'Not All Bad'

Seven Days' yearlong series "This Old State" is admirable in helping to break down some of the dynamics involved with an aging population. However, Colin Flanders' series debut ["Getting On," March 6] fails to incorporate some of the positive sociological developments an aging population may suggest. This may include longer average life spans and longer life expectancies for Vermonters, which could be tied into higher-quality education, health care, and air and water standards compared to other states. The story only casually mentions that our northern New England neighbors, Maine and New Hampshire, are the only states with a higher average age than Vermont, but surely this is not a coincidence. I hope part of the series will explore why residents in our half of the New England region live longer than anywhere else in the country.

The story's tone suggests that Vermont is somehow considered undesirable, when in fact the demand among those wishing they could relocate here — and not just to the Burlington area — has probably never been higher. I hope Kevin Chu isn't losing too much sleep over trying to recruit flatlanders. Anyone who's been in a coffee shop, supermarket or diner since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic knows that they want in.

Finally, let's not forget some of the virtues that older residents bring. Many possess traits of grace, kindness and wisdom that younger generations not only may lack but also may stand to benefit in learning from.

There are many dynamics to an aging population, and they're not all bad.

Jared Pendak

Bradford

Larger Type, Please

[Re "Getting On," March 6]: We the aging population, including moi, wish and/or demand reworking the quiz and puzzle page layout. I would suggest and hope you increase the font size of the crossword clues. I am challenged enough most days by just finding the magnifying glass. You get the point.

I will stay a reader regardless of your actions. I read the paper most every week. All the sections are very informative and lively. Most often I laugh and/or am moved by the reporting. I like the feel and use of the paper paper. Need it to start the woodstove on the chilly days.

Dave Calvi

Castleton

Homes for All

Seven Days has the data to show us that what we see happening is happening: Vermont is aging fast. What is less visible is how this story ["Getting On," March 6] is closely linked to two others: the housing crisis and flooding due to climate change.

Housing advocates claim that we need 30,000 to 40,000 new homes to "solve" the housing crisis. Homes account for one-third of Vermont's carbon emissions. In addition to thermal carbon emissions, building materials and construction waste have a large "embedded" carbon footprint not often quantified — but significant. New construction requires a young blue-collar workforce to build and maintain these structures. We have an aging and declining workforce and overall population. This doesn't add up.

In Montpelier, besides old people, I see a lot of empty buildings: Empty state buildings, college campuses, second homes, seasonal rental properties, aging empty nesters rattling around in oversize homes and empty flood-zone buildings.

Can we incentivize aging people to give up their oversize houses, go into community housing in town and free up a lot of homes for young families? Convert empty office spaces and abandoned campuses into affordable housing for young people?

I can hear the old people, still in power and afraid of change, saying "Over my dead body." I am 67, and you can make me an offer.

Chris Pratt

East Montpelier

'Construction at Any Cost'?

[Re "Burlington Considers Zoning Changes to Encourage More Home Building," March 6]. Con or confusion? The mayor, city councilors and planning department of our city don't seem to understand that more housing does not produce more affordable housing. Or maybe they just don't want to understand it, since they have such a vested interest in construction at any cost.

Increasing lot coverage decreases green space. Absolutely. Burlington's attraction is that it is not New York City. But soon we'll have less green space than New York City does. And if you think that losing green space is OK, that there is so much of it just beyond the city's boundaries, take another look at what has happened to those beautiful farmlands out there.

And consider the impact: two-, three- and four-story buildings without elevators, not accessible to two-thirds or three-quarters of potential tenants with disabilities, nor to grandparents who might want to visit their grandchildren.

The mayor wants to see this happen on his watch. But in a few weeks, he will be gone, and we should give Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, our new mayor, who was elected to bring change to municipal government in our city, a clean slate to work with and a chance to change the narrative. Let's start moving toward our real goal: affordable housing for everyone. It is urgently necessary, and it is possible.

Louis Mannie Lionni

Burlington

I Can Hear the Whistle Blow

Where does a 400-pound gorilla sleep? Answer: "Anywhere it wants to!" That's an old joke, but it's no joke for us senior citizens who live near the Winooski train crossing. It's one thing to be woken up at 9 a.m., but at 2 and 3 a.m.?!

On my answering machine is a message from Rep. Daisy Berbeco (D-Winooski), who says, in short, that she "would like to help, but this is a federally regulated situation." The electric power plant is in Burlington and has as its fuel: tons of wood chips.

Tom MacDonald

Winooski

Postal Reality Check

[Re "Postal Service Plans to Route Vermont Mail Through Connecticut," February 9]: I noticed in Stephen Doherty's statement about the change in mail sorting from Vermont to Connecticut that mail would be sent to Connecticut, back to Vermont and then probably be delivered the next day. As a resident of Springfield, Mass., and a former postal clerk, I can tell you that our mail cancellation and sorting went to Hartford at least 15 years ago, and it is never delivered overnight. It always takes two days. Oh, and by the way, we're only 25 miles or so from the Hartford facility.

Michael Caron

Springfield, MA

Closer Look

I really loved the article about Mark Breen ["Eye on This Guy," March 13]. After hearing his voice for 20 years or more, I felt like he was a close friend, but I always wondered what he looked like and what his background was. Now I know.

Good to "see" Steve Maleski, too. Sorry to hear that he soon will retire.

Keep up the good work.

Hank Kaestner

Shelburne

Solve 'Societal' Problem

[Re "Crime in Mind: Morristown and Other Small Towns Are Convening to Address Rising Crime in Rural Vermont," February 14]: The United States already has the highest number of prisoners of any country worldwide, so "get tougher on crime" hasn't worked out too well.

What else do we look at? Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics from over the years. From 1960 to 1969, Vermont had 192 robberies. From 2000 to 2019, Vermont had 891 — 4.5 times more robberies in the same time period, but the population only increased 0.5 percent.

What changed? More drugs, less manufacturing and consolidation of schools are what I come up with.

Most will blame drugs, but let's look at school consolidation. In the 1960s, we had small, local schools. Kids played with neighbor kids. In consolidated schools, kids hang with kids like themselves. Local schools could live stream experts and save on busing.

Back in the 1960s, every kid had a bike and rode everywhere. Now roads have become the domain of automobiles. Exercise has a large effect on kids. When you exercise, your body produces endorphins, which alleviate pain, lower stress and create a sense of well-being. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that among adolescents ages 12 to 17 today, 36.7 percent have persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Towns could invest in painting bike lanes, etc.

We have a problem — a societal problem. We need to try new things, and we need to do it soon.

Richard Marble

Farmington, ME

Voice in the Wilderness

[Re "Wild Bill: Long at Odds With Vermont's Fish and Wildlife Board, Activists Would Like to Strip Its Powers," February 28]: For over a year, I've been attending Fish and Wildlife Board meetings and commenting on pertinent wildlife issues such as wolf recolonization, hunting bear sows with cubs and trapping best management practices. At the recent February board meeting, I finally responded to feelings of disenfranchisement by stating that in over a year of commenting at board meetings, not once has the representative for my county taken time to respond to any of my comments. I know when I'm being ignored.

During a break, we finally spoke and agreed it was time for a conversation. No Vermonter should have to wait for a year to be heard by their representative. I appreciate the care and stewardship of wildlife that the current board has achieved, but there are far more stakeholders in wildlife than there were when the board was created and when hunters, trappers and anglers funded the recovery of many species.

The current board's focus is furbearers and game animals, but other threatened native species of plants and animals also deserve our attention, especially as we mitigate the impacts of climate change.

As a lifelong advocate for wildlife, sometimes as a bowhunter, still as an angler and always as an Indigenous person, I've always wanted to be seen as an ally of my state's wildlife agency. Unfortunately, now when I speak critically of some wildlife policies, I am treated like an enemy. I'm guardedly optimistic that with a new board, we can learn to work together for the betterment of all species.

Rod Coronado

Orange

Coronado is director of the nonprofit Vermont Wildlife Patrol.

Jews Against Matisyahu

Thank you for Chris Farnsworth's thorough coverage of the recent Matisyahu show at Higher Ground and the protests surrounding it ["Activists Protest Outside Matisyahu Show at Higher Ground," March 14, online; "Pro-Palestinian Groups, Musicians Urge Higher Ground to Cancel Matisyahu Show," March 14, online].

Chris did an exceptional job of letting the spokesperson for Jewish Voice for Peace explain the reasons for the demonstration. You wouldn't know from much local news coverage that there are hundreds of Jews in Vermont demanding an immediate and permanent halt to Israel's genocidal attack on Palestinians.

Matisyahu's full-throated support for the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government makes all Jews everywhere less safe. Higher Ground should have canceled the show, but, failing that, I was glad to see dozens of my fellow Jewish Vermonters calling them out for their implicit support of the continued slaughter in Gaza.

Andrew Simon

Burlington

Wrong Target

[Re "Activists Protest Outside Matisyahu Show at Higher Ground," March 14, online; "Pro-Palestinian Groups, Musicians Urge Higher Ground to Cancel Matisyahu Show," March 14, online]: I understand the temptation to divest from individuals — to remove support for or deny a platform to individuals who hold problematic opinions. That tactic has been around for decades, the most common example being college campuses canceling speaker visits after student pushback.

But this focus on Matisyahu totally overlooks a bigger problem more worthy of protest: While Matisyahu may believe that bombing Palestine is ethically acceptable, General Dynamics in Williston actively facilitates it. Yes, the company's Ordnance and Tactical Systems division "empower[s] the U.S. military and its allies" by manufacturing arms and happens to have a plant in our very own Williston, Vt.

Isn't that more morally egregious than a middle-aged Jewish man holding an opinion? The pen may be mightier than the sword, but MK-80s are mightier than song lyrics. Let's redirect protesters' labor toward shutting down a death machine. Material harm is more worthy of outrage, in my eyes.

Mikhala Kaseweter

Williston

Mayor Is a Full-Time Job

[Re "Mulvaney-Stanak Weighing When to Resign Statehouse Seat," March 15, online]: Burlington voters are victims of a con. Only after the election did mayor-elect Emma Mulvaney-Stanak disclose her true intention to work simultaneously as a state representative. The state job is demanding and requires the mayor to be out of town a lot, business hours and evenings. That's on top of running a consulting business.

Already Mulvaney-Stanak missed an evening campaign event in favor of something in Montpelier. Burlington should come first. This is a fraud against the voters and against the city. The voters thought we were choosing a full-time mayor. The city is paying over $100,000 a year for full-time work. You can't phone it in while commuting to Montpelier.

Burlington is in a world of hurt and needs a full-time mayor on the job on day one.

To put things right, the new mayor must resign from the legislature immediately.

This isn't a complex decision. The day job has priority.

Samuel Press

Burlington