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Mirror, mirror on my bike…

Community Voices

Mirror, mirror on my bike…

Hans Ohanian, Charlotte April 18, 2019March 11, 2021

At the Selectboard meeting of April 8, I urgently requested the Selectboard to issue an ordinance regarding bicycle traffic on the streets in Charlotte. The ordinance I proposed was that “Every bicycle operating on any street of the Town must be equipped with a rear-view mirror.” The importance of rear-view mirrors for the safety of bicyclists is self-evident. Bicyclists are continually being overtaken by cars, and awareness about what comes up from behind is crucial for survival, as illustrated by the fatal accident suffered by Dr. Ken Najarian on Greenbush Road four years ago.

It’s okay to wear white after Labor Day, and don’t spill the bong water

Community Voices

It’s okay to wear white after Labor Day, and don’t spill the bong water

Chea Waters Evans April 8, 2019March 11, 2021

At the dinner table, it’s considered proper manners to pass the food counter-clockwise, to the right. Lizzie Post, etiquette expert and co-president of the Emily Post Institute, wants people to know that when one is passing a joint, those rules don’t apply. Though pot is usually passed to the left, “It can go in any direction,” she said, “As long as you don’t take it back immediately.”

Three memoirs you should add to your spring reading list

Community Voices

Three memoirs you should add to your spring reading list

Genevieve Trono April 3, 2019March 11, 2021

I read for all kinds of reasons, sometimes for pleasure, sometimes to escape. Other times I read to learn new perspectives.

Some good reads for your listening pleasure

Community Voices

Some good reads for your listening pleasure

Katherine Arthaud March 20, 2019March 11, 2021

I don’t know what there is about Kevin Hart. I just love him. Since I first encountered him in the movie, Get Hard (my kids laugh at me for how much I went so crazy over that movie), I can’t get enough of him. I mean it; I love him. Imagine my delight when I discovered that he had written a book, I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons.

State Court divisions demystified

Community Voices

State Court divisions demystified

Helen Toor March 20, 2019June 25, 2020

Last month I talked about the different categories detail what the different state court divisions do. To remind you, each county has a Superior Court with four divisions: Criminal, Civil, Family and Probate. There is also a statewide Environmental Division and a statewide Judicial Bureau. This month I am going to talk about the Criminal Division.

Gardening reading to carry through to spring

Community Voices Outdoors & Environment

Gardening reading to carry through to spring

Joan Weed March 7, 2019March 11, 2021

While there is still plenty of winter left and days by the fire go on, I’d like to suggest some reading inspiration for you. I hope to revisit many of the books and magazines my garden has benefited from over the years. Sometimes catalogues are good reading as well.

Letters to the Editor

Community Voices

Letters to the Editor

The Charlotte News February 21, 2019March 11, 2021

Many years ago, there was an opinion piece in the New York Times that has stayed with me. I have it printed out and re-read it often, and I have sent it to my children and they have, in turn, forwarded it to their own friends.

East Village proposal needs a wall

Community Voices

East Village proposal needs a wall

Edd Merritt February 20, 2019March 11, 2021

At the end of January, the Charlotte Planning Commission discussed changing the village boundaries for East Charlotte to include setbacks of 400 feet in all directions from the intersection of Spear Street and Hinesburg Road.

It’s reading time

Community Voices

It’s reading time

Katherine Arthaud February 6, 2019March 11, 2021

It’s nine degrees out now, two earlier this morning. A fire is roaring in the fireplace here, the sun is going down (though it seems as though it was just lunchtime), and the pug is snoring on the couch. A tea is at my elbow and the house is making creaking noises. It’s reading season. I have just ventured upstairs and gathered up a few of the books I have read since last time we spoke. I am now back at my seat by the fire (which I do not intend to leave anytime soon), ready to go.

From the bench

Community Voices

From the bench

Helen M. Toor January 30, 2019June 26, 2020

“How did you become a judge?” “What’s the difference between state and federal court?” “How often can I be called for jury duty?”

Several good reads (and a television series) to start a new year

Community Voices

Several good reads (and a television series) to start a new year

Katherine Arthaud January 9, 2019March 11, 2021

On Christmas Eve, 1932, in South Detroit, “Saverio Armandonada warmed his hands underneath the tin lunch pail on his lap as he rode the trolley from the Chester Street stop to the River Rouge plant.” So begins Adriana Trigiani’s new novel, Tony’s Wife, which I just, this first day of the new year, finished.

The wonders of hygge and a good book, too

Community Voices

The wonders of hygge and a good book, too

Katherine Arthaud December 12, 2018March 11, 2021

I just got back from Thanksgiving in Copenhagen where, while you were eating turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce, I…

Letter from the Editor

Community Voices

Letter from the Editor

Melissa O'Brien December 12, 2018March 11, 2021

What remains With a little fewer than 4,000 people living in our town, I would say those numbers are…

Fake it up baby, print and shout

Community Voices

Fake it up baby, print and shout

Edd Merritt November 28, 2018March 11, 2021

There’s a gentleman whose hair is a fake color. He never mentions why he painted it blond, but he does, by the same token, talk a lot about “fake news” and why the news media has it in for him.

Restorative reading: The Soul of an Octopus

Community Voices

Restorative reading: The Soul of an Octopus

Katherine Arthaud November 14, 2018March 11, 2021

I don’t know about you, but I think one of the worst days of my life was Nov. 8, 2016. It felt like Sept. 11, 2001. Or that’s what it felt like to me, anyway. Like the world as I had loved it would never be the same again.

Is there ice on the lake and snow on the trail?

Community Voices

Is there ice on the lake and snow on the trail?

Edd Merritt October 31, 2018March 11, 2021

Charlotte-raised author Leath Tonino published a book this year through the Trinity University Press, San Antonio, Texas, titled The Animal One Thousand Miles Long: Seven Lengths of Vermont and Other Adventures.

The magic of Uncle Wiggily and other wonderful stories

Community Voices

The magic of Uncle Wiggily and other wonderful stories

Katherine Arthaud October 31, 2018March 11, 2021

When I was little, my father (a big reader) had a collection of Uncle Wiggily books. They were books he’d owned as a child. We probably had 20 of these books, each containing three stories and amazing drawings.

Fall is here

Community Voices

Fall is here

Susan Crockenberg October 31, 2018June 19, 2020

I know it’s truly fall when an email pops up in my mailbox with the heading: “Lamb with a Plan.” It’s John O’Brien, the Tunbridge sheep farmer inquiring if we wish to buy lamb again this year.

Editor’s Letter – Oct 17, 2018

Community Voices

Editor’s Letter – Oct 17, 2018

Melissa O'Brien October 17, 2018March 11, 2021

Here is a beautiful word I learned this past summer: deliquescence. It means having a tendency to melt or become liquid, to dissolve. I love it, the way it sounds, the idea, the imagery that comes with such a word. That something could kind of dissolve slowly, disappear … deliquesce.

There will be singing

Community Voices

There will be singing

Anna Cyr October 17, 2018June 20, 2020

Thank God for books. Books are many things…and one thing they are is an escape from the world. Not that I don’t love the world, because I do, but sometimes it all just gets to be too much. Like these past weeks.