Letters to the Editor (6/18/25)

A Different Verdict

I was in court watching the trial of David Krag v. University of Vermont Medical Center discussed in “A Question of Care” [June 11]. The jury’s decision was not surprising in today’s MAGA climate. First, science was disregarded and deemed unimportant. The intense expert from Yale University obviously didn’t have as much of an impact on the jury as the expert with ties to Big Pharma and a handsome smile.

Second, there was an overemphasis on “choice” over “care,” suggesting everyone has equal capacity to make choices and equal background conditions that affect their choices. Those disabled by an addiction are seen as having made bad choices.

Third, as with so many MAGA projects, there is little respect or care for the vulnerable. The stereotypes of drug addicts abounded in that courtroom where the defense attorney painted a picture not of a confused boy turned man, trying to stop over and over again and fighting a brain disease, but instead an addict who did what addicts do: use, keep secrets and relapse.

In that Burlington courthouse, the jury was asked to forget the science of brain disease and picture the demeaned addict, not “a person with an addiction.”

Even before the trial began, David Krag’s attorney Mary Kehoe had to make an argument to be able to show a video of Peter Krag playing jazz with his dad nine days before his death. The attorney for UVM Medical Center thought it would be too influential. Attorney Kehoe thought it would counter assumptions about addicts. In these times, it obviously wasn’t enough.

Sharon Lamb

Shelburne

Sympathy for Dr. Krag

I am so sorry to hear about Dr. David Krag’s son [“A Question of Care,” June 11]. It is so sad that we live in a world where we put trust in others for help and don’t get it. I worked with Dr. Krag, and he is the most caring gentleman ever. He cared about people who needed help.

Patricia DePaul

Longs, SC

Kitty Kills

[Re “Here, Kitty? Wildlife Advocates Want to Bring Catamounts Back to the Green Mountains,” June 4]: Regarding reintroducing mountain lions to Vermont, I urge you read The Beast in the Garden, a book by David Baron. He chronicles the reappearance of mountains lions on Colorado’s Front Range, especially around Boulder, where the deer population had exploded. Lions eat deer. It turns out they also eat household pets. Oh, and then they killed some humans.

Coloradans who live in the mountains have learned to be wary and know it’s not a good idea to go for a walk on the outskirts of town or in the woods at dusk. They keep their pets inside or erect very high fences — over 10 feet, as mountain lions can jump amazingly high. We Vermonters don’t have that experience of living in mountain lion country, and the learning curve can be brutal.

Mountain lions are apex predators, but humans and pets are not, so they are at risk.

Lyman Orton

Manchester

‘Leave Them Alone’

[Re “Here, Kitty? Wildlife Advocates Want to Bring Catamounts Back to the Green Mountains,” June 4]: Leave them alone. They will come on their own.

David Stewart

South Burlington

‘We the People’

[Re “ICE Arrests 10 Migrant Workers in Newport Worksite Raid,” May 30, online]: Slavery is back in our country! The slavers in the current administration, and in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are abducting people and sending them to slave countries like El Salvador, where they are separated from their families, tortured and brutalized, and worked to exhaustion and death. Just like the African slavers did 400 years ago, with an ironic, alchemical twist on The Art of the Deal: The African slavers sold their slaves; our contemporary slavers are giving their slaves to slave countries and paying for the privilege.

This dreadful, immoral turn of events must not persist. The slavers in politics and in the military should be in jail — at the very least.

In its first phase in the Americas, slavery seemed to be the private prerogative of large plantation owners. Now it’s the policy and the action of the government — we the people — of the United States.

As long as we tolerate this genocidal abridgment of human rights, we — we, the people — are all complicit.

Mannie Lionni

Burlington

Question From a 36-Year-Old

[Re “Their Bread and Butter: A Father-Son Pair Have Doubled Down for Growth Since Buying Stewart’s Bakery,” June 10]: I enjoyed reading about the father-son duo running Stewart’s Bakery together, but I was puzzled by the choice to include the ages of almost everyone mentioned in the piece.

We learn not only the ages of the father, 64, and son, 33, but also their spouses (59 and 33, respectively); their head baker (52); a manager at City Market (50); the owner of Papa Frank’s (65); and one of their employees (a spry 35, gamely applying egg wash to proofed buns).

The ages of their employees and business partners seemed unnecessary and interrupted the flow of the story enough for me to notice it. I’m curious to hear why the choice was made to include that detail for everyone and not just the subjects of the piece.

Pat LaClair

Fairfax

Editor’s note: You’re right. We overdid it. There is no hard-and-fast rule on this — every publication does it differently — but the AP Stylebook advises: “Use when deemed relevant to the situation. If someone is quoted as saying, ‘I’m too old to get another job,’ the age is relevant. Generally, use ages for profiles, obituaries, significant career milestones and achievements unusual for the age.”

Downtown Too Expensive

From [“Queen City Squeeze,” May 7; “Burlington Council Directs Mayor to Move Free Lunch Program,” May 20; “Amid Tensions, Burlington Mayor Wants Council to Reconsider Free Lunch Resolution,” May 27], I concluded that the business owners in downtown Burlington blame homeless people for a drop in customer traffic. Do they really think that removing homeless people will improve their businesses? I feel more unsafe with businesses raising their prices and closing toilets to noncustomers.

What really made me mad was forcing the soup kitchen to move away from the downtown garage. The soup kitchen fed many people during the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued to do so. People who come to the garage for lunch don’t have transportation, and moving the soup kitchen away from downtown could mean that they wouldn’t be able to make their way to the free lunch distribution.

Moving people from here to there is not going to make the businesses flourish. We live in tough times; people are struggling to make ends meet and are not going to buy new expensive clothes or furniture when they can get it for cheap in secondhand stores. I recently wanted to buy a croissant at the kiosk on College Street. When I found out it was $4.60, I ran away, never to return there. What we really need are food stores and coffeehouses with affordable prices.

It’s easy to blame homeless, impoverished, illegal immigrants and other marginal classes for city problems. It’s much harder to build shelters, soup kitchens and community places to help those in need.

About garages: We need to build more garages out of town. People can take buses to downtown, instead of having all those cars, noise and pollution in downtown Burlington.

Vesna Dye

Burlington

COTS Serves More Than Lunch

[Re “Queen City Squeeze,” May 7; “Burlington Council Directs Mayor to Move Free Lunch Program,” May 20; “Amid Tensions, Burlington Mayor Wants Council to Reconsider Free Lunch Resolution,” May 27]: Missing from these articles is the work that COTS, one of Chittenden County’s largest providers of services to the unhoused, does and has been doing for 40 years. Anyone who isn’t aware may think the only place for our unhoused in Burlington to get lunch is in the parking garage downtown.

COTS Daystation, located at 95 North Avenue, is open every day serving a sit-down lunch at 12:30 p.m. An average of 75 people eat lunch daily. And COTS does more than just provide a hot meal. In addition to the warm welcome from our passionate staff, COTS provides a safe, warm or air-conditioned location; a mailing address; and access to a phone, computer, laundry and shower. These meals are provided by community volunteers who donate their time to prepare meals in our kitchen, and more volunteers are always welcome.

COTS is also a connection point for shelter and housing. COTS has two family shelters and an adult shelter. COTS Daystation also provides a space for service providers to engage with those who may be ready for engagement. You will find representatives from Turning Point Center of Chittenden County, Howard Center’s Street Outreach Team, University of Vermont Health Network, Pathways Vermont and the Office of Veterans Affairs at our Daystation.

COTS has been feeding, sheltering, housing, connecting and caring for our community members for many years. It is a small organization that provides many services beyond lunch. One of the best things about our Daystation is that while our unhoused community may stop in for lunch, they may leave with shelter and connection to services.

Julia Paradiso

Burlington

Paradiso is a board member of COTS.