On Feb. 13, 14 Vermonters filed a conflict-of-interest complaint with the Vermont Senate Ethics Committee accusing Sen. Ram Hinsdale, chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs, of advancing and promoting the financial interest of her family’s vast real estate holdings by helping craft and approve language in a bill she sponsored that will benefit her family’s fortune.
Spring is in the air, and it is wonderful to see folks getting outside to jog, take a walk or ride a bike. Today, South Burlington has 22 miles of shared use paths and over 50 miles of sidewalks. Safe, connected and well-maintained shared use paths and sidewalks, along with safe crosswalks, are the keys to getting more of us — adults and students — out of our cars and into the fresh air.
Recent town meeting votes against school budget proposals were not a just a wakeup call about property taxes. It was a reminder that the school funding system needs major repair.
Vermont legislators are trying to rewrite history in a misguided attempt to pin responsibility for the unfortunate weather events of summer 2023 on the fossil fuel industry through S.259, an act relating to climate change cost recovery, when the real culprit is the world’s free-market economy where nations and their people have chosen growth and a rising standard of living post World War II.
Vermont stands as a beacon of community values. Yet, beneath this facade, the education system has harbored inequities for decades that undermine these very principles.
Under political pressure from animal rights groups, in coordination with a national organization, Senate bill S.258 was passed and is now in the Vermont House.
I am adding my voice to those who are dismayed by the proposal to cut many programs at South Burlington High School. Specifically, I would like to advocate for retaining German and Japanese instruction.
Now that we are in the wake of our second defeated district budget proposal, it seems a good time to revisit Vermont’s unique education funding system. After all, a great number of people have said they voted down their local school budgets “to send a message to Montpelier.”
I didn’t know just how much Palace 9 cinema meant to me until I knew I couldn’t get it back. I would give about anything to have it back. Palace 9 theater closed forever. My heart is broken.
As I read the article “Parents’ lawsuit asserts racial bias, discrimination against district,” the pain caused and allowed by the South Burlington School District began to resurface. (March 28, 2024)
After reading The Other Paper’s recent article, about the lawsuit concerning racial bias and discrimination at Orchard Elementary School, I was disappointed, but not surprised. (“Parents’ lawsuit asserts racial bias, discrimination against district,” March 28, 2024)
How many of you share my sense of inadequacy relative to our housing crisis and climate change? The bad news is that both challenges are mind-bogglingly enormous. The good news is that some strategies help us make progress on both fronts.
As spring unfolds, so, too, do the intricacies of legislative agendas, presenting both challenges and opportunities for progress. We’re now more than halfway through the 2024 legislative session, and education finance continues to be a top priority, along with housing, flood and climate resiliency and Act 250 reform.
As we are about two thirds of the way through the 2024 legislative session, I wanted to highlight and speak to the three topics I’ve been contacted about the most this year.
I recently completed an empowerment self-defense course, one specifically designed for women like me who have experienced physical or sexual assault. Initially, I felt skeptical. So much harm had been done to the core of who I am and to my sense of safety in this world, I figured it was too late for me. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
S.258 in Vermont goes against the North American model of wildlife. This framework states that wildlife resources must be managed on a scientific, not emotional, basis. That’s been successful in managing wildlife for over 100 years.
Read through The Other Paper's Letters Archives, from January 9, 2015, to November 29, 2018.
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