Editorial

Mike Edred

Editor's Desk: Archaeology brings the past into the present

I’m so excited that The Deerfield Valley News can publish the piece by Robert F. Smith, which originally appeared in The Commons, about the recent discovery of the granite foundations of a 1760 blockhouse built along what was once the shore of the Connecticut River. The blockhouse was one of the...

Delays with your paper: We are working on solutions

Some subscribers to The Deerfield Valley News might have some things to say about recent newspapers — that is, if they even got them yet.
One of the perennial frustrations of small newspapers is the sheer capacity of the United States Postal Service to slow delivery, adding logistical...

Addie Lentzner

Guest Editorial: Stop telling Gen Z to save the world

Growing up in rural Vermont means experiencing both day-to-day survival and pressure to fix a broken world — and that tension is pushing young people out of the movement for change.
My generation — Gen Z — has been told repeatedly that we can save the world. Policymakers...

A property reappriasal could result in a lower tax bill

With Dover’s recent reappraisal and ongoing related process, and so many towns under orders from the state to perform a property value reappraisal, we’re hearing a lot of valley property owners express the opinion that their property tax bills are going to increase along with their property value...

Safe, secure, and fair elections require adequate funding

Guest editorial by current Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas, and former secretaries of state Deb Markowitz, Jim Condos and Don Hooper. We write as current and former Vermont secretaries of state. We have not always agreed on every policy question, but we share a common...

Transitions can be difficult, but friendships will survive

As with any business, The Deerfield Valley News has always had employees who have come and stayed a while, contributed much, and moved on to other opportunities. We feel fortunate that, almost always, we part on good terms and wish them well with their next adventure. And we’re particularly proud...

WSWSU has come a long way in two years

Last week we reported on a recent meeting of the Windham Southwest Supervisory Union board with the headline “WSWSU will start year with a deficit, despite projected end-of-year surplus.”
During the meeting, the superintendent told board members that the supervisory union was expected to...

In the darkness, a little light shines from Montpelier

While it may seem that much of the country is hard at work dismantling our democratic institutions, chipping away at voter rights and access, and undermining the very foundations of our representative democracy, we might pause to thank the Vermont Legislature for taking steps to strengthen...

A new general store, and a village’s economic viability

Jacksonville, some 7 miles south of Wilmington, is about to get a new general store. It sounds like a parochial story that may not be of much interest to anyone other than the approximately 220 people who live in the village. But it has a lot in common with that of other small communities...

No Kings protesters to express justified dissent

On Saturday, the center of Wilmington is likely to be filled with several hundred people waving signs protesting what they see as the Trump administration’s disregard for democratic norms, its efforts to round up immigrants alleged to be living in the United States illegally, and its intolerance...