Opinion
Forum for Feb. 1, 2023: Forecast history
Forecast historyIt is with great interest that many of us consult your daily Upper Valley Forecast for the latest data on precipitation, snowfall and such.But there is a problem. The “Normal season to date” and “Normal year to date” do not indicate...
Forum for Jan. 30, 2023: Public schooling versus public education
Public schooling versus public educationAs soon as my husband and I walked into the Jan. 21 Croydon District planning meeting, we simultaneously said, “Delphi Technique.” The Delphi Technique uses a highly structured multi-step meeting process, which...
Forum for Jan. 29, 2023: The advantages of EVs
The advantages of EVsIn light of this month’s Lebanon City Council decision to require electric vehicle charging spaces and stations at new housing developments, I thought that I would share our experience with the many benefits of driving an EV for...
Forum for Jan. 26, 2023: Many questions about Charlestown development
Many questions about Charlestown developmentI commend the discerning articles by Patrick O’Grady about the dispute in Charlestown over our Selectboard’s support for a proposed “mansion” atop Perry Mountain on the town’s border with Unity.Our family...
Forum for Jan. 22, 2023: Think globally, act sustainably
Think globally, act sustainablyThe world’s population is nearing 8 billion. Last year, a report titled “Scientists’ warning on population” cited the research of several renowned scientists including Paul Ehrlich which opines that the Earth is able to...
Editorial: No winners in Windsor
While one hears frequently of “win-win” propositions, it’s much rarer to hear one described as a “lose-lose.” That, however, appears to us to be the case in the settlement of former Windsor School Principal Tiffany Riley’s federal lawsuit alleging...
Column: The psychology of life among the armed
By STEVE NELSON
A recent opinion column in the New York Times addressed what I have long asserted as the most powerful psychological aspect of the gun issue in America. Therein Jamelle Bouie writes about the impact that “open carry” has on individuals and...
Column: American gridlock, the history, the threat and the path forward
By NARAIN BATRA
The Cheshire Cat smile never left his face, even when Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California was repeatedly knocked down during the grueling voting process for the House speakership election for the 118th Congress.Like a bobo doll, he bounced back again...
Commentary: Health care in Upper Valley has improved
By SUSAN A. REEVES and JOSEPH L PERRAS
As the leaders of two of the largest Upper Valley health care organizations, both of which are members of Dartmouth Health, we want to share some important context missing from the Valley News’ Jan. 22 editorial “Are we now receiving better care?”The...
Editorial: Are we now receiving better care?
When the organization now known as Dartmouth Health first began swallowing up smaller hospitals and medical practices in the Upper Valley and in the wider region, it articulated a vision of a unified system in which patients would receive “the right...
Column: ‘Woke’ could be what most voters actually want in 2023
By WAYNE GERSEN
Several articles over the past several weeks describe how GOP cultural conservatives like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, oppose “woke corporations” who have embraced an “ESG” ethos or investment strategy. Wailin Wong, an...
Column: Sharing a big, old house and staying loose
By MICKI COLBECK
There is a term in ecology used to describe the sharing of scarce resources by various species. This survival strategy, resource partitioning, occurs across the animal kingdom, and I suppose, if one looks at fungal connections, between plants as well....
Lyme-Thetford bridge plan is a done deal
By WILLIAM CASS and JOSEPH FLYNN
The New Hampshire Department of Transportation, as lead agency, and Vermont Agency of Transportation are aware of considerable discussion regarding a current construction project to rehabilitate the bridge carrying East Thetford Road over the...
Editorial: The state of Twin States leadership
This is a tale of two neighboring states, told by their Republican governors in inaugural addresses as they embarked on their fourth terms in office earlier this month.The first is a fairy tale spun by New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, which consisted...
Column: A meditation on tricks of the mind
By MARY OTTO
Winter HoursI don’t think I am old yet, or done with growing. But my perspective has altered — I am less hungry for the busyness of the body, more interested in the tricks of the mind. by Mary Oliver On a recent chilly Sunday afternoon in early...
Forum, Jan. 15: What kids can read
Censorship begins at homeI do not support censorship and believe that individuals should choose what they or their young children read or hear. I taught elementary school for 34 years. Over the years, several parents objected to my reading of The...
Column: Dartmouth dorm plan doesn’t address housing issue
By BARRY HARWICK
Dartmouth College officials bill their current plan to build housing for 400 undergraduate students on Lyme Road as a solution to a drastic shortage of beds on campus. There are two parts to that assumption.One is quite accurate; Dartmouth absolutely...
Column: Novel experience happen, whether we want them or not
By WILLEM LANGE
For many decades now I’ve harbored the conviction that to live a vital, interesting life, I should try something new each week. This has led to many fascinating experiences, lots of new acquaintances, and now and then some distress, especially if the...
Column: Where lost innocence becomes a marker
By JONATHAN STABLEFORD
“Where were you on the day President Kennedy was shot?” For people of a certain age this question has become a cliché, and for others there is another about the morning of Sept. 11. 2001. Those of us who lived in the Northeast in November of 1965 can...
Column: Travel plans are always weather-dependent
By WILLEM LANGE
Christmas week 2022 in the United States was, depending upon your circumstances and point of view, exciting, challenging, profitable, calamitous, frustrating, expensive or ruinous. The winter storm, as if programmed by an enemy, caught us at our most...
