Editorial

Is pandemic groundhog day coming to an end?

Yesterday was February 2. That means it was Groundhog Day. Everyone knows the story, how a groundhog (known as a woodchuck here in Vermont) comes out of its hole and predicts the coming of spring by either seeing its shadow or not. If it sees its shadow, it gets scared and runs back into its...

Public, Legislature must work toward budget goals

“In my 21 years in public life, there has never been a more transformative moment. We have, within our grasp, the chance to combine good ideas, thoughtful legislation, and unprecedented financial resources into a better, brighter future: Where there are good jobs, affordable homes, and every...

Trying to define exactly what “new normal” is

“It’s not going to be that you’ll eliminate this disease completely. But hopefully, it will be at such a low level that it doesn’t disrupt our normal social, economic, and other interactions with each other. To me, that’s what the new normal is.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci The “new normal” is a...

Honoring MLK means confronting actions, beliefs

Monday the country celebrates the anniversary of the birth of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. It’s a day to recognize the life and accomplishments of the civil rights leader, who was gunned down in 1968 at the age of 39. During the 1950s and ‘60s King became the face of a nonviolent movement...

One thing is certain: nothing is certain

Tuesday marked the start of the 2022 legislative session for Vermont. Unlike previous years, when legislators from across the state made their way to the Statehouse in Montpelier, this year saw an unusual kickoff to what promises to be an unpredictable session.
Members of the House checked...

Don’t let hate grow

Four decades ago, one of the watershed events in history of the Deerfield Valley occurred. In the spring of 1982, the Ku Klux Klan announced it was targeting the state of Vermont as a place to expand the Klan’s message of racism and hatred. The Klan held a rally in Wilmington that it hoped would...

The spirit of Christmas: more than material goods

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore.”
Then the Grinch thought of something...

Retail cannabis in town a step closer to reality

Could a retail cannabis operation be coming to the valley? That’s the bet local entrepreneurs Christian Engel and Jennifer Betit-Engel are willing to make. Last week we reported on their efforts to start the ball rolling for a retail pot shop on the edge of the Wilmington village.
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Extend Giving Tuesday into a season for giving

Getting in the spirit of the holidays means many different things to many different people. But one thing that we can all agree on is the holiday season is really a season for giving. People seem to be at their best when they are thinking about others, and there can be no doubt the holidays bring...

Shop local and beat the supply chain shortage

There has been a copious amount of news lately about supply chain woes. It has become almost a daily story in the national media, about the inability to get products produced in other countries unloaded and shipped across this country. The bottleneck at shipping ports, with backlogs stretching...