Carl Etnier

“Positioning Itself to Be an Adversary”: Vermont Braces to Defend Its Elections

September 18, 2026

This article is the first in a series exploring the growing tension between federal elections pressure and safeguards for free and fair elections at the state and local level in Vermont. Vermont’s…

Power Starts Locally, Says Labor Historian

May 21, 2026

by Carl Etnier

BARRE — “What’s the first thing we do tomorrow morning to combat what we face as a country?” It was the first audience question…

Your Co-op, Your Choice: Opportunities for Member Participation at Hunger Mountain Co-op

August 21, 2024

by Carl Etnier

In November, Hunger Mountain Co-op members will vote on five of the nine member-elected seats on our board, known as the council. As highlighted…

Letter to the Editor: A Clarification from the Co-op

June 26, 2024

by Carl Etnier

Hunger Mountain Co-operative is a member-owned grocery store that has served our community with good food and helped build local, sustainable food systems since…

Food Scraps Banned from Trash

July 14, 2020

by Carl Etnier

The final phase of Vermont’s 2012 Universal Recycling Law went into effect on July 1, and now all food scraps are banned from the…

Norma Raymond Turns 97 Under Quarantine

July 14, 2020

by Carl Etnier

When Norma Raymond turned 95, the lawn outside the Montpelier Unitarian Church was full of well-wishers. As of a week before her July 15th…

Physician’s Assistant Nearly Died of COVID-19 After Working Without PPE

June 17, 2020

by Carl Etnier

COVID-19 came close to killing Jessie Fisch. And she thought about helping it. Her blood carried so little oxygen, she felt like she was…

A Modest Proposal for the Confederate Fort Names

June 17, 2020

by Carl Etnier

President Donald Trump’s tweet is right. Fort Bragg, Fort Hood, Fort Benning, all those forts that are named after Confederate generals—they are, as he…

Challenging times at the Hilltop Inn

April 23, 2020

by Carl Etnier

Winter and early spring are usually quiet times of year at the Hilltop Inn, located across Route 62 from the Central Vermont Medical Center…

Motel rooms replace homeless shelters

April 8, 2020

by Carl Etnier

Vermont’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has included providing motel rooms to homeless people who had been staying in shelters. The rooms are a…

Self-isolating at Home When You’re Homeless

March 25, 2020

by Carl Etnier

Homelessness in Washington County may nearly disappear before April because of COVID-19. Local groups, using state funding, contributions, and volunteer labor, are shutting down…

CVMC Boosts Capacity in Preparation for Surge of COVID-19 Patients

March 25, 2020

by Carl Etnier

Matt Choate is in charge of preparing Central Vermont Medical Center (CVMC) in Berlin for a surge of patients with COVID-19. The disease has…

Birders Welcomed Beyond No Trespassing Signs

March 10, 2020

by Carl Etnier

On a late winter Sunday morning, Richard Littauer dropped what he was doing to go searching for a bird. He had received an electronic…

Grappling with Racially Unequal Justice

February 19, 2020

by Carl Etnier

The Vermont State Police treat people of color more harshly than whites. Troopers are almost three times more likely to search black drivers at…

No More “Gents” and “Ladies” at Montpelier Contra Dance

February 5, 2020

by Carl Etnier

To the older eye, the hall at the Capital City Grange on Feb. 1 appeared to be full of men and women, dancing in…

Maestro of Olde World Sourdough

January 9, 2020

by Carl Etnier

When Paul Markowitz, 64, decided last year to retire and create a sourdough micro-bakery in his Pearl Street home in Montpelier, he thought he…

Regional Public Safety Project to Return to Voters for Funding

January 9, 2020

by Carl Etnier

A regional public safety authority has decided to ask voters for additional funding in March, according to the organization’s chair, Kim Cheney. The money…

Volunteer Programmers Code for BTV

December 18, 2019

by Carl Etnier

Although it takes human hands to pick up the bottles, cans, and paper along the roads, rivers, and fields across Vermont, a new Green…

Regional Public Safety Project Poised for Resurgence—or Dormancy

December 4, 2019

by Carl Etnier

The value of uniting police, fire, and ambulance in Central Vermont has been recognized for decades, as the current hodge-podge of local departments and…

Community Meals Provide Food for Body and Soul

November 26, 2019

by Carl Etnier

When you walk in the door of a community meal site, the buzz of conversation strikes you as much as—or more than—the smell of…

Waste digester. Photo Courtesy of Jasper Hill Farms.

Powering Vermont with Cow Waste

November 7, 2019

by Carl Etnier

Cow belches and flatulence are infamous for their surprisingly high contributions to the climate crisis. Studies blame agriculture for as much as 40 percent…

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Carl Etnier

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