All Entries in the "Op-ed" Category
Commentary: NEA funds help the arts reach rural communities
By Charma Bonanno ©2017-Telegraph Publishing LLC Congressman Peter Welch is due a lot of credit. While his peers in other states are also holding town hall meetings, Rep. Welch has gone the extra mile of pulling together small groups in a variety of fields to discuss how Vermonters would be affected by the sweeping cuts […]
Commentary: Vermont’s ethics crisis
By Bill Schubart The Vermont legislature is at an impasse trying to decide whether to establish and adequately fund a statewide ethics commission that has real enforcement capability. There’s been considerable favorable testimony by Vermonters, ethicists and Secretary of State Jim Condos, who has been a relentless champion of government transparency, inclusion and establishing such […]
Commentary: Middlebury mob, education and free speech
This commentary originally aired on VT Public Radio By Bill Schubart Many young people are, by nature’s design, rash and impulsive and in loco parentis educators must often deal with the fallout from their students’ lack of experience. Real-life consequences and good mentoring, mature them over time or they become infantilized adults. The recent protest that turned […]
Op-ed: Vermont governments must let the sunshine in
By Jim Condos Vermont Secretary of State An open government makes for a better government. This is Sunshine Week and it is being celebrated all across the nation. In reality, it should be celebrated every week – not just this week – in Vermont and every other state. Here at the Secretary of State’s Office, […]
Op-ed: The well-vetted immigrants
By Aleks Hunter Last summer, I was a guest of Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, N.H., as a cardiac patient. I was initially examined by a doctor from China, then treated by a team led by a doctor from Germany, with one one from Pakistan, one from Turkey and a resident from India. My […]
Op-ed: Vermont needs an independent Ethics Commission now
By Jim Condos Vermont Secretary of State The Vermont Constitution (Chapter 1, Article 6) demands that our elected officials are open, transparent and accountable. The authors understood how transparency in government is the very basis of trust. State statute also demands access and accountability: It is the policy of this subchapter to provide for free […]
Op-ed: In its latest test, the Electoral College failed
By Dick McCormack I have received many communications from folks indignant that the presidential candidate who got the most votes was not elected president by the Electoral College. These folks recognize that a constitutional amendment abolishing the Electoral College is unlikely, and so focus their concerns on defending Vermont’s existing National Popular Vote law. I’m […]
Op-eds: Closing arguments
Wind power not green vs. financial benefits to communities
Wind power not green vs. financial benefits to communities
From the editor: In just about a week, on Tuesday, Nov. 8, we will go to the polls to vote on a contentious and at times disturbing presidential race whose partisans have helped split the country. At the same time, voters in the towns of Windham and Grafton will vote on a proposed industrial wind […]
Op-ed: On rigged elections and voter fraud in Vermont
By Jim Condos Vermont Secretary of State Recent unsupported allegations and sensationalized reporting are sowing seeds of doubt about our democratic process. This undermines voter confidence and calls into question whether all voices will be heard on Nov. 8. As Vermont’s Secretary of State and chief elections officer, former state Senator, former city councilor and […]
Proficiency Based Education: The coming evolution in education
Michael Eppolito, Curriculum Coordinator for Two Rivers Supervisory Union, has written a three-part series for The Chester Telegraph on Proficiency Based Education, an educational concept that will be implemented in Vermont schools by 2020. Parents, teachers and even students will want to understand how this concept will affect their children’s future and their own. PART […]
An explainer: Proficiency Based Education fuels growth of transferable skills
Editor’s Note: This is Part 3 of TRSU Curriculum Coordinator Michael Eppolito’s series explaining a seismic shift in public education, classroom work and grading that will be implemented throughout Vermont schools for those graduating in June 2020. You can read Part 1, explaining Proficiency Based Education, here. Part 2, on whether Proficiency Based Education will […]
Op-ed: MTL holds right to manage its property with Stiles Brook wind project
By Jeremy Turner Managing forester Meadowsend Timberlands There has been a lot of debate around the future of a property that is owned by the company I have worked for over the past 20 years, Meadowsend Timberlands. MTL owns the 5,000-acre tract of land, a small portion of which the Stiles Brook Wind Project would […]
An explainer: Proficiency education could aid in college admission
Editor’s Note: This is Part 2 of TRSU Curriculum Coordinator Michael Eppolito’s series explaining a seismic shift in public education, classroom work and grading that will be implemented throughout Vermont schools for those graduating in June 2020. You can read Part 1, explaining Proficiency Based Education here. By Michael Eppolito ©2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC One […]
An explainer: Proficiency Based Education is on the way
Editor’s Note: Over the next few weeks in The Chester Telegraph, TRSU Curriculum Coordinator Michael Eppolito will be explaining a seismic shift in public education, classroom work and grading that will be implemented throughout Vermont schools for those graduating in June 2020. We begin with Part 1. By Michael Eppolito States across the nation, and […]
Op-ed: A Windham resident speaks out for wind
By Mary McCoy As a resident of the town of Windham, I have observed the activity related to the wind farm proposed for our town — and Grafton, which has been dominated by very vocal opposition. For my own peace of mind, I am compelled to publicly state some of the positive reasons for supporting […]
Op-eds: 2 views on the Windham-Grafton industrial wind plan
On Thursday, Aug. 11, The Chester Telegraph received a request from KSE Partners, a Montpelier and Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm, to run an op-ed by Art Sasse, the communications director for Iberdrola Renewables, the Spanish wind turbine company that is seeking to build Vermont’s largest wind project in Windham and Grafton. Instead of letting the […]
Commentary: Vermont bloodsuckers and other dangerous fauna
New Age Trigger Warning: The following column contains information that may be troubling to people with heightened sensibilities and little real world experience or who suffer from enhanced yuck factor syndrome. By Bill Schubart Biologists claim the only life-threatening fauna in Vermont are the endangered timber rattlers making their homes in Benson. Benson wasn’t my […]
Commentary: Many state public records need to be preserved
By Jim Condos Vermont Secretary of State Records management is not exactly an exciting topic, but when a particular record is the focus of a request or controversy, it becomes critically important in that moment. Those records are owned by the State of Vermont and are incredibly valuable for a variety of reasons, not the […]
Commentary: Vt. Attorney General overreaches in prosecuting anti-wind activist
By Deborah T. Bucknam Esq. Vermont’s Attorney General has filed a complaint against Annette Smith, the activist who helps Vermonters opposed to industrial wind navigate the administrative jungle that best describes the Public Service Board proceedings. I have represented folks opposed to industrial wind at the Public Service Board, and the hearings are overrun by […]
Commentary: An open letter to Vermont legislators
By Bill Schubart Bill@Schubart.com As the new legislative session ramps up, I’d like to offer some thoughts. Don’t micromanage complex issues. We already have too many laws and administrative statutes, many poorly drafted, ambiguous or conflicting. Some actually confound good behavior. Our problems can’t be enacted away. They’re substantial and demand clarity of vision, courage […]
