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This commentary is by Danielle Wallace of Waltham, executive director of the Turning Point Center of Addison County. Opioid use continues to fill headlines nationally and here at home, but what about the substances we don’t read about every day?  In Addison County, alcohol and stimulant use are the most worrisome, so let’s talk about…

Sen. Thomas Chittenden, D-Chittenden Southeast, speaks as the Senate considers a telemedecine reimbursement parity bill at the Statehouse in Montpelier on April 17, 2024. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Vermonters cited affordability as a top priority in the 2024 election, and last week, they voted to send more Republicans to Montpelier than in recent decades. …

Dear Editor, There are many painful images of the recent election, but one of the most despicable is a photo of Gov. Phil Scott exiting the voting booth announcing with pride his vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. Is his apparent glee intended to mollify a months-long disappointment in him? While many courageous Republican politicians…

This commentary is by Beth Parent, community engagement and outreach manager at Chittenden Solid Waste District. With America Recycles Day just around the corner on Nov. 15, we at the Chittenden Solid Waste District want to celebrate you for your commitment to the three R’s — reducing, reusing and recycling. By giving materials a second…

Birth Aug. 6, 1960 Berlin, Vermont Death Oct. 28, 2024 Johnson, Vermont Details of service A memorial service will be held on Dec 21, 2024, at Lamoille Valley Church of the Nazarene in Johnson, VT.  The service will begin at 10 a.m. Raised in Berlin, VT, David graduated from the University of Vermont with a…

This commentary is by Jill Martin Diaz. They are executive director of the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project and director of legal services for Connecting Cultures / New England Survivors of Torture and Trauma. I’m processing election results as a heritage Spanish- speaking “dirty immigration lawyer” of white-Latine descent, but also as someone who only recently…

This commentary is by Ed Baker of Burlington. He is a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers, a person in recovery from severe drug use disorder and an independent activist. Rev. Karen G. Johnston stood before her congregation at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington and, with grounded dignity, struck her bowl…

Once election results were in on Wednesday, words spoken to me by Richard Goldstone came to mind. He was a South African jurist and champion of the fight against apartheid, and we were at an event in Middlebury, where he observed, almost as an aside, “America is one of the most conservative countries in the…

This commentary is by Oliver Egger. He has spent 11 summers, six as a camper and five as a counselor, at Camp Lanakila. When my parents told 9-year-old me that I was being sent for seven weeks to Lanakila, a summer camp in Fairlee, Vermont, I thought I was being punished. What had I done…

“Don’t Go!” by Grace Weinstein, YWP Media Library Young Writers Project is a creative, online community of teen writers and visual artists that started in Burlington in 2006. Each week, VTDigger publishes the writing and art of young Vermonters who post their work on youngwritersproject.org, a free, interactive website for youth, ages 13-19. To find out more, please go…

The Roxy movie theater in Burlington on Friday, November 8. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger After a 43-year run Merrill’s Roxy Cinema in Burlington is closing, leaving the city without a commercial movie theater.  The local theater announced the news Thursday in a Facebook post, and expressed gratitude for everyone who visited the theater over the…

The ballot drop box outside the Randolph Town Clerk’s office seen on Friday, October 18. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas is calling for a revote in the race for the Bennington-1 House seat after an error was discovered in the town of Pownal’s voter checklist that may have impacted…

Gov. Phil Scott and his wife, Diana McTeague Scott, speak with attendees of the governor’s election watch event at the Associated General Contractors of Vermont building in Montpelier on Tuesday. Photo by Josh Kuckens/VTDigger Vermont’s biggest election night winner was, by all accounts, Gov. Phil Scott. The Berlin Republican was widely expected to cruise to…

This commentary is by Rebecca Holcombe, a Democratic Vermont state representative from Windsor-Orange-2. Vermonters are suffering from unsustainable increases in the cost of everything from property taxes to health care. Too many people are working hard and stretching social security checks, but still worry about bills. To understand why, we need to talk about demographics.…

Larry Hart, left, and Mark MacDonald. Photos by Glenn Russell/VTDigger For years, the Vermont GOP has been trying to win the Orange County seat held by Sen. Mark MacDonald.  But MacDonald, a Williamstown farmer and former social studies teacher who spent 11 years in the House and 23 in the Senate, has bested a succession…

Pattie McCoy, left, and Randy Brock. Photos by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Having outperformed even their sunniest of down-ballot forecasts on Election Day, Vermont’s Republican leaders are now starting to contemplate how they’ll utilize their newfound political power when they return to the Statehouse in January. “I haven’t even thought about that yet,” House Minority Leader Pattie…

This commentary is by Don Tinney of South Hero. He is an English teacher and the elected president of Vermont-NEA, the state’s largest union. He has also served as chair of the Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators. Recently, I came across an extraordinary video produced by Gov. Phil Scott’s Agency of Education. It was…

This commentary is by Christine Hallquist of Burlington. She was the Democratic nominee for Vermont governor in 2018, and was CEO of the Vermont Electric Cooperative for 13 years. I am Christine Hallquist, a proud and out transgender woman now living in Burlington. I am deeply concerned about the potential impact of the future leadership…

In Tuesday’s election, Vermonters voted to change the balance of power in the state’s House of Representatives during the next legislative biennium. Republicans picked up 17 seats, bringing their ranks to 55 in the 150-member chamber.  Democrats held 105 seats alone by the end of the 2023-2024 session, but now will be left with just…

Dear Editors, As a Long Trail hiker for the last 50 years I enjoyed the essay, “Then Again: Treasuring the trail” about the “Three Musketeers” — Catherine Robbins, Hilda Kurth and Kathleen Norris — hiking the Long Trail together in 1927. It’s a great story about a great adventure, but I would like to take…

Supporters of Gov. Phil Scott applaud as he delivers his victory speech at the Associated General Contractors of Vermont building in Montpelier on Tuesday. Photo by Josh Kuckens/VTDigger Throughout the state on Tuesday night, Vermonters waited as the results of the 2024 election trickled in — whether huddled around the TV at election watch parties…