I'm no economist, but when I hear about downtown businesses blaming their financial woes on the presence of people on the sidewalk asking for spare change, I'm left scratching my head.
It seems like if you're going to run a business, you'd want to know the basics of supply and demand. Like if you want to make money, you need to offer goods and services that people want at a price they can pay.
So, if you want people to buy stuff from you, they need money.
That's what they're trying to do on the sidewalks downtown: get money for the things they need. Because in our society, no one gets their basic needs met without it. Minimum wage isn't enough to pay rent in this town. Social Security disability income isn't enough, either.
Your coverage of the Vermont Supreme Court case Kuligoski v. Brattleboro Retreat is lacking an important voice: that of psychiatric survivors/mental health consumers. In news articles where you've published about the court's decision and its influence, you've represented two sides: that of the family bringing the lawsuit and that...