Category: Editorial

  • Issue:

    No apology, many excuses on village’s water crisis

    The hearing lasted nearly 10 hours, but on the questions that mattered most, it seems straight answers were in short supply. After nearly eight months in which local citizens had called for a state legislative inquiry into the handling of the Hoosick Falls water crisis, the moment of truth finally arrived. On the next-to-last day read more

    No apology, many excuses on village’s water crisis
  • Issue:

    A victory for labeling that keeps us in the dark

    It was probably only a matter of time. Two years ago, legislators in Montpelier voted overwhelmingly to make Vermont the first state in the nation to require labeling of foods with genetically modified ingredients. For several years before that, Vermonters had spoken out loudly – and jammed legislative hearings – to demand the right to read more

    A victory for labeling that keeps us in the dark
  • Issue:

    Albany’s culture on display in Hoosick Falls water case

    After so many years, Albany’s distinction as America’s most corrupt and dysfunctional state capital has become so familiar that it’s no longer clear whether each new outrage makes much of an impression on the average New Yorker. Consider that the two men who were the state’s most powerful legislators at the beginning of last year read more

    Albany’s culture on display in Hoosick Falls water case
  • Issue:

    Why refugees from Syria might help Rutland prosper

    One of the biggest fallacies being circulated in our corrosive national debate over immigration is the notion that newcomers to the United States are somehow “taking away” the jobs of people who are already here. As we’ve pointed out before, our economy isn’t a steady-state system with only a set number of jobs. As a read more

    Why refugees from Syria might help Rutland prosper
  • Issue:

    On pesticide data, public deserves better

    The possibility that the environment and human health might be at risk from the widespread use of synthetic pesticides has been a matter of public concern for at least the 50-plus years since the publication of Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring.” Carson’s pioneering work helped give rise to the modern environmental movement, the creation of the read more

    On pesticide data, public deserves better
  • Issue:

    Why some school districts might call Vermont’s bluff

    Here’s one bit of advice for small towns in Vermont that are struggling to figure out how to comply with Act 46, the state’s new school-district consolidation law: Don’t do anything crazy. The new law, adopted last spring, provides incentives for smaller school districts to join forces and sets a goal of having each district read more

    Why some school districts might call Vermont’s bluff
  • Issue:

    Confederate battle flag has no place at the fair

    At first blush, New York’s Washington County seems about the most unlikely place for anyone to be flying the Confederate battle flag. After all, this is the North. In the Civil War, hundreds of men from Washington County (along with hundreds more from every neighboring county) fought to preserve the Union and end the institution read more

    Confederate battle flag has no place at the fair
  • Issue:

    In Saratoga, developers who just won’t quit

    Back in April, our cover story reported on the controversy surrounding Saratoga National Golf Club’s proposal to build a “world-class destination resort” on its property near the eastern edge of Saratoga Springs. The $30 million plan would have expanded the golf course into a year-round operation complete with a five-star, 100-room hotel, 96 condominiums, a read more

    In Saratoga, developers who just won’t quit
  • Issue:

    To protect honeybees, start with straight talk

    The little tags, stuck into the soil of virtually every potted plant at the local Home Depot, display a mastery of corporate obfuscation. “This plant is protected,” each tag says, “from problematic aphids, white flies, beetles, mealy bugs and other unwanted pests by neonicotinoids.” It all sounds good, no doubt, to the large majority of read more

    To protect honeybees, start with straight talk
  • Issue:

    Witnesses in police case tell of sex, lies and racism

    A court case over racism and racial profiling in the Rutland police department has lately revealed allegations of a much broader range of misconduct by several current and former city officers.The civil case, which is expected to go to trial this fall, is the result of a lawsuit brought by Andrew Todd, who for many read more

    Witnesses in police case tell of sex, lies and racism