Opinion

Column: A new model for public schools, and communities

By WAYNE GERSEN

During the pandemic, I was invited to give a presentation to the Vermont State Board of Education after proposing a plan I called “The Network Schools Model,” which is based on the assumption that the model used for schooling today — age-based cohorts, large group instruction, the agrarian calendar and a six-hour school day — is obsolete.

By the Way: The tragedy of Mitch McConnell

By RANDALL BALMER

Mitch McConnell’s announcement that he will not seek reelection next year brings to a close the political career of the longest-serving Senate leader history. He is also the longest-serving senator from Kentucky.

A Solitary Walker: Another snowy winter

By MICKI COLBECK

Almost three decades ago my kids and I came to Vermont in search of a better life. My son had come earlier in his old Datsun pickup after college let out, but I needed to pack up our house and finish up what would be my last year of teaching public school art in Missouri. My 11-year-old daughter and I, along with Molly, our black and brown husky; our orange cat Fuzzman; our gerbil Ralph; my Martin guitar, and our tent and camping gear filled our Saturn wagon. Saying goodbye to the old limestone hills along the meandering Mississippi, we headed northeast to Vermont. Deep and forested green mountains lifted high through tectonic orogenies, seemed like the cover of a camping catalogue.

Forum for March 1, 2025: Claremont Conservation

Recycling Services, owned by Acuity Management of Massachusetts, applied for a permit modification with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services in August 2023.

Column: Why I support Hartford’s proposed local option sales tax

By MICHAEL HOYT

On Tuesday, Hartford voters will have the chance to weigh in on the budget as well as a proposal to adopt a local 1% sales tax. I strongly support both measures.

Column: Reject Royalton’s proposed flood hazard bylaw

By MATTHEW MATULE

I’ve been following the development of the proposed Royalton flood hazard area regulations by the town Planning Commission, and effectively rubber-stamped by a well-meaning Selectboard, since there was a public meeting about it in May 2024. As noted by the Planning Commission chair in that meeting (and subsequently reiterated), the proposed proposed bylaws are a “complete rewrite” of whatever flood-related measures are currently in effect in Royalton.

Forum for March 28, 2025: Dresden budget

On March 4, residents of Hanover and Norwich will vote on the Dresden School District budget and related warrant articles. During our public meeting on Jan. 16, the Hanover Finance Committee (HFC) voted unanimously to recommend approval of the Hanover Support Staff contract (Article 3), Hanover-Dresden Service Staff contract (Article 4), and the Dresden School District budget (Article 5). However, the committee took no position on the middle school athletics proposal (Article 6) calling for a “year one” outlay of $201,291 for program funding.

Column: An energy policy grounded in reality

By ABBE BJORKLAND and ROBIN KAISER

We read with dismay the recent opinion piece written by Bill Hamlen (“We need reliable data about energy sources”; Feb. 13). This piece could have been written in the 1960s. We don’t believe it addresses current energy technologies, costs or environmental realities.

Forum for Feb. 27, 2025: Royalton candidate

I am supporting Christopher “Kip” Bergstrom for Royalton Selectboard because of his experience in community leadership, his level-headed approach and because he has agreed to support the exploration of a Thermal Energy Network (TEN) in South Royalton village.

A Yankee Notebook: Sniffing the news for a whiff of hope

By WILLEM LANGE

The news, the commentaries, the opinions and the speculations all flood in here like the water we used to shoot under dormitory doors with dustpans and watering cans. The net effect is hard to ignore. You’d have to be a confirmed Luddite or hermit to be unaware of it.

Forum for Feb. 26, 2025: Lebanon recovery housing

Residents in Lebanon have an opportunity to make a difference on March 11 by voting in favor of Ballot Measure 2, a proposed Lebanon zoning amendment that would require any recovery housing in our city to be certified through the NH Partnership of Recovery Residences. The NHPRR helps provide individuals with a safe and stable place to live during recovery. Certified recovery housing is shown to be an effective, safe way of helping those in need of a safe place to stay as they seek to rebuild their lives.

Column: Royalton can control its own fate with flood bylaw

By TOM “GEO” HONIGFORD

On March 4, Royalton will be voting to update its flood hazard bylaw. The bylaw was developed as a public safety measure, in large part responding to the changing weather patterns in Vermont. It has been unanimously approved by the Planning Commission.

Forum for Feb. 25, 2025: Hartford Selectboard

I’m writing to recommend that you vote for Erik Krauss for the Selectboard. He and I were on the Hartford Energy Commission at the same time. He served there for four years. We were on a subcommittee that sought to make homes more energy efficient and comfortable. Erik later was elected chairman of the Energy Commission.

Forum for Feb. 24, 2025: Renaming the Presidentials

The words, “We of our special grace, certain knowledge and mere motion,” are an unequivocal declaration in the Royal Charter of 1769 of the power of King George III to authorize the founding of Dartmouth College. The Dartmouth College of 2025 attests, happily, to the admirable outcome of King George’s “mere motion!”

Editorial: Hartford could expand who’s called a hero

It was perfectly predictable — perhaps inevitable — that the Hartford Heroes Banners project would create discord. There’s bound to be conflict when a town allows public property to become a billboard for the expression of private groups’ opinions, even if the intention is to honor military veterans and first-responders.

Column: A water bottle goes missing and a community shows up

By MAGGIE CASSIDY

When I leave the house, I try to remember three things: my phone, my wallet (attached to my keys) and my water bottle.

Column: Five bird feeders, but only one is ‘smart’

By JONATHAN STABLEFORD

Recently I received a text announcing that there had been an “unrecognized visitor” to our new bird feeder. Two clicks later a video helped me identify the species: Homo sapiens. This is a bird feeder with a camera and recorded sound, and it had captured my gloved hand and the sound of cascading sunflower seeds as I performed my daily ritual of refilling five bird feeders, no two of them alike, and one of them “smart.”

Forum for Feb. 22, 2025: Lebanon taxes

An intervention is needed. The City of Lebanon and its School Board have an insatiable addiction to endless spending.

Forum for Feb. 21, 2025: Cornish’s school

Improve Cornish’s school

Forum for Feb. 20, 2025: USAID cuts

The reporting around the demolition of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has been forthright and accurate. That the richest man in the world is taking food, medical care and clean water from the poorest of the poor, and especially from babies and children, is a horror of science-fiction proportions.