The former president moves up on Martha’s Vineyard
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd took former president Barack Obama to task for lavish parties at his new house in the posh section of Martha’s Vineyard, the island off Cape Cod.
A modest proposal: A floating restaurant for the Charlotte Ferry landing
The old retired ferryboat Champlain is now tied up at the south side of the Charlotte ferry landing, its engine yanked out and weeds growing along its gunnels.
Has Charlotte become Sturgis, South Dakota, East?
-Commentary- We were sitting on our front lawn with some friends, sipping cool liquids, when a motor cyclist came…
Music of the spheres
Well, I guess as I started reading the recent biography of Bob Dylan that I consciously reflected on the prominence of music, not only in my time, but in the universal realm. The human brain forms around it. Is it safe to say that our DNA carries a tune?
A New York City hero sandwich
There were a couple of obituaries recently that took me back to my days in New York. Writer Pete Hamill and baseball pitcher Tom Seaver both died in August.
Democracy is our responsibility
Celebrating our nation’s birthday on July 4th reminds us how lucky we are to live in a country built on democracy. We must also remember that our democracy was formed and is maintained by active participation of the governed, namely us. When we see that our government is taking us in a wrong direction, it requires us to speak out and take action to affect change. Peaceful protest is one kind of action.
Commentary – May 2, 2019
Learning Cursive Susan Ohanian Eons ago, we learned Cursive in 1st grade. My teacher, who was an ancient disciplinarian,…
Mirror, mirror on my bike…
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.
Life’s inherent beauty
When I told my husband my idea for my latest Charlotte News effort, he said, “Just don’t write anything that will make me throw up.” I’m not offended; I totally get it. A column that searches for the meaning of life has serious potential for barfdom. So, before I send anything to Melissa, it first goes to Pete. He doesn’t hold back.
Out Takes – Where do we start with the military mind?
Apparently, we feel it behooves us as a society to start at an early age to embrace a military bent to our culture. I didn’t think much of it when I was young and even when I was in the Navy. All I wanted to do was get it over with, and I joined my shipmates dumping garbage off the fantail of our carrier into the Gulf of Tonkin while getting teary eyed as Hanoi Hanna played Scott McKenzie singing, “For those who come to San Francisco…” That was us to be, man.
OutTakes – Where the real rocks rest and the musical rock rolls
Did you ever wonder how kids pick out their likes and dislikes? No, I mean real likes and dislikes, things that become central to their lives, things that they often can equate with momentous occasions.
Commentary – Some Dissent on Gun Control
While reading Edd Merritt’s commentary in the November 29 issue of The Charlotte News, titled “There are guns, and there are guns?” I discovered several instances of arguable and nonfactual ideas which I would like to address here.
Commentary: There are guns, and there are guns
I grew up in a gun-club family. My father and his father-in-law were avid duck hunters, and our weekend ritual during duck season was to rise before dawn, eat breakfast with other hunters in the only café in the area open at four a.m., and then hie to my grampa’s camp on a lake that was formed like a figure eight.
OutTakes
I’m tired of writing critical commentaries, which my last two have been. And besides, the natural world of Charlotte is not something one can easily criticize. Its skies, landscapes, clouds and harvest moons bring together many of the reasons for choosing here as home. Too often we fail to be conscious of the role our environment plays in our lives.
The complex rules of dealing with wind turbine noise limits
Although the legislature is not in session, many legislators serve on special committees that meet between sessions. The Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR) is one such committee, and it’s been keeping me busy this summer. LCAR consists of four Senators and four Representatives and is responsible for reviewing rules proposed by agencies of the executive branch of state government. Rules spell out the process by which an agency administers laws. Examples include the health standards of hotel accommodations, licensing of professionals, and standards for fuel oil tanks in our homes. It is LCAR’s job to review the rules to ensure that
Veterans Day celebration—A slightly different take
Veterans Day, eh? I should be honored to take part in it, but, frankly, the Navy and I parted company on Treasure Island, California, in late summer of 1968 and have lived in blissful ignorance of each other ever since. I put my medals in a drawer and responded to a letter from the government asking me to become an active reserve with a “Thanks, but no thanks.” The country must have had a large enough supply of people (mostly men in those days) to keep their tanks full and did not feel the need to press too hard on those of us who said no.