Editorial

“All politics is local”

Town Meeting is six weeks away. But there’s another deadline coming up for anyone interested in getting involved in town government in Vermont. Monday, January 27, is the deadline day to turn in a petition to run for office.
Not happy with your local town government? Happy with your...

King, Trump, at the confluence of history

Monday, January 20, marks two milestones in US history. It’s the day the country celebrates civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. and it’s also the day Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.
To say that Monday will be an unusual day may be the...

Just wait a few minutes

What a difference a few days can make. In the weather. In New England.
Just take a look back at the past couple of weeks. Shortly after Christmas, the weather went from snowy and cold to rainy and balmy. A pounding rain wiped out much of the snow cover on lawns and in the woods. But by...

New year, new outlook

Well, the new year has arrived. It came in with style and panache, and even the rain and snow this week wasn’t enough to dampen revelers’ spirits and excitement for the year to come. As we take a look back on the year just ended (see Mike Eldred’s 2024 review on page A1) it’s not too soon to...

Wishing all a stress-free holiday season

It’s the holiday season. Christmas and Hanukkah are less than a week away, and the new year will ring in a week later. Honestly, after the year we just went through, it’s kind of nice to focus on the holiday, families, goodwill toward others, and a chance to start fresh in 2024.
Of...

Look to the root causes of rising costs in state

The buzzword around Vermont these days is “affordability.” As in, the lack thereof. In other words, Vermont is on the verge of being too expensive for many people to continue to live here.
That word, affordability, has been bandied about by Gov. Phil Scott for a number of years. He...

Volunteering a big part of valley life

We’ve written many times over the years about how important volunteering and volunteers are to life here in the valley. Just last week we published two stories about people helping out friends and neighbors. One was about efforts to help an aging friend replace their failed roof before the severe...

A great time to support local small businesses

It’s Thanksgiving, and it’s time to take stock the many things we have to be thankful for. No doubt those thankful things will vary from person to person. But one thing that we can all hopefully agree to be thankful for is the vibrancy of the many small businesses here in the southern Vermont...

“Abnormal” weather just another symptom of ongoing climate change

There’s been a fair amount of handwringing around the valley about the weather.
Wait. What? The weather’s been lovely, many of you will say.
That’s true, we’ve had some really nice, warm weather for early to mid-November.
But of course that’s the problem. Along with that...

Bridge to the future?

Late last month an information meeting was held in Wilmington, part of the planning process for the reconstruction of the Route 9/West Main Street bridge in the center of the village. As Ivy Kirby reported last week, at this point there are more questions than answers about the project.
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