Thursday March 11, 2010 Brian Dubie Since I launched my "Jobs Tour" in Rutland on Jan. 13, I have traveled all over Vermont, listening to what employers tell me Montpelier should do to help keep the jobs we have, restore the jobs we’ve lost and add the jobs we need. On my visit to Bennington on Jan.   Full Story

Thursday March 11, 2010 Martha Carr I am a second stage, Clark Level IV, and an in situ first stage, survivor of melanoma and I’m living with cancer. I want to get that out right up front because the idea of living with cancer doesn’t regularly make the news, especially when talking about melanoma.   Full Story

Thursday March 11, 2010 Harriette Leidich I hope that all you people who depend on CVPS for your power will read their "Keeping Current" throwaway that comes with your monthly statement. There is always new pertinent information about safety measures and what not to do in a crisis. This past month they stressed that "water and electricity don’t mix" and what not to do.   Full Story

Wednesday March 10, 2010 Telly Halkias While it’s nearly impossible to capture the devastation of combat in words, authors have had better luck wresting with the psychology of soldiers in the aftermath of battle. Considering the anguish inherent in conditions such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a traveling show of award-winning actors is taking drama as therapy to a new   Full Story

Wednesday March 10, 2010 Joe Bushika A few days ago I went to my eye doctor for my annual checkup. After a short wait, a female technician ushered me into the doctor’s exam room, my wife following to make sure I don’t do or say something stupid. As usual while waiting to see the doctor, a technician comes in and makes a cursory exam of my eyes, asking me to read a chart a few   Full Story

Wednesday March 10, 2010 Alden Graves Question: How many times does a dumb mule have to get hit over the head with a club before it realizes that ol’ Marse doesn’t really have its best interests at heart? Even with vows from corporate flacks to continue the valiant fight, it looks like the sun is finally setting on the Vermont Yankee nuclear power facility in Vernon.   Full Story

Tuesday March 9, 2010 John McClaughry By a combination of state employee layoffs, pay freezes, suspension of payments into the Education Fund, and increased taxes on estates and capital gains, this year’s (FY10) General Fund budget will be nominally balanced. But the Feb. 24 "Vermont Revenue and Budget Picture" presentation by the Joint Fiscal Office shows a yawning gap for FY11:   Full Story

Tuesday March 9, 2010 Charles R. Putney A recent issue of the primary publication for colleges and universities, the "Chronicle of Higher Education," highlighted two colleges that, the "Chronicle" said, were taking their own route to education. The two institutions are both in Bennington: Bennington College and Southern Vermont College.   Full Story

Monday March 8, 2010 In his column "It Requires Work and Will" (Banner, March 5), Lee Hamilton states that bipartisanship "means not exaggerating disagreements for political gain, but instead assessing realistically where differences lie and then coming up with pragmatic and serious approaches to bridging them.   Full Story

Monday March 8, 2010 There is no lack of crises and major policy debates for Americans to grapple with: Two wars, financial reconstruction, job restoration or re-invention, healthcare reform. And those are just the largest, and most immediate ones. That there are American voices and perspectives missing or underrepresented in these policy debates is indisputable.   Full Story

Sunday March 7, 2010 Harriette Leidich I must confess I’m in "cat heaven." It’s about time for March Madness in the basketball world. I’ve been enjoying all the preliminary games -- pro and collegiate -- on these cold and snowy days of late February. It helped to do away with the doldrums of February.   Full Story

Sunday March 7, 2010 Martha Carr A long job hunt can be bad for your heart. The Great Recession has created millions of new job hunters and what’s essentially a buyer’s market for employers. It’s not uncommon to hear anecdotal stories about people doggedly pursuing leads for a year or two before finding employment and many people are under-employed or temporarily in a   Full Story

Sunday March 7, 2010 David Sirota When you look past the craziness, chaos and confusion of politics these days, you still find roughly two major schools of thought that aim to explain What’s Fundamentally Wrong. The first says America is paralyzed by a political system that is too democratic -- too responsive to citizens’ whims.   Full Story

Friday March 5, 2010 Alden Graves The sun will come up tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun. -- A paean to hope from "Annie" Youwould probably have to go back to the Ziegfeld Follies of 1926 to see a comparable roster of talent. The only troubling aspect of the glittering assemblage was the fact that these people weren’t descending a white   Full Story

Friday March 5, 2010 As a Unitarian Universalist, I am the spiritual descendent of a long line of heretics. From the Arians in the 4th century who said that Christ was not the same order of being as God the Father, and were labeled heretics by the Council of Nicaea; to the 19th century Unitarians and Universalists who dissented from Calvinism and were called heretics by their more orthodox   Full Story