Dear Editor,

I was fortunate to attend a presentation on the geology and hydrogeology of the Memphremagog region sponsored by Memphremagog Watershed Association on Aug. 13. 

I learned so much from Vermont geologists Steven Wright and Jonathan Kim, who is also a geologist with the Vermont Geological Survey. 

It was a great opportunity to learn how our region was formed by glacial advance and retreat over many millennia, how rivers and lakes were formed and how this affects our watershed today. Of the many facts provided, it was fascinating to learn how the Clyde River, Lake Willoughby and Crystal Lake all contributed their north-flowing waters to what became the Lake Memphremagog we know today.

Another point of interest to me is that Kim emphasized that the groundwater and surface water in our watershed are a system, meaning the ground and surface waters are interconnected and constantly cycle, with groundwater becoming surface water and vice versa. Whatever enters the groundwater drains to surface waters, including rivers and other tributaries of the South Bay and Lake Memphremagog. 

This is an important consideration given the location of the state’s only landfill in Coventry, sited in the drainage basin of the lake. Harmful, even hazardous, “forever” PFAS chemicals have been measured in the groundwater wells and underdrains around and beneath the landfill for years. 

This is evidence that PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and other contaminants escape the landfill, enter groundwater and inevitably drain into the surface waters of Lake Memphremagog, accumulating over time. 

Those whose drinking water comes from the lake, including well over 175,000 Quebec neighbors, are at risk of exposure to PFAS and other harmful chemicals from a variety of sources. 

This is a fact that must not be taken lightly. 

Protecting our lake’s water — and all who depend on it for survival, including fish and wildlife — from chemical contamination from any source must be a priority. 

The state Agency of Natural Resources — regulators of waste management in Vermont — bears responsibility to prevent discharge of PFAS and other chemicals into our environment. 

Residents on both sides of our Vermont-Canadian border deserve the strictest regulation, the safest and most effective waste management technologies and practices to ensure the health and safety of the public and the environment.

Peggy Stevens

Charleston

Read the story on VTDigger here: Peggy Stevens: Protecting Lake Memphremagog from PFAS must be a priority.

Dear Editor,

The members of the Windham Southeast Education Association would like to publicly support our community’s bus drivers and monitors who have been locked out by F.M. Kuzmeskus (a subsidiary of anti-union and out-of-town Beacon Mobility, which is owned by the giant hedge fund Audax). 

Our Teamsters 597 bus drivers and monitors — who are professionals who put the safety of our students first — are seeking a contract with equitable and timely pay. Kuzmeskus’ decision to cease bargaining, lock out our union siblings and hire out-of-town personnel to drive buses is unacceptable and unfair to the local drivers and monitors that our students and parents trust. 

In fact, it’s unfair and unacceptable for our community as a whole.

We ask that F.M. Kuzmeskus return to the bargaining table in good faith and stay there. We ask that they swiftly resolve a contract that will support the essential work of safely transporting our students to and from school.

We ask the community to contact Travel Kuzmeskus and urge them to return to the bargaining table in good faith for a swift resolution. Additionally, please contact our school board to voice your concern in regards to our contracted bus provider. The safety of our students demands no less.

In solidarity and on behalf of the Windham Southeast Education Association,

Matthew Betz, Windham Southeast Education Association president

Brattleboro

Read the story on VTDigger here: The Windham Southeast Education Association: Support our bus drivers and monitors.

Dear Editor,

In recent weeks, Gov. Phil Scott has once again made it clear that he is unwilling to fully confront the Trump administration. When pressed on the matter, Gov. Scott maintained that he wouldn’t “sign on to every single lawsuit on everything the Trump administration does,” saying such a strategy wouldn’t be “beneficial” and would make for “a long three and a half years” under President Trump.

What Scott fails to acknowledge is that — beneficial or not — it is going to be a long three and a half years, regardless. That’s not a reason to hold back. It’s a reason to dig in. Here in Vermont, we pride ourselves on standing up for what’s right. We don’t sit on the sidelines when our values, our communities, and our democracy are under threat. We fight.

Back in February 2025, amid nationwide protests against the Trump administration’s policies and rhetoric, Gov. Scott said Vermont would take a “measured approach” and couldn’t “be outraged at every single thing that happens.” But that time is over. The scope and speed of this administration’s attacks on civil liberties, environmental protections and democratic norms leave no room for half-measures. Silence and selective engagement send the wrong message — to Vermonters and to the rest of the country.

It is unfortunate that Gov. Scott does not see this. His cautious stance may be politically convenient, but it is not morally sufficient. The numbers speak for themselves: Trump’s approval rating here in Vermont stands at just 26 percent, the lowest in the nation. That means an overwhelming majority of Vermonters want us — not just to “measure” our responses—but to lead the resistance.

The citizens of this state expect their leaders to do more than issue carefully worded statements. They want us to stand shoulder to shoulder with other states fighting in the courts, in Congress and in our communities to protect our rights and values. They want us to act — not out of partisan reflex — but out of moral responsibility.

I wish Gov. Scott could see that. Vermont has never been a state that waits for others to take the first step. It’s time for our governor to join the fight.

Sen. Joe Major, D-Windsor

Hartford

Read the story on VTDigger here: Sen. Joe Major: Gov. Phil Scott’s “measured approach” is the wrong approach for Vermont.

Dear Editor,

I read Habib Meiloud’s recent commentary in VTDigger opposing H.310, and I felt the need to respond to clarify some serious misunderstandings about the bill and what it actually sets out to do.

Let’s start with the core claim that this bill is designed to shut down political speech about Israel. That is simply not true. The word “Israel” does not appear once in the bill. H.310 does not ban anyone from criticizing Israeli policy or discussing global issues. What it does is make sure that no student is targeted or demeaned for being Jewish.

H.310 updates Vermont’s harassment law to include antisemitic harassment, just as our laws already address racial, ethnic and sexual harassment. It also ensures that educators have access to training and curriculum support to prevent antisemitism from being normalized or ignored in schools.

This bill was written in response to a documented rise in antisemitic incidents across Vermont since Oct. 7, 2023. Swastikas have appeared in school bathrooms and houses of worship have been graffitied with “Free Palestine.” Many families — like my own — have been blamed for the war and are feeling isolated and unsafe. 

H.310 is not about silencing anyone. It is about protecting students from harassment.

If we are going to debate this bill, let’s at least start with the facts. That means reading the actual text, not reacting to misrepresentations of what it says. Don’t take my word for it. Read it yourself on the Vermont General Assembly website.

Mark Treinkman

Athens

Read the story on VTDigger here: Mark Treinkman: Clearing up misconceptions about H.310.

Dear Editor,

The whole community owes profound thanks to the activists who have exposed the plight of people who are being forcibly removed from Vermont by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

It is welcome news that the Burlington airport’s director of aviation, Nic Longo, and Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak are seeking ways to ensure that everyone who is being moved through our airport has access to legal assistance. We can be proud that Gov. Phil Scott reportedly has said that his administration will support efforts to ensure that everyone detained in our state is treated fairly and afforded due process under the law.

As the author of a book on the Dutch resistance, I know the public officials we honor today are not those who said they couldn’t do anything about the deportations. Instead, they are the ones who looked for every possible method they might use to slow the monstrous mechanism down even a little. 

Now it’s up to Vermont to treat people as we would wish to be treated — whether by asking every person whether they are flying of their own free will, making sure they have access to an attorney, enforcing parking policies for ICE vehicles, requiring that public doorways be used or other ways we haven’t imagined yet.  

This is your chance to do what you think you would have done in World War II. Let Scott, Mulvaney-Stanak and Longo know the community is behind them in doing the right thing.

Mary Dingee Fillmore

Burlington

Read the story on VTDigger here: Mary Dingee Fillmore: A thank you to activists exposing ICE’s use of the Burlington airport.

Dear Editor,

It’s interesting that Brenna Galdenzi’s opinion piece starts off with a Walt Disneyesque description of animal behaviors. 

They are not humans and should not be treated as such. Every second of every day, a bear kills a deer, a coyote kills a woodchuck, a hawk kills a chipmunk. They don’t talk with each other. 

She notes that our history of hunting is not in tune with the times and that our traditions are no longer viable. I guess she forgets about the hunting, fishing and trapping communities self-regulating that everyone — herself included — benefits from. 

I am referencing the billions of dollars made available through taxation of which the hunting and fishing communities levied upon themselves have paid for untold millions of acres of lands for wildlife to live in — dollars in the amounts of which non-consumers of wildlife will never equal or exceed. But they, too, receive the benefits of our largess.

Those dollars have supported our country’s fish and wildlife departments for many decades, allowing the scientific results of wildlife biologists’ studies to benefit viable numbers of wild animals. To denigrate their professional efforts is to be totally out of touch with reality. 

Wildlife management is a work in progress. With human influence in our land becoming greater every day, it is now, more than ever, the time to use science to solve problems — not simple emotions.

Devon Craig

Plainfield

Read the story on VTDigger here: Devon Craig: A response to a commentary on Vermont wildlife .

Dear Editor,

With due respect to Julie Wasserman, the Green Mountain Care Board using its legal authority to regulate what has become a de facto public utility is not a bold solution. It is what the board was created to do and should be supported in doing year in and year out.  

I believe the University of Vermont Health Network chose to pursue monopoly market power and has used that to force the highest payor reimbursement rates in the country (the “rescues” of smaller practices and hospitals were purely driven by revenue side economies of scale — there were no savings on the cost side). 

Now there is no choice but to regulate them as such. This is authority given by the Legislature to a board charged with such regulation. That is not a bold solution.

A bold solution? Force the hospital into receivership and bring in competent operational leadership to lower costs across the network. Publicly guarantee the University of Vermont Medical Center debt rating to eliminate the need for cash reserves to hold that debt rating. Sell the hospital to a private group with ownership split between private equity, hospital employees, and the state and community.  

Regulating the University of Vermont Medical Center is not a bold solution and should not be messaged that way.

But yes — this tragedy needs bold solutions and we need to start making some bold changes.

Roger Brown

Richmond

Read the story on VTDigger here: Roger Brown: A response to a commentary on health care costs.

Dear Editor, 

Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine announced his decision to retire in early February and retired at the end of March. A new commissioner of health has still not been announced. 

It is not clear why, but it is clear that with all that is happening with federal changes in health policy and health funding, it is vital to have a new commissioner.

Vermont had one of the best state responses to Covid-19 in the country, which was due to the strong partnership between the governor and the commissioner of health. We need to have this partnership in place in case of another serious outbreak.

In this time of uncertainty in federal health policy and health funding — and distrust in public health — it is important to have strong, capable leadership in the Vermont Department of Health. I urge Gov. Phil Scott to appoint a physician and seasoned health administrator for this important job.

Deborah Kutzko

Burlington

(Deborah Kutzko is a retired nurse practitioner and member of SOS for Public Health, a group of retired and former Vermont health department employees who are dedicated to speaking out strongly for public health in the state.)

Read the story on VTDigger here: Deborah Kutzko: Vermont needs a commissioner of health.

Dear Editor,

This hits close to home. On July 21, Winooski School District Superintendent Wilmer Chavarria was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for over 5 hours. Despite being a U.S. citizen and being married to a U.S. citizen, he was harassed, bullied, mocked, denied contact with anyone and ordered to hand over his work computer and passwords. 

As we are seeing now, President Trump’s vitriol and policies were never about illegal immigration. They were never about setting up new structures and laws to have a more equitable system to bring workers to our country and protect asylum seekers and refugees. His administration’s cruel tactics are psychological terror, designed to have us cowering — designed to pit us against each other and to sow racism and hatred, to blame the “other” for any and all problems. 

Superintendent Chavarria is a colleague in all things educational and a friend, and his story has sent new waves of anger, fear and shock throughout our community. I applaud those leaders who have publicly spoken up in support of Superintendent Chavarria and I hope we’ll soon have a statement from Gov. Phil Scott or the Secretary of Education, as well. After all, Superintendent Chavarria is a state employee inasmuch as he is employed by our public education system. 

Condemnation of this act must be swift and unwavering in its support of one of our esteemed, caring and truly exceptional educational leaders.

Sen. Martine Laroque Gulick, D-Chittenden Central

Burlington

Read the story on VTDigger here: Sen. Martine Larocque Gulick: I support Superintendent Wilmer Chavarria.

Dear Editor

As Vermont lawmakers work to reshape our education system and ease the burden of property taxes, it’s worth asking: why not turn to a revenue source that also improves public health— tobacco taxes?

Vermont’s cigarette tax hasn’t changed since 2015 and remains at $3.08 per pack. Increasing that tax by $1.50 would offer dual benefits: it would reduce smoking-related illness and death, and generate much-needed revenue for education reform.

The health benefits are clear. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, such an increase could reduce smoking rates by up to 10.6% and help about 1,900 Vermont adults quit. That means hundreds of lives saved every year — 500 fewer premature deaths, many from preventable heart attacks. At UVMMC, nearly half of all heart attack patients are current smokers.

Tobacco-related illness costs Vermont $404 million annually, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Reducing smoking will reduce these costs significantly. Over five years, we could save $340,000 from fewer lung cancer cases, $570,000 from healthier pregnancies and births, and $270,000 from reduced heart attacks and strokes. Vermont Medicaid alone could save $380,000 in that period — and long-term savings from reduced tobacco use could top $26 million.

And there’s more. In the first year of a $1.50 tax increase, Vermont would collect an estimated $9.57 million in new revenue — funds that could directly support a better, fairer education system for all our children.

This is a chance to do what’s right — protect public health and support our schools. I urge our legislators to support an increase in tobacco taxes. Let’s turn a deadly habit into a lifeline for Vermont’s future.

Prospero B. Gogo, Jr., MD

Burlington

(Dr. Gogo is a Professor of Medicine and has been a faculty member of the University of Vermont Medical Center practicing interventional cardiology since 2005. He is currently the chair of the advocacy committee of the Vermont chapter of the American Heart Association.)

Read the story on VTDigger here: Prospero B. Gogo, Jr.: Let’s turn a deadly habit into a lifeline for Vermont’s future.

Dear Editor,

Vermont is not preparing fast enough for its changing climate, though there are signals from abnormal precipitation patterns, warmer summers and invasives. 

When is it “too late” for a community that will never return? Perhaps communities have a choice to declare floodplains unsafe for development aside from agriculture and timbering.

Reading accounts of this horrific flood in Texas taking so many children with it, I learned of the several official discussions about installing a flood warning system. It was deemed too expensive. 

Vermont’s government will need to apply measures to adapt to this wetter, warmer future.

I call out the clean heat standard advocates and lobbyists to give time and attention to redesigning where and how we live.

We have time and money to enforce the Global Warming Solutions Act to lower fossil fuel emissions by a few million tons in a world that emits 35 billion.

And, we have time and money to prepare our children and families to adapt to those changes — including more efficient use of energy and agriculture designed to thrive in those changes. 

Housing, education and health care will also succumb to those changes and there is time to adapt.

John McCormick

Bristol

Read the story on VTDigger here: John McCormick: Compare Vermont to Kerrville, Texas.

Dear Editor,

On Aug. 21, Vermont’s agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement comes to an end. This is a perfect opportunity for us to stop participating in the illegal rounding up of immigrants and the use of our prisons to warehouse detained people.

Not only would it end our complicity in ICE abductions, but it would also unburden our Department of Corrections staff and facilities.

According to the VTDigger story of June 28, prison staff are called on to provide medical information, clothing and prepared meals for detainees being transferred at all hours of the day and night, which is difficult and disruptive for both staff and the regular prison population as well. (For this burden, Vermont receives $180 a day per detainee.)

Gov. Phil Scott should seize this moment to deny the federal government access to our prisons and end our cooperation with ICE’s abductions of non-criminal immigrants.

Donna Fialkoff

Shelburne

Read the story on VTDigger here: Donna Fialkoff: End Vermont’s contract with ICE.

Dear Editor,

One of the new laws that went into effect July 1 has to do with school safety protocols. The safety of Vermont’s school children is of the utmost importance. 

These new protocols ought to include regularly reminding parents and caregivers of Vermont’s law which requires secure firearm storage in homes and vehicles if “a child or prohibited person is likely to gain access to the firearm.”

The law, which went into effect two years ago, is still not widely known. A study published in JAMA Pediatrics has determined that about 42% of adolescent school shooters obtained the gun from a family member, mostly through theft.  

It’s not just an issue at school. Firearm injuries are the leading cause of death for U.S. children and teens. As you are traveling over the summer it’s important to ask how firearms are secured in any camps or homes you may be visiting.

Vermont’s secure storage law is a proactive step we can all take to keep kids safe and more people need to know about it. More resources on secure storage can be found at besmartforkids.org.

Nancy Harkins

Burlington

Read the story on VTDigger here: Nancy Harkins: Vermont’s secure storage law is a proactive step to keep kids safe and more people need to know about it.

Dear VTDigger, 

No surprise that supporters of Israel object to Palestinian flags. The flags represent the 100-year struggle for the liberation of the country of Palestine from Zionist colonization and apartheid. 

This colonization was sponsored first by Britain (No Kings!) and then by the U.S. But for the growing movement against President Donald Trump and authoritarianism in the U.S., the struggle for freedom and equality in Palestine means much more. 

Listen to the message from Palestinian-American student Hisham Awartani at the Burlington No Kings rally: “As we stand here today, unified in common cause, we must realize that no struggle stands in isolation. The migrant camps of El Salvador are modeled after the prisons of Israel, and ICE has been unleashed to suppress Palestinian and undocumented alike. We are facing a seething force of hatred and division, and we must stand in lockstep to fight it.”

Awartani, a target of a shooting in Burlington, knows about the violence of occupation and genocide boomeranging back to the U.S., fueling the far right and being used to attack our free speech, dissent and aspirations for justice and dignity for everyone.  

No movement accepting apartheid and genocide will succeed in defeating authoritarianism.

Paul Fleckenstein

Burlington

Read the story on VTDigger here: Paul Fleckenstein: What the struggle for freedom in Palestine means to the movement against authoritarianism in the U.S..

Dear Editor,

I am writing this letter about the commentary by Kate Hughes, “It is time to tax second-home owners more.”

Ms. Hughes states that legislators and Gov. Phil Scott should “make it a priority to tax second-home owners more.” Her reasoning is that the education portion of her tax bill is higher as a homestead property owner than a similarly valued house for a non-homestead property owner.

What she fails to mention is that, while it is true that in 74 towns in Vermont the non-homestead property owner pays a lower rate, in 186 towns the non-homestead property owner pays a higher rate. That is because of Vermont’s somewhat complicated formula for the education tax portion of one’s property tax bill.

Ms. Hughes also states that because of second-home owners it “means there’s a shrinking number of primary residents left to shoulder the cost of essential services.” The municipal tax portion of your property tax bill (that covers essential services) is set by the municipal legislative body and is levied against the municipal grand list at a rate needed to pay for municipal expenses. Both homestead and non homestead property owners pay the same rate.

It is also worth noting that non-homestead-property-buyers pay a significantly higher property transfer tax than homestead-buyers.

Vermont property taxes are high. Period. Second-home owners are not getting any special treatment.

Mickey Nowak

Wardsboro

Read the story on VTDigger here: Mickey Nowak: Second-home owners are not getting any special treatment.

Dear Editor,

In response to the commentary from the Shalom Alliance: “Vermont legislators have a chance to save Jewish lives — now”:

The Shalom Alliance’s mild-mannered self-description as a “a nonpartisan nonprofit working to build a bright future for Vermont Jews by fighting antisemitism and misinformation in Vermont schools, communities and media” belies several key facts.

First, the group lobbied aggressively against apartheid-free designations passed in five Vermont communities earlier this year by Vermonters who have been rightfully horrified seeing American political support and weapons aid in a massacre of tens of thousands of people in Gaza, and enforce what Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and countless other organizations define as apartheid in Palestine generally.

Second, the bill Shalom Alliance endorses, H.310, would not merely create Holocaust education standards in Vermont (a perfectly legitimate aim), but would define “negative references to … the right to self-determination in the Jewish people’s ancestral and indigenous homeland” — in other words, anti-Zionism — as “antisemitic harassment,” itself a dangerous and offensive conflation and an explicit threat to freedom of speech.

Third, the group’s incorporator, Mitchell Knisbacher, has donated via the Sandra and Mitchell Knisbacher Foundation to extremist Israeli organizations, including the Central Fund of Israel and the One Israel Fund, which support settlement activities in Palestine.

Despite what the anonymous editorial writers say, their views are extreme and probably anathema to most Vermonters. Voters and legislators should carefully read and reject H.310.

Will Solomon

Putney

Read the story on VTDigger here: Will Solomon: A response to the commentary from the Shalom Alliance.

Dear Editor,

I was proud to be part of the No Kings protest, and glad to see such a large turnout at the Burlington waterfront. But I was uncomfortable with all of the Palestinian flags.

The point of this demonstration was to protest what is happening here. By including all these flags, it made demonstrators feel like they were also endorsing a position in support of Palestine.

There are many bad things happening in the world including a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. But if one polled the demonstrators, I doubt there is a broad consensus as to what the United States should do. And what about Ukraine? If we wanted to expand the demonstration to world events, why weren’t there any Ukrainian flags?

It is imperative that we continue to advocate and demonstrate for world peace. But, that is not why we showed up on June 14. We came to protest the unconscionable things happening in the United States, nicely captured in the slogan “No Kings”. For this protest, we should be waving American flags.

John H. Vogel Jr.

Williston

Read the story on VTDigger here: John H. Vogel Jr.: Why were Palestinian flags at the No Kings demonstration?.

To the Editor:

I am appalled that Border Patrol agents have violently detained two more Vermont residents, Jose Ignacio “Nacho” De La Cruz and his stepdaughter Heidy Perez, in Franklin County.

What can we do to protect our immigrant neighbors?  What is Gov. Scott doing to protect them?

The administration in Washington is targeting immigrants in blue states for deportation. The state of Vermont should do everything in its power to protect these two people, who are our Vermont neighbors.  If the “Unity” part of Freedom and Unity is to mean anything, we need to stand together with all Vermonters when they are under attack.

Immigrant workers are crucial to the Vermont economy.  With an aging population, we need young people who work in farming, in construction and in hospitality, and hopefully will become teachers and nurses and doctors, to name only a few sectors.  We need young families to revitalize our communities with their energy and talents.

Leading Vermont means standing up when the federal government steps on our cherished rights and communities.  Here in Vermont, we like to believe we respect the dignity and humanity of all people.

Governors and legislators in other states are taking action to protect their immigrant residents.  We need Governor Scott to be courageous and do the same.

Thank you.

Noam Almeleh

South Burlington

Read the story on VTDigger here: Noam Almeleh: What can we do to protect our immigrant neighbors?.

Dear Editor,

While it was wonderful to see so many people turn out for the “No Kings” rally on June 14, I left with the impression that nobody had really thought about how to use all that energy to actually accomplish its purpose.

From my experience, that energy has to be focused on changing Republican control of the House of Representatives in Washington, which can be done by defeating only a net of five Republicans in 2026.

We here in Vermont, however, don’t have a Republican congressperson to defeat. So the only effective way we can participate in the “No Kings” movement is to financially support viable non-Republican candidates in either “blue” or “swing” states.

California and New York, the “big blues,” could achieve the upset goal, but their well-known vulnerable congressional elections will be hard fought, and there are a few vulnerable Democratic congresspersons who could lose. 

Another option is to financially support strong candidates in competitive “swing state” races. Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have a number of potential “pick-up” seats that are well worth considering.

The House of Representatives controls the budget, has oversight of and can conduct investigations into government activities and initiates impeachment.

Eliminating Republican control in the House would really hobble Trump’s agenda and make him a lame duck president for the last two years of his term. It would also send a message to wavering Republican Senators running for re-election in 2028.

Paul L. Kendall

Braintree

Read the story on VTDigger here: Paul L. Kendall: ‘No Kings’ requires political action.

Dear Editor,

I read, with interest, the letter from Lonnie Poland of Milton regarding the makeup of the body of elected officials in Milton.

My first reaction was, “sour grapes.” She has run for office in Milton and should be commended for that, but she lost.

The immediate issue her letter addresses is how the selectboard seat recently vacated by Chris Taylor should be filled. Chris was recently appointed town manager and, as such, was required to vacate his selectboard seat.

Ultimately, all seats on the board will be filled by candidates that the majority of voters believe represent their own views on town matters. That’s how democracy and representative government work. That is how Chris Tylor gained his now vacated seat.

Any interim appointment to fill that seat should ethically be a candidate who best represents the views and qualifications of the predecessor who was chosen by the voters. That choice should not be based on gender, diversity, lived experiences or even party affiliation as she has inferred.

That is what the voters deserve, expect and will ultimately get.

Sincerely,

Wendell P. Noble

Milton

Read the story on VTDigger here: Wendell P. Noble: A response to the letter from Lonnie Poland about the Milton Selectboard.

Dear Editor,

Apparently, Democratic governors, especially the California governor, have collectively opposed the President’s activation of thousands of National Guard members and 700 Marines in Los Angeles in response to immigration protests in Los Angeles.

I cannot find that Gov. Phil Scott has made a statement about this unjustified intrusion by the federal government in what appears to be protests that California’s state and local authorities could handle on their own. 

The rhetoric from Washington on this action suggests that, if successful in California, the president and people like Stephen Miller will go after states like our own.

Given Vermont’s continued support for the rule of law, where do you stand, Gov.Scott, on this intrusion on a state’s authority and responsibility to protect its citizens’ rights?

Ward Henevelt

Enosburgh

Read the story on VTDigger here: Ward Heneveld: Gov. Phil Scott’s views on the activation of the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles.

Dear Editor,

Here in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, we’re known for rolling up our sleeves, pitching in for neighbors and showing up when it matters most.

And yet, when it comes to caring for each other at the very end of life, we’re missing something essential.

We have no hospice-specific home in Orleans or Essex Counties — a place designed solely for people in their final days who can’t stay at home, whether due to lack of a caregiver, housing insecurity or the limitations of illness.

That’s why Living Waters Hospice House matters so deeply.

It will be the very first of its kind in our region: a peaceful, home-like space with trained caregivers and volunteers who provide around-the-clock support. Living Waters Hospice House won’t feel clinical or cold. It will feel like home — with two private rooms to start and the potential to grow as our community’s needs grow.

Local VNA hospice professionals will continue providing expert medical care, while Living Waters staff and volunteers offer the presence, comfort and humanity that make all the difference at life’s end.

Living Waters Hospice House is for people like the aging farmer who has outlived his family. It is for the elderly couple who are too frail to care for each other. 

Living Waters Hospice House is for the adult daughter working two jobs who wants the best for her mom but can’t be at her side 24/7. 

And building Living Waters Hospice House is for all of us who believe no one should face death alone, afraid, or in pain.

Living Waters Hospice House is how we show up — for our neighbors, our elders and, ultimately, for ourselves. It’s a promise that even at the end, compassion will lead the way.

We have the heart. We have the vision. What we need now is the support — financial and otherwise — to make it real. So I invite you to join us. Invest in a home where people can die the way they lived — surrounded by dignity, love and community.

To learn more, visit our website.

With gratitude and hope, 

Patricia M Sears

(UVM-certified end-of-life doula at Graceful Transitions and development advisor at the Living Waters Hospice House)

Lowell

Read the story on VTDigger here: Patricia M Sears: Why the Northeast Kingdom needs Living Waters Hospice House.

Dear Editor, 

On June 9, 2025, I attended a public meeting of the South Burlington senators and representatives. Attendance was moderate.

Although a variety of subjects were discussed, the governor’s proposed education bill attracted the most discussion. By the end of the evening, it was apparent that, although much has been accomplished, there are still many thorny subjects remaining to be solved. One example is the governor’s proposal to expand school choice. 

Recently, I have read in the local media that the governor is pressing for the Legislature to approve an education bill prior to adjourning. If not, he has stated he will call for a special session. I hope he will reconsider this position. 

I clearly remember the chaos surrounding the final days of the legislative sessions when I was a member. The rush to get things done ensures that bad or incomplete legislation is passed. 

Education reform is the most important subject under discussion. It requires time to be done correctly.

I hope the governor will allow the House and Senate to adjourn and use the adjournment time to complete whatever studies are required. When the Legislature is called to order next January, it should be ready to present an appropriate bill for the governor to sign. 

Robert L. Walsh

(served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1983-1989)

South Burlington

Read the story on VTDigger here: Robert L. Walsh: The governor should let the Vermont Legislature adjourn.

Dear Editor,

With Rep. Chris Taylor stepping into the role of town manager, the Milton Selectboard now has the responsibility of appointing someone to fill the seat he left behind.

This decision comes at a time when political power in Milton is more concentrated than ever. Before Taylor’s appointment, four out of five selectboard members also served as state representatives. Now, with his departure from the board, three of the remaining four members still hold legislative office, and Taylor himself will now manage the town full-time while continuing to serve in the Statehouse.

That means four Republican legislators are now at the center of both Milton’s local governance and its state representation. One person — one party — one perspective.

There’s only one woman on the board, who is also a Republican and a state representative. While she brings valuable experience, the broader picture reveals a troubling lack of political, gender and experiential diversity in Milton’s leadership.

This moment presents a clear opportunity — and responsibility — to appoint someone who brings a new perspective to the board. Milton is a diverse and growing town, and our local government should reflect that diversity.

Let’s move away from one-party rule and toward a selectboard that welcomes different voices, ideas, and lived experiences. I urge the board to choose a replacement who will represent the many people in Milton who currently feel unheard.

We deserve a local government that listens to everyone — not just those already in power.

Sincerely,

Lonnie Poland

(chair of the Milton Democratic Committee)

Milton

Read the story on VTDigger here: Lonnie Poland: Milton needs balance, not just one voice.

Dear Editor,

It is only right that Vermont officials recently have been reaching out to our Quebec neighbors and allies in an effort to strengthen relationships shredded by recent words and actions of our president and our homeland security secretary.

There is nothing funny or acceptable about referring to Canada as “the 51st state” or requiring Quebec patrons to use the back door of the international Haskell Library in Derby Line instead of the main entrance as enjoyed by Stanstead residents for over a century.

What more significant gesture of concern and respect for our northern neighbors could there be than to immediately make permanent the current moratorium on disposal or discharge of landfill leachate, “treated “ or not, anywhere in the international Memphremagog watershed?

Lake Memphremagog is the drinking water reservoir of more than 175,000 residents of the Eastern Townships. Sampling and analysis by the ANR of surface waters, fish tissues and wastewater effluent revealed unacceptable levels of PFOS, a chemical with no known safe level of exposure. Other contaminants of concern also enter our lake waters every day.

If the waters of Lake Memphremagog flowed from north to south, threatening the drinking water of so many thousands of Vermont citizens, Vermonters would expect nothing less than immediate action by Quebec to protect the health and safety of our citizens.

A permanent ban, to the maximum extent possible, on chemical contamination of Lake Memphremagog is an action that would speak volumes and swiftly restore Quebec’s faith in our mutually respectful and beneficial relationship.

There is a bill right now in the House Environment Committee, H.113, a bill that would draft a crisis response plan, assessing pollutants of concern and ways to mitigate them. It deserves action now.

Peggy Stevens

(member of the advisory committee for DUMP — Don’t Undermine Memphremagog’s Purity)

Charleston

Read the story on VTDigger here: Peggy Stevens: Actions speak louder than words.

To the Editor,

In the latest outrageous Vermont health care news, we learn that Vermont hospitals are marking up outpatient drugs to an average of more than 500% of the manufacturer’s price (and in one case nearly 70 times the manufacturer’s price) — the highest markup in the nation.

This is one of several reasons for escalating health insurance costs in Vermont. So, it is good news that lawmakers are taking emergency steps and adding an amendment to a drug price bill that would cap outpatient drug prices.

But is it effective to keep responding on a one-on-one basis to each health care crisis? Ironically, the lobbyist for the hospitals has admitted that price gouging is wrong. But she argues we have a “very flawed way of paying for health care.”

That’s correct. Most countries pay for hospital care as a universal public good. They pool publicly raised funds and finance their hospitals with global operating budgets that take account of local needs and levels of care required in each facility. Such systems have better control over hospital costs and more effective public oversight than we do. 

Yet this legislative session, a bill (H.267) that would have created a publicly financed hospital system languished in House Health. No testimony was taken. The same is true of bills that would have created universal primary care (H.433 and H.185). Can our relevant House committees take testimony on these bills next session?

We can keep trying to put out forest fires, or we can start the work of systemic reform. Let’s prevent the fires from ever starting.

Sincerely,

Ellen Oxfeld (member of the board of Vermont Health Care for All)

Middlebury

Read the story on VTDigger here: Ellen Oxfeld: Our health care system needs systemic reform.

Dear Editor,

One of the compelling aspects of many sports is the pressure to perform or do something within some sort of prescribed timeframe.

Major League Baseball now has very specific rules about pitchers not taking forever to deliver the next pitch. Batters can no longer retreat to constantly adjust batting gloves, read signs from base coaches and so forth. Batters and pitchers failing to meet the deadlines are penalized.

Football and basketball have rules that force teams and players to move quickly. Again, penalties are levied if a team fails to act within the timeframe.

The Vermont Legislature is under pressure to do something quickly about funding our public schools. The penalty in their case is to be viewed by some as not doing anything, being inept, incurring the displeasure of the governor and so forth. Unfortunately, the bills before them offer poor solutions and would have the effect of damaging many small communities and their very effective schools.

The major theme in these bills is consolidation of school governance. Please remember that this was also the major theme of Act 46, which promised new efficiencies, lower costs and improved student outcomes in exchange for the loss of local control. How did that work out?

My recommendation is to take the penalty. Throwing a rushed, bad pitch that lands ten rows up in the center field bleachers is a far worse outcome than the penalty for a delay.

Vermont education funding is extremely complicated and finding reasonable solutions is tough work at best. The proposals from the administration assume that consolidation by itself will save money and that student performance will increase. Nonsense! Buy some time and get it right.

Bill Jesdale

Lincoln

Read the story on VTDigger here: Bill Jesdale: Buy some time and get education funding right.

Dear Gov. Scott,

Your voice I heard daily during the Covid pandemic. You were a comfort.

Your voice I heard during Vermont’s severe storms and flooding disasters. You were a reassurance.

Vermonters need you to speak out against the Trump administration’s civil and human rights rollbacks, and the arrests and deportations of student activists and immigrants, regardless of free speech and due process. We need you to protest the massive budget cuts and firing of federal workers, incapacitating many governmental departments. But where are you now?

Instead of rising above national rhetoric we must raise our voices against the inhumane chaos of Donald Trump’s administration.

If our state and country ever needed you, a person of power, to speak out against the increasing atrocities in the United States we need it now.

Growing up in South Carolina I looked to Vermont as one of the leaders of change in our country. We offer hope for many and they look to us for it.

Mary Oliphant

Williston

Read the story on VTDigger here: Mary Oliphant: Gov. Phil Scott, where are you?.

Dear Editor,

I read in VTDigger that Gov. Phil Scott says he’d veto S.131, but his reasons to do so make no sense.

Scott says he opposes S.131 because Burlington bar owners can’t enforce it and Burlington would be the only community in the state having such a ban, and because S.131 wouldn’t fix Burlington’s violence problem. 

First, police would enforce the new law, just as they enforce any law — e.g., speed limits, stop signs, drunk driving, etc. Bar owners can’t afford metal detectors and don’t want those machines anyway because they send the wrong message to patrons (that violence is so bad in Burlington that metal detectors are needed).

Second, Burlington wants and needs S.131: the voters, the mayor and police chief, and bar owners, for good reasons, especially with Burlington’s disturbing uptick in violence. S.131 isn’t designed to fix Burlington’s citywide violence, just the potential for violence around sensitive places such as bars and restaurants serving alcohol. The homicide on Church Street last August just outside the Red Square Bar shows how important S.131 is. 

Furthermore, laws don’t eliminate crime: they set reasonable limits with clear consequences and hold scofflaws accountable. S.131 would make Burlington safer.

Third, Scott opposes S.131 because it’s only Burlington focused and no other town or city in Vermont would ban guns in bars, BUT he’d oppose a statewide ban, too. He’s trying to have his cake and eat it, too, with senseless logic, as if to say, “I don’t support S.131 because it doesn’t go far enough, but even if it did, I’d oppose it, too.”

Again, his view makes no sense. “The good is the enemy of the perfect, but I oppose both.”

I’d like to ask the governor to imagine he’s in a bar relaxing after a stressful day & disturbance erupts. Fists fly, pool cues are snapped over the billiard table and glass scatters across the floor. How would he feel being in there knowing guns were okay in the bar?

Stupid things can happen in bars and, as the tragedy last August shows, they can be fatal when guns are involved. Guns and alcohol are a bad mix.

Scott is wrong to oppose S.131 and his reasons fail to show he cares enough for the safety of Burlington’s citizens, period.

Sincerely,

Bob Williamson (founding member of Gun Sense Vermont)

South Woodstock

Read the story on VTDigger here: Bob Williamson: Gov. Phil Scott’s opposition to Burlington’s bar gun ban makes no sense.

Dear Editor,

Hounding involves releasing packs of dogs to chase wildlife, such as bears, bobcats, foxes, coyotes and raccoons until the animals are cornered, treed (forced up a tree) or simply too exhausted to continue. The hound “training” season begins on June 1 in Vermont and lasts all summer long, offering wildlife little reprieve from harassment. The practice can be particularly traumatic at this time of year for mother animals and their offspring. 

Hounding occurs on both public and private lands, raising ethical and legal concerns among property owners and outdoor recreationists who fear run-ins with uncontrolled hounds. It causes extreme stress and suffering for both the hunted animals and the hounds, especially when violent encounters occur between the dogs and their quarry, sometimes resulting in severe injuries or death. Young wild animals who can’t outrun the hounds stand little chance of escape.  

Hounding also disturbs the peace of public lands and occurs on private properties without consent. It often lacks meaningful regulation or enforcement, especially during the training period. Raccoon, bobcat and fox hounding, for example, are governed by few regulations, allowing hounders to run their dogs even in the middle of night.

If you’re looking to take action, there are several potential steps:

• Contact legislators to advocate for restrictions or bans on hound hunting.
• Post your land or post hunting by permission only, which provides you with legal protections.
• Join Protect Our Wildlife, Vermont’s largest wildlife protection nonprofit.
• Document incidents and report violations and report to your game warden and POW.

Lisa Jablow

Brattleboro

Read the story on VTDigger here: Lisa Jablow: Preparing for hound training season.