Editorial

Can a middle ground exist?

Phil Scott’s office released a commentary by the governor earlier this week. The opinion piece was Scott’s reflection on last week’s election. In it, he called for more prosperity for all of Vermont and a bipartisan approach to the upcoming legislative session, which will begin in early January...

Be wary of misinformation, seek different perspectives

The country is heading into the final days of the midterm elections and, as we’ve seen over the past decade, the political divides continue to widen. While political disagreements in this country date back to Tories and Whigs and the founding of the United States, the chasms have only grown wider...

Language of Prop 5 convoluted, dehumanizing

To the Editor,
Prop 5, Article 22 on Vermonters’ 2022 ballot, reads, “That an individual’s right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the liberty and dignity to determine one’s own life course and shall not be denied or infringed unless justified by a compelling State interest...

Vermont is not immune to big business, corporations

A couple of corporate deals announced recently are reminders that big business still has its eyes on little old southern Vermont. As we reported a week ago, Hydro Quebec plans to buy the hydro generating facilities on the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers from Great River Hydro. That includes...

Affordable housing has potential in Wilmington

A recent meeting about housing in Wilmington shared some interesting numbers that may have come as a surprise to many. As we reported a week ago, a subcommittee is looking to revise Wilmington’s zoning bylaws to modernize the process to build or upgrade housing units, especially affordable...

From rescuing buildings to people: the old firehouse

A couple of weeks ago we ran a story about how the town of Wilmington is repurposing the old firehouse on Beaver Street. It was a small story about how town manager Scott Tucker asked the Development Review Board for a use variance to allow the former fire station to serve as meeting space for...

Every vote matters

Voters around the state should be receiving their general election ballots for the November election any time now, if they haven’t already. Ballots were mailed last week to every registered voter in Vermont. We sincerely hope that everyone who is registered will take the time to either vote by...

New bill may even the playing field for local news

There has been an unprecedented shift during the past 15 years in how news is distributed and consumed. That shift has been brought about the by the rapid expansion of high-speed internet access and the development of online platforms that have leveraged that access to grow their reach and...

VERAP: a lifeline to many

People often are at odds about how big state and federal governments should be and how much influence they should hold in our day-to-day lives. There are those who believe in government as an agent of change that can right many of modern society’s ills through laws, regulations, and the idea of...

Government plays catch- up with free enterprise

A couple of months ago we wrote about the housing conundrum caused in large part by short-term rentals. As app-based services like Airbnb and VRBO become more and more popular, more and more rental property owners have converted their units from long-term to short-term ones. That, in turn, has...