sometimes, it does the opposite. The black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) is a case in point. In summer, its bluish-green, oval-shaped compound leaves could easily be confused with those of the honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), a[Read More…]
Pumpkin, squash harvest is tricky
BURLINGTON – The recent cold snap with widespread frost and even a freeze in some spots in Vermont, likely marked the end of the season for pumpkins and winter squash. Unless an area escaped the frost or a crop was covered, tender foliage succumbed to the autumn temperatures. In general,[Read More…]
No rain next seven days; warmer than normal weekend
EAST HARDWICK – The most substantial rain of the season fell in the past week, with a total of 1.25” recorded at this observation station. This was the lowest total when compared to nearby stations in Greensboro and Craftsbury, where amounts totaled closer to two inches. Most stations are still[Read More…]
But suddenly, with overnight company in the offing
EAST MONTPELIER – It’s been a pretty peaceful and pleasant autumn here. The drought has been bedeviling farmers and orchardists, but it’s been perfect weather for my little convertible. The legislature and governor, though occasionally having differences of opinion, have at least not been calling each other names. The news[Read More…]
Army National Guard veteran receives free Kubota tractor
WALDEN – In what he called a “game-changer,” Rob Niles, a retired Vermont Army National Guard veteran, received a New Kubota L02 Series compact tractor as part of Kubota’s Geared to Give program, which honors military veterans pursuing careers in agriculture. Niles received the free tractor after retiring with 26[Read More…]
Listening for the sounds of silence
GREENSBORO – The philosopher Nietzsche famously had a fictional character declare that “God is dead.” That was, to be sure, a metaphorical statement, and one that was meant to be predictive of things to come. (Traditional religion was still prevalent when Nietzsche wrote in the 1880s.) We might think of[Read More…]
Loon population doing well, still facing threats
VERMONT – Loons are doing really well in Vermont. It is hard to imagine with all the threats they face that the overall loon population has recovered, for now. Back in 1983, only seven loon pairs nested in all of Vermont. In 2025, the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VCE) Loon[Read More…]
In the footsteps of a chipmunk
SHAWANGUNK, N.Y. – As autumn nears, I find myself returning to botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer’s line in “Gathering Moss” where she describes ecological succession as “a tale of the interwoven fates of mosses, fungi, and the footfall of chipmunks.” The phrase evokes the quiet, entangled choreography of life in transition.[Read More…]
HED rate hike delayed, Variety of rumors troubling selectmen, The Hardwick Gazette, Sept. 30, 1980
HED Rate Hike Delayed HARDWICK – A 18.6 percent rate increase which the Hardwick Electric Department had planned to implement in October has been postponed, and it may be several more months before the village trustees get a response from the state Public Service Board (PSB) on their request for[Read More…]
