Opinion

Column: Beilock can answer questions or drop the college’s case

By NANCY WELCH

While it is Dartmouth students Kevin Engel and Roan V. Wade facing charges of criminal trespassing, it is Dartmouth President Sian Beilock who stands trial in the court of public opinion. Here is the case against Beilock thus far:In an email to the...

Forum for Feb. 28, 2024: Vermont’s aid to addicts

Vermont can do more to help addictsVermont’s proposal to provide safe sites to shoot up drugs obtained illegally is like giving a bank robbers a safe place to launder their money. This proposal requires testing for lethal doses. The rest of the free...

Forum for Feb. 27, 2024: Coach apologizes

Hartford School Board chair apologizesI apologize to Hartford for the School Board’s poor performance leading up to and including last Wednesday’s meeting.There is no doubt that we could have, and should have, handled things differently. Each and...

A Yankee Notebook: A teacher and a great read about the Arctic

By WILLEM LANGE

If you gad about enough and try to do at least one new thing a week, you’re bound to encounter interesting people, educational experiences and exciting situations. A perfect proof of that came up for me last summer, when I trundled across New England...

Editorial: How many school superintendents does Hartford need?

For several weeks this winter, Hartford School Board members seemed intent on demonstrating that tennis players aren’t the only ones who commit unforced errors. In the end, they narrowly managed to avoid a double fault.We refer to the board’s highly...

Column: The history behind New Hampshire education freedom accounts

By WAYNE GERSEN

It was distressing, but not surprising, to read that the New Hampshire Legislature is considering an increase in funding for Education Freedom Accounts by raising the eligibility ceiling to $150,000 per year for families of four who want to secure...

Forum for Feb. 24, 2024: Running Lebanon School Board

Why I’m running for Lebanon School BoardMy name is Richard Ford Burley and I’m running for the Lebanon School Board because I believe in supporting our children now and as they grow. As an autistic person with ADHD, I know how important it is for...

Forum for Feb. 23, 2024: Hartford admins back DeBalsi

Hartford administrators support DeBalsiLast Friday morning the Valley News ran an article that referenced a letter that Hartford School District administrators attempted to read at the Feb. 14 Hartford School Board meeting (“School leaders protest...

Forum for Feb. 22, 2024: Poking the Bears

Sharp-eyed reader Ann Seibert, of Norwich, noted with some puzzlement that the Hanover High School hockey players depicted in the Feb 16 Valley News were called Bears, but wore uniforms with the school’s old Marauders mascot. So she fabbed up a new...

Forum for Feb. 22, 2024: Politics means compromise

Politics means compromiseI wish I could put politics in a box and shelve it. I find the actions of Republicans in Congress so offensive as they mill about, bowing to Trump’s edicts and excusing him. A zero-sum game results where one side’s gain is the...

Forum for Feb. 20, 2024: New Hampshire’s bridges

NH cares not for its bridgesWonderful. The State of New Hampshire is closing another bridge across the Connecticut River, this time between Springfield, Vt., and Charlestown (“Repairs to close Connecticut River bridge,” Feb. 9). We should not forget...

Column: Vermont’s approach to education goes off the rails

By NEIL ODELL

Dear future Vermont, I’m sorry. I apologize for where you are now, it was our fault. Things got strange around 2022 to 2024 and went sideways on us. Maybe if more of us had been vocal things could have turned out differently.As you consider where you...

A Yankee Notebook: A tip of the cap to a legendary adventurer

By WILLEM LANGE

During the excitement of Valentine’s Day and the nocturnal activities of the characters who covered the windows of downtown Montpelier with hundreds of red hearts, a significant birthday passed almost unnoticed.While here in the north country of New...

Column: How to totally enjoy the coming total eclipse

By F. X. FLINN

In August 2017, on a South Carolina beach with my mom, two aunts, two uncles, and another 40 adults who were either siblings, first cousins, spouses or children of same, I witnessed totality for the first time.My primary takeaway: I had never seen a...

Column: Can the US build bridges with authoritarians?

By NARAIN BATRA

I always look forward to reading the periodic reports about the intersection of business and government issued by Tuck School of Business Dean Matthew Slaughter and his colleague, and former White House speechwriter, Matthew Rees. The most recent...

Forum for Feb. 17, 2024: Newbury’s decision

Newbury should decide what’s best for itThe Valley News version of the letter “Newbury should welcome facility” (Forum, Jan 27) had the derogatory accusations removed, but it remained an oversimplified and pejorative lecture. Notwithstanding that a...

Forum for Feb. 16, 2024: GOP drops ball on border

GOP drops ball on borderOnce again, the dysfunctional Republican party has put politics ahead of national interests. Our country faces a problem on our southern border. It’s important to understand the nature of this problem. Years ago, illegal...

Editorial: Sununu squanders money at the border

Thanks to the ACLU of New Hampshire, a rough estimate can now be made of how much it will cost the state’s taxpayers to secure the Northern Border from the purported threat of undocumented immigrants crossing over from Canada. By our calculations, the...

Forum for Feb. 15, 2024: Prioritize NH’s children

Prioritize NH’s childrenI am puzzled by the priorities of some New Hampshire legislators: banning books from school libraries, withholding medical care from trans students, censoring what can be taught in the social studies classroom, worrying about...

A Yankee Notebook: Reckoning with the pace of change

By WILLEM LANGE

Change, we have been told, is the only constant. In recent years, we’ve come to believe, change is accelerating at a dizzy pace. And how many times have we heard the phrase “the good old days”?The good old days, I always muse, before antibiotics and...