by Jennifer Thompson GREENSBORO BEND – Are you born into it? Do you sign up for it in kindergarten? Do you have to attend school in the Hardwick district? Is it an oath? Often this wanders through my mind while attending Hazen Union basketball games. I am a Kansas girl:[Read More…]
Editorial
Schools are the Heart of Vermont Small Towns
To the editor: Hardwick voters have an opportunity this coming town meeting to support the Lakeview Elementary School. Schools are the heart of Vermont’s small towns. Their disappearance for punative financial reasons is a travesty and leads to the collapse of small towns. Who wants to buy a house in[Read More…]
The Value of District Schools
To the editor: As the father of a student at Woodbury Elementary School, I want to advocate for Lakeview to remain open. Why do I care about Lakeview since my daughter attends a different OSSU school? I care because I see the value of our varied schools in our district.[Read More…]
The Real Heroes of the Story
VT Digger recently ran a story about The Hardwick Gazette featuring the paper’s transition to a non-profit enterprise. The real heroes of that story are three people who have collectively worked for this paper for 105 years, just 30 less than its own 135. Sandy Atkins is a newcomer by[Read More…]
Health, Transportation and Gun Control Lead Agenda
by Rep. Melanie CarpenterHYDE PARK –This year the legislative session started with a flurry of bills and testimony from community members and experts from around the state. I serve on the Health Care Committee where our work has been focusing on equity, access, and affordability. H. 721 Medicaid Expansion, H.[Read More…]
Woodsmoke
Connecting and Cooking
by Lucas Hall and Ginger Bowley, Community Journalists HARDWICK – We are students in a class at Hazen Union called “Recipe for Human Connection” which is based on connecting and cooking with your peers. On Thursday, January 18, Ginger and I helped with the community lunch for part of our[Read More…]
Flood Recovery and FEMA Maps Led the Agenda
MONTPELIER – Returning to the State House for the 2024 Legislative Session, the biggest priority on everyone’s mind was flood recovery. We heard testimony about it in both Natural Resources and Energy and in Government Operations . Beyond the immediate needs of making those devastated by the floods whole, I’m[Read More…]
Us and Them or We?
How we think of those around us sometimes makes a big difference in how we treat them. In recent years we’ve watched as our national political dialogue has become more about preventing the opposition from succeeding than in having a plan for creating a vision to address real issues faced[Read More…]
Right-to-repair is a Pro-common-sense Bill
by Rep. Anne Donahue (R), Northfield and Rep. Katherine Sims (D), Craftsbury MONTPELIER – Vermont has the opportunity to do the right thing for our farmers and loggers and to do it the Vermont way. Last year the Vermont House passed a pro-farmer, pro-logger, pro-market, pro-commonsense piece of legislation with[Read More…]
Woodsmoke
Power and Paradox
SHELBURNE – In the early eighties, I developed and led leadership workshops for government employees. “The Paradox of Managing Change” and my support for Madeleine Kunin’s gubernatorial campaign in Vermont got me on Reagan’s blacklist. Madeleine won the election, and I was prohibited from working with federal employees. Is change[Read More…]
