To the editor: Life can feel disorienting these days. The news is lurching from one emergency to another, while our day-to-day lives go on. So it can be useful to look at the big picture. The Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem) is an organization that specializes in the big picture.[Read More…]
Politics
Students protest ICE activity with walk-out
HARDWICK – Nineteen Hazen Union students joined 13 Craftsbury Academy students who walked out of school to shout chants, wave signs and rattle noisemakers at the intersection on South Main Street to protest ICE activity in the U.S, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday, March 31. An adult at[Read More…]
Faux Gnus: The latest executive odors (sic.) by President-for-Life Trumpf
#110,983 The new billion-dollar bill will have my portrait on the front of it and pictures of Mar-a-Lago on the reverse. #795,024 There will be an automatic Presidential Pardon for any ICE officer who is seriously injured or kills a protester. #371,967 Make Venezuela the 61st State. #905,283 Statistics on[Read More…]
Nonviolent protest against unconstitutional actions
To the editor: If you participated in the March 2026 No Kings Day event, thank you. It was the largest day of protest in American history. We are building to the 3.5% of our nation’s population actively engaged in nonviolent protest against the unconstitutional actions of the Trump administration. Research[Read More…]
Good land use policy requires balance
MONTPELIER – A long time ago, when I was just a 22-year-old untested college student, the select board in Morristown appointed me chair of the town planning commission. It was the mid-1970s, and land use planning and zoning were still in their infancy. I quickly realized I had been thrown[Read More…]
The stakes are high
MONTPELIER – The property tax issue erupted yet again this week. Back in December, the Tax Department reported that property taxes would need to increase by roughly 12 percent to cover rising school spending. That number got everyone’s attention, And rightly so. Shortly thereafter, Governor Phil Scott proposed bringing down property taxes[Read More…]
Rights bill passes after raid raises red flags
MONTPELIER – State police and protesters were involved in an event on March 11, where federal agents served a warrant, raiding a property and disrupting South Burlington traffic in search of a person who wasn’t at the property involved. A day later, the Vermont House took up H.849, an act[Read More…]
Harple proposes CESA map, voluntary consolidation
MONTPELIER – Back in January, virtually no one imagined that lawmakers responsible for consolidating school districts would go anywhere near last fall’s disparaged recommendations from the school redistricting task force. Recall that lawmakers last year had punted the responsibility of drawing consolidated school district maps to the task force. But[Read More…]
SAVE Act or setback
HARDWICK – As the Democrats in Washington continue to push back against the prospective SAVE America Act, many, like myself, are wondering what the future holds for women across the country. While I encourage readers to research the potential impacts themselves, here is a brief overview: The act would require[Read More…]
We need a new governor
WOODBURY – To quote Governor Scott, enough is enough. I could not agree more. Not only with the murderous actions of ICE, but with the whole Trump administration and Republican Party. But enough is enough also with a Scott administration that won’t denounce Trump’s trampling on the Constitution and the[Read More…]
Welch visits Craftsbury Outdoor Center
CRAFTSBURY – On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) hosted a “Common Grounds with Senator Welch” listening session at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. He joined Vermonters in Craftsbury to discuss the cultural and economic importance of winter sports, outdoor recreation, tourism and rural economic development in Vermont. The Senator’s visit came as Vermont’s Olympic athletes were doing well at the Winter Olympics in Italy. “We’re all[Read More…]
