Vermont’s Forgotten History of Racial Bigotry

It’s hard for a veteran opinion writer to admit confusion. But the recent chaos in Virginia has humbled this writer and it has nothing to do with politics. Growing up… Read More

Vermont: The Forest for the Trees

As one who’s never served in political office, I often remind myself how easy it is to opine with impunity about what’s right and wrong with our state and national… Read More

Economic Development: We can do better.

In a recent VTDigger piece, Secretary of Commerce and Community Development, Mike Schirling, highlighted actions his agency has taken to make a positive impact on Vermont’s previously lackluster economic development… Read More

An Open Letter to the Vermont Legislature

Dear Legislators, First, thank you all for your willingness to serve your constituents and all Vermonters. You are appreciated by most of us. But please remember, you serve both the… Read More

A Heedless Death

I grew up reading Vermont Life in the fifties and continued reading it until shortly after the turn of the century. It always had a prominent place in our home,… Read More

Business-as-usual or…?

“Build it and they will come” is the oft-misquoted meme from the classic movie Field of Dreams. And in the case of the proposal by CoreCivic, a private prison firm,… Read More

Town Meeting Day is Upon Us

Soon, it’ll be March and Town Meeting will again be upon us. Our venerable system of local government – where it’s still practiced – calls townsfolk together to debate and… Read More

Sustaining Our Communities

In physics, centripetal forces propel objects toward the center and centrifugal forces drive them away. And today, our societies and communities are engaged in an epic battle between these two… Read More

Getting Closer in Vermont…Affordable Health Care for All.

When I was young, Morrisville had three doctors, two dentists and the wood-framed, four-story, Copley Hospital, which had the town’s first elevator. Theoretically, there was competition, but price wasn’t the… Read More

Burlington College: Politics or Governance?

I’ve been watching the national effort to politicize Burlington College’s demise and am saddened by the venality of our politics and our dangerous ignorance of non-profit governance. It’s endemic in… Read More

Stay the Course in Vermont Healthcare

How quickly we forget. Just short of four decades ago, Vermont policymakers decided that a competitive healthcare system had not lowered healthcare costs, but was, in fact, driving costs up,… Read More

Puccini in Middlebury

From as early as I can remember, I’ve been an opera buff. I remember sitting in the orchestra section at the Old Metropolitan Opera House on 39th and Broadway and… Read More