Community Forum: Act 73 turns its back on Vermonters

These are not usual times for schools or students or for adults. Everyone is on edge. 50 percent of Vermont households live under financial stress. Few expect to be better off than our parents. Act 73 turns its back on all of this!

Three friends floated into Amy Panitz’s home-studio on Weybridge Street on a Wednesday in May. It was the regular twice-monthly meeting time for these amateur artists to paint alongside one another, and get ready for the opening of their first exhibit at … (read more)

William Sessions, Amy Panitz, Louise Cadwell and John Freidin are four Addison County friends who get together regularly to paint.

For over three months, Donald Trump and his minions have been damaging — and trying to destroy — the most valuable elements of contemporary America.

I thought I had a reasonable understanding of what life as a trans person was like until I read the email below. This message came to me via email from someone I’ve known for 30 years who was born a girl and is now a man.

The Ilsley 100 Project Team has done a superb job. It has developed a beautiful design to provide library users — from toddlers to seniors — with a safe, accessible, energy-efficient building to accommodate their needs for the next 50 years or more. Furth … (read more)

You’ll be glad you voted for Andy Hooper for Middlebury selectboard. Andy will bring fresh ideas and new energy to Middlebury government.

What a splendid improvement the selectboard has made to the seating opportunities in Triangle Park. They look great and will attract residents and visitors alike to linger in our downtown.Bravo!John S. FreidinMiddlebury 

I was delighted to read the Independent’s coverage of the Viva el Sabor Fiesta. Nevertheless, I was surprised that the paper did not identify any of the Central American persons featured in the photographs that accompanied the story. Nor did the paper nam … (read more)

Please vote for Andy Hooper for Middlebury selectboard. Andy is a caring, competent, and committed member of our community. He cares about us, as evidenced by his service on the Ilsley Library Board of Trustees, Addison County Regional Planning Commission … (read more)

Please vote “Yes on 3” to enable Middlebury to develop regulations to permit a retail marijuana shop to do business here. Such a shop will bring many good citizens to Middlebury and thereby benefit our downtown. Not having a marijuana shop here will just … (read more)

Three school boards oversee all the public schools in Addison County. And those boards have been asking the wrong questions. The first statutory and essential duty of Vermont’s school boards is to “determine the educational policies of the school district … (read more)

For 20 years Middlebury has been in transition. And we are not alone.  Across the country, rural towns are changing from places where residents once purchased all they needed to places where they regularly shop online and at big box stores. Some of these … (read more)