NEWFANE-I abhor the terrorist attack on Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, and I abhor the ongoing Israeli response on Palestinians living in Gaza. But Passing Article 38 at this year's Newfane Town Meeting will not change a complex conflict that predates biblical times.
To do so would be yet another example of American hubris and antithetical to Newfane's 2020 pledge to condemn "acts intended to induce fear in any person based on their identity." Article 38 induces fear in me, an ethnic Jew who - perhaps naively - has felt safe living here.
Some of what disturbs me about Article 38 is how it singles out one side of one conflict, when the conflict in the Middle East is just one of many conflicts around the world - conflicts that include territorial aggression, civil war, and ethnic cleansing, most fueled by greed for wealth, territory, and power.
Rather than repair the conflict, Article 38 has caused harm by singling out just one side of one world conflict. They all deserve our attention and concern, starting with those taking place here in the U.S.
Town Meeting in March 2024 will be my last as Newfane town moderator. The time has come to hand the gavel to someone new. I will not be seeking reelection. Town moderator is an elected position with a one-year term. To be on the ballot, candidates for the position...
I recently participated in the Townshend Community Conversation about "Vermont's healthcare system to support hospital transformation." For two hours, residents of rural Windham County testified to the extraordinary way medical services are delivered at Grace Cottage Family Health and Hospital. It was a remarkable expression of gratitude and pride...
I thought I was so environmentally virtuous by working from home and sending my words out into cyberspace. But a reader who responded to my recent piece about the carbon footprint of road building [“Our roads, at what cost?,” Column, May 10] burst that bubble. She called my attention “to the huge (and very much neglected) toll that the internet imposes on the environment.” She backed this dire news with a link to a peer-reviewed article published by the MIT...
The torn-up miles of Vermont Route 30 between Brattleboro and Newfane is no mere repaving project, but a full-depth reclamation (FDR) of the road surface. FDR requires making several passes over the 10 miles that run from the corner of Cedar Street in Brattleboro to about a mile south of Newfane Village, just past Brook Street. During this first phase, the road is being milled and the asphalt pulverized, mixed with gravel, and compacted. This is also when the roadway...
Newfane will return to an in-person town meeting at Williamsville Hall on Tuesday, March 7, and I’m glad of it. The meeting will start at 9 a.m. and most likely end by noon. Three hours. It’s true that attendance at Annual Town Meeting has been dwindling in recent years, and many voters blame this decline on the time and day of the meeting — a morning in the middle of the work week. It’s also true that there’s been robust...
With 10 of Vermont's 30 state senators stepping down - including both senators from Windham County - we need someone with experience in government to represent us in Montpelier. That would be Wendy Harrison. Since moving to Vermont full time in 2015, Wendy's had firsthand experience as a municipal manager and/or administrator in the small town of Vernon (pop. 2,141), the medium-sized town of Rockingham (5,034), and the city of Winooski (7,320). She also has eight years' experience as an...
When I boarded the train in Brattleboro on a recent Friday, gas was approaching $5 per gallon, and my ticket cost less than making my 300-mile round-trip in my Prius. When I returned home that Sunday, gas had hit the $5 mark. If I calculated the cost of purchasing, registering, insuring, and maintaining the car, the train was an absolute bargain. It was also a pleasure. After boarding, I settled into a seat the size of a Barcalounger, which would...