Letters to the Editor (4/9/25)

‘Ready to Move North’

The short article [True 802: “Désolé, Canada,” March 26] was a well-needed contrast with recent actions taken by our government, which threaten Vermont’s relationship with Canada. I wish Québec would respond by providing a way for us to take refuge in their country for a few years and not just making it more difficult to visit or live there. Most of us did not vote for Donald Trump, so the soured border relationship harms us, too. Of course, annexing Vermont to Canada would work, too, but very unlikely. Bilingual, I’m ready to move north now!

Janet Marantz

Essex Junction

Legislator Is Uninformed

This letter responds to a single paragraph in Kevin McCallum’s March 13 article about S.44, which paraphrases Sen. Robert Norris’ objection to “last-minute language changes whose impact he didn’t understand” [“Vermont Bill Seeks to Limit State Cooperation With ICE,” online].

I was present as an observer in Statehouse Room 1 on March 11 as the Senate Judiciary Committee considered the changes. There was extensive testimony from nonpartisan legislative counsel as well as proponents of the bill. Even as a total newcomer to the bill (I was unaware of it until about a week before), it was abundantly clear to me what the changed language signified. My recollection is that Sen. Norris was in the room during the testimony and possibly asked questions of witnesses.

I would like to give the senator the benefit of the doubt of being reasonably intelligent. If that is the case, I have to conclude that he either was not paying attention during the testimony or is deliberately cloaking his actual opposition to the substance of the bill in a false claim of confusion.

Senator, if you don’t like a bill, at least come out and say it honestly and on the record. Or if it is actually true that you don’t understand the significance of legislation that it is your responsibility to vote on, do your homework and due diligence until you do understand it. Both your constituents and Vermont as a whole deserve that much. “I don’t get it” is an admission that you have not done your job.

Rick Hecht

Burlington

Into the Woods

Thanks to Jonathan Mingle for his fantastic cover story in the March 5 issue [“Axed Out: Vermont’s Loggers and Sawmills Are Disappearing — and That’s Bad News for Forests“]. My husband and I have been managing our land and forest for over 40 years.

After the 1998 ice storm and October 2010 and Christmas Eve 2023 hurricane-force historic windstorms, we were thankful that our land was being managed. Those three storms wreaked havoc on our ancient hardwoods. We had a salvage cut done each time, reasoning: Why leave money in the woods? The timber went to market at our local lumberyard — the now-closed A. Johnson Company.

After the Christmas Eve 2023 windstorm, we were worried it would be difficult to find a logger because our last two loggers had retired. We submitted a Front Porch Forum post looking for a logger. That’s how we found Cale Pelland. He is the most thoughtful woodsman we have ever met. Cale loves and understands the woods for the value of a product and, above all, helping to improve the trees that are left and improving wildlife habitat.

I invite anyone to drive up Boro Hill Road from Monkton to Bristol and look around. We are so lucky to be surrounded by some of the most beautiful, manicured woods, thanks to like-minded neighbors who have hundreds of acres and are managing their land. In fact, when you are traveling that road, please stop by our new Monkton Town Forest and take a walk!

Diane Bennink

Monkton

Chief Complaint

[Re “Chief’s Justice: Quaint Woodstock Stages a Quasi-Judicial Hearing to Weigh Demotion of Its Police Chief,” March 26]: The Seven Days report on the quasi-judicial hearing about Woodstock Police Chief Joseph Swanson is clever and entertaining, but it’s riddled with factual errors large and small. I was there for the entire hearing.

The initial chronology starting October 13 is wrong and omits the manager’s referral of the matter to the Vermont State Police, who cleared Chief Swanson of any wrongdoing. The road rage incident was not part of the evidence at the hearing. (Swanson was also later cleared by the Vermont Criminal Justice Council.)

On October 13, Swanson got out of his car and calmed the parties down before it got out of hand. There are witnesses and video. Swanson was off duty.

The quasi-judicial hearing was not a Loudermill hearing. That happened on January 22.

There were empty seats from the start, maybe 20.

There was never an expectation of a decision at the end of the hearing. The trustees made that clear in advance.

The article completely misses the driving force on this confrontation. That would be the municipal manager, Eric Duffy, who initiated his own investigation without waiting for the Vermont State Police to complete theirs. As the article indicates, the complaints against Chief Swanson are trivial and, literally, laughable: He wore unmatched socks!

William Boardman

Woodstock

Editor’s note: We acknowledge that the chief got out of the vehicle during the traffic altercation, and that detail of the story has been corrected online and, today, in print. Otherwise, Seven Days stands by its reporting.

Feds Funding a Skate Park?

[Re “Vermont to Lose Millions as Part of Federal Grant Cuts,” March 27]: A recent article in Seven Days noted that Vermont will lose millions of dollars in federal grants under the new administration. Many people are trying to determine why. Another news article that same day in the Addison County Independent reminds me of why we now have Donald Trump, Elon Musk and company in Washington, D.C., shutting off funding for many U.S. government grants. That article noted that a proposed skate park renovation in Bristol will be partially funded with $140,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act. The ARPA is a direct handout from our federal government. Why, in heaven’s name, is the U.S. government spending $140,000 on a skate park in Bristol, Vt.? I am not sure that is what our founding fathers envisioned as a primary — or even secondary — role for our federal government.

Jim Peabody

Bristol