Notice: Undefined index: HTTP_REFERER in /home/stparch/public_html/headmid_temp_main.php on line 4394
Newspaper Archive of
Journal Opinion
Bradford , Vermont
July 24, 2019     Journal Opinion
PAGE 4     (4 of 12 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
 
PAGE 4     (4 of 12 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
July 24, 2019
 
Newspaper Archive of Journal Opinion produced by SmallTownPapers, Inc.
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information
Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader




Page 4--JOURNAL OPINION--July 24, 2019 Letters Boom times Republicans must choose by Scott Funk To the Editor: It is surprising how many of the retirees we meet with raise the expense of Republicans must make a choice for the sake of their party, their country, and maintaining their properties (large lawns) as a burden causing them to consider their souls. They must decide ifthey're going to followthe original ideals ofthe party selling their beloved homes. One gentleman recited the costs ofpaying to have his of Lincoln or the warped and angry party of Trump. Do they stand up for truth and brotherhood or do they sit down beside lies and yard sprayed to kill bugs and weeds, and to make the grass grow, and then paying someoneto mowthe grass more often. He usedto be abletomow it himselfbut can't racism? Is it so important to them to have power that they're wining to abide a president who believes our enemies over our own intelligence services when our manage it anymore. This is a dilemma we understand. Our house stands on almost an acre oflawn, country was attacked; who calls his pofitical enemies childishnames that they would more than we could keep up with using our electric push mower. We have opted punish their children for saying; who insults our allies and taiks glowingly ahout God's Grace by Rebecca Farley It is often hard to forgive others, even harder to forgive yourself. But with God's loving grace, we can put it all behind ourselves. For God's grace can take all your debts and your sins it can refme. For grace will change your heart and leave all your cares behind. to reduce costs and effort by making our property pollinator- and bird-friendly. Instead of struggling to keep up the typical suburban lawn, we let nature take her course. What has evolved over the last five years takes a different kind of effort, lowers costs, and is far more pleasing than just watching the grass grow. When I share this alternative with clients, they almost always smile. It feels somewhat like what Wilbur Wright must have experienced as he explained the idea of heavier-than-air flight to skeptical neighbors and friends. But in spite of our expectations about yards, we can simply stop spending the money and effort, and enjoy what happens next. The first steps save money. Stop spraying pesticides. You can't encourage life with poison. Yes, bugs will come, but a lot of those bugs are pollinators like bees and butterflies. Others are caterpillars that turn into butterflies and moths. They are also the food for birds. In no time, you will notice birds that were not bothering to visit before because there was nothing for them to eat. Next, no more herbicides. What may be weeds to us are often important flowers for pollinators, especially indigenous plants and flowers. Take the dandelion, everyone's prime enemy in the garden. However, in early spring, our yard is filled with cheerful dandelions because they are among the first blossoms for spring bees. Another weed people fight to eradicate is milkweed. It may need controlling, but it is the only plant Monarchs lay eggs on. (Remember how you enj oyed Monarchs as a kid? They seemed to be everywhere.) No more paying to make the grass grow or to mow it either. Instead, the lawn shrinks, as plants, trees, and bushes develop, until all that remains are various grass paths, easy for a push mower to handle and pleasant to do. With an herbicide-free garden, you will be amazed at what pops up. We have an apple tree, two ashes, and several sumacs, courtesy of bird droppings. The variety of flowers that have grown up and blossomed is beyond my telling. Yes, some turn out to be aggressive or undesirable, so there is weeding. Not the frantic, it's-got-to-be-perfect kind of weeding of old, but a pull this out here, snatch that up there, or just top them so the seeds don't spread. Although the purpose of a habitat garden is to provide for the birds, bees, and butterflies, we are still the greatest beneficiaries. Visitors are always amazed at the variety ofnative plants and the abundance of beautiful birds in our yard. It is a special thing to relax in the shade of a tree and enjoy watching the Monarchs or Swallowtails flutter about while a catbird mocks the cardinals. Yes, we have purchased flowers. Yes, there is work to a habitat garden. But it is cheaper to maintain and contributes more to our peaceful enjoyment of nature than any green expanse of grass could. Plus, without all the toxins, it is healthier for all life in the garden, including us. ### Scott Funk lives in Barre. ON THIS DATE On July 24, 1783, Simon Bolivar, "The Liberator," was born in Caracas, Venezuela. Bolivia is named after him. He died Dec. 17, 1830 in Santa Marta, Colombia. ### American aviatrix Amelia Earhart was born July 24, 1897 in Atchison, KS. She was the first woman to cross the Atlantic solo and fly solo across the Pacific from Hawaii to Califomi& She was lost on flight from New Guinea to Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937. ### July 24 is Utah's Pioneer Day anniversary. It commemorates the day in 1847 when Brigham Young and his followers entered the Salt Lake Valley. MUNICIPAL WEBSITES New Hampshire Bath--www.bath-nh.org Bento www.tobentonnh.org Haverhill--www.haverhill-nh.com Lisbon--www.lisbonnh.org Lyme--www.lymenh.gov Monroe---www.monroetown.com Mountain Lakes District--www.mountainlakesnh.com Orford--www.orfordnh.us Piermont--www.townofpiermontnh.org Warren--www.warren-nh.com Wentworth--www.wentworth-nh.org Vermont Bradford--www.bradford-vt.us Chelsea--www.chelseavt.0rg Corinth www.corinthvt.org Fairlee---www. fairleevt.org Groton--www.grotonvt.com Newbury--www.newburyvt.org Ryegate--www.ryegatevt.org Thetford--www.thetfordvermont.us West Fairlee---www.westfairleevt.com ABOUT THIS PAGE The opinion page of the Journal Opinion is devoted to editorials, commentary and letters. The editorial on the left side under the heading editorial is the only column that expresses the opinions of the Journal Opinion. All others are the views and opinions of the authors only. We encourage readers to comment on matters of interest and will publish letters regardless of their politics providing they are in good taste. We ask that you limit letters to 400 words or less and write no more than twice per month. All letters must be signed with contact information given for verification. The publisher reserves the right to verify the accuracy of letters, edit letters for clarity, space and content, and limit the number of letters from any writer to two a month. Anonymous letters or letters judged to be libelous will not be published. The deadline for letters and commenteries is Monday at noon. They may be mailed to the Journal Opinion, PO Box 378, Bradford, VT 05033, emailed to editor@j onews.com or faxed to (802)222-5438. AN AWARD-WINNING INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER A weekly newspaper published in Bradford, Vermont. Subscription rates-- Vermont and New Hampshire--S30 per year, $20 for six months; out-of-state $38 per year, $24 for six months; senior citizen's discount $3. Second class postage paid at Bradford, Vermont. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Joumal Opinion, PO Box 378, Bradford, Vermont 05033 Editor/Publisher-~ Connie Sanville Managing Editor ~ Alex Nuti-de Biasi Web Site www.jonews.com BRADFORD FAX 802-222-5281 802-222-5438 ruthless dictators? Do they follow blindly as their leader makes our nation a laughing-stock as he leads us ever closer to another war, or do they decide they've had enough and agree that he must be stopped before he can do irreparable harm to our country and the world? Do they not realize that if they don't speak up and do something, they're silently complicit in Trump' s every word and action? How much more will it take before they will stand up and say, "Enough is enough"? No more children in cages. No more lies. No more racism and discrimination. No more. Our country is dying. Say something. Please. Rachael Booth Landaff NH There is no hiding from your wretchedness when you confront God' s splendor. And He will never ever leave you, even when your journey has blunders. Yes, it's never too late to grab God's grace and have a new life start. Just kneel before God' s Holy presence and let grace take over your heart. The St. News that the St. Albans Co-op, the largest dairy cooperative in Vermont, is considering merging with the giant Kansas-based Dairy Farmers o fAmerica should not come as a shock. Rumors of change have swirled around the farm community for months. Dairy is important to Vermont. It contributes some $2.2 billion in annual economic activity and, depending upon the measure, from 7,000 to 14,000 thousand jobs to the state. The "Co-op," as it is known, has just celebrated its 100th anniversary. It is owned by its farmer-members, the number of which has fallen each year as the dairy industry continues to be challenged by low milk prices. The question that many are asking is what does the proposed merger mean to dairy farmers in Vermont? Is this a good thing or something to fear? The Co-op has over 300 members, representing large, medium and small farms as well as organic producers. DFA, also a cooperative, already has more than 8,100 member farms throughout the country, including more than 100 inVermont. Since 2003, the Co- op itself has been a DFA member. At a recent Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, the Co-op's leadership and DFA made a strong case in favor of the merger. The Co- op's board and management cite the 16-year relationship between the two organizations. They say that has given them acomfortlevelthat provides greater confidence in the potential of a Albans Co-op plan makes sense by Senator Randy Brock and Senator Corey Parent successful merger. The Co-op has long held a seat on DFA's national board and it is also represented on DFA'sNortheast Council. The transaction is not without risk. DFA has been accused of not always acting in its members' best interest. Without admitting wrongdoing, DFA has paid out more than $200 million in settlements in recent years, including a class action brought in Vermont. Litigation is still pending as some farmer plaintiffs did not agree to the Vermont settlement. The allegations are that DFA controls milk producers and then sells the milk at a low price to processors, also partially owned by DFA. Instead of distributing the money back to its members, the suit claims DFA uses "complex accounting and opaque financial records to keep the money for their executives and their cronies." The Co-op's board, based on its long relationship with DFA, says it is intimately familiar with the claims and counterclaims, has investigated them thoroughly and has satisfied itself that the allegations are without merit. The settlements have brought with them increased controls, the addition of an independent ombudsman and more transparent accounting policies. The risk, of course, is what happens if the plaintiffs prevail and whether that might have any impact on Co- op farmers entering into the merged organization. The Co-op board and management assure us that they and their advisors have taken that into account. We understand that the decision to propose a merger was the Co-op's idea. It arose from a recognition that greater financial strength and market power was needed to address the increased challenges in the evolving global dairy market. Simply put, the need to make added investments in plant and equipment and to provide access to a broader market led Co-op leaders to conclude that this was the best way to provide members with long-term stability and added streugt Under the terms of the deal, Co-op members transition to become DFA members. All ofthe Co-op' s plant and equipment will pass to DFA. That includes McDermotts Trucking, the dairy hauling company owned by the Co-op, as well as the Co-op store. In return, Co-op members' equity will be converted to an equivalent amount o f equity in DFA. DFA intends to make a $30 plus million investment in the Co-op's St. Albans plant and also will agree to invest $5 million in new trucks and trailers for McDermotts. The significant dollar investment in infrastructure and equipment bodes well for the continued presence of the Co-op in St. Albans. All employees will be retained. The Co-op will berenamed as the St. Albans Creamery, LLC. The ultimate decision on the merger will come after a July 29 vote by the Co-op's membership. Since 1919, the St. Albans Co-op has been part of the fabric of Vermont. It will be sad to see it go, but we are pleased to see it continue in its new form. On balance, the merger seems to be in the best interest of its farmer-members and ofthe Vermont farm economy. There is still work to be done before this is finalized, but based on what we heard at the hearing, wethinkthat this is a prudent and necessary next step for the future of Vermont's dairy industry. ### Randy Brock and Corey Parent, both Republicans, represent Franklin County and Alburgh in the Vermont State Senate. Let's not just focus on elections, but on how we elect by Lee H. Hamilton A few years ago, I was at a polling place here in Indiana where a long line of people stood waiting to vote. A woman recognized me and calledme over. "Why is it," she asked, "that you politicians make it so hard and inconvenient to vote?" I thought ofthis the other day when I read the news reports about presidents Trump and Putin meeting andjestingly accusing one another of electionmeddling, The background, of course, is the pressing issue of Russian interference in U.S. elections. American voters take elections seriously enough to stand in line-for hours, sometimes-to cast a ballot. And here were the two presidents making light of attempts to subvert the voices of ordinary people. I'dexpect nothing less from Putin, but from an American president? The sad truth is, Russian meddling isn't our only election problem. We've got an archaic registration process, restrictive voting practices, voting systems bedeviled by outdated technol- ogy, inadequate budgets for the voting infrastructure, and an entire nation's worth of overloaded local elections staff. There are robust efforts afoot, by many people and groups, to suppress-not encourage-votes; much effort in this country goes into keeping some groups of people from having a say in the conduct of their government. It's also distressingly common to find officials who are uninterested in promoting a fair and convenient vote, but instead are looking for ways to manipulate the system so that their preferences emerge from the voting. Too few of them believe in Abraham Lincoln's formulation at Gettysburg: "government ofthe people, by the people, for the people." They define "people" so as to exclude voters they don't like. So let' s remember: the ballot is the foundation of our democracy. It's our best way to gauge the public's will. Ifwe fail to get the ballot box fight, then our democracy fails. Elections are not the sum total of"demoeracy." An independent judiciary, an informed public, institutions such as schools, laborunions, business groups, and the news media all are necessary as well. Democracy is ahugely complex phenomenon. But at its heart is one thing: the vote. We've come a long way on this front. The Founders thought that rule by the people was tantamount to anarchy. So they restricted the vote early on to white males who owned property. In a sense, our history as a nation has been written in terms of extending the franchise to more and more people. But that's not the only requirement. Over time, I've come to look at a good election not so much in terms of who wins or loses-liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat-but in terms of the process, and whether it was fair and democratic. Sure, I'm disappointed sometimes in the results ofvoters' decisions at the ballot box. But I'm always reminded that our system is designed with the capacity to correct errors. In a lot of ways, we' I1 be strongest as a country not by means of a strong military or a strong economy, but when our battle cry is, "Let the people vote!" If you look across the state and local landscape, you'll find efforts to make voting more accessible and more verifiable that offer hope in the midst of voter suppression and election meddling. But these need to be a national aspiration that's pursued at every level: to protect voting infrastructure, provide a paper trail for every vote, ensure adequate resources for the conduct of elections, and vow to ensure that state and local elections systems are run fairly, on behalf of everyone who's entitled to vote. Our governments have to work constantly at what that woman in line wanted to see: making voting accessible and convenient. Yes, we need to protect the integrity of the vote. But we also need to make it a positive civic experience, not a burden. Elections have consequences. The winners get political power that enables them to change the course of history. Our chief way to have a say in this is to vote in every election, every time, for every office. Let's make sure we can, and that when we do, our vote matters. ### Hamilton is a senior advisor for the lndiana University Center on Representative Government; he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years. It's barely eight o'clock in the morning on this Sunday, but the air is so thick it feels like a Georgia swamp. The utensil drawer in the kitchen is sticking and the grit on the floor's tacky and the whole house smells like a wet husky in this oppressive humidity. Yesterday, I was looking at my living room carpet that hasn't actually been shampooed in too many years and it looked like crap. So my son Ryan and I rolled it up and took it out side to beat it like the Indian women do in India when they clean their house. Pointless. Itwas pointless. Too much dirt had settled into the cobalt blue wool fibers of my Oriental carpet that I bought for our ftrst brand new house in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Ryan was a baby. We untangled the 50-foot garden hose, set it on high and blasted the water on. After a few minutes Ryan says, "I used to drink water from the hose." , , Yeah, me too. Who hasn t. The taste of water from the garden hose tastes like no other kind of water and running through the sprinkler on 90 degree summer days is more fun than an ice cream cone melting between your fingers. Summer. It's a child's play time to get dirty and filthy digging in the dirt and climbing trees in the woods, bike riding until sunset, staying up too late and eating too much candy and chips and popcorn and hotdogs. It's the time in your life when everything is perfect and free and safe. At least it should be. Every evening, I'd run the tub water and put those pudgy little bodies into the clawfoot tub Letting go by Susan Gyorky and watch as the water turned gray and all their fun went down the drain. I miss those days because they were busy and tiring but they were safe and without the worry of grown children, now young adults going out into the scary, real world where danger lurks in every direction. And my worry keeps sleep at bay. A mother's worry never ends. My friend Jane knows that, jut like her mother said, "You'll never sleep another day without worry." Is this why there are worry beads? When the carpet was soaked and I brushed it the pungent smell ofwet dog fur overwhelmed me. I got the OxyClean and rubbed it into the rug. Dark brown drips were falling from it to the ground below where Kitchen Chicken was making his threatening chicken sounds when a person gets too close for his comfort. Horse shampoo, which we used to bathe Quincythe dog, was next. I smeared that blue gel into my palms pressing them together and rubbing circles and then rubbingmy palms onto the fibers until it became sudsy white. Again and again and again this is what I did until the water that dripped offthe carpet edge dripped clear. A longtime later after we flipped it to the other side and did the same we moved it overto the long grass and laid it down so that the hot sun would dry it. The wet- dry shop vac removed three gallons of water from the carpet and now the creamy white fibers didn't look like dismal, dirty gray. My mother's world is again sent into a tempest. My quiet, second son Jeremy has tried to find his way, but, as most 20-year-olds, is aimless. He enlisted in the Marines with his brother Ryan at his side---brother with his brother. They are no longer little kids playingpretend pirates anymore and both o fthem are looking for a place where they are brothers among many, a band ofbrothers. The danger of the military frightens me into hard physical labor on this very hot and humid summer day. It' s the only way for me to cope with the overwhelming emotions of fearing for my sweet son who's impulsive and sensitive and wants to be a man. And I can't stop My mother always said that if she could live life all over again that she wouldn't because life is just too hard. When I heard her say those words I was hurt became it made me feel like she didn't love me but what I didn't understand was that she loved me too much and when I was hurting, she was hurting even more. Now I know what her words meant and they couldn't be more true. I feel like that all the time and I feel my mother' s voice inside my head where she lives on. I don't know if I'm crying for myself or for her, or for missing her so much at a time when I need her the most. I sigh a deep heavy sigh laden with so much emotion that it leaves my body like a 10-pound lead ball. Thomas, curled at my feet, looks up at me and squeaks his little meow when he hears it. I love this 19-pound gray and white fluffat my feet because he gives me comfort unconditionally. And he seems to kno w when I need it. So, I know what I have to do and it doesn't come very easily. It never does. I have to let go. I have to let go of my son like I had to let go of my daughter Sierra. Really, as soon as they're bomthey're separate andthe only purpose of parenthood is to keep letting them go each step of the way. Blue jays actually push their babies out o fthe nest for them to become groundlings before they become fledglings. The parent blue jays watch their vulnerable babies from afar as they hop around on the ground into and out ofthe brush, alone and squawking. And there's no other way either. This ishow the baby bluejays become adults. I'm that blue jay mother now, watching from afar as another child leaves my nest. ### The writer lives in Fairlee.