EAST MONTPELIER – This unprepossessing gentleman pictured is I.F. Stone, crusading journalist and truth-teller. I’ve been reading “The Haunted Fifties,” a collection of his writings that includes a four-page piece he wrote in December 1953, more than seven decades ago, that stopped me in my tracks. It could literally have been written[Read More…]
Another Opinion
Rethinking infrastructure in an era of change
Across our region, towns are facing infrastructure questions that would have been hard to imagine even a decade ago. Roads that once flooded occasionally now see water again and again. Bridges built for smaller storms are being overtopped or undermined. Public systems we rely on every day are now operating[Read More…]
Local Option Tax: weighing the option
Voters at Hardwick’s town meeting will be asked to decide on Article 6, a 1% local option tax on meals, alcohol and rooms. So far, I have seen very little information about this tax or why we should vote one way or the other. I am sharing my own research[Read More…]
School board spending questioned
HARDWICK – After receiving the information I requested from the superintendent, Mountainview Elementary School District Board, director of operations and the director of finance, I thought I would share what everyone should know. Sorry for the length but it’s worth reading, in my opinion.Woodbury Elementary [School] is projected to serve[Read More…]
Planning for emergencies in Hardwick
HARDWICK – Hardwick is in the process of updating its Local Emergency Management Plan, known locally as The Hardwick Plan. It is updated regularly, typically each year, to reflect changing conditions, lessons learned and local capacity. It serves as the town’s working framework for emergencies and outlines how preparation, response,[Read More…]
Enough, restore Constitutionality
Enough…it’s not acceptable for American citizens to be killed by federal agents for exercising their God-given and constitutional rights to protest their government. At best, these federal immigration operations are a complete failure of coordination of acceptable public safety and law enforcement practices, training, and leadership. At worst,[Read More…]
The monetary value of volunteer committees
EAST HARDWICK – I just watched the recording of the January 8 select board meeting. Of particular interest were discussions about funding for NEK Arts related to Town House improvements and funding for the Equity Committee. Given the national discourse about the word “equity” the discussion was civil and I commend[Read More…]
Doing nothing is not an option
MONTPELIER – It seems that throughout the statehouse, in every corner, hallway, and committee room, you can hear conversations about property taxes and education. From the men’s room to the cafeteria and the parking lot, lawmakers are musing on this vexing issue. In our communities, whether on social media pages[Read More…]
Granite Street Historic District: What’s changed since the floods
HARDWICK – After the floods of 2023 and 2024, the Town of Hardwick heard versions of the same question: what changes after the water goes down? In the Granite Street Historic District, the answer has not been a single project or a single fix. There has been a slow shift[Read More…]
The quiet work of local review
HARDWICK – In village centers and along familiar roads, development rarely feels abstract. It arrives as a new building near a town green, a change to a well-known corner, or a proposal that raises questions about traffic or neighborhood character. In towns of all sizes, these moments bring a mix[Read More…]
OSSU budgeting, redistricting, class sizes, superintendent search occupy school boards
HARDWICK – Our family is looking forward to a better 2026. I appreciate all the support that I have gotten during a very trying summer. These are great communities, and I am proud to serve all of you. January will bring with it final board meetings to finalize the budgets[Read More…]
Alarm at student-facing roles on chopping block
HARDWICK – As the new year begins, our communities’ volunteer school boards are hard at work revising budgets for the coming 2026-2027 school year. We appreciate their tireless efforts towards this difficult task. As daily costs are rising, we recognize the real strain that property taxes place on households. We[Read More…]
