As our annual appeal enters its final week, we’d like to thank those of you who have thus far stepped up to assist us with your donation. We shoulder our ongoing financial burden all year long – trying to produce quality local journalism for our community even though the traditional advertising revenue funding model for newspapers has deteriorated — and …

By Dan Cotter, publisher Many years ago, while discussing the Troubles in Northern Ireland with a good friend, he said to me, “anyone who thinks they know the solution doesn’t really understand the problem.” That quote crossed my mind this week as I contemplated the grave challenges we face in the newspaper industry – both throughout the country and right …

By Dan Cotter, publisher It probably comes as no surprise that at a small newspaper like the Vermont Standard, everyone on staff has to do a little of everything and wear many different hats. But what is a bit surprising is that one of my favorite responsibilities at the paper is to post the obituaries on our website. As I …

By Dan Cotter, publisher  Last year at this time, when we made our first annual appeal, what stood out to me was how incredibly kind and generous our readers are. A couple of hundred Vermont Standard readers who live locally or read the paper from afar to keep up on goings-on in the area took a few minutes to write …