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Editor’s note: This commentary is by T. Elijah Hawkes, who is principal of Randolph Union Middle/High Schools. He has been a public school principal for 15 years. His writing about adolescents, democracy and schooling has appeared in various books and publications.  Public parks become hospital wards, refrigerator trucks become morgues, and car factories retool to…

Editor’s note: This commentary is by Ed Stanak, who worked as an Act 250 district coordinator for 32 years for Washington and Lamoille counties and a portion of Orange County. Back in 2017 the Vermont Legislature created a study commission to obtain public input regarding how Act 250 could be upgraded in order to address…

Editor’s note: This commentary is by Suzanna Jones, an off-the-grid farmer who lives in Walden. Last month, the Trump administration gutted the 50-year old National Environmental Policy Act under the guise of “modernizing,” “streamlining” and making the law more “balanced.” Here in Vermont, similar language is being used to justify eviscerating our state’s landmark environmental…

Editor’s note: This commentary is by Jill Rinehart, a practicing Vermont pediatrician for over 20 years currently with the University of Vermont Primary Care Pediatrics practice who is an associate professor of pediatrics for the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont and  immediate past president of the Vermont Chapter of the American…

Editor’s note: This commentary is by Marcie Gallagher, a Burlington resident who is the environmental associate with the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. Since the Covid-19 pandemic began wreaking havoc back in March, our state leaders have been tasked with protecting the health and wellbeing of Vermonters under incredibly challenging circumstances. In many ways Vermont…

Editor’s note: This commentary is by Bruce S. Post, a former congressional aide, who writes and lectures on Vermont environmental history. It’s enough to make one cry. All around, in every part of our beautiful state, ecological destruction and deterioration abound. From the scandalous abomination of Jay Peak and the leaching landfill in Coventry down…

Editor’s note: This commentary is by Rep. Pattie McCoy, R-Poultney, the Vermont House minority leader. She serves on the Vermont House Committee on Transportation, House Committee on Rules, and the Joint Rules Committee. A few months ago, the Legislature adjourned without passing a full fiscal year’s budget. The hope by the majority party in Montpelier…

Editor’s note: This commentary is by Anne N. Sosin, who is program director for the Dartmouth Center for Global Health Equity. By many indicators, Vermont is the state best poised to open its college campuses. The state’s Covid-19 incidence is the lowest in the nation and its test positivity rate of 0.6% is well below…

Editor’s note: This commentary is by Rep. Laura Sibilia, an independent who represents the Windham-Bennington district in the Vermont House of Representatives, and Katherine Sims, of Craftsbury, the director of the Northeast Kingdom Collaborative and a Democratic candidate for the Vermont House. For the last 20 years, our public education system has overtaxed and underfunded…

Editor’s note: This commentary is by leaders of the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont: Richard L. Page, M.D., is dean of the Larner College of Medicine. Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., is associate dean for Public Health and Health Policy and senior advisor to the dean at Larner, and was Vermont’s health…