By Jack Hoffman It was a messy finish to a messy legislative session, but Vermonters can take some comfort that no permanent damage was done to the state education funding system. It’s disappointing that the governor insisted on another year of pretend budgeting—using one-time revenue again to artificially lower property tax rates. But, hey, worse ideas were floated this year, and it does buy the Legislature and the administration some time. The ploy will be worth it if they use the next six months to give Vermonters what they want: a school funding system that’s much easier to understand and one that’s based on their ability to pay—that is, their income. There are two recurring compla…

Won’t You Be My Neighbor: **** Because I write this column, I’ve watched plenty of movies over the years that I didn’t really want to see. I even break down and watch a family movie from time to time even though they are terrible. I didn’t even enjoy the kiddie movies that everyone else liked – like “Toy Story” and “The Incredibles” and “Coraline.” The entertainment that Hollywood makes for children is garbage. The only motivation is profit. The jokes are puns, putdowns, and potty humor. The action is always frantic, as if they are intentionally trying to erode your child’s attention span. When there is any emotion, it is nostalgic or manipulative. That’s why Mr. Rogers is such a…

By Brenna Galdenzi Last year Protect Our Wildlife (POW) launched a statewide Living With Wildlife campaign to help towns pursue nonlethal methods to address human-wildlife conflicts. In Vermont, countless wild animals, including beavers, foxes, raccoons, and others, are killed under a dangerously vague statute that allows landowners and municipalities to kill wildlife that’s merely suspected to cause damage to property. No reporting is required, so our own Fish & Wildlife Department has little to no data on how many animals are killed. Good news is that POW recently partnered with the Town of Marlboro to help prevent beavers from being trapped in leghold and body-gripping traps, wh…

We tell boys in our society that they are special and that they should reach for the stars. I’m not sure we should be doing that, though. First off, we’re not special. The little white lie that is meant to improve a young man’s self-esteem has the opposite effect of causing feelings of entitlement and disappointment. Second, we are not doing young men any favors when we pressure them to be the best. In our society, being the best means having the most impressive-sounding job and the most stuff. This is a problem because most people aren’t going to succeed in being wildly successful. And the men who do achieve impressive power and material wealth will learn that those things just…

Gordon Bock of Northfield, a long-time advocate who has worked to improve Vermont’s criminal-justice system, is running in the state’s August 14th primary to become state representative for the towns of Northfield and Berlin. “I seek to end the divisiveness, conflict and strife that have led the Legislature into gridlock and special sessions,” said Bock, who was among the first three candidates in Vermont for General Assembly to get on the ballot for the August 14th primary. “I will work to find common ground, build consensus and achieve accord. I will fight for Berlin and Northfield.” In his inaugural run for elective office in 2016, Bock was Democratic nominee in the Northfield-Berli…

As you travel this summer, it may be tempting to search out free Wi-Fi to access the internet. Please remember that free or public Wi-Fi does not guarantee a secure internet connection. On an open and unprotected network, online actions are not secure and can be tracked by hackers to steal personal information, login credentials, and even credit card information. In an effort to trick you scammers may also create fake networks that appear authentic. If you are at a location that offers free Wi-Fi, verify with an employee that you are on the correct network, especially if there are multiple network options that look legitimate. Please don’t share sensitive information while using these unprot…

By G. E. Shuman I’d like to relate three short summertime stories that I know I have shared in the past, but it was long ago, and you wouldn’t have heard of them. As I get a bit older, I realize that my stories also age a bit, but are, hopefully, still relevant. Summer is my favorite season, and these short tales are ones I have heard along the way, during one summer or another. I hope you enjoy them. The first was shared with me by a retired police officer as he sat at the lunch counter of a store I once ran in Concord NH. (Does anyone remember lunch counters?) This nice man would come in and have coffee with me from time to time and loved to tell the tales of his youth in the sout…