Editorials
The United States is the wealthiest country in the world. You wouldn’t know it from the condition of the systems that make it work.
Congress invited predatory for-profit colleges to bleed military veterans of education aid — and give them nothing in return — when it wrote a loophole into rules that govern how federal student aid streams are classified. It comes as welcome news that the loophole was closed as part of the …
Quickly mass-producing and widely distributing a vaccine that’s effective against a novel viral pandemic is a herculean task that, fortunately, the U.S. has largely accomplished. While we’ve overcome many of the practical hurdles, we still face an intangible obstacle that continues to trip u…
Judging from the news coming out of half the legislative halls of America, you would think that the biggest problem facing women’s sports hasn’t been athletes being sexually abused but girls who were born with penises taking all the glory from those born with vaginas.
The United States has made some progress in reducing the shockingly large share of the population that lives behind bars, mostly by dialing back the War on Drugs. Building on this progress requires similar changes in the treatment of nonviolent property crime.
When the federal government started withholding income taxes from workers’ paychecks during World War II, the innovation was presented as a matter of fairness, a way to ensure that everyone paid. Irving Berlin wrote a song for the Treasury Department: “You see those bombers in the sky? Rocke…
Everyone wants to get out from under COVID, and it can’t happen soon enough. The way back to normal is through vaccinations — that is, not only manufacturing and distributing doses but making sure they get into Americans’ arms.
The grim reality of modern American life is that each new mass killing leads to a fevered study of motives and meaning. Was the latest shooter motivated by racism, misogyny, religion, revenge or some combination thereof?
It will be a while before we get a full picture of the motives behind the shootings at three spas in the Atlanta area late Tuesday afternoon, which police allege were committed by a 21-year-old white man. But the contours of the violence make one explanation plausible. Among the eight dead w…
Unlike government programs that create a large bureaucratic structure to administer them, the child allowance that is part of President Biden’s $1.9 stimulus plan has a simple premise: It will send checks directly to families. With that, the administration hopes to put a big dent in the nati…
In the final round of this grueling fight against an invisible opponent, we are all desperately waiting for the bell to ring. But on Saturday afternoon, those at the Berkshire Community College COVID-19 vaccine clinic heard something else.
President Biden is facing a critical test as a surge of migrants, emboldened by the end of the Trump era, is arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border in hopes of forging better lives here in the U.S. One challenge in particular is the sharp increase in unaccompanied minors.
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Columnists
I’ve been watching the work of the Legislature closely this year as a business owner concerned with the economic toll the pandemic has taken on our state. The majority of the Legislature’s work this year has revolved around the pandemic and offering economic relief to Vermonters.
After over a year of remote learning, we hear Vermont students: they are struggling. They want in-person experiences. They want experienced mentors to teach them. They want career readiness. They are looking for connection and a safe place outside of their house and COVID bubble. A study don…
I remember taking a ride with my adoptive Dad up to Newport, Vermont one winter day. A friend of his had passed and his widow was selling her husband’s complete Ham radio set-up, including a sixty-foot tower. The man’s name was Noble Craft and he had a trucking company. His Ham radio hobby h…
Simplicity, equity, and let’s just call it what it is.
For the first time in a long time, I’m feeling optimistic. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARP), passed by Congress and signed on March 11 by President Biden, brings much needed support to families hit hard economically by the pandemic. When it comes to direct hunger relief, the ARP boosts 3Sq…
For many decades there has been significant distrust of government. The 1960s and 70s, and the Vietnam War and Watergate turned the tide of public sentiment from which it has never regained its footing. There is no point in placing blame, said events are too far in the rearview mirror and th…
I am a proud Vermonter. Born and raised in this state, my husband and I made Vermont our home because there is no place that we love more. We cherish the land, the people, even the muddy roads and drastic weather.
Vermont must advance creative economic solutions to climate change. We are now living and working under accelerated change and disruption.
The Vermont General Assembly is dominated by the Democrats. And now it is the Democrats and the House Leadership (with Republican support) which are seemingly hell bent on radically diminishing the retirement pensions relied upon by unionized state workers and teachers. The Democratic Party …
What separates our wonderful and beautiful bucolic corner of the world (Brattleboro) from the abandoned parts of the Vehicle City of Flint, Michigan on a windy recycling day? Nothing … absolutely nothing! Well, I guess we still have drinkable water. Seriously, what exactly does it take to bu…
In recent weeks, there has been a lot of conversation about pensions, in particular for our state employees and teachers. My understanding of pensions is negligible — as a legislator it was not an option — so it is not something that is part of my own life. However, we all value the hard wor…
In this most unusual year, we could finally see how “short” we are on broadband. Perhaps you were one of the 22 million Americans over 70 who didn’t have an internet account to get a vaccine appointment. You may have seen the cars pulled up around the town clerk’s office or the library. Look…
It was my email that alerted me to an item sitting out in my physical mailbox. That happens a lot these days. A blue box appears on the right-hand side of my screen and without so much as opening my email, there is the message. I pop on a hat, grab a jacket and trudge out to the mailbox. Bef…
Letters to the Editor
Editor of the Reformer: When I was growing up -- long before Fox “News,” before the internet and its insidious conspiracy rabbit holes -- daily news broadcasts at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. were watched faithfully in most American homes. Trusted national network anchors reported the day’s main stori…
Editor of the Reformer: As we all know, the state pension problem has been festering for years now. Governors, legislators, state treasurers and Pension Investment Committee members have come and gone without a suitable resolution. Kicking the can down the road, mostly driven by politics and…
To the editor: This is in response to the pension reform article ("Pension strategy: Governance now, benefits to summer task force," April 2).
To the editor: The Republican legislatures of several states are in the process of passing, or, as with Georgia, have already passed laws restricting the ability of Black people, and other minorities, from voting in elections. This, in itself, is evil enough, to deny certain people the abili…
To the editor: Only about 12 people have died of COVID-19 in Vermont.
To the editor: Roe v. Wade hangs in the balance, and it’s time for progressive states like Vermont to permanently safeguard a woman’s right to choose. This week the Vermont Legislature is voting on Prop 5, the Reproductive Liberty Amendment to the Vermont Constitution.
To the editor: I want to thank the Reformer for running a picture on April 2 of students from NewBrook Elementary School releasing brook trout into a stream in Newfane ("Letter: Reduce harvest of brook trout"). Great picture and great that you are showing teachers doing a good job teaching s…
To the editor: We mourn the victims of the mass murders in Atlanta, six of whom were Asian women. This "bad day" ended the lives of eight individuals and permanently changed the lives of their families.
To the editor: On March 20 and 21 Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting convened via electronic means to approve essential articles, amend and pass the town budget, and discuss many important issues for our town and region.
To the editor: Have you or someone you know experienced hearing loss? Did an audiologist recommend that you get hearing aids? Were you shocked to discover that hearing aids cost from $2,000 to $6,000? Were you surprised to find out that your health insurance plan, if you had one, didn’t cove…
