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By Credit search: For the Valley News

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.

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.

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.

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.

By JON MARKS

PRINCETON, N.J. — It was February 21, 2009. Barack Obama was just beginning his stint in the Oval Office. The Philadelphia Phillies were atop the baseball world. “Slumdog Millionaire” was about to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

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.”

By JOHN A. CASTLE

Gov. Phil Scott has provided his shock and aw-shucks proposal for rescuing taxpayers and claiming to improve education along the way. Finding renewed hubris with the “red wave” of new Republicans in the Statehouse and Democrats running scared, Gov. Scott is seizing the opportunity with a misguided overhaul of our public education system. It is time for Vermonters to defend our equitable, successful and essential public schools and local governance.

By SCOTT BROWN

For nearly 20 years, I served on the board of directors of Mercy Corps, one of the world’s largest relief and development organizations. During that time, Mercy Corps served more than 500 million people in more than 50 countries, including the most challenging conflict- and disaster-prone regions of the world. The work that Mercy Corps employees and local partners did in Afghanistan during the height of our entanglement led the U.S. ambassador to say that Mercy Corps served American policy interests better and saved more Afghan lives than any organization in the world.

By BILL HAMLEN

On a recent winter morning in Hanover, the temperature had dropped to -10°F as I took my dog for a walk. Passing by homes with chimneys releasing steady streams of smoke, I was reminded of just how essential reliable energy sources — heating oil, natural gas and wood — are for survival in harsh conditions. It raised a troubling question: Could renewables ever provide this same level of dependable heat? Given current technology and infrastructure, the answer remains far from certain.

By DERICK AUMANN and NATHAN BORLAND

Let local property taxes make up the difference in funding shortfalls for ground ambulance services rather than for profit health insurance carriers.

By MONIQUE PRIESTLEY and CAITRIONA FITZGERALD

Jan. 28 marked International Data Privacy Day, a moment to reflect on the digital world we inhabit and the price we pay for its conveniences. Technology permeates every facet of our lives, offering innovations that simplify our daily routines, from smart homes to online shopping.

By NARAIN BATRA

President Trump’s proclamation of a “golden age” for America seems to be emerging from his vision of ultranationalism and global dominance. He conjures a future where America will “flourish and be respected again all over the world” and become “the envy of every nation.” Russia’s Putin and China’s Xi Jinping have similar visions of grandeur by recovering and redeeming a glorious past through economic and military dominance.

By DIANE ROSTON

Have you heard the one where a veterinarian, an architect, and a physicist walk into a barn?

By RANDALL BALMER

Back in the heyday of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, I frequently lectured on the origins of the Religious Right, pointing out that, despite all the leaders’ dodging and weaving, their movement began in defense of racial segregation in the 1970s, not in the more high-minded opposition to abortion.

By MICKI COLBECK

Jan. 20, 2025: My sleepy eyes open slowly to look out the frosty window. The view is toward Kibling Hill at 1,950 feet of elevation, and the first thing I see every morning.

By LARRY SATCOWITZ

The Clean Heat Standard (CHS), part of Act 18 of 2023, had the overall aim of reducing the use of fossil fuels for heating in Vermont. It would do this primarily by providing incentives for the air sealing and insulating of buildings and the adoption of alternative heating technologies. Act 18 did not implement the CHS but instead required the Public Utility Commission to study the idea and issue a detailed report.

By NARAIN BATRA

Last year, Valley News investigative reporter Jim Kenyon wrote a heart-wrenching story about Jennifer Kahn, a 59-year-old school secretary at Mascoma Valley Regional High School who also worked as a restaurant waitress in Lebanon. Working on the dinner shift and depending upon her minimum hourly wage and tips, Kahn worked hard to “pay for everything from utility bills to her kids’ college educations … mostly as a single mom.” It wasn’t a sob story but a wage-tip-sharing legal case with her employer that drew the reporter’s probing attention.

By STEVE TAYLOR

Probably the most frequent knock on the Upper Valley heard these days is about the shortage of nightlife activities for young adults. Nothing much exists in the way of live music for dancing amid convivial beverage consumption and casual connections.

By ANNA AARON

Phosphorus conservation probably isn’t something you think about often. But alongside helium, lithium and other elements of increasing scarcity, our phosphorus supply is rapidly depleting. You may know phosphorus as an important mineral for your bones...

By PAUL STEINHAUSER

Pete Buttigieg made an appearance on New Hampshire talk radio on Friday, sparking speculation that the Department of Transportation Secretary in President Joe Biden’s administration may be mulling another White House run in 2028.Buttigieg, a 2020...