Deb Markowitz Vermont needs bold leadership now to secure our energy future -- without Vermont Yankee. Our legislative leaders should vote now on the relicensing of Vermont Yankee. A vote now will enable a responsible transition for the plant employees and provide a safer, and more prosperous energy future for Vermont.   Full Story

Jack Hoffman Ever hear of the con game pulled on bartenders in busy pubs? A guy strikes up a conversation with a bartender at one end of the bar and says he can make a $100 bill disappear and reappear. He asks the bartender to take $100 bill out of the cash register. The guy marks the bill, performs a simple sleight-of-hand, and the bill disappears.   Full Story

Will Durst Whenasked howhe thought his first year as 44th president of the United States had proceeded, Barack Obama gave himself a B+. To say other parties have been less enthusiastic is like saying Tiger Woods is unlikely to receive the NOW Husband of the Year Award. Although the Divorce Lawyers of America might be coerced into throwing a testimonial or two.   Full Story

Bob Stannard I was sitting here strugglingto come up with an idea for a column. Coming up with brilliant material twice a month is no easy task. It’s mind boggling to think how folks like Maureen Dowd, David Brooks and Paul Krugman are able to do it a couple of times a week, or more. When in doubt watch or read the news.   Full Story

Michael Reagan This week, the State of Illinois concluded its primaries for its soon-to-be-open United States Senate Seat. This seat, President Obama’s until he won the presidency, has gained infamy with former Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s efforts to "sell" the seat to the highest bidder.   Full Story

Thursday February 4, 2010 At the annual Vermont Press Association meeting in December, the editor of a member newspaper acknowledged during a panel discussion that his staff had failed to ask questions about repeated executive sessions on a seemingly harmless topic. It turned out, however, that the board was talking about a huge budget deficit that was caused by a mistake someone in the city   Full Story

Thursday February 4, 2010 Well,it's looking like I already have at least one weight lifted off of my parental shoulders. What with the cost of college growing exponentially, I didn't know what I was going to do to get Nieve through four years at Notre Dame, but then she had her four month checkup last week.   Full Story

Thursday February 4, 2010 Judging by Tim Tebow's much-hypedSuper Bowl ad, "choose life" remains conservatives' favorite abortion shibboleth. But really, the phrase better captures the stakes in the Great Budget Wars of 2010. Plagued by deficits, communities everywhere must now decide between tax reform and public spending cuts -- between economic life and death.   Full Story

Sean-Marie Oller I favor a school in each of the towns in the Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union. I also support a unified union school district, and do not believe the two are mutually exclusive. As a member of a unified school board, I make decisions based on what is in the best interest of the students, students who live in the five towns of the Mount Anthony Union district.   Full Story

Telly Halkias From the time I was a young boy, I had a passion for freshly baked bread, much of it cultivated on bread-crazy European streets. So when local gal Natasha Garder announced she was partnering to open Crazy Russian Girl Bakery on Main Street in Bennington, I said a silent prayer that this time, the enterprise would stick.   Full Story

Joe Bushika By the time you readthis Groundhog Day will have come and gone, and depending on one’s perspective we will have six more weeks of winter, or not. The second day of February, an old German holiday known as Candlemas Day, is the origin of the day that we now call groundhog day.   Full Story

Charles Putney President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union speech, made a compelling case for a wide range of moderate approaches to our nation’s needs. We must pass health care reform. We must continue to stimulate jobs. We must curb our national habit of paying for things on debt rather than income.   Full Story

Peter Shumlin Vermont is on the brink of making a decision that will shape its economic future for decades to come. Will we stake out a bold new energy agenda that creates thousands of good Vermont jobs in the fields or renewable energy and efficiency? Or will we stay tethered to an aging nuclear reactor -- operated by a debt ridden Wall Street business scheme -- that could leave us paying   Full Story

Michael Reagan Weare speeding toward an economiccliff because our government can’t practice restraint. We spend so much more than we take in because politicians at every level use the public treasury to win elections. The public mostly accepts lavish promises of more and more federal spending because the cost of government has been so effectively divorced from what actually comes   Full Story

Whole grains are a group of foods that provide many nutrients to the diet. Technically whole grains contain the entire grain seed. The bran is the outer covering of the seed. The germ is the part of the seed that can sprout and make a new plant. The endosperm is the starchy part of the seed kernel. Whole grains are high in complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, protein, polyunsaturated fat,   Full Story