BRATTLEBORO-During the Christmas season of 1972 - the year I graduated from high school - the United States undertook a massive bombing of North Vietnam. It came to be known as "the Christmas bombings."
President Richard Nixon had promised an end to the Vietnam War. The North Vietnamese had left the negotiating table. The bombings were meant to "teach" the Vietnamese "a lesson." More than 20,000 tons of bombs were dropped by B-52s over an 11-day period.
Yet within three years, we fled Saigon and abandoned our war in Vietnam.
Now we are engaged in another holiday season bombing with U.S.-made bombs to "teach" another "lesson." Like Nixon, Benjamin Netanyahu has his political problems.
As the son of a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, I have never had a problem with the title “colonel.” I have had many a former student play for the Colonels, and I have cheered on “purple” from the stands many a time. In 2004, when the Brattleboro...
Don “The Con” Trump was fully informed that he had lost the 2020 election and that there would be no way to change the outcome. Yet he said this as he defended the Jan. 6 insurgents: “If you know a vote is fraudulent, right? How can you pass on...
I enjoyed your recent article on the upgrade of the tire recycling program at WSWMD. However, other recycling programs are also in need of upgrading. The Vermont Bottle Bill is way out of date. Why are so many popular beverages that are packaged in valuable recyclable materials such as aluminum not covered? Why are Vermont hard ciders, for example, not covered? The beverage market its totally different now from how it was in the 1970s when the current law was...
Perhaps the most appalling defense mounted by members of the GOP for the fallen Donald Trump was that the violence at the U.S. Capitol was somehow equivalent - or even less serious - than the protests for civil rights that occurred throughout the summer in the cause of Black Lives Matter. Let me clarify. The marches and protests that followed the extralegal lynching of George Floyd and the utterly incompetent raid that resulted in the murder by police of Breonna...
What a wonderful antidote to the daily news - early voting at the Brattleboro Town Clerk's office. The number of contested races bodes well for the vitality our self-governance. Please consider a vote for Oscar Heller and Daniel Quipp for Brattleboro Selectboard. Local issues and national issues have merged. Housing, energy, and the sustainability of our town are priorities that we must address. Emily Murphy Kaur, Jaci Reynolds, and David Schoales are running for the Brattleboro seats on the Windham...
I was truly humbled by the show of support that I received on March 5 in my election to the Brattleboro Town School Board. Prior to being sworn into office, I attended school board meetings, talked with individual members of of area school boards, and had the chance to testify as a citizen before the Senate Education Committee. Many people are working on finding a suitable compromise that would allow some form of delay to forced school mergers, while the...
I have taught in Brattleboro public schools for over 25 years. Our two children went to Brattleboro elementary schools, Brattleboro Area Middle School, and Brattleboro Union High School. Even though I retired from teaching in June of 2018, I continue to contribute to area schools and to speak out for quality public education. I am committed to promoting equal access to a quality education for children of all abilities. I have lived in this town for over 30 years and...