Editorial

Beware the handmaidens

Memorial Hall in Wilmington was host this past weekend to the Holocaust Remembrance Exhibit, which featured more than 100 items from the collection of Darrell English. He has brought his collections of Nazi memorabilia to the valley on more than one occasion, and each time there are new lessons...

We all have reason to celebrate Labor Day

Labor Day weekend is here. The unofficial end of summer. The start of the new school year. The kickoff weekend for football season. In short, it’s a time of transition, anticipation, and excitement for many.
Labor Day at its core is a holiday for everyone. After all, just about...

Region must work to reverse aging trend

Vermont in general and Windham County in particular are getting older, with no change in sight. A recent newsletter sent by the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation hammered home that point.
At the top of the email was a chart (see below) created by the United States Census Bureau...

We are all Americans

Last week’s story by Lauren Harkawik hopefully will make readers pause and reflect for a moment.
Harkawik wrote about two restaurant workers who are here in the valley on legal visas. The owner of the restaurant thought so highly of them as people and team members that he sponsored...

Lack of representation a reason for concern

Earlier this summer, the Vermont Legislature passed, and Gov. Phil Scott signed into law, House Bill 454. Now known as Act 73, it promises a sweeping overhaul of Vermont’s primary and secondary public education system. It’s a complex bill with a variety of goals and triggers, as we have...

Pawing around the dog days of summer

“Dog Days are approaching; you must, therefore, make both hay and haste while the Sun shines, for when old Sirius takes command of the weather, he is such an unsteady, crazy dog, there is no dependence upon him,”
Old Farmer’s Almanac Well, well, well, the dog days of summer have...

The beauty of blue

“You ought to have seen what I saw on my way
To the village, through Mortenson’s pasture to-day:
Blueberries as big as the end of your thumb,
Real sky-blue, and heavy, and ready to drum
In the cavernous pail of the first one to come!
And all ripe together, not...

“For Vermonters, July 10 is starting to feel cursed”

The above headline was writer Jenn Jordan’s lead on a WeatherChannel.com report about flooding in Vermont last week. For anyone who has been in Vermont for the past three summers, it was dejá vu all over again. Heavy summer rain that dropped a significant amount of water in a short period of...

One door closes, and another one opens

That is where The Deerfield Valley News is right now, about to walk through an open door into a new era.
Two weeks ago we finalized a months-long negotiation with the folks from Vermont Independent Media to transfer ownership of the “Valley News.” (See story on front page.)
This...

Employment news a double-edged sword

A report this week by the Vermont Department of Labor shows that unemployment across the most of the state is low. While a report like that is usually cause for celebration, the low unemployment rate isn’t necessarily good news for employers around the region and across the state.
Why?...