Archive - 2006 - Editorial

There’s good news in Vermont’s ski industry, and then there’s the weather.

The good news is that Vermont’s 18 ski resorts invested more than $25 million in upgrades and new facilities in 2006, and another $150 million was invested in real estate projects and recreational amenities. That substantial investment, however, runs headlong into another bit of news: November 2006 was one of the warmest on record and tied the record for having the least amount of snowfall.

Such enormous investments and such fickle weather remind ski diehards that ski resorts in Vermont, much like the farming community, ride a fine edge on the profitability slope. The ski industry, in fact, has much in common with Vermont’s farm community. An area ski area resort president even noted that ski resorts could be viewed as “snow farmers.�

View: Quick Read | Full Article

In the big scheme of things, Vermont Electric Power Company’s project to string up a new set of 345Kv transmission lines through Addison County could have been delayed another year or two without (in all likelihood) depriving consumers of an adequate supply of power. It certainly seems reasonable, therefore, to ask VELCO to work around a Middlebury Christmas tree farm during the farm’s peak season between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

To proceed with the erection of gigantic poles within the next two or three weeks, when it means that the poles would be placed right in the midst of the Werner tree farm (see story Page 1), seems like a slap in the face to a fellow Vermont business. It’s almost an affront that VELCO wouldn’t have foreseen the dilemma earlier and made the overture to avoid work there for this one five-week period.

View: Quick Read | Full Article

When a single person is able to use the Act 250 process to delay a project for up to two years for reasons that have been dismissed by all others, the state needs to amend the law.

The instance at hand is with the proposed Eastview housing project — a 101-unit retirement community to be built on 30 acres south of Porter Medical Center campus off South Street in Middlebury. Opposed is South Street Extension resident Miriam Roemischer. She has been the proverbial thorn-in-the-side of those who have pushed the project forward. That’s a shame.

While other community members, including many along South Street, raised initial concerns about the project — including the fact that traffic would increase and they wanted to be sure traffic-calming measures were in place — their concerns apparently have been satisfied and the public good of the project (not to mention the appropriate zoning) has outweighed their own personal preferences for a quieter street.

View: Quick Read | Full Article

As Gov. James Douglas addresses the task of replacing Secretary of Agriculture Steve Kerr the future of farmers throughout the state may hang in the balance. It’s not that one person will make or break the farm community, but that the direction state policy proceeds during the next few years could either set the path for new growth on Vermont farms or continue the rapid demise of dairy farms Vermont has seen for the past 50 years.

The demise, as most everyone knows, has cut the number of farms in the state by a third in the past decade — from 2,265 in 1993 to 1,459 in 2003. It’s not a new trend. The number of dairy farms in Vermont in 1983 was 3,216; in 1973 it was 3,852; in 1963, there were 7,127, and in 1953, there were 10,637. On average about 8 percent to 10 percent of our dairy farms have been going out of business each year.

View: Quick Read | Full Article

Vote for a change

As the nation prepares to vote tomorrow, Nov. 7, voters should consider the state of affairs in Washington, D.C., and to do their part to ensure a change in direction.

Such a change would press for an end to a federal tax policy that favors the wealthiest individuals over the middle class, more favorable environmental policies that require industry to limit further harm to the environment, federal regulations that prevent media consolidation in the hands of a few mega-corporations, deficit reduction measures so our children and grandchildren aren’t paying for today’s excess spending, a health care system that delivers appropriate care to American citizens, and an educational funding system that is flexible enough to adapt to the changing needs of today’s global economy. For the past six years under President George W. Bush and the Republican-dominated Congress the nation has witnessed a steady deterioration on each of those fronts.

View: Quick Read | Full Article

In the race between Democrat Peter Welch and Republican Martha Rainville for Vermont’s lone seat in Congress, one issue is paramount: Do Vermonters want to enable President George Bush to maintain control of both the House and Senate, or will they cast a vote to place an appropriate check on this president’s radical and disastrous agenda? If voters want Bush to “stay the course� on domestic issues and foreign affairs, then a vote for Rainville will help assure that path. If voters want a change in the nation’s direction and a check on the president, then a vote for Peter Welch is critical.

Control of the U.S. House is so central to this election that it outweighs all other considerations.

This newspaper’s concerns with the Bush administration’s mismanagement of our national resources and damage done to our international prestige over the past five years are well known to our readers (and those long-standing concerns, we might add, have largely been validated), so we won’t belabor the mounting perils that would face the nation if Bush is allowed to reign two more years with a rubber-stamp Congress.

View: Quick Read | Full Article

That’s the question to ask in governor’s race

In the race for governor, Republican James Douglas has the advantage of incumbency and a record of compromise and modest achievement, while Democrat Scudder Parker offers a candidacy of vision and bold leadership. In choosing the state’s next leader, Vermonters must ask if maintaining the status quo is sufficient or if the times demand a bolder course of action?

There is no pat answer. The course the state has maintained for the past four years under Gov. Douglas has been steady, if not visionary.

But problems remain unresolved. Dairy farms continue to fail at an alarming rate; the state’s energy supply hangs in a precarious balance and yet the state has no comprehensive energy policy; the state’s teacher/pupil ratio is low and drives expenses resulting in high property taxes; while the Catamount Health Care plan is a step forward, many say it does too little to cut costs leaving a heavy burden on businesses; the state’s Medicaid bill will put an increasing burden on the budget in future years; and while the state’s population has been increasing modestly, the number of school-age children has been on the decline, thus creating a future shortage in the labor pool.

View: Quick Read | Full Article

In the race for lieutenant governor, Vermonters have the opportunity to choose a candidate who would bring an extraordinary amount of energy, intelligence and enthusiasm to the state’s number two job. That candidate is Democrat Matt Dunne.

Dunne’s background as a public servant is stellar. First elected to the Vermont Legislature as a representative of Hartland and West Windsor at the age of 22, Dunne spent the next four terms in the House and was elected Assistant Majority Leader in 1998, making him the youngest whip in the nation at the time. Along with other leadership roles in the House, he served as vice-chair of the Transportation Committee. During his time in the House, Dunne was a marketing executive in various capacities, including as the marketing director for Logic Associates, a top 500 software company based in Wilder that served the commercial printing industry worldwide.

View: Quick Read | Full Article