LETTER: Thanking Downstreet for park spruce-up help
Many thanks to Downstreet Housing & Community Development for all of their volunteer labor on June 6 at Hope Davey Park.
LETTER: New restraint and seclusion policy requires oversight
To the Community: Over the past year, the Harwood Unified Union School District has made commendable progress in reducing the use of physical restraints on students.
COMMENTARY: Vermont takes first step towards a fossil-fuel-free energy future
One of the proven ways to tackle the climate change crisis is to “electrify everything.”
LETTER: Remembering fallen Vermont Submarine Sailors
On this Memorial Day of 2023, the Green Mountain Submarine Veterans Chapter of the United States Submarine Veterans, Inc. (USSVI) remembers the following Vermonters who lost their lives in the Submarine Service during war and peace time.
COMMENTARY: Proposed state trapping and coyote hunting regs don’t improve animal welfare or public safety
Wildlife advocates were excited at the prospect of two wildlife-protection bills during the 2022 legislative session: S.201, a ban on leghold traps and S.281, a ban on coyote hounding.
Rep. Stevens: Preliminary session wrap-up after adjournment No. 1
The legislative session came to a close at 10:30 p.m. on Friday, May 12. Needless to say, the rush to the end was full of tension, last-minute negotiations, and promises of vetoes by the administration. In other words, pretty normal for the Vermont General Assembly.
July reunion planned for all Montpelier High School alumni
To the community: The first annual Montpelier High School Alumni Roundup, July 14-15, is a reunion fundraiser welcoming all classes, faculty, staff, coaches, and respective families to celebrate the Montpelier High School experience and give back to both the school and the Montpelier community.
Rep. Stevens on voting for S.5, the Affordable Heat Act
To the Community: I voted "yes" to override the veto on S.5, the Affordable Heat Act, a bill intended to help Vermonters transition away from fossil fuel heating.
COMMENTARY: Lessons from Frankenstein’s creation
Mary Shelley in 1818 wrote a classic novel titled, “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.” The novel tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant scientist who becomes obsessed with learning the secret of life, something that no one else had ever uncovered. He finally discovers it and uses the secret to create a being called Frankenstein’s creation.
OPINION: We need both – expanded childcare and the Child Tax Credit
As a kid, I grew up in a working-class, lower-income, single-parent family and saw my Mom struggle to find reliable and affordable childcare options.
OPINION: We need both – expanded childcare and the Child Tax Credit, not one or the other
We need to stop with false choices that would harm the very families we are trying to help. We need to say yes to expanding childcare. But we also need to say no to taking away the Child Tax Credit. We can have both needed childcare expansion and our best tool to fight childhood poverty.
Vermont Habitat for Humanity spends a day at the State House
A resolution by the Vermont Legislature designated April 7 as Vermont Habitat for Humanity Affiliates Day at the Statehouse, recognizing that Habitat for Humanity has been building housing for affordable homeownership opportunities for income-sensitive Vermonters for the last 39 years.
LETTER: Student anti-racism activists urge support for anti-discrimination bill
Students across the state and in our schools face racism, ableism, sexism, and other inequalities daily throughout their educational journey. We believe that the provision which would include students under the harassment protections is an extremely vital part of this bill, and needs to be included for it to pass.
Manager’s corner: A new quarterly column from Waterbury’s municipal manager
Waterbury Municipal Manager Tom Leitz looks to write quarterly updates to local residents on important happenings in our local government. This is his first installment.
LETTER: Looking forward to LEAP Energy Fair 2024
To the Community: I just wanted to say a big thank you to the LEAP Energy Fair organizers for pulling together such a great event in Waterbury last Saturday!
Op-Ed: Wildlife conservation depends on regulated trapping
Wildlife conservation is complicated. In Vermont, that complexity is front and center in recent conversations around regulated trapping. Although this topic deserves Vermonters’ careful consideration, I worry that some are losing sight of the conservation benefits that regulated trapping provides.
Op-Ed: The Affordable Heat Act is not the climate action we need
The bill S.5 referred to as the Affordable Heat Act would be a major step back for climate action in Vermont.
OPINION: The state must address hunger, food insecurity in Vermont
The state cannot make up for $6.5 million per month in federal food benefits, but it can support the Vermont Foodbank’s network of food shelves, food pantries, and meal sites with an appropriation of $3 million in the FY24 budget this legislative session.
HUUSD: Yes, you can and should ban seclusion
Seclusion is never an appropriate intervention and should be banned from the district in the new policy.
LETTER: Safe schools for all students
The subcommittee’s efforts are commendable and they were able to include language in the policy to ban dangerous prone and supine restraints, but the policy continues to permit seclusion, a harmful practice with permanent mental health trauma.