Opinion
Valley News Forum for Feb. 20, 2023: The George H. Stowell Library, this place matters
The George H. Stowell Library, this place mattersMy relationship with the Stowell library began in high school, when I visited the historical room to browse the rare books. I recall the sights and sounds of the place from the cracking of the screen...
Valley News Forum for Feb. 19, 2023: Eliminating libraries is crazy
Eliminating libraries is crazyWith the dogmatic, absurd, and just crazy decision of the new Vermont State University system administrators to eliminate libraries (the traditional ones with books, etc.), we are one “big giant leap” toward the 1984...
Editorial: Decision diminishes university
The powers-to-be at Vermont State University claim to have seen the future of libraries and have pronounced it “digital.” To which we join with students, faculty, staff and the Vermont Library Association in saying, “Not so fast” — the age of analog...
Commentary: Rural health care at a breaking point
By JOANNE M. CONROY
American health care was in crisis before the pandemic. However, based on what we are now seeing, especially in rural hospitals and health systems, the worst may be yet to come.Our rural hospitals and health care systems continue to lose money. Many...
Column: Rewilding under a plaster moon
By MICKI COLBECK
February has been an icy month, a challenge for those who count on skiing the powder and harder on those already unsteady on their feet. Perhaps this February’s full moon should be called the “plaster moon” for all those broken bones.This morning, as...
Valley News Forum for Feb. 18, 2023: The heat is rising
The heat is risingWhere is winter? Today’s high temperature was over 50 degrees and snow in the valleys is largely gone. According to Washington Post reporting, January saw record warmth in seven New England states and in 2022, as reported by the...
Valley News Forum for Feb. 17, 2023: Community power rolling out
Community power rolling outBy now many readers may have heard about local efforts concerning municipal electric power. People in Lebanon, Hanover, Plainfield and Enfield now have a say in where their electricity supply comes from and how much it...
Valley News Forum for Feb. 16, 2023: A blow to the campus’s heart
A blow to the campus’s heartUpon reading the headline in Feb. 9’s Valley News “VTC, others to cut libraries” by VTDigger’s Jeralyn Darling (Page A2), I had to wonder if this was perhaps a premature April Fools’ Day headline. Surely any institution of...
Valley News Forum for Feb. 14, 2023: Speak up on NH abortion bills
Speak up on NH abortion billsDo New Hampshire residents want more restrictions on reproductive rights? Despite polling to the contrary, the Republican majority at the State House seems to think so. On Feb. 16, the House Judiciary Committee will hold...
Column: Forced to learn a bit about living life as a lefty
By WILLEM LANGE
During the 1950s I had a friend who was kind of quirky. We were both aspiring mountaineers and did some really nice hikes and climbs together. But there was this about him: He took the label off all his possessions because he didn’t want to provide...
Editorial: NH woeful at addressing mental illness
It’s not exactly a secret that New Hampshire state government has historically seized any opportunity to shirk costly responsibilities. The most obvious example is school funding; the Legislature has ignored for the better part of 30 years its...
Column: Two new rays of light on the abortion war
By JAMES HEFFERNAN
Now that anti-abortion activists have marked the 50th anniversary of the Roe decision by celebrating its overthrow in their annual “March for Life,” both sides in the long-running abortion war are poised for more battles.According to the Pew Research...
Column: The arc is bending toward whitewashed history
By STEVE NELSON
We all have to live with ourselves, but occasionally one is left to wonder how.This week on MSNBC, Steve Bumbaugh, College Board senior vice president, did his corporation’s bidding by defending the indefensible whitewash of the AP African American...
What’s really killing Main StreetIn Steve Taylor’s most recent article “A Look Back: White River Junction in the 1950s” (Feb. 6) he writes about the good old days stating: “downtown stores hadn’t yet been destroyed by the Vermont sales tax that came a...
Valley News Forum for Feb. 12, 2023
Which state votes more like America?The Democratic National Committee has decided they want to have their first primary vote in South Carolina in 2024, unseating New Hampshire, because it looks more like the country. It’s more diverse.I can’t argue...
Valley News Forum for Feb. 11: Standards, at last, for Claremont City Council
Standards, at last, for Claremont City CouncilUnlike many others, I wasn’t displeased to read that the Claremont City Council voted to remove Jim Contois on Feb. 8.The removal has no merit. It’s an exercise in sheer gall, almost certainly...
Valley News Forum for Feb. 10, 2023
Croydon voters, be heardLocal elections and meetings, held in March, approach. Given what happened in my hometown of Croydon last year, which made national news, my attention is heightened. While some would say the record-breaking turnout at a special...
Valley News Forum for Feb. 9, 2023
Earthquake story deserved betterWe have an earthquake that kills thousands of people in Turkey and Syria and Valley News puts the story on Page A3 (Feb. 7). This is responsible journalism? Don’t these people matter?Come on, you can do better.Abner...
Column: Adjusting to existence circumscribed by injury
By WILLEM LANGE
With apologies to T.S. Eliot: Here I am, an old man in a cold month, waiting for spring, dictating to a young lady.It’s hard to grasp the difference in perspective between what I was doing happily — living alone at home in the company of a small dog —...
Editorial: Vermont’s rash plan for database of police calls
For better and for worse, ours is a data-driven society. At very worst, we are a society driven crazy by data. Witness the Vermont Department of Public Safety’s new initiative to curb crime by creating a public dashboard identifying communities with...
