I’m worried that the Vermont Legislature is pulling all-nighter after all-nighter, and in a year when they look back, they will regret the very urgency compelling them forward.
Lentzner: Midnight scribbles and the school reform bill
Timothy Page
Roper: Climate Action Plan 2.0: Still not a plan!
Climate Council remains an expensive, incompetent, very bad joke.
VT Headlines: New travel ban creates chaos and confusion for VT groups
Vermont Attorney General settles with private parking company after they ‘trick consumers’ into paying fines; Today’s severe threat features heavy rain, flood risk; Arlington graduate to speak at CCV graduation
BREAKING: Charity donation uncertain after ICE agent hoax case abandoned
Unclear if $500 donation was sent to Vergennes charity after no felony charge pursued in bogus claim about ICE agent
Son of immigrant Coester says, ‘Vermont first’
My father, at ten years old, met brave, kind, and generous American soldiers at the end of World War II during the U.S. occupation of West Germany.
Soulia: Political theater over policy
Four months in, Vermont’s budget Is balanced—but the real fight might just Be delayed
Dawson: The role of AI in the office
Implications for Vermont’s public agencies and private businesses
Gervais: Vermont’s fiscal mess
Per the Joint Fiscal Office 2025 report, Vermont has the sixth highest per capita spending, at $15,426, yet when we look at results: Johnny can’t read, and our roads are crumbling. Let’s slash bloat and restore sanity
Hansen: STEM immigration from India dispossessing America, again
Tech elites are now replacing another class of American workers; instead of offshoring factories, they are onshoring low-wage Indian immigrants.
Mott: How to give due process its due
Everyone says they want due process, but most of us only want it when it thwarts the ambitions of the other side, not when it constrains our side. But that’s not how due process works.
Letters: Payton on being a doormat, Mazur on the debt crisis
Also, Livingston on the need to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement through the 287(g) program
Klar: The battle over lab-grown meat heats up
Texas ban raises stakes for fake-steak makers.
Murray: A call to honor the Stars and Stripes
Let’s make a statement this summer. If you fly one flag, let it be the American flag. Let it fly high above our homes, our farms, and towns. Let it be a symbol of pride—an unwavering commitment to the liberties so many fought and died to preserve.
Dr. Oscar Peterson and the Vermont Civil Defense Division
Dr. Oscar S. Peterson Jr. believed that nuclear radiation played an important role in the future, in its capacity to extend the lives of his patients, as well as its ability to cause irreparable harm. His work specializing in radiation therapy at the University of Vermont led to an invitation to serve as Vermont’s Radiological Consultant to the Civil Defense Division of the Vermont Department of Public Safety.
Law enforcement agencies in 40 states partner with ICE program – but not Vermont
Florida law enforcement tops in U.S. in ICE participation. Even its universities are involved. Vermont is at the other extreme.
VT Headlines: Vermont Food Bank Rutland location reopens after yearlong renovation
Green Mountain Power seeks to install up to 1,200 storage batteries in remote homes; Anonymous donor gives Vermont Law and Graduate School $10 million
Samets and Feldman: Gaza is a humanitarian tragedy—but one orchestrated by Hamas
The canary died on October 7. Are you listening now?
Roper: Vermont has a $9.1 BILLION budget
Ronald Reagan once quipped that government is like a baby, an endless appetite on one end, and no discipline on the other. No place lives up to – or down to as the case may be — that analogy more so than Vermont.
Keelan: three out-of-control engines heading full speed to collision and disaster
The driverless engines of State
Ellis: The Biden trauma and tragedy
Democrats’ hubris gave us Trump. And we are living with the consequences of that disastrous decision.
Soulia: Same law, different outrage: The politics of deportation
Immigration enforcement is one of the most divisive issues in American politics, but when it comes to deportation numbers, the facts are clear: President Barack Obama deported more illegal aliens than any president in U.S. history.
Lawsuit withdrawn after state amends law targeting pregnancy centers
The Alliance Defending Freedom has filed for dismissal of its 2023 lawsuit against the State of Vermont after the 2025 Legislature amended a law targeting pregnancy resource centers’ free speech rights.
Man indicted for shooting at Border Patrol agents in Burke
The charges stem from a July 14, 2024, incident in which Sackal allegedly fired a privately manufactured 5.56 caliber AR-type pistol at five Border Patrol agents. Federal prosecutors say the weapon functioned as a machine gun but was not registered and lacked a required serial number under federal law.
Prominent doctor sues UVMMC for negligent treatment of drug-addicted son
A prominent world-renowned doctor based in Burlington is suing the University of Vermont Medical Center for medical negligence and wrongful death for the fatal overdose of his adult son five years ago.
CLG: Multiple people injured in ‘targeted terror attack’ in Boulder, Colorado
Suspect in Boulder terror attack determined to be Egyptian man in U.S. illegally – FBI
Without school $$ bill, House out until June 16
House Speaker Krowinski announced the full House would come back on June 16, which was the date previously put on the calendar for a potential session to address any bills that the Governor vetoed. The plan is now for the education conferees to continue meeting over the next few weeks to hammer out an agreement that can also satisfy Governor Scott. Stay tuned.
Dame: VTGOP condemns Rep. Balint’s “wiping” comment as demeaning towards immigrants
Last week, Vermont’s sole Congresswoman, Rep. Becca Balint, held a town hall where she stated that if we don’t increase immigration, “we’re not gonna have anyone around to wipe our asses.”
Rob Roper on today’s Vermont Podcast
We will also discuss:
-DHS citing Vermont as a ‘sanctuary jurisdiction’
-Vermont’s potential new health commissioner
-Clean Heat Standard is now ‘Dead’ ?
We will also discuss:
-DHS citing Vermonts as a ‘sanctuary jurisdiction’
-Vermont’s potential new health commissioner
-Clean Heat Standard is now ‘Dead’ ?
And more!
BREAKING: State of Vermont cited by Department of Homeland Security as ‘sanctuary jurisdiction defying federal immigration law’
The entire state of Vermont and the cities of Burlington, Montpelier, and Winooski have been labeled as ‘Sanctuary Jurisdictions’ by the department of Homeland Security, and now face federal funding cuts under Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown.
Roper: PUC thumbs nose at legislators over Clean Heat Standard
Refuses to enforce stupid, unworkable law.
Five-time felon admits violating probation by doing no community service in drug case
Michael V. Larrow Sr., 67, of Grand Isle had no intention of doing the 200 hours of community service ordered by Judge Sam Hoar Jr. in September 2023, State’s Attorney Doug DiSabito told the court last week.
Breaking: Education finance bill compromise under discussion – Legislature could adjourn today
A House Education Committee member this morning told VDC that the H.454 Conference Committee is taking seriously Gov. Phil Scott’s concerns about affordability and implementation timeline in the current House/Senate versions of this session’s landmark legislation: transformation of Vermont’s public education financing and governance.
VT Headlines: Renewable energy plant in St. Albans celebrates grand opening
Johnson General Store gets warm welcome; Vermont’s craft beer industry shifts from booming to ‘maturing’; Tensions rise in Essex over prospective Amazon facility construction
Scott’s press secretary stays rooted in Bradford
Amanda Wheeler hopes to show you don’t have to leave home to make an impact.
Church to break ground on NEK’s first hospice house
A groundbreaking ceremony will be held Saturday for Living Waters Hospice House, the first dedicated hospice residence serving Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.
Tariffs in American history
Being one of the earliest forms of taxation, it is not surprising that tariffs produced one of the earliest forms of tax evasion: smuggling.
Man charged with Colchester killing got deferred sentence for 2024 assault at request of Sarah George
A Colchester man, who was charged this month in the fatal stabbing of a Milton woman, is also now facing a violation of probation case for an attack last summer on another woman as she walked in the city of Essex Junction.
Study: Wildlife underpasses save amphibians
Amphibian road mortality drops by over 80% with wildlife underpasses, study shows.
VT Headlines: Waitsfield targeted in sophisticated financial hack for $81,000
Vermont Veterans Outreach Program to face shutdown without congressional funding; Federal judge in Vermont orders release of Russian-born Harvard scientist; Rutland City school board and union ratify a teachers’ contract; Essex Development Board resumes public review of Amazon warehouse proposal
McCallum: Should I stay, or should I go?
Most of the people who go to college in Vermont — 57 percent — leave the state after graduation. That’s more than any other state.
Federal Judge says Murder-for-Hire civil lawsuit can resume
A federal judge has agreed to allow a long-stalled wrongful death lawsuit to resume against a California scientist convicted last month in Burlington for being the mastermind in a cross-country murder-for-hire-case seven years ago in Danville.
Hornblas: Life, death, and a new Vermont Health Commissioner
The increase in deaths is only the tip of the iceberg. We are also failing in all of our health outcomes, across the board. Schools and businesses have struggled to find enough staff who are healthy and able to work, and health facilities are flooded with patients.
Digital wildfire: NotPetya, the most destructive cyberattack in history
How Russia weaponized America’s hacking tools to burn down the internet, and how Vermont lays vulnerable
House passes Gender X license bill
This Vermont bill is a response to a January 20 executive order issued by signed by President Donald Trump, mandating that federal agencies, including the State Department, recognize only two sexes (male and female) based on biological sex assigned at birth, effectively eliminating the “X” gender marker option for passports and prohibiting gender marker changes that do not align with birth certificates.
VT Headlines: VT’s community radio stations get state funding for disaster response work
Rutland City School Board ratifies teachers’ contract in unanimous vote; Killington Select Board candidates call for financial audit to move forward
Roper: Democrats go full partisan on education reform
Kill bipartisan bill in favor of special interests.
Klar: Vermont’s Middlebury College should not receive Federal funding
DEI, CRT, and anti-Semitism must go!
Samets and Feldman: Vermont legislators have a chance to save Jewish lives—now
Vermont is the only state in New England without any Holocaust education standards, despite bills being introduced seeking this change since 2017. By equipping Vermont’s educational institutions to confront this hatred directly, H.310 not only offers protection but also affirms the dignity and identity of Jewish Vermonters.
Soulia: S.124: A decade of drowning in Vermont’s water policy
Ten years and over $200 million later, Vermont is right back where it started—struggling to comply with the Clean Water Act, while farmers, taxpayers, and lawmakers all try to catch their breath.
Klar: What’s controversial about the MAHA commission report?
Conflicting reactions suggest it hit the sweet spot.
Letters: Bruner and Mazur on anti-semitism
This is a classic example of an unhinged, white female liberal who sits in her cozy home reading the leftist propaganda known as the “failing New York Times”.
Vermont third in northern border encounters during Biden admin
Vermont had 59,298 encounters during that period, compared to just 82 in New Hampshire, which has a narrow border with Canada and no cross-border interstate highway. Vermont has two interstate crossings.
When Vermont barn dances were all the rage
Someone’s grandparents always seem to remember one, and sometimes you can still find the scruffs and scrapes of shoes and boots on the floors. But where’d those hoedowns go? What were they like? And what did they do for small, rural communities?
VT Headlines: Burlington man credited with saving woman from burning condo
Vermont, state officials honor fallen veterans for Memorial Day; Burlington businesses feeling strain from downtown construction; Route 5 reopens after tractor crash in Hartland
Fernandez: Behind Hamas, you will find BLM
Shalomyah Bowers, a leading administrator with BLM Global Network Foundation, was sued by the organization for “siphoning millions “from the group into his own “personal piggy bank.”
Police investigate fatal shooting in Brandon
Vermont State Police officers are investigating a suspicious shooting death of a 46-year-old Brandon man over the weekend. The victim, Brian Bailey, was found unresponsive inside his home on Champearl Road shortly after 7 a.m. Saturday, state police said in a news release. Bailey was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders, police said in the release.
Harrison: Sausage-makers grinding out housing, school funding bills
The legislative process is sometimes likened to sausage making, not pretty to watch. That was certainly true last week at the State House with education reform and a major housing bill being considered.
Despathy: VT media’s climate propaganda strikes again
Vermont Public’s propaganda superficially simplifies a complex issue into ‘the Democrats want climate policy and the Republicans are pushing back’.
Deal: On guard, and for our Guard, on Memorial Day
Let us today never forget what such a memorial means for our freedoms, and for those we love. Let us never stop striving to do better for those who have given everything imaginable to us all.
Congress kills California/VT gas car ban
Congress has passed a measure to overturn California’s phased-in 2035 ban on the sale of new gas cars.
Roper: Unless it lowers taxes, vote NO on the education “reform” bill
Don’t just do something for the sake of doing something.
VT Headlines: Vermont’s Jewish community reacts to Israeli Embassy staffers killed in DC
Vermont state auction draws deal-hunters from across the Northeast; School board ratification vote on Rutland teachers’ contract postponed, rescheduled for next week
Jesses: Young people need civics
Upon graduation, our students need to be aware of how steeped our country is in values that recognize both the uniqueness of our form of government and how exceptional our country is in offering Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness to all without regard to religion, race, sex, ethnicity, or other demographic factors.
Klar: The vindication of Dr. Bhattacharya
Banished by the medical establishment for resisting Covid policies, he now runs the agency that made them
VT Headlines: Rutland teachers union votes to ratify new contract with city school district
Wild lake trout populations have rebounded in Lake Champlain. But scientists don’t know why; 120-mile kayak trip across Lake Champlain to benefit athletes with disabilities
CLG: Biden officials hid deadly health risks of COVID vaccines, bombshell Congressional report reveals
U.S. launches doomsday Minuteman III nuclear-capable missile in dramatic show of force; Senate votes unanimously to eliminate federal taxes on tips
Most fentanyl and terrorists enter through northern border, FBI Director Patel says
The majority of illegal border crossers were reported in New York, Washington and Vermont, The Center Square reported. In addition to arresting human traffickers and violent criminals, U.S. authorities have arrested alleged Islamic terrorists, including an Iranian with terrorist ties living in Canada and a Canadian woman who tried to poison President Donald Trump, The Center Square reported.
Soulia: Is 600,000 too small to count?
In a recently released open letter to Governor Phil Scott, health educator and Vermont Stands Up director Amy Hornblass raises a stark question: why has Vermont’s Department of Health not investigated the state’s persistent surge in excess deaths since the onset of COVID-19 restrictions?
Feds DOGE $4 million earmarked for City of Montpelier
The city was notified that $2.5 million for water main replacement and $1.5 million to elevate a 20-unit building on Elm Street damaged by 2023 floodwaters will not be funded.
Bean: Mad River devastation and the growing geoengineering dilemma
In conversation over the weekend many Vermonters pointed out that it seems to be rainy every single Saturday! While this may seem like a classic complaint during mid-May, this recent flood in the Mad River Valley certainly triggers memories of floods in Vermont in recent years.
VT Headlines: One person hit and killed by train in Essex Junction, police say
Public meeting to discuss VT’s environmental protection rules this Thursday; Susan Stock: Proposed SNAP cuts would hit Vermont hard; Can U.S. residents get vaccines in Canada: Experts say yes, but at a cost
Mills: A new IEA report and the Iberian Blackout end dreams of an ‘energy transition’
Systems that can deliver reliable power at the scales necessary for robust growth remain anchored in precisely the fuels the transitionists want to abandon.
SCOTUS restores Rep. Laurel Libby’s floor privileges, enjoins Maine Dems’ censure of her
Late last month, Rep. Libby filed an emergency petition to the United States Supreme Court, asking for their intervention in her lawsuit against Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford) over the fallout from her party-line censure earlier this year that stripped her of her rights to speak on the floor or vote in the legislature.
CLG: Trump says U.S. close to a nuclear deal with Iran
Joe Biden diagnosed with ‘aggressive form’ of prostate cancer that has metastasized to the bone; Trump accuses Biden’s advisors of treason; Israel may strike Iranian nuclear facilities
McGuinness: S.28 legalizes modern-day equivalent of coat hanger abortions
Vermonters were told passage of Article 22 would keep abortion rare, safe, and legal, yet this new law opens the floodgates to unsupervised chemical abortions, making them common and dangerous, yet still legal.
Legislators preview enviro bills for next year
A House committee recently heard the introduction of seven new bills covering five topics legislators hope to tackle.
VT CO2 emissions down 20%, but it’s still not enough
State misses emissions goal, despite fossil fuel use and pollution reduction, report says. Lawmakers earlier this month listened to the report.
Roper: Unpaid Leave Bill comes with a cost
Another unnecessary hit to small businesses.
Keelan: A college education — How it has changed
What has happened in the last two or three decades that has put college operations on the front page?
VT Headlines: Hazardous materials spill closes Williston roadway for five hours
Freed from ICE custody, Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi graduates from Columbia; Fewer Vermonters are dying from opioid overdoses, mirroring national trends
Letters: Edmunds on surviving a system of advocacy
Pratt on “The Trillionaires Are Coming,” and Jablow on banning hounding.
Livingston: Government corruption is educating future generations
Forget textbooks. The actual civics lesson kids are absorbing is that accountability is for the weak. That truth is optional. That the loudest person wins. This isn’t some abstract worry—it’s cultural conditioning.
Bossange: Speak out before it’s too late
Trump’s MAGA Party took over the entire Republican Party and enforced internal party discipline by using political threats and intimidation to stamp out all dissent
Three-time Bradford felon facing murder charge for missing friend
James D. Nickles Jr., 42, is now facing a charge of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Corey Crooker, 43, of Bradford, according to records in Vermont Superior Court in Chelsea. Judge Daniel Richardson also found probable cause for a felony charge of unauthorized removal and disposal of a body without a state permit and with a misdemeanor count of false information to Vermont State Police.
Burlington gun ban bill now in House
S.131 and the end of Dillon’s Rule? Burlington gun ban tests Vermont’s Constitution and State authority
VT Headlines: Severe storms leave several roads washed out, rivers rising in Vermont & New York Saturday
‘Let’s get back to work’: Greensboro grapples with vote against affordable housing project; Former AHS Secretary Mike Smith shares plans for reviewing UVM Health Network costs; Middlebury women’s lacrosse punches ticket to NCAA semifinal
Fireovid: HHS says puberty blockers high-risk, low benefit
This comprehensive review prioritizes evidence-based medicine and questions the treatment of minors with irreversible medical interventions such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries.
Rodgers: Tilting at windmills won’t get the hay in the barn
It’s time we refocus our efforts on the issues that matter most to Vermonters. Let’s prioritize practical solutions over costly legal battles. Humility and hard work, not hubris and fantasy. The farmer’s way. The Vermont way.
Blotter: Cattle dispute escalates to assault
Police seek help in finding missing Enosburg woman; Man arrested in Norwich University sexual assault case; Lyndonville man arrested on felony, misdemeanor warrants; Woman arrested after domestic assault in Reading
Soulia: Why won’t DCF disclose who’s using the system?
Department refuses to release even anonymized data about where recipients came from — or if they’re from Vermont at all.
VT Headlines: Family related to Winooski Superintendent self-deports following notice from ICE
US Department of Justice ends 3-year racial discrimination settlement early at Twin Valley Middle-High School; Federal judge in Vermont hears conditions for formerly detained Tufts students’ release
How tariffs could hurt or help Vermont agriculture
The state’s agriculture industries are paying close attention to prices on products they use.
Lake Champlain shipwreck program to expand access to non-divers
Yellow buoys mark the wrecks’ locations, and divers can follow their lines down to submerged signage identifying each.
CLG: Secret Service probing ex-FBI chief James Comey for allegedly threatening Trump
U.S., China strike deal after extensive talks in Switzerland as Trump official touts ‘resolving’ ongoing trade war; Trump to sign executive order to reduce cost of prescription drugs and pharmaceuticals up to 80%
VT Headlines: NTSB releases report on Mount Equinox plane crash
Vermont City Marathoner prepares for last leg of her training; Vermont Supreme Court holds Vorsteveld farm in contempt, clouding farm’s expansion bid
Klar: Native Americans take on Wokism
The public battle over the name “Massapequa Chiefs”
Deal: Vermont National Security Consortium needed
Maybe it takes a flatlander like me to say: you may not always feel it, but Vermont is one of the best examples of such values and bipartisanship in the nation.
Accused killers from MA face federal drug charges
Fabrice “Savage” Rumama, 21, and Samuel “Smitty” Niyonsenga, 19, are charged with knowingly and intentionally conspiring with others to distribute crack cocaine and more than 40 grams of fentanyl between September and October 2024 in Vermont and elsewhere.
Thayer: Trump ’47 makes progress on education, energy, tax/tariff
Trump is doing everything that he and his Vice President JD Vance campaigned on to win back the White House from the disastrous former President, Joe Biden. He is knocking down Biden’s policies and getting rid of the deep state and lack of due diligence from the five prior Presidents.
North Country Hospital nurses celebrate and receive awards
This year’s awardees are Katrina Bennett, RN for Commitment to Quality, Jennnifer Lavelle, RN for Commitment to Professional Growth, Lucy Carpenter, LPN for Commitment to Customer Service, and Bruce Muir, RN for Commitment to Community.
