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Paul Bean

Roper: Property tax commission brainstormers suggest more taxes, bake sales

And this one really gets the old jaw to drop: “Bake sales.” Yeah, sure! At an average cost of $2 each, we would only have to sell around 100 million chocolate chip cookies to cover the current over-spending gap – assuming parents foot the cost of ingredients. Sound thinking here from the brains of those charged with preparing our young people for future of success.

Agenda 21 Puts the You in U.N.

Agenda 21 is not a conspiracy theory; it is a real plan of action created by the United Nations in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit. The document outlines voluntary steps nations should take to achieve sustainable development, including land use planning, protecting ecosystems, managing resources, and reducing carbon emissions.

Climate hysteria is destroying our youth

Truthfully I do not blame these kids at all. It’s what they’re being taught, (that the world is going to end in 5 years) and its all because of us terrible humans! I went through the Vermont schools system, and I can remember laying in my bed at night as a middle schooler, unable to sleep because I was afraid the ice caps would melt and flood everywhere.

Soulia: Don’t worry, The state will pay for it

The common refrain seems to be, “Don’t worry, the state will pay for it.” However, this mindset creates a dangerous financial spiral that leaves both residents and the government worse off. As state spending grows, so does the expectation that it can cover an ever-expanding list of social programs and environmental goals.

Koch: Throwing tax money at a problem won’t solve it

Frequently, those on the hunt for more tax revenue suggest that the sales and use tax law should be expanded to charge the tax on services—think attorney fees, physician and hospital charges, automobile repairs and maintenance, and the like.  How about making the person who cuts or styles your hair a tax collector?  Or maybe the neighborhood kid who cuts your lawn? 

Keelan: Vermont losing colleges and Catholics, gaining cannabis and tax collection

Two long-established state institutions, the Vermont State Police and the Vermont Veterans Home, are finding it difficult to fully carry out their missions. Why? Over the years, their staffing has been depleted and nearly impossible to fill. A long-time member of the VSP noted to this writer that their ranks are down approximately 60 troopers from an authorized strength of 328 to a force of 268 today.

Heck: Lamoille County’s battle cry!

I also concur with the Governor that the Supermajority’s policies do not represent Vermonters overall views and more importantly their purse strings.  Our families expect reasonable legislation with policies that will help hard working Vermonters. Not drive them out of the state.  At the Lamoille County Field Days, folks told me they want to see the return of local control of their school budgets, programs, and staffing.

A Little Parable

In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other, “Do you believe in life after delivery?”The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”

Is It Vermont’s Water Pollution Problem?

Burlington, known for its progressive environmental values, has ironically contributed millions of gallons of partially treated or untreated sewage to Lake Champlain due to aging wastewater systems. These events, along with Vermont’s broader struggles with phosphorus contamination, raise the question of whether the state’s regulatory and economic policies are counterproductive in solving the very problems they claim to address.

UVM maps the brain of a fruit fly

“If we want to understand how the brain works, we need a mechanistic understanding of how all the neurons fit together and let you think,” remarked study co-lead Gregory Jefferis, Ph.D. “For most brains we have no idea how these networks function. Now for the fly we have this complete wiring diagram, a key step in understanding complex brain functions”

McGuinness: is the State of Vermont responsible to provide mental health care to your children?

The State of Vermont believes it is their responsibility to provide mental health care to your children. No wonder mental health services expenses have gone up at public schools! Many people and parents think these services are needed. Please be aware of the potential dangers of turning over mental health services to the State via the public school system without parental direction, consent, and oversight.

Fernandez: The pager attacks in Lebanon:

Attallah also commented on the pager attacks in Lebanon, in which Israel has not officially claimed responsibility: “Taiwan manufactures pagers, and Israel injects them with a few milligrams of explosives, and then it does it again, and it can do this yet again in the future, in a way that will be much more lethal and criminal.

CLG: Putin threatens nuclear retaliation for long-range missile plans

He also suggested an expanded list of threats that would include “reliable information” of a major airstrike being launched against Russia. The list of criteria that would justify Russia’s use of its nuclear deterrent should be expanded in the updated version of the doctrine, Putin told the meeting. “Aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state…supported by a nuclear power should be treated as their joint attack,”

Rodgers: Setting the record straight

I served in the legislature for 16 years as a Democrat. My Democratic values have not changed, but the party that I used to belong to has. I am now the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor because my opponent and the progressives have taken over the Democratic Party that I was raised in.

Echoes from an Old Hollow Tree

You can turn off the news, the talking heads that demand your attention, your rage, and walk amid the hedgerows with their final berries of the season, under the leaves now reddening with a crimson blush. Everything about this time of year invites you to slow down and to reflect, to reclaim your sense of balance in an imbalanced world…

Rep. Harrison: Start your Engines! The race to Nov. 5 has begun!

The next legislative session will be critical in many areas, including education finance and property taxes, rising health care costs, lack of housing and heating costs. Our towns were particularly hard hit with education property taxes this year (Chittenden 24%, Killington 29%, Mendon 22% and Pittsfield 29%). Key lawmakers chose to proceed with their property tax bill rather than find a compromise with the Governor.

AG Clark: We’re Voting on the U.S. Supreme Court this November

The profound impacts of a president’s judicial appointments can be seen in, for example, President Trump’s handiwork in ensuring Americans were stripped of their right to abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Dobbs overturned nearly 50 years of legal precedent, dismantled women’s rights to make our own healthcare decisions, and clouded and confused the future of reproductive liberty for millions of Americans

VT 5th highest sports betting tax in U.S.

New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island have the highest tax rate for sports-books, at 51%, earning all three Northeast states a collective No. 1 ranking. Vermont, which entered the sports betting market last year, was ranked fifth highest in the nation, according to the report with a 31.7% tax rate on sports betting.

CLG: Trump supporters suffer burning eyes, temporary blindness sitting behind him at rally 

ome complained of dealing with irritation in their eyes and needed medical attention. Mayra Rodriguez said that her “eyes were burning” once she left the rally and headed for the emergency room shortly after getting home from the speech. “The emergency room staff, from the triage nurse to the PA, asked, Are you sure you didn’t get sprayed with something?

Manley: Temps don’t track CO2 release

During my academic studies (1990’s), this hypothesis of “CO2 Causes Global Warming” was so incredibly debunked, it was not even discussed among students or faculty.  So I began researching it to find out what the new evidence was that has caused it to become the foundation of so much taxation and political rhetoric: “The science is proven.”

Judges appointed

Governor Phil Scott today announced the appointment of Jessica Seman of Reading as Family Division Magistrate serving the southeastern region of the state and Patricia Gabel of Stowe as Assistant Judge in Lamoille County.

Roper: Lawmaker’s Defense of Unaffordable Heat Act is Indefensible

It will increase your heating bills, and that is the real issue. Sibilia ignores the many local critics of the Unaffordable Heat act from right here in Vermont – including our Governor, who vetoed the idiotic scheme twice. She ignored them when they testified before her committee, ignored their thousands of phone calls and emails urging her and her colleagues to vote ‘no’ when the bill was up for passage.

New child care facility for rural northern Vermont close to breaking ground

The current landscape of child care in Vermont presents many challenges for young families, especially in a small, rural community like Alburgh. As an organization, it is AFC’s mission to expand educational access and opportunities, especially for children at risk of poor developmental and learning outcomes, by promoting and providing affordable, high-quality Early Care and Education for young children and their families in Alburgh and surrounding communities.

Bananas: The Cat’s Out of the Bag

Keeping up appearances, the two hated enemies who were meeting in person for the first time, exchanged a handshake with all the warmth and charm of a beach getaway in Greenland.  The moderators then laid out the ground rules:  absolutely no biting, kicking, or eye gouging will be tolerated.  Lying, back biting, pivoting, gaslighting, rambling, insulting and obfuscating were all fair game.  May the best man or person who identifies as a woman win! 

Rep. Sibilia: Doing Nothing is Not Going to Protect Your Pocketbook

But what’s really behind these rising heating costs? Global oil prices, which are completely out of our control. Big oil companies set prices that Vermonters have to pay. And while small, local heating oil companies are doing their best to help, six have closed this past year alone. These closures mean fewer choices for Vermonters and more dependence on big companies that raise prices whenever they want.