Letters to the Editor
We invite you to write considered responses on topics covered by VTDigger. The letters will be published several times a week, depending on the number submitted. They will appear on the front page of VTDigger and at this archive. To submit a letter, complete the form here.
Please spread the word to everyone who values Vermont's “livable” lakeshore communities. What is happening to Malletts Bay’s Sailing School is just the tip of the oncoming developmental iceberg. Forces are at work in Colchester, enabled and encouraged by the planned large sewer system, which most people will not comprehend until coping with overdevelopment, stifling […]
Rep. Carol Ode’s recent VTDigger commentary extolled UVM’s beneficial relationship with Burlington. Yes, in many ways UVM’s relationship with Burlington is rich and mutually beneficial. And UVM is not a good neighbor when it comes to housing the students it enrolls. UVM and Rep. Ode consistently misrepresent UVM’s huge negative impact on Burlington housing. Rep. […]
I have family connections to Vermont, and VTDigger is on the list of news sources that I read regularly. Like other letter writers before me, I also take issue with the commentary (“What it’s like to move to Florida as a liberal”) by Darryl Benjamin Jan. 27 in VTDigger. As other readers have pointed out, […]
Because of a certain amount of cooperation, after the fact, Bill Stenger was allowed to plead to many fewer and reduced charges (in Vermont's EB-5 scandal). However, Stenger was directly involved from the very beginning, using his relationship with Gov. Jim Douglas, traveling the Orient together, promoting AnC Bio, Jay Peak and Burke Mountain. When […]
From 1997 to 2000, I had the privilege of working for Sen. Leahy and directly under Tim Rieser. Just like the senator, Tim always set an example for junior staff. He attended to the interests of Vermonters with the same commitment and care he devoted to conversations with heads of state. He was committed to […]
On Jan. 26, Brattleboro was treated to an evening of Windham County's Got Talent. Young contestants got a chance to perform for the judges and the public. One young student, after an investment of time and hard work, was excited to perform Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit." However, less than an hour before the performance, a […]
A recent story in VTDigger regales us with a Democratic fundraiser at Caledonia Spirits. A "Gin Party" where for the small fee of $50 to $1,000 the donee can speak to a state senator. The larger the donation, the longer the time spent with the senator. I was under perhaps the naive notion that elected […]
To John Greenberg's commentary on the causes of the cost of health care in Vermont and the U.S., I say amen! I assure you that the financial aspect of providing the best care possible grew out of all proportion during the decades I was a practicing registered nurse, the last few decades in home care […]
Some landlords are using the "at will" clause in their rental agreement to not renew tenants’ lease agreements because, if tenants have lived in an apartment for at least five years, that apartment will now, with a new rental agreement, be at least $600 more per month. This action by some landlords is expected to […]
Welcome to the Legislature’s new judicial committee members. Here are some realities you should understand. First, Vermont's legal system is designed to protect the status quo. Vermont's lawmakers don't work for their constituents. Familiarize yourself with all the rabbit holes that prior legislative committees have written into the existing statutes, rules, administrative procedures and documents. […]
Media recently reported that “two health provider groups brought alarming anecdotes and statistics to the House Committee on Health Care.” One legislator compared Vermont’s health care system to a village on fire. The testimony came from: Rest assured that the same privilege has been accorded to insurers like Blue Cross and MVP, as well as […]
I am writing in response to “Henry Kronk: What if renewable energy was beautiful?” Mr. Kronk’s commentary encourages Vermont to embrace the installation of industrial solar power plants for the greater good of Vermont energy sovereignty and to preclude a dystopian future of societal collapse. Along the way he invokes a “learn to live with […]
To Darryl Benjamin: Being a senior citizen in Vermont, I take issue with the blatant ageism of your commentary. Sure, Florida attracts the over-65 crowd who, like your wife, are sick of the cold. It also attracts lots of much younger people for the same reason. I cringe every time I hear some under-65 person […]
This commentary was really harsh in my eyes, even by Vermont Digger standards. The comparison of Florida's political climate to prewar Germany was grossly overstated. I was disturbed by the mean-spirited generalizations about the people who live in Florida, especially those who would be considered senior citizens. Perhaps Darryl should have chosen to move to […]
Perhaps nothing better highlights the need for campaign finance reform than Vermont’s recent congressional election. The Republican nominee, Liam Madden, raised only $30,000, but is now under investigation by the Federal Election Commission for misrepresenting the identity of his donors. And then there is the Democratic nominee and new congresswoman Becca Balint, who received $ […]
Concerning VTDigger's latest legal attempt to secure the so-called EB-5 "secret documents" regarding the Jay Peak scandal, a seven-year wait has been much too long. Any rational person can only conclude that the state's handling of the document requests is an attempt to hide any improper actions or inactions by the state agencies and/or the […]
I feel the need to address the blatant ageism in Darryl Benjamin’s column on the heartbreak of moving to Florida. I am sorry, but not surprised, to read of the hateful experiences he has had from his neighbors and strangers. His theory that the rage-filled conservatism is because of the number of old people in […]
I guess I am lucky that, after 45 years of working, we finally saved enough that we thought we could retire, so we did. What seems to be happening right this minute is our government is borrowing huge sums of money and diluting the money supply. This means everyone's retirement plans are being put at […]
The state of Vermont needs to do another stimulus check. We see all the other states still doing stimulus checks, but what is our state doing to help us? And if the state has all that money, it should help its citizens out because many people in the state of Vermont need it at the […]
The article about crime hot spots gives no new information and makes Vermont, and Burlington in particular, look like we are aflame in crime. Mr. Scott seems to think Vermont is burning to the ground. What a cynical color choice! Is the real reason for it a veiled attempt to roll back reforms? Or is […]
What is most disturbing about some comments on the Bread and Puppet article is how Russian aggression against Ukraine is being accepted as the fault of the “war gods of capitalism”, instigated by the US and NATO, and part of CIA plots. What news sources are people getting their information from, Russia Today(RT)? The myopic […]
Congressional and senatorial representatives of both parties are heralded for “bringing home the bacon” as each representative grabs for all the “free” money that can be tucked away in massive federal appropriation bills. A more appropriate phrase would be “stealing the bacon” as we continue to leave the responsibility of paying the growing deficit and […]
I’m sure there is a record of Vermont, during the ice storm that took us weeks to recover from, that we used train engines to serve as generators that were also “portable. I’m trying to get this information to Ukraine but don’t know how. Can you help? Patricia Elliott Essex Junction
How about we get the tax money we paid in while we worked through the pandemic, like the ones who collected unemployment? We wear masks eight hours a day, putting our lives and our family's in danger while the ones on unemployment sit on their couch in their PJs watching TV, not costing them a […]
So the liberal city councilors of Burlington and their radical acolytes want to create a civilian oversight board to investigate and hand down discipline on police officers. What an idiotic idea. There is no other word for it. First, this “kangaroo board” would be seeded with people who have no understanding of police procedures, operations […]
On Jan. 11, the Vermont Department for Children and Families presented its budget to the House Appropriations Committee. Its proposal would redirect $4.6 million that has been earmarked for “child development” to a fund that will be used to pay for building a temporary, architecturally secure structure to house adjudicated youth. This is in addition […]
After reading this article, all I could think of was “this is why I’m a cynic.” Sure, Liam Madden violated our twisted electoral system where PACs, with a wink and a nod, in actuality make up a large portion of a candidate’s fundraising. Saurav Ghosh’s statement lays bare the cancer within our system. “The fact […]
Great story. I have done Hump 4 times. Up and back without stopping. I am 68 and it is a major effort, despite training. The plane legend has me committed one more time. Patrick Branley Wardsboro
We are barely a couple weeks into the new legislative session and certainly there are plenty of challenges Vermont faces. Housing, child care, homelessness, one of the highest per-capita taxed states, and on. So does our new Senate leader rise to the challenge? No. He introduces multiple bills to slay his great white whale, gun […]
As usual, the legislators here in Vermont along with the Vermont Public Safety Department continue to mystify me regarding crime in my state. As someone who used to work in Rutland and frequently travels there for services, I can pretty much see what is going on in Rutland with my God-given eyes; I don't need […]
I am in a field where I work with parents and their children. What I see is struggle across economic and social realms. All parents of young children struggle to find adequate care for their children. Some get lucky and find a nurturing environment that suits their child and family needs, but most parents are […]
Regarding Marc Estrin’s commentary: Pacifism is great but has its limits. Can we infer that Estrin and Schumann would have been content to let Nazism run amok, because that’s what the Ukrainians have already lived through with Russian subjugation in the 1930s. The closing quote is especially condescending — to suggest that Ukrainians are pawns […]
The dictionary defines an assault weapon as "any of various automatic and semiautomatic military firearms utilizing an intermediate-power cartridge, designed for individual use." It is already illegal for civilians to carry and use these. AR-15-style rifles are not assault weapons, and, in fact, AR does not stand for “assault rifle.” The misnomer “assault weapons” is […]
Where is one expected to go and what is one supposed to do, particularly when there is no place located either centrally downtown or elsewhere within easy strolling distance, to go, most especially at night, on the weekend or on an official holiday when one urgently needs to relieve themselves and there is no accessible […]
Voters in Plymouth are going to be asked to give the selectboard another million dollars. We are also being asked to get rid of the right to vote for town clerk, tax collector and treasurer. Since we have no council, no manager, and no mayor, Plymouth's Selectboard wants to turn most of the few remaining […]
This statement is in response to the Early Education & Child Care Financing Study: It has been a top priority for Vermont Creamery to create a workplace that is supportive for parents, which is especially challenging for moms and dads with kids ages newborn to 5 years old. This approach is key to our success […]
We have just celebrated Martin Luther King's birthday. I think that he was among the greatest of all Americans. In 1966, he spoke about injustice in health care and called it the most shocking and inhuman of all inequalities. There is much evidence that the care of the poor is inferior to the care of […]
I agree entirely with John Greenberg's assessment of the specious enthusiasm over the recent "success" of nuclear fusion: It is very far from a success, very far from commercial reality, and very expensive. I would add that it is also a concept that would require much greater concentration of generation capacity with very large transmission […]
Anya Rader Wallack's pitch for OneCare, like earlier OneCare promotional hype, could be an excerpt from “The Emperor's New Clothes” or an essay by an AI chatbot. The syntax and vocabulary are English, but attempts to match them with real-world meaning or facts, even by those well-versed in health care data, lead nowhere. Where is […]
When will the government stop sending out money and military services and equipment to other countries? I would think that with everything that is going on in the United States with housing and food prices the government would start saying enough is enough. Billions of dollars and equipment have been sent overseas to other countries […]