Developing an efficient single-payer system for Vermont will save us a ton of money by removing the costs of promotion, advertising, bill-denying, and form processing required by private insurance. This is good, but the Vermonters who work in those jobs will be hurt, and we need to be sure their livelihoods are not sacrificed in this process.
Dr. Hsiao projects 5,000 new jobs as a result of the change to single payer. Vermonters who lose their jobs due to the change should receive a range of supports, including retraining and a spot at the front of the line for the new jobs created.
Dr. Hsiao also proposes outsourcing and subcontracting parts of the system rather than creating a government system. This, too, can work out well, as long as there is competent oversight. But we will be moving backward if we hire a private company that denies us access to care or mismanages our health-care dollars.
...Alfred Dunklee of Vernon recently won first place in the A Non-Irrigated division of the 2010 National Corn Growers' Association's (NCGA) Corn Yield Contest in Vermont. Dunklee won with Pioneer brand hybrid P1173HR, which yielded 230 bushels per acre. Dunklee earned one of the 359 state titles won by...
To me, Karl Meyer's piece in the Feb. 2 Commons, “A bad year for the river,” was improperly titled. He asked the question, “Are we returning to the 1950s, when the Connecticut River was dubbed the most beautifully landscaped sewer in America?” I say that if you are on...
Obituaries Editor's note: The Commons will publish brief biographical information for citizens of Windham County and others, on request, as community news, free of charge. • Henry “Hank” Holland Anderson, 88, of Westminster. Died Jan. 25 at home. Husband of Phyllis Quimby for 63 years. Father of Sue Gioulis of Ocean Grove, N.J.; Don Anderson of Santaquin, Utah; Wendy Schoenemann of Westfield, N.J.; Melanie DeLonge of Burlington; Jill Kimber of Bricktown, N.J., Jennifer Anderson of Westminster; John Anderson of Jackson,
Music • Dixie Bee-Liners play in Putney: Twilight Music presents an evening of bluegrass and roots music from far and near at The United Church of Putney on Saturday, Feb. 12, at 7:30 pm. The Dixie Bee-Liners are a Virginia-based sextet that features soaring vocal harmonies, dynamic instrumental styles and performances filled with jaw-dropping grit, humor and emotion. Vermont/New Hampshire-based Hot Mustard features hard-driving double banjos, close harmonies and old-time fiddle tunes, all hot and spicy. Husband and wife team...
It's looking more and more like the road to the Division III boys' and girls' basketball championships is going to run through Townshend. The Leland & Gray Rebels girls' basketball team increased their winning streak to eight games last week and solidified their hold on the top spot in Division III with a 11-1 record. Last Saturday, the Rebels rolled to a 56-18 win over Mid-Vermont Christian in White River Junction. As you'd expect from the final score, the Rebels...
What began nearly 40 years ago as a grassroots movement, when a small group of forward-thinking women came together here, and across the world, to address the issue of men's violence, remains here, a grassroots movement today. When our foremothers gathered and chose a name for this organization, they found a radical one in “Women's Crisis Center.” At a time when almost no one acknowledged that there was a problem, to name it and call attention to it was groundbreaking.
If you thought January was snowier than usual, you were right. A sampling of National Weather Service reporting stations around our region tells the tale. At Windsor Locks, Conn., there were 57 inches of snow. It was the snowiest month in history at that location, smashing the old record of 45.3 inches set in December 1945. Boston had 38.3 inches. That's the third snowiest January on record. Concord, N.H., had 38.1 inches, or double the normal January average of 18.9...
In the wake of new tests that show elevated levels of tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, in two monitoring wells at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, Gov. Peter Shumlin announced on Feb. 1 that the state will create an oversight panel to keep tabs on Entergy Corporation's management of the plant. As part of a new probe, an Entergy hydrogeologist will share data with experts from New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on...
Brattleboro's recycling rate is currently about 24 percent, but that is way below our potential of 40 percent or higher. This is due to many reasons, the largest of these being confusion. Many people do not know that Brattleboro has a mandatory recycling ordinance. This ordinance has had little or no enforcement for 16 years. However, starting April 1, 2011, the town will start to strictly enforce the recycling ordinance. Many people are still confused about what items are recyclable...
If you are looking for an inexpensive day on the slopes without having far to drive - a seemingly impossible combination - visit Living Memorial Park in Brattleboro. Situated about a mile-and-a-half from the center of town on Guilford Street off Western Avenue (Route 9), the ski slope offers lift tickets for $5 a day, a fraction of what you would pay at a larger mountain. Granted, the park lacks the challenge and amenities of a Mount Snow (although Mount...
If you would rather skate than ski, the indoor Nelson Withington Skating Facility is adjacent to the ski area. Operated by the town's Parks and Recreation Department, the rink offers an array of programs for skaters, including lessons, speed skating, figure skating, and hockey. There's a modest snack bar in the ice rink lobby for skaters and skiers in need of replenishment or to get warm between runs. The skating rink will be open through Sunday, March 6. The schedule is subject...
It happened overnight. In the spring of 1992. Brattleboro woke to find itself plastered with posters announcing a concert by an all-black, 100-voice church gospel choir from New Jersey. The poster photo alone was a revelation - all those black faces coming to one of the whitest towns in the country! Lift up your voices! Make a joyful sound unto the Lord! Truth be told, I was irrationally exuberant about this concert. I was a music critic back then, in...
As the debate over the future of Vermont Yankee continues, it is important that all stakeholders have accurate information concerning the plant's operations. Vermont Yankee is a top industry performer under a variety of reliability measures. These operational achievements follow Entergy's investment since 2002 of more than $400 million to maintain and improve the reliability of the plant. Before addressing plant reliability, it is worth noting that Vermont Yankee provides an extraordinary level of operational transparency. Vermont Yankee reports to...
On Nov. 13, 2009, State Auditor Thomas Salmon was arrested in Montpelier for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). The experience has prompted the former Bellows Falls resident and potential U.S. Senate candidate to speak out about his DUI arrest and to inspire other Vermonters who have been arrested for the offense to talk candidly about it. According to police reports, Salmon was stopped for failing to use a turn signal. Salmon failed a field sobriety test and had...
The events sweeping the Middle East are causing great difficulty for some and, in particular, our present, fine administration. For decades, successive administrations have turned a blind eye to all the outrageous human rights abuses meted out to a defenseless Egyptian population. For decades, Hosni Mubarak has been a faithful ally to America. In return, he receives $3 billion in U.S. aid each year, along with all the military equipment needed to suppress the Egyptian people. The quid pro quo...
I got rid of TV for a reason: so as to rid myself of the mesmerizing yet seductive footage of 9/11 and other such tragedies, and especially those of war and disaster. Maybe I wanted to be in a cocoon, safely protected from the depravity of the real, outside world. Since leaving the plugged-in world, I found more time to meditate, to write, and dream. But now I'm on Facebook and having 1,000 or more “friends” (I prefer to think...
If it's been a while since you've hung out with 11th- and 12th-graders, or if most of what you now know about students that age comes through the media, talk to Linda Rood. Rood teaches English to juniors and seniors at Leland & Gray Union High School, and she knows intimately what students that age are really like. Or talk to some of the seniors in her Advanced Placement literature class, and ask them about Huckleberry Finn. If you get...
Representatives voted 57 to 26 in favor of the 11-member Charter Review Commission's recommendation that Selectboard members or School Directors not block non-binding initiatives from going to a town-wide vote on the grounds “that the body considers the matters raised in the petition frivolous or not to be business of the town.” They voted down an amendment made by Selectboard Chair Dick DeGray to raise the required number of signatures from 5 percent of the town's registered voters to 10...
Linda Rood has taught English to every high school grade at Leland & Gray since 1988. Before that, she taught English on Long Island. She has nearly 30 years in the trenches, doesn't know if she'll retire soon (although she now qualifies for her pension), and teaches with the intensity of a novice and the engagement of someone who loves her job. English classes are divided into Level 1 (usually college bound) and Level 2 (for students needing a little...
Last Wednesday's big snowstorm kept the turnout down, but 227 voters in the five towns in the Leland & Gray Union High School district nevertheless braved the elements and approved a more than $6.3-million budget for the 2011-12 school year by a 156-71 margin. Turnout last year was 354. In 2009, it was 344. A smaller snowstorm the day before the vote kept people away from the district meeting, which drew about the same number of school board and district...
Local businesses are cutting their electricity bills, thanks to Efficiency Vermont's newLIGHT program. The program helps businesses of all sizes with either fluorescent tube, T12, or HID High-Bay lighting fixtures. It helps them access rebates to replace up to 200 fixtures by working with local contractors or distributors. According to an Efficiency Vermont press release, T12 fluorescent lamps are common in many businesses throughout Vermont. They are usually four- to eight-foot-long tubes mounted horizontally in a ceiling fixture and are...
Linda Rood said that all her AP English students are planning to go to college. Several who applied early had been accepted by their first-choice schools, from Williams College to the University of Vermont to Sarah Lawrence College to the University of New Hampshire, some with financial aid. In later conversations, a few students commented on why they liked the class and the book. Quinn Darrow, who will attend Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., said that the opportunity “to...
Last year, the people of Vermont used the democratic process to prevail upon Entergy Corporation of Louisiana to close its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in March 2012. Instead of obeying the will of the people, Entergy is now spending vast sums of money on lobbying, TV advertising, and lawyers to try to keep its dangerous, polluting nuke running until at least 2032. Along with at least four other people, I am planning to risk arrest for non-violent civil disobedience...
One of the snowiest winters in years is starting take its toll on farm buildings around the state. Officials are blaming heavy snow for a barn collapse in Londonderry that trapped nearly 100 animals and killed two cows on Sunday. Rescue crews were able to free all the animals other than the two cows that died. Last Wednesday, immediately after a big storm left more than a foot of snow and sleet on Windham County, roofs on two barns in...