BRATTLEBORO-I was going to write a different letter of support for Emilie Kornheiser, as she runs for Windham-7 (West Brattleboro) state representative. Then, however, my thoughts coalesced around one word: courage.
The courage to push for the right things, even if she receives backlash for her positions: This capability is one our district needs, our state needs.
Given the political reality that has been in effect in Vermont for several years - with a popular Republican governor who chooses not to work closely with a heavily Democratic and Progressive legislature - our representatives need to fight awfully hard for the things they feel strongly about.
Perhaps Emilie's biggest achievement has been the funding for child care. The need for additional child care in our state is tremendous, and growing our economy depends on it. She was among those most out in front in getting this done.
On Dec. 23, I, joining many others, attended the Pliny Park (Brattleboro) protest of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. I think it is irrefutable that the Hamas attack on innocent Israeli citizens on Oct. 7 was horrific and an abomination. In my opinion, however, the actions of Israel's Netanyahu-led...
My knowledge of the Israel/Hamas situation is superficial at best. While I know some about the history and some about the current situation, I have never studied it in any depth. My own DNA has no Jewish or Palestinian percentages. Over 18 years ago I did marry into a...
I left Brattleboro's Representative Town Meeting on March 25 perturbed. A lot of good was voted for. Not much restraint was in evidence. I was also unsettled because I think a lot of District 1 (now District 7) residents would not agree with all the spending that was approved, but I failed to articulate my concerns. We representatives wrestled for a good while with Article 23, about how large a human services budget to recommend for FY25 (i.e., for July...
I have been following the letters and public hearings and coverage regarding the proposed amendment to the Brattleboro Town Charter relating to evictions of housing tenants. What BSAG Realty has done to tenants at Westbrook Court is, I believe, an example of why some persons and entities choose to be absentee owners: so they do not have to even see the faces of the people whose lives they are completely upending. I am also convinced, however, that we have many...
The monument in West Kingston, Rhode Island to the Great Swamp Fight of Dec. 19, 1675 commemorates the vicious clash between colonial militia (and some of their Native American allies) and the Narragansett people. I can trace the portion of me who is a Bosworth back to one of the colonists who fought that day, John Bosworth. While I was growing up, my family was proud that my father's paternal line, though not among the 1620 Pilgrims, had immigrated to...
Jim Dandeneau, executive director of the Vermont Democratic Party, has said, “We know the Vermont Republican Party is filthy with insurrectionist sympathizers.” What possible general good was Dandeneau thinking would come from this broad-brush remark? Is the thought of Vermonters becoming ever more divided, ever more uncivil to one another (as use of the word “filthy” certainly helps to further), a strategy Dandeneau is pursuing? It certainly seems so. While as a rule I vote for (and sometimes contribute to)
I was raised a Catholic, as was my father before me and I believe his father before him. While I did not attend parochial elementary or high schools, I did matriculate at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. I have not, though, been a practicing Catholic since the age of 25, more than four and a half decades ago. One of the primary reasons I left the Church was because of its paternalistic nature. There are still...