Archive
Besides his books, Bill has written a variety of poems, short stories, opinion pieces, and more.
How To Spend a Windfall
I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth… …but the $2.7B one-time federal tsunami of cash coming into a state of 624,000 people is a big deal, especially when...
Vermont: Reactive or Reactionary?
To our detriment, we’re largely a reactive state. Our ship of state is captained from the stern. We scan our wake for bad signs. A corpse floats by… we need...
Social Media, Free Speech, & The Right to Bear Arms
The term “social media” has never made linguistic sense to me. It seems like an oxymoron. To me “social” implies my predigital childhood, where people I knew walked and talked...
It’s Time to Close the Women’s Prison in South Burlington
It’s time to close the Women’s Prison in South Burlington. As the legislature and the Dept. of Corrections consider how to repatriate the Vermont prisoners housed in Mississippi, several legislators see the...
The Dream of Owning a Home
The most corrosive issue today affecting the American Dream is that so many families have had to give up on the idea of ever owning their own home. Affordable housing...
John Klar and Critical Race Theory
Like science, history is an ever-emerging narrative based on curiosity, exploration, discovery, debate and interpretation. But like science (and journalism), it must be informed by fact. The recent screed by...
Vermont Can Make a Difference on Mass Shootings
Since the national opinion writers have thoroughly covered the President’s role in stoking the violence we experienced this weekend we can agree that the next election offers us all the...
Vermont’s Comfort Commission
In a time of widespread citizen mistrust of their government institutions, what could be more important than re-building that trust? The recent reversal from VT’s largely symbolic Ethics Commission (VEC) of its...
The Sad Remnants of Vermont’s Long Tradition of Republican Leadership
I am a regular reader of True North Reports, which describes itself as “a news and information service dedicated to serving the public interest through accurate reporting, insightful commentary and informed debate...
Vermont’s Remote Worker Grant Program
The Vermont State Auditor’s recent report entitled “Structural Weaknesses and Questionable Gains by Vermont’s Remote Worker Grant Program” not only raises questions about the design and efficacy of the executive...
Vermont Needs a Four-Year Leadership Term
It’s time for my decennial screed against Vermont’s two-year term for executive and legislative branches. I’ve watched the damage done by this narrow horizon play out for the 50 years...
Feel the Bern …
To his great credit, the Bernie of 2020 is asking the tough questions, putting forward solutions, and calling out endemic corruption. He’s shifted the dialogue in the election to give...
