The Members of Parliament for Brome-Missisquoi, Sherbrooke and Compton-Stanstead, the Members of the National Assembly for Orford and Sherbrooke, the Reeve of the Memphremagog MRC, the Mayor of Magog, and the Mayor of Sherbrooke, make the following statement: Whereas Lake Memphremagog is a natural treasure and a source of drinking water for 175,000 residents of…
All efforts to improve the water quality of the Memphremagog Watershed and consequently, beautiful Lake Memphremagog should be applauded. Everyone enjoying, using, and admiring the Lake and the surrounding watershed has the responsibility and the ability to enhance the water quality. Understanding both the science of the issues challenging water quality and the solutions that…
This letter was submitted by Phil White, Director of Kingdom Games. I love and hate this border with Canada. Living in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont on Lake Memphremagog often feels like living on the edge of the world, away from it all. Our working landscape of farms, fields, and forests is one of the…
My name is Carl P. King and I am announcing my candidacy for mayor of Newport. I and other community members strongly feel that it is time for a change in mayoral leadership and that a new face is very much needed. We believe I am the right candidate with leadership skills, solutions, and ideas…
Wednesday, January 6th will be remembered as a day of infamy in the annals of American history. A day in which armed insurrectionists overtook the inner chambers of the United States Capitol Building as the Congress undertook a Constitutionally-mandated function of the federal government, that of ceremoniously recording the duly certified electoral votes of every…
This letter was submitted by Russ Ingalls Senator, Orleans/Essex District. As many of you are aware, there was a Resolution passed by the House and Senate this week to which I voted no, the only one in the Senate to do so. If this Resolution were to have condemned the rioters that breached the Capital,…
Mayor Paul Monette recently announced his decision to run for re-election as Mayor of the City of Newport. He released the following statement today: Much has been accomplished over the past several years under my leadership and in 2020, despite the Covid pandemic, the City continued to see successes. Newport City continued to operate and…
The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources hosted a virtual public meeting last week to report on research that has been conducted by Vermont Fish and Wildlife scientists, investigating the cause of melanoma lesions in the Brown Bullhead population in Lake Memphremagog. The meeting was recorded and can be found online. The cancerous fish were first…
With election day looming some issues rise to the surface during the election process. I would like to see Vermont governed by Vermonters. Just over half of our elected officials were born and raised out of state. I would like to see anyone running for a Vermont House seat or senate be a person male…
This letter was submitted by Peggy Stevens, DUMP Advisory Committee member from Charleston. D.U.M.P. (Don’t Undermine Memphremagog’s Purity), Northeast Kingdom’s environmental advocacy group, has been working since the summer of 2018 to raise awareness about the environmental threat posed by the NEWSVT landfill in Coventry. Since our work began, we have learned just how great…
This letter was submitted by Penelope Doherty of Craftsbury. I began visiting NEK 7 years ago, then moved here for my mom. In that time, through community meetings and individual interactions, I’ve become very impressed with the capabilities of Katherine Sims. If the NEK is to sustain the way of life we all value so…
Dear Community Members, August 31st is Overdose Awareness Day. It is a day to reflect on the 184 lives lost every day in the United States to drug overdoses. It is a day to remember loved ones who have tragically died from an overdose. May they be remembered for who they were and what they…
My name is Erynn Hazlett Whitney and I am running for Governor of Vermont as an Independent. I am a 33-year-old woman, mom, wife, Soldier, entrepreneur, professional, warrior, and a 7th generation Vermont worker. Please visit my website, www.whitney-2020.com for upcoming events, positions, news, social media followings, and more. You’ll notice the two primary duties…
I wanted to send along a message announcing my Candidacy to run for the Orleans/Essex district on the Republican ballot for Vermont State Senate. I have chosen to run because I strongly feel that we are a forgotten area dominated by the politics of counties to the south and west of us. Montpelier follows the…
This letter was submitted by Katherine Sims & the NEK Collaborative Board of Directors/Advisory Board We are writing today to ask you to take action to help ensure that NVU can continue to provide critical, affordable higher education to Vermonters and be an economic and cultural engine for northern Vermont for years to come. As…
Hello, my name is Savannah Williams. I’m the Social Change Program Manager at The Advocacy Program of Umbrella. I have worked with Umbrella as a Youth Advocate for the last ten years. Hi! My name is Ally Howell. I’m the Prevention Specialist at Umbrella as of July 1st, 2020, and have worked in tobacco and…
It started off as such a small ask. At the City Council meeting where meetings are set for the year, we, citizens of Newport, asked for the City not to schedule a meeting on Martin Luther King Day. Out of respect for the day. It was refused. And it was made clear at that meeting…
This letter was submitted by Rep. Mark Higley (Eden, Lowell, Westfield, Jay, Troy) The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented public health and economic challenges for the people of Vermont. Vermonters have lost their lives, many have lost access to healthcare services, one in four are now unemployed, and too many families are struggling with hunger…
Dear Community Members: As we enter the uncharted domain of the Corona Virus (COVID-19) and the subsequent declaration of the state of emergency in Vermont, I want to assure all our communities that Northeast Kingdom Human Services stands prepared to serve our clients with mental health, substance use, and intellectual and developmental disability needs. I…
Dear Editor, I would like to bring to the attention of your readers a study, completed in 2017 and published last Fall by the USGS and Vermont Fish and Wildlife, that has received little if any notice. I received a copy of the study from a Canadian friend, not through the State or local media.…
Dear community members of the Newport City area, my name is Amy Gillespie and I am running for a seat on the Newport City Council. Today I am writing to you in hopes of planting a few seeds. Unless you’ve been attending the City Council meetings or watching them online from NEK-TV, you might not…
This letter was submitted by the Board of Directors Newport City Downtown Development, Chair Conrad Bellavance. The City of Newport Ordinance #120 Regulating ALL – Terrain Vehicle Use on Town Highways also known as the “ATV ordinance” was approved by the City Council on October 21, 2019, for a trial period commencing May 2020 to…
In an attempt to divert attention from the conditions that resulted in serious injury to one of the truck drivers and the spill of thousands of gallons of toxic landfill leachate, diesel fuel and other noxious fluids, Casella spokesman Jeff Weld casts blame not only on those who raised concerns about the spill, but on…
This letter to the editor was submitted by Jeff Weld, the Director of Community Engagement at Casella Waste Systems. Inc. A week has passed since an early morning truck accident occurred that significantly impacted two drivers and their families. Over the course of the week, there have been several articles, social media posts, and letters…
My name is Ben Roberts. I am 12-years old writing from Orleans. I formed a small snow removal business in November of 2019. I got interested in this form of work because I have helped shovel off my walkway and driveway at home for years. I’m still getting off of the ground with the business.…