WTF, Beatles?

What do the Beatles albums referenced by the graphic art in last week’s Primary Election Preview Issue have to do with the Vermont political scene? I am so very confused.

Tale of Two Works

The well-done July 20 article by Cecilia Luce is worth thought [“New Graphic Novel Charity & Sylvia Comes Under Scrutiny”]; thank you for it. I’ve read neither Rachel Hope Cleves’ 2014 history nor Tillie Walden’s later graphic novel and perhaps will not read either. But the story so far of the two works is interestingly emblematic of time and taste and cultural politics and the reporting of it.

I think we should be a great deal sympathetic to Cleves in this.

It’s clear that Walden would not have produced her work at this time without the previous work of Cleves, isn’t it? I think it is also clear that the author also could not have produced her work without the earlier work.

The role of Vermont Humanities and the Henry Sheldon Museum, as recounted in the story, is defensive and complacent. There is nothing wrong with that; it is the way we are.

I agree with Alison Bechdel, who says, “Tillie’s book is going to supersede [Cleves’] book” and who sees that “That is, I think, as much a commentary on our postliterate era as anything else.”

I would guess that Walden had no idea she was taking the wind out of Cleves’ sails, which she, along with an establishment (that first, as I recall, was very pleased with Cleves’ work), has certainly done. Very much an innocent — and guilty.

Enough ‘Modern World’

Thank you to David Keenan for his letter [Feedback: “Nix ‘Modern World,’” July 15]. The cartoon is not funny or enjoyable; there’s nothing funny about the current state of our country, and the cartoonist’s attempts to be humorous are too close to reality and fall flat.

Bliss-ful Moment

[Re Fun Stuff: Harry Bliss, July 15]: OK, Harry Bliss has outdone himself. I never thought I’d see a movie reference, let alone one spoofing “The Warriors.” Love it. Makes me want to put the DVD in the player and watch the movie again.

Growth, Not Regulation

The cause of the “Housing Crunch” [July 22] is because high Vermont taxes and excessive regulations have made it unprofitable to build new housing. Ask any developer.

If only Vermont politicians spent as much time focused on removing barriers to building profitably as they do to make it more difficult.

More taxes and regulations will worsen the housing problem; they are what got us into this mess.

Milk Man

After reading your delightful article on Monument Farms [“Dairy Kings,” July 15], I decided to try its milk after my last grocery run. It is the best milk I have had in a long time. It reminds me of the milk I used to have growing up on our farm — smooth and creamy. I am switching from my previous brand to Monument Farms from now on. Thank you, Monument Farms, for being there for us.

Hell on Two Wheels

Thank you for addressing the issue of e-bike and e-moto activity [“Power Surge: A Spike in the Use of E-Bikes and Faster E-Motos by Children Is Causing Communities to Worry — and Strategize,” July 22]. I would note that while there are many young people who have been gifted a way of transport and fun, their brains have not fully developed a level of maturity that matches the required responsibility of operation. My own personal experience is not just with young people but also adults running lights and stop signs, speeding, not signaling their intention, riding on sidewalks, etc.

Leave Shiloh Out of It

“Power Surge” [July 22] primarily focuses on the dangerous use of electric mobility, typically by adolescents: no helmets, high speeds, loss of control. The article also mentions the collision of a minivan that resulted in the death of Shiloh Skalka. I’m glad there was a separate piece in Seven Days about this tragedy [“Teen Cyclist Killed in Collision With Minivan in Burlington,” July 17, online]. However, although Shiloh Skalka was using an e-bicycle, I don’t think it warranted a place in an article about dangerous e-bike and e-moto use. There’s no evidence to suggest she falls into this category.

Pedestrians and the lawful and responsible users of bicycles, e-bikes and e-motos will continue to be injured and killed because they are subjected to sharing roads that have been designed to move vehicles, including pickup trucks and SUVs, as fast as possible. Have you ever seen a car driving as slow as the 25-mile-per-hour speed limit on Pine Street?

If more people choose to ride bicycles, which they are, without redesigning our roads, there will continue to be more collisions at the cost of the cyclist and pedestrian. It’s important to talk about the safe and appropriate use of e-bikes and e-motos. It’s important to talk about how our existing road designs contribute to pedestrian and cyclist fatalities. These are two related, although separate, conversations that cannot be confused.

Janoo’s ‘New Way’

[Re “New Faces, New Ideas: Aly Richards and Amanda Janoo Are Vying to Be the Democratic Nominee for Governor,” July 29]: It gives me hope to learn about the gubernatorial candidates stepping up to confront the crises we’re facing as Vermonters: extreme wealth inequality, climate instability, federal intimidation and democratic backsliding. We need bold, competent leaders who are proactive about building a resilient and affordable Vermont. I believe the governor for this moment is Amanda Janoo.

Janoo understands the economic conditions underpinning these crises. For me, what sets her apart is her commitment to public health care in Vermont — a free primary and preventative care system as a foundation for free universal health care.

This plan is projected to save $250 million to $300 million per year. It would alleviate the burden on small businesses and, since health care is a significant driver of school budgets, could be transformative for property taxes.

I’ve been an advocate for public health care since living in England and experiencing a universal health care system at work. Imagine being free from the fear that an illness or injury will result in catastrophic debt. Imagine being free from insurance corporations that measure our life-saving treatments on a profit-and-loss sheet. Our insurance-based model is antiquated and profoundly dehumanizing. We deserve better.

This crisis requires more than politicians who want to keep tinkering with the existing system. In contrast, Janoo’s proposal would allow us to finally move on from the insurance industry altogether. Free primary health care would be transformational, but Janoo’s plan is practical, detailed and already popular. Vermonters are ready for a new way. Amanda Janoo will help us get there together.

Richards Can Win

[Re “New Faces, New Ideas,” July 29]: Over the past three elections, Dems have nominated Progressive candidates for governor. None of them even reached 40 percent, while Gov. Phil Scott scooped up the moderate and independent voters to get to 60 percent.

In times of chaos and frustration such as we’re in now, it’s easy to lean toward headlines like “Free Health Care” or “Change the System,” as if there’s some magic wand that will achieve such.

There’s no magic wand, though.

Heading toward the primary election on August 11, the choice is clear for me: Aly Richards is someone who knows how to build a house. She’s done it by building a foundation, sweating the details to get it framed, and fleshed out our childcare system to the point where we are now serving 4,000 more children than two years go.

Brings me back to what the farmer trying to raise a crop reminds us: Wish with one hand, dig with the other, and see which one fills up first. 

I’ll be voting for Aly in the upcoming Democratic primary election on August 11 and urge consideration of voting likewise.

Four More Years for Gamelin

While [“New Sheriff in Town?” July 22] discussed the minimum qualifications for the position, the article did not fully express how hard our current sheriff, Dan Gamelin, works to make the office a successful one, carrying out its duties and responsibilities. It is not a 9-to-5, Monday-through-Friday kind of job. It is an on-call, 24-hours-per-day, seven-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year position that requires skills and training to perform the job well.

I’m an attorney and a former member of both the Shelburne Selectboard and the Burlington City Council. In my experience, I have seen Sheriff Gamelin be compassionate, resourceful and respectful in carrying out his duties. I have also seen how his knowledge of our community and his relationships with many key players in government, business and advocacy organizations allow him to craft solutions and get results in the myriad complex encounters that make up the sheriff’s day.

I hope voters will join me and vote for Sheriff Gamelin to continue to be our sheriff for another four years.

Two Stood Up to ICE

[Re “New Faces, New Ideas”; “Second Story,” July 29]: Less than a year ago, Gov. Phil Scott betrayed our trust in handing more than 64,000 Vermonters’ sensitive data to the administration of President Donald Trump.

As a member of the Brattleboro Selectboard, I am keenly aware of the need for leadership at this pivotal moment. Amanda Janoo and Molly Gray have proven they will speak out, and that’s why I am voting for them on the August 11 Vermont Democratic primary ballot.

This summer I saw Amanda and Molly at a Burlington demonstration responding to the heinous violence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE had killed a community member in nearby Maine and detained five people here in Vermont. Of all the statewide candidates, Amanda and Molly were the ones who showed up to stand with our immigrant neighbors.

In recent Vermont Public debates, both supported the Vermont Defend the Guard Act, which would require Congressional approval before the Vermont National Guard is deployed to overseas combat, per Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. Esther Charlestin, also running for lieutenant governor, supported the bill, too. The other candidates refused to take such a stand.

Guard members risk their careers if they speak out for the Vermont Defend the Guard Act. That is why we need candidates such as Amanda and Molly, who will take a stand. 

More kowtowing to Trump will not protect us. History has shown that approach fails against fascism. We need leaders who stand up and fight back.

Why Vote?

[Re Primary Election Preview Issue, July 29]: You were born a free person. Why, then, do you give your power away to another via voting them into office — to have them then rule over you, deciding what’s best for you? You make yourself a slave. You recognize their authority, give consent and comply. Who says you must pay taxes? You do. Who says you must work, that the rich and elite own the world and its resources? You do. Remember your power. Stop being compliant and complicit. We are all equal; no one has power over another unless you give it to them. Think about this as you head to the polls.

All In on Agriculture

[Re Primary Election Preview Issue, July 29]: Drive down any rural road in Vermont, and you’ll see the foundation of our economy, culture and community: our family dairy farms. Yet anyone close to the land knows a hard truth: Vermont is losing farms and rural communities at an alarming rate.  

The root cause isn’t complicated but is relentless. Costs of fuel, feed, fertilizer, labor and local property taxes climb higher every month. Dairy farmers cannot raise prices to cover inflating expenses. Federal formulas set milk prices far from Vermont, trapping farm families in a vise between surging local costs, rigid federal income limits and unsupported economies in the working landscape.

To survive, Vermont agriculture doesn’t need politicians who offer polite, passive support in Montpelier. We need leaders who live farming, understand its true economic weight, and have the backbone to fight for us and our working landscape. We want hardworking people representing hardworking people.  

That is why the Vermont Dairy Producers Alliance stands firmly behind Rep. Greg Burtt (R-Cabot).

As an agricultural producer himself, Greg doesn’t look at farming as a photo op. He understands the stress of razor-thin margins, unpredictable markets and weather risks. Greg has stepped up time and again to introduce pragmatic amendments, cut duplicate regulatory burdens and expand real economic opportunity. 

If we continue to let our farms close their doors, Vermont loses far more than fresh, high-quality milk. We lose our heritage, open space and rural tax base. Reelecting Greg Burtt isn’t just for farmers; it’s essential for Vermont’s future. 

Sarah George in her office Credit: Daria Bishop

Case Against Sarah George

[Re “Pleading Their Case: Bram Kranichfeld Says He Should Be Chittenden County’s Next State’s Attorney. Reform-Minded Incumbent Sarah George Objects,” July 1]: In 2019, Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George dismissed two murder cases and an attempted murder case, citing insufficient evidence to rebut insanity defenses. The record since has discredited those decisions.

As U.S. Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall observed in Ake v. Oklahoma, psychiatry is not an exact science. Experts frequently disagree on diagnosis and causation. That uncertainty demands prosecutorial rigor. Yet George accepted flawed opinions at face value.

In the Aita Gurung case, the court required two Nepali interpreters at every appearance so the defendant could understand and participate in proceedings. Yet George retained a psychiatrist who interviewed him without an interpreter, acknowledged communication breakdowns and nevertheless issued definitive conclusions about his mental state. Such an evaluation is not reliable.

More fundamentally, the opinions relied upon by George repeatedly conflated mental illness with legal insanity. A diagnosis, even psychosis, does not establish insanity, nor does the horrific nature of a crime. The legal test is narrow: whether the defendant lacked the capacity to appreciate wrongfulness or conform conduct to the law. Collapsing that distinction is a basic legal error.

George defended the dismissals as required by prosecutorial ethics, yet no ethical rule required or even suggested dismissals. The Vermont Attorney General’s Office refiled them, resulting in two guilty pleas and, in 2022, a jury conviction of Gurung for first-degree murder and attempted murder, affirmed on appeal last year.

During that trial, George’s office even attempted to have the attorney general’s prosecutors’ vehicles towed from the courthouse garage — another unprofessional act.

In Her Defense

[Re “Pleading Their Case,” July 1]: I was a public defender for almost 30 years until I retired last year. I practiced in Franklin County; Bram Kranichfeld was the state’s attorney during my last three years. I feel that gives me an important perspective on the candidates.

I unreservedly support the reelection of Sarah George as Chittenden County state’s attorney. Her pursuit of criminal justice reform, including avoiding cash bail and discouraging non-public-safety traffic stops, makes her a progressive, thoughtful and appropriate choice.

Molly Gray Credit: File: Kevin McCallum

Dean for Gray

I appreciate Seven Days’ election coverage [“Second Story: A Democratic Primary Will Decide Who Competes This Fall to Be Vermont’s Lieutenant Governor,” July 29], but Molly Gray’s universal primary care proposal deserves more ink.

When I was governor, I built on the foundation laid by governor Madeleine Kunin to expand Dr. Dynasaur so no child would go without access to health care. It was the right thing to do and lowered costs for working families, employers and our state. For more than 30 years, virtually all Vermont children under 18 have had health care coverage.

Now it’s 2026, and health care is bankrupting Vermont. Specifically, health insurance premiums are now the biggest cost driver in our education spending and are crushing employers and families. Vermont needs leaders willing to act with urgency, courage and persistence to make universal primary care a reality for every Vermonter, regardless of age or income. This will bring down costs while delivering on health care as a human right.

Molly grew up with Dr. Dynasaur and is a mom as well as a caregiver to her mom, who battles multiple sclerosis. Molly has a detailed plan for universal primary care, with concrete ideas for how to staff and fund it.

Having served as lieutenant governor before, she knows how to use the office to make it happen. Molly is stepping up with solutions and experience.

We’ve seen what’s possible. With the right leadership, we can do it again.

What Young People Need

[Re “Second Story,” July 29]: I spend my days helping college students find internships, connect with mentors and see a future for themselves in Vermont. Every year, I watch talented young people fall in love with the state, and every year, too many of them leave anyway. That’s why I’m supporting Ryan McLaren for lieutenant governor.

Vermont’s colleges and universities bring thousands of talented young people to our state each year, yet the majority of graduates leave within a few years. It’s not because they don’t want to stay; it’s because they can’t find affordable health care or places to live and don’t see investments in their future that would allow them to be successful.

Ryan’s “YIMBY Tax Credit” plan would reward permitting new homes — the kind that provide young people who are starting careers somewhere to live. His push for universal primary care would ease the large financial burdens of young workers. And his focus on workforce development means treating the connection between education and career as a real priority.

Vermont doesn’t have a shortage of promising young people who want to build their lives here. We have a shortage of housing, health care and opportunity that would let them stay and succeed. Ryan McLaren understands that, and he has real plans to fix it. I hope Vermonters will join me in supporting him.

‘She’ll Fight Every Day’

There is a lot more to say about Molly Gray’s work over the past few years and what makes her the lieutenant governor we need [“Second Story,” July 29]. I worked with Molly when she served as the executive director of the Vermont Afghan Alliance. I previously worked in Afghanistan with the U.S. Department of Justice and in 2025 joined the VAA board; I am now the president. In a few years, Molly grew the alliance from a small driving program into a statewide organization helping hundreds of Afghans access driver’s licenses, jobs, housing, immigration services and other support.

When President Donald Trump tried to defund the organization, Molly raised the funds to keep it going. When an Afghan man was wrongfully detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Molly rallied immigration attorneys and prevented deportation. When Vermont ended SNAP food assistance, Molly worked with the legislature, attorneys and our Congressional delegation to get it reinstated. She did this all while leading the organization, working with community partners and caring for every member of the Afghan community, ensuring they knew she had their backs.

I know Molly will have the backs of every Vermonter as lieutenant governor. I know she will use every tool at her disposal to help protect Vermonters from unlawful federal action, and she will fight every day for our communities. I’ve seen it firsthand.

Molly’s intelligence, work ethic, acumen and empathetic heart are unparalleled and exactly what we need.

A Vote for ‘Coach Rocket’

We have three excellent candidates in the primary race for lieutenant governor, and it takes a lot of courage to be in the arena [“Second Story,” July 29].

To me, one candidate stands out, and that’s Ryan McLaren of Essex Junction. I was proud to serve with him as volunteer members of the Burlington Board of Tax Appeals, and Ryan’s long experience working for Sen. Peter Welch and in state government, as well as his work on both the Essex Junction and Burlington school boards, has prepared him well for the job of lieutenant governor. “Coach Rocket,” as he is affectionately known by his players on the boys’ lacrosse teams he has coached, provides an exemplary role model as a leader. His remarkable efforts to recover from a devastating ski injury in 2017 demonstrate his commitment to getting hard things done.

Ryan is a homeowner and a family man, and he has the character and experience we need in Montpelier.

As someone who has registered hundreds of voters, I am proud to say Ryan has never missed an opportunity to vote.

‘Tough and Compassionate’

Thank you for great coverage in [Primary Election Preview Issue, July 29]. Many folks don’t pay too much attention to primaries. But this year we have an abundance of great candidates, especially women running for statewide office!

Regarding [“Second Story”], I am tired of the Progressive/Democratic split and feel it reflects our horrible national polarization. Every candidate could say they would bring people together, but Molly Gray has actually built a coalition of Progressive and Democratic leaders from across Vermont. Sens. Tanya Vyhovsky and Phil Baruth and Reps. Kate Logan and Chloe Tomlinson have endorsed her, as have the Teamsters, the Vermont State Employees’ Association, and former governors Howard Dean and Madeleine Kunin.

I’m worried about a lot of things these days. Even though Vermonters have many different views, we get penalized today by our federal government for being a blue state. I think we need a fighter and a solutions person in each office. Molly has fought for our Afghans who served with our military when the feds turned away from them. She also has detailed plans to make universal primary care and housing available.

If you have a chance to meet Molly, she is an authentic, real person who is tough and compassionate. For me, these are bottom lines for anyone serving in office.

This article appears in August 5 • 2026.