The evening of Oct. 5 was such a memorable and special occasion for the Hanover and Lebanon field hockey teams, as well as for the seniors on each team. It was a beautiful evening under the lights on the Hanover astroturf, the weather held out, there was a great fan base for both teams, a collective canned food drive for the Upper Valley Haven, and it was a great game!
Thank you to everyone who helped to bring this to fruition, as well as to all of you who came to cheer us on and enjoy the evening. The atmosphere was such an upbeat and positive way to honor the players, the game, our community and what education-based athletics is all about.
In this 50th anniversary of Title IX, it was a true celebration of how far we have come, but also, how far we still have to go. Who knows, maybe next year the girls might have a Friday night game under the lights?
Head Coach, Jean Essex
(Hanover)
Head Coach, Amanda Valliere
(Lebanon)
Public education
is on the ballot in NH
On Oct. 8, the Valley News published a timely and meaningful editorial, “Keeping teachers in New Hampshire.” It highlighted one of the most important issues on the ballot Nov. 8: the future of public education. The assault on teachers and the operations of school districts is at an all-time high and it’s not hard to see why.
The majority party in Concord has worked to restrict, by law, what teachers can teach in their classrooms, public dollars are being diverted to private schools with no checks and balances, and school districts have no say over having gun free school zones. When did we stop trusting public educators and local officials to do their jobs?
Teaching is an honorable profession and public education should be accessible and equal in resources to all our youth, regardless of Zip code. Let’s not forget that children and their families are impacted by this on-going assault on the value of public education each day, every time a teacher has to think twice, to change course when presenting our nation’s history in the classroom for fear of retribution, we are shortchanging that child.
To add insult to injury, the Legislature failed to act in a timely way to approve Medicaid Direct Certification for free and reduced-price meals for some of the most food insecure children in New Hampshire. Now more children will go home hungry, again shortchanging that child.
It’s clear to me that Upper Valley Democrats are on the side of children, families, and teachers when it comes to supporting public education, not dismantling it. Sue Prentiss, a candidate for the District 5 seat in the Senate has given voice to this situation over the past two years and knows what’s at stake. My family is pleased that our hometown, Grantham, will now be in Sen. Prentiss’s district as we can trust that she will stand up for what’s right. Public education is on the ballot. Please vote Nov. 8 and remember a vote for Sue Prentiss is a strong voice for public education, and for New Hampshire.
Chris Buchanan
Grantham
Public officials need
to say what they’re for
I am the executive director of Newport Community Television in Newport, N.H. I am also a resident voter. NCTV has been interviewing candidates of both parties running for state office in this region. Almost 100% of candidates have participated.
The biggest exception has been our incumbent state senator, Ruth Ward. After many ignored emails and phone messages, she flatly refused our request. She was also a no-show at several forums this fall, wasting both the other candidates’ and audience’s time.
This is important. When opponents challenge each other it strengthens the candidates and allows voters to better assess differences and abilities. What does it say about her ability to deal with difficult issues in Concord if she can’t face an opponent during the campaign?
Healthy political debate is an important American tradition that goes back further than the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858. Democracy succeeds only with open discussion, no matter what different positions candidates may have. We can’t hold a politician accountable for positions they won’t define. It gives them a free pass to do as they please in Concord. With only 24 state senators, that puts a lot of power in the hands of someone who won’t speak up.
As a television producer and engaged voter, I ask that Ruth Ward join her opponent, Charlene Lovett, to discuss the problems and solutions facing our state in the coming two years. Lovett is willing to meet with Ward on camera. I suggest everyone — Democrat or Republican — in Senate District 8 (from Claremont to Dunbarton) contact Sen. Ward and ask the same for the good of our democracy. Let’s get her on record declaring her intentions. If she won’t come out to define what she stands for, is she the best choice for this district?
John Lunn
Newport
Sununu and his party
The truth-challenged Republicans in New Hampshire have backed themselves into an ideological corner where renewable energy solutions are impossible and women are always submissive. The white-haired reactionaries that haunt the Legislature, along with their leader (and failed businessman) Jason Osborne, are a scourge on our state. But, as the old saying goes, the fish stinks from the head. Gov. Sununu has made the current cast of right wing characters possible through his appeasement of the radical fringe and his cozy relationship with the natural gas industry.
How long will New Hampshire tolerate this alliance of conspiracy-crazy minions and wealthy reactionaries? The axis of liars who think open carry in school zones is a safe response to random violence? The climate deniers who would not only like a new natural gas pipeline across the state but another pipeline of disinformation into every public school?
A real problem for Republicans in New Hampshire is that their base is now going to suffer a harsh winter of high fuel prices. The leadership can only hope that their well-armed constituents don’t direct their angst where it’s actually justified. Fear alone will probably have these politicians doubling-down on their lies.
Gov. Sununu won every county in New Hampshire the last time he was elected. He didn’t do that without a lot of help from some deep pockets — including many right here in the blue bubble of the Upper Valley. Hopefully those same king-makers are seeing things a little more clearly now and will pony up their money to help elect some sanity in the person of Tom Sherman and send Sununu packing.
James Graham
Lyme
‘Compelled support’
for abortion?
This newspaper editorialized on Sept. 25 against directing tuition payments in Vermont to approved religious schools because “Article 3 of the Vermont Constitution prohibits Vermonters from being compelled to support any religion that offends the dictates of their conscience.” Proposed Article 22, which would “enshrine” abortion in the Vermont Constitution, could easily be found in violation of Article 3 because abortion is elevated in the minds of many to the status of a religious belief, and funding or being compelled to participate in this procedure will be offensive to those who are conscientiously opposed to it.
Lynn Lefleur was quoted in VtDigger as stating “Proposal 5 is being sold to Vermonters as somehow codifying Roe v. Wade into the Vermont Constitution, but the actual language of the Proposal has nothing to do with Roe v. Wade. It’s weird and I think highly problematic.” Proposal 5: “Article 22 of Chapter I of the Vermont Constitution would be added to read: [Personal Reproductive Liberty] That an individual’s right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the liberty and dignity to determine one’s own life course and shall not be denied or infringed unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”
While this seems to offer carte blanche for abortion at any time and for any reason, it offers no conscience exception for medical workers, physicians or pharmacists and sanctions killing viable 7-, 8-, and 9-month-old infants, offending standards of even many pro-choice people. What’s a “compelling state interest?” Would it restrict ability to bear infants to term if depopulationists convince legislators to restrict family size (as has China) due to climate change or future developments? Forced sterilization or contraception sounds inconceivable (pun intended) in a graying state with schools and colleges closing because of a dire shortage of children. With current legislation allowing abortion in Vermont throughout an entire 9-month term, adopting Proposal 5 is unnecessary, and indeed may have far-reaching unintended consequences for women choosing abortion and Vermont as a whole.
William A. Wittik
Hartford
MAGA Republicans
aren’t conservative
I have noticed with considerable dismay that your paper and many others continue to use the term “conservative” to describe MAGA Republicans. There is nothing conservative about the followers of Donald J. Trump. Calling them conservatives reinforces the erroneous perception that MAGA Republicans are trying to conserve an American system of government that has been in place for over two centuries.
Conservatives believe in the rule of law; MAGA Republicans do not. Conservatives would not encourage an angry mob to storm the Capitol. They would accept the verdict of the voters and the officials who supervise elections. They would insist that presidents, their families and their administrators be subject to laws governing conflicts of interest.
Second, conservatives believe in limited government, not just in matters of economics, but in such personal matters as whom they are allowed to marry and whether it is the government or the individual who decides some of the most difficult decisions about life that women have been allowed to make for 50 years.
Third, conservatives have tended to be opposed to expansionist, authoritarian governments. It is not conservative to trust Vladimir Putin’s assurances over the careful judgments of our intelligence agencies. Conservatives would want their representatives to stand up to Russia and North Korea and not to have a “bromance” with Korean or Russian leaders.
Fourth, conservatives have tended to support “family values.” If they were conservatives, would MAGA Republicans really support a man who boasts about how he sexually assaults women, who brags about his daughter’s attractiveness in terms suggesting he would date her if she was not his daughter, and for whom there are over 20 credible accusations of sexual harassment or assault, some of which involve underage girls?
Finally, conservatives believe in science. They would reject Trump’s false claims that chloroquine can cure COVID.
Too many people are claiming the conservative label. Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan would be ashamed of the people who call themselves conservative today.
Robert M. Baum
Norwich
Strong candidate
for assistant judge
This mid term election year, with many candidates running for public office, Windsor County is fortunate to have a very dedicated and conscientious candidate for assistant judge, Alison Johannensen
Alison’s 26 years of experience as a paralegal for trial attorneys, along with budget work on several local nonprofit boards, and as a former Justice of the Peace, make her more than qualified as assistant judge.
The position of assistant judge is unique to Vermont. Originating as part of Vermont’s government in the 1700s, it was later written into the state constitution. Since then two people are elected every four years to serve their respective districts. They are responsible for the administration of the county budget and all county affairs. In judicial function, assistant judges sit as finders of fact (not law) in Civil and Family Court proceedings alongside a presiding superior court judge.
I have known Alison for the past six years and urge you to vote for this dedicated and hard working candidate for assistant judge.
Wendy Starr
Windsor
The representation
Springfield, Vt. needs
It is extremely important for Springfield, Vt., to have senators and representatives in the state Legislature who are accessible, knowledgeable about the pressing needs in Springfield, able to navigate the complexities of the state government, and willing to use their expertise and influence to fight for us.
I have made it a point as one of your elected Selectboard members, to get to know and work with Alison Clarkson, Dick McCormack and Becca White who are running for the Vermont Senate, and Alice Emmons and Kristi Morris who are running for the Vermont House. I know that I can call on all of them to get information, set up meetings with state officials, be available for important meetings where their counsel and influence will benefit Springfield, sponsor and support legislation important for Springfield, and keep us informed about opportunities for programs and funding to advance our local goals. I am proud that our community has such a strong and capable team to ensure that our voices are heard in Montpelier.
Please join me in voting for Alison Clarkson, Dick McCormack, and Becca White for the Vermont Senate, and Alice Emmons and Kristi Morris for the Vermont House. Thank you for helping to make Springfield a vibrant community for all of us.
Walter Martone
Springfield, Vt., Selectboard member