Letters to the Editor (1/29/25)

‘Well Worth a Road Trip’

In “Barre Locals Oppose Purchase of Vacant Downtown Building” [January 10, online], the author used a limiting and dismissive description when she referred to AR Market as a “pricey” specialty grocery store and deli. In addition to being an Italian grocery on par with one you would find in Montréal or New York City, AR Market and Pearl Street Pizza next door are delicious destinations well worth a road trip. You can pick up some Vermont Salumi products when you go. Downtown Barre is full of hardworking business owners who persevere in the face of challenge after challenge. Please join me in supporting them to the fullest!

Reed Curry

Barre

‘Upsetting’ Comic

When I got to the “Fun Stuff” page in the January 15 edition of Seven Days, I was confused as to why you decided to print the Harry Bliss panel on page 81? I’m also at a loss to explain to myself why Bliss wanted to draw such a panel?

Maybe it’s because I’m 78 years old, but I don’t think it’s funny. In fact, I think it’s just the opposite: It’s upsetting and makes me question my Super Reader commitment to the paper.

If you or Bliss can explain the thought process behind this image, please tell me what it is.

Robert Fuller

Lincoln

Shannon Deserves Better

I just finished reading Jason Van Driesche’s letter to the editor scolding Seven Days‘ coverage of Joan Shannon’s decision not to run again [Feedback: “More to the Shannon Story,” January 15; “Joan Shannon to Retire From Burlington City Council,” January 2, online]. Here’s what I’d like to see in Seven Days: a retrospective of Joan’s service on city council for over 20 years.

You may not have agreed with all of her positions — I didn’t — but I dare say she was right more than she was wrong. She often stood alone in those positions, sometimes at great personal cost, even having her personal safety threatened and people wearing derogatory shirts with her name on them. One example is the cuts to our police department, for which we are still paying the price. Not many people would have the sheer stamina to do what Joan did. How many late nights she spent attending city council meetings instead of spending time with her then-young daughter and husband. Joan deserves our thanks. I am deeply grateful for her service.

Carolyn Hanson

Burlington

Just a ‘Gimmick’

Treasurer Mike Pieciak’s proposal to purchase and cancel medical debt has all of the trappings of a populist political gimmick [“State Treasurer Pieciak Proposes Medical Debt Relief Program,” January 21, online]. It sounds good, but it is a spectacularly bad idea. As someone with decades of experience in the distressed consumer debt industry, I can tell you that purchasing old uncollected medical debt is cheap because it isn’t worth anything, except to the medical establishment looking for a fool willing to throw good money after bad. The proposal is as popular with hospitals as if someone offered to pay me to dispose of my household trash. While the gimmick was entertaining when John Oliver did the same thing on his TV show in 2016, he was playing with his own money. There are far better uses for Vermont’s limited resources than a plan to pay the medical industry good money for bad debt.

Alan Bjerke

Burlington

George Has to Go

Not a surprise to learn that Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George was the instigator behind the mayor’s insistence that Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad clear all future press releases with her [“Prosecutor Pushed Burlington Mayor to Rein in Chief’s Comments,” January 15, online]. Of course, George will have ordered Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak to have them vetted by her first. George has no interest in the public learning that there are well-established legal remedies that she could utilize to put these recidivists in prison for long terms. George abhors accountability, public order and incarceration.

Until the citizens of Chittenden County vote her out of office, Burlington will continue its steady slide into chaos and depravity.

Crocker Bennett

Hinesburg

Road Worrier

[Re Feedback: “Close Call on Shelburne Road,” January 8; Feedback, December 25, 2024; “Two Pedestrians Critically Injured in Shelburne Road Crash,” December 12, 2024; “Crash Course,” November 27, 2024]: I’m writing in response to your coverage of recent accidents on Shelburne Road and subsequent letters to the editor because, midmorning on Martin Luther King Day, I got hit by a car. I was running on the sidewalk. No headphones. The driver pulled out without looking both ways and, before I could think to stop, the car contacted my left side. I held myself up and moved out of the way, turned to see an angry man, then yelled and kept running because I was shocked but not hurt. Several miles later, I watched a Jeep blow through a red light.

I’ve long been worried about getting hit by a car in Burlington because I usually commute by bike and I run, bike and/or walk outside daily. I see many alarming behaviors on the streets. Cars speed through stop signs and turn without signals. When they pass within mere feet as I’m biking on the road — even in a bike lane — it feels like a gamble with my life. I had a close call on Pine Street when I crossed the road after the new bike path abruptly ended (!). As I proceeded north in the bike lane, a left-turning bus almost clobbered me.

I’m not perfect on foot, bike or at the wheel. This is a reminder to be more careful; I hope those reading will do the same. Also, beyond individual actions, let’s get our act together and build a more bike- and pedestrian-friendly city and state. We all deserve safety!

Kathryn Buchan

Burlington