MONTPELIER – As the sun began to set over Montpelier on a recent evening, the verses of “We Shall Overcome” echoed across the statehouse lawn. The song was paired with hymns, moments of prayer and speeches from members of Vermont religious groups who believe their faith is a key force[Read More…]
News
State Historic Preservation Office announces preservation excellence awards
MONTPELIER – The Vermont State Historic Preservation Office recently announced Curtains Without Borders (curtainswithoutborders.org) was honored with a Preservation Excellence award for its dedicated preservation of Vermont’s historic painted theater scenery. The Townshend Historical Society and Townshend Select Board were similarly honored for their preservation stewardship and ambitious rehabilitation efforts[Read More…]
A voice for the community
To the editor: As citizens of Plainfield know, it’s been a rough few years. Natural disasters. Bitter conflicts. Difficulties filling open positions. Now we have an opportunity to begin turning things around. Vicki McDonald, a Plainfield resident of 42 years, is running for select board. Vicki was a VP at National[Read More…]
Heller’s World by Joe Heller
Montpelier, the big picture
MONTPELIER – The governor gave his budget address, in which he proposed a 9.4 billion budget. While this does not raise any taxes rates or fees, it was my hope he would have offered a level funded or even a reduction in annual spending. Vermont has a spending problem, not[Read More…]
How are the children?
MONTPELIER – How are the children? That is the question we should be asking with the same discipline and transparency we apply to state revenues: reviewed regularly, measured honestly and reported for all to see. We love our children. Yet too many of them fall victim to neglect, instability and[Read More…]
Heller’s Word by Joe Heller
Radio nerd guides local station through expansion
PLAINFIELD – “I’m a radio nerd.” That’s the self-description of Llu Mulvaney-Stanak, executive director of Central Vermont Community Radio, which operates WGDR in Plainfield and WGDH in Hardwick. It’s been a challenging time for public broadcasting, but donors have stepped up, said Mulvaney-Stanak, who uses they/them pronouns. Meanwhile, work continues[Read More…]
After the buyout: standing in the in-between
HARDWICK – Recently, I spent a bitterly cold afternoon walking through several flood-impacted sites in Hardwick with a group of University of Vermont students. They are enrolled in a course on climate adaptation and are thinking about what towns manage after buyouts are complete. We were standing in places where[Read More…]
Kicking the tax can
TURENNE, France – Some school districts are experiencing sticker shock heading into town meeting. Their projected tax increases for the next school year seem out of line with their proposed spending increases. A few different things can cause this, but one big factor was the Legislature’s decision last year to[Read More…]
100 years ago in the Hardwick Gazette, February 25, 1926
Girl Scouts Grace J. Kelley, CaptainRuby Grisworld, 1st. Lieut.Mildred Stone, 2nd, Lieut. The twenty-eight girls who answered to their names at Roll Call last Monday night, at Scout Headquarters, were certainly an enthusiastic bunch and the business of the evening was conducted with all the necessary “snap” to make it[Read More…]
Bundling Up: Soil Microbes in Winter
VERMONT – Like any good animal, we sense the change of seasons through a hundred subtle clues. Leaves change and shed, becoming crispy piles underfoot. Geese cross the bright sky. Other signs of winter are harder to define: the morning chill deepens its bite, the afternoon light becomes pale. Although[Read More…]
