Op-Ed: Bear hounding is cruel
Hounding in Vermont is often defended as a tradition and a way of connecting with the land, but tradition is no excuse for cruelty.
HARPing up excitement for Harwood Union High’s Music & Theatre Department
Three Harwood Union High School students look back at highlights of the 2024-25 school year for the school’s music and theater programs with an eye toward HARP, the project now underway to raise over $1 million to revitalize the school auditorium.
OPINION: Think there will still be elections? Wake up!
Many Americans are counting on the 2026 midterm elections to bring a change of power to the political scene in Washington, D.C. Wake up! That’s not likely to happen unless there is massive resistance to prevent President Trump from postponing or eliminating elections.
LETTER: LIFT fundraiser will support future student travel-study
On Aug. 23 at Camp Meade in Middlesex, LIFT (the Cyrus Zschau Memorial Fund) raised almost $6,000 for scholarships for Harwood Union High School students to travel on school-sponsored trips.
COMMENTARY: A Labor Day message
Labor Day is a time to honor workers’ contributions across Vermont.
LETTER: ‘What do we know?’ School board leaders address Vt. education uncertainty
We want to give our district’s communities an update on what we know and what we don’t know about the future of our schools, in light of the recently passed Act 73, the governor’s education reform bill.
COMMENTARY: Vt. Secretary of State weighs in on Trump attacks on mail-in voting, ‘voting machines’
On Aug. 18, President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform that he plans to issue an executive order eliminating vote-by-mail and the use of “voting machines” in next year’s midterm Congressional elections. Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas shares the following response.
LETTER: Tiny Acorn farewell after 20 years of magic
After over 20 years of magic, The Tiny Acorn has officially closed its doors. These past two decades have been ones filled with crafts and story times, holiday magic, the joy of gift-giving, community events, visits from friends new and old, resilience from floods and losses, childhoods transforming inside and outside this shop, uplifting local artists, and so many more joys we will cherish forever.
LETTER: Circus Smirkus details follow-up steps after rigging accident
As regional media outlets and the Circus Smirkus communications teams have previously shared, a rigging accident occurred during the evening performance of the Big Top Tour in Wrentham, Massachusetts, on July 22, causing injury to one of our performers.
LETTER: Vermont’s resistance ought to be led, in part, by Gov. Scott
Resistance right now is critical. In Vermont, our resistance ought to be led, at least in part, by Phil Scott. Our governor, however, has done little to resist the bully in Washington.
Letter: Comment by Aug. 19 on state rule change to prevent wakesports on the Waterbury Reservoir & other lakes
State rules approved in 2024 now allow wakesports on 30 inland Vt. lakes including the Waterbury Reservoir. Calls to reduce that number have prompted the state to consider rule changes. Public comments are due this Tuesday, Aug. 19. The Friends of Waterbury Reservoir support new restrictions.
Op-Ed: Data handover gives feds details on 1 in 5 Vt. households
When people signed up for state-run programs such as unemployment insurance or SNAP, they did not consent to have their data shared with DOGE for unspecified purposes. SNAP is a health and nutrition program, not a surveillance tool.
Treasurer Pieciak & Sue Minter: Preparing for a future with less federal support
Vermonters have learned a hard lesson from past disasters: being prepared makes a difference.
LETTER: Host family needed for Rotary high school exchange student
The Mad River Valley Rotary Club is urgently seeking one more host family to help welcome a high school student to Harwood Union H.S. from Sweden who arrives in just a few weeks as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange program for the 2025–2026 school year.
Op-Ed: End Homelessness Vt. shares outrage at data-sharing decision
End Homelessness Vermont is both stunned and outraged after learning of the egregious privacy breach executed by the Scott Administration.
Letter: Vt. sends private data to Trump administration
Last week, Gov. Phil Scott complied with a Trump administration demand to turn over personal information – including names, Social Security numbers, and home addresses – of more than 64,000 Vermonters who receive SNAP benefits.
Gov. Scott: Facts matter – Vt. complies with federal law requiring SNAP info. sharing
Gov. Phil Scott’s office issued the following statement on Aug. 5 regarding the decision to share data about Vermont SNAP program participants with the federal government.
Commentary: A conspiracy theory? You decide.
We are seeing (or not) the clear erosion of democracy as we have known it in favor of a ruling class of plutocrats who believe they can better manage society once they control it.
Op-Ed: Are you satisfied with the Trump dictatorship?
I wonder how the 77 million Americans who voted for President Trump now feel about our economic future after these initial months of his presidency, watching the president follow the Heritage Foundation’s playbook governing America’s finances.
COMMENTARY: Humane beaver management could save Vt. towns thousands of dollars
Beavers are remarkable animals who are both admired for their industrious engineering skills and disliked when their activities flood roads and fields. But our often-contentious relationship with them is long overdue for change.