Opinion
Forum for March 5, 2024: Hartford Selectboard candidate
Why I’m running for Hartford Selectboard I’m a current house-builder and former journalist. I’ve always found ways to contribute to the place I live, whether volunteering to teach cooking to elementary students, or investigating to present officials...
Forum for March 4, 2024: Support for Hanover school budget
Hanover Finance backs schoolOn Tuesday, March 5, Hanover voters will decide whether to approve a Hanover School District collective bargaining agreement and the FY25 proposed budget.The Hanover Finance Committee (HFC) unanimously supports the...
Editorial: The history behind Vermont’s education funding mess
This year’s school budgeting chaos in Vermont has been justly attributed to well-intentioned legislative bungling. But revisiting the creation story of the state’s school funding system may provide useful context.In the beginning was Brigham. In 1997,...
By the Way: Music drew me to the Episcopal Church
By RANDALL BALMER
Sometimes I’m asked how someone who grew up evangelical—a fundamentalist, really—became an Episcopalian and eventually an Episcopal priest. I typically reply with a semi-flippant answer: It was a reaction to the aesthetic deprivation of my...
Forum for March 2, 2024: Carter Country Club
Is this the end for Carter Country Club? Didn’t we think, when the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled a few years ago, that the matter of the Carter Country Club was settled, that Edmond “Peanie” Goodwin’s intent was clear, that the property would...
Forum for March 1, 2024: Hartland conservation
Land conservation plan is good for Hartland Tim Rockwood’s recent letter about the Pohl project in Hartland (“Hartland preservation plan is short-sighted, Forum, Feb. 27) raises some questions about land conservation and the future of Hartland. It...
Forum for Feb. 29, 2024: Rocket’s campaign
Rocket seeks second termMy first term on the Hartford Selectboard has been marked both by challenges and growth. To start, I acknowledge and apologize for having been part of much controversy. I have grown much in the way of communicating graciously....
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...
