[Riley.]

With which I happen to agree....from Digger.

https://vtdigger.org/2023/05/25/terr...peoples-money/

[harry chickpea]

I agree as well. The anti-industry sentiment started back when many, if not most, industries were ugly and major polluters of the environment. The NIMBY attitude got completely out of hand about the time that the southern connector got started. I well remember the shift. I am only one of the thousands that moved out. To give a sense of how bad the diaspora has been, at my 50th high school reunion there were fewer than a dozen people who attended, out of a graduating class of over two hundred. People do vote with their feet.

[mikeugh]

They're not actually suggesting anything concrete. As useful as most opinion pieces.

[Riley.]

Well, I think with his questions at the bottom of the article, he IS suggesting, albeit in a roundabout way, some things that could/should be done. But it's the same ole' saw. I don't think this state will every change....not in my lifetime anyway.

[NYLIER]

Originally Posted by Riley.

Well, I think with his questions at the bottom of the article, he IS suggesting, albeit in a roundabout way, some things that could/should be done. But it's the same ole' saw. I don't think this state will every change....not in my lifetime anyway.

If you read some of the old Vermont threads, nothing has changed. You have people that find the taxes too high, salaries too low, schools not educating the students, politicians that aren't listening to the people, and then a few that feel the beautiful landscape is worth the high taxes and failed education system.

The people I know on a personal level that I feel live in denial don't watch the news, read the newspaper or vote. They don't want to know what is going on around them. They have enough money to pay their taxes, never questioning why it has gone higher. At times I have posted on local forums, alerting the taxpayers what they are voting for when they approve certain budgets. Some will email me, thank me and agree. If I email them back, suggesting a group of us get together to discuss how to alert others what they are voting for, I never get a reply back. It is a waste of time.

[atypicalLIer]

My personal experience with the local police.

1. We had a lot of work to do on our home the year we bought it. I made a hardware store run using my husband's lifted pick up truck. Part of the way down our road, a car swerved over in front of me, causing me to go tight to my right to avoid it. I cussed under my breath and continued on my way to the store to pick up what was needed.

Arms full of bags exiting the hardware store, I caught sight of two VSP blocking my husband's truck in. As I approached I was asked whether I owned the truck, had I drive it there, and where had I come from prior to the hardware store. I answered. They replied that there had been an incident and they needed me to follow them. I nearly fainted as I cried out, "Is my family OK?"

I was lead back to the bend in the road. There I was introduced to a few local police officers (chief included) and asked to remain outside my vehicle while they questioned me. They asked me about any other cars I may have passed on the road. I detailed my drive from the house which was 2 miles up the road from where we stood. I said that I kept to my left near the steep drop 1 mile up, but then returned to the proper side of the road. (I caught 1 cop sort of snicker at my flatlander fear.) I then detailed how I saw some litter and cussed the slob who tossed it. A little further down, on the dirt road before the curve, I remarked that a car sped around, crossed in front of me and how I moved far right to avoid a collision. I added, please check my tire tracks.

It turned out that three young teens -- the oldest 16 -- had used one of the boy's mom's boyfriend's car. After the nearly collided with me, they continued around the bend at a high rate of speed, lost control, flipped, went airborne and hit a tree. Thank goodness none of them was killed OR severely injured! One made his way to a neighbor's house to call the police. When the police arrived, they lied and said they were run off the road by a large white pickup with out-of-state tags and monster mudders. To this day I am grateful for dirt roads and 'monster mudders' for they left a detailed track, proving my innocence.

2. In town, for one year I was getting followed by the police as I drove a dark SUV with out-of-state tags. Following a large drug bust, I was no longer being followed. It made sense; my car fit a profile.

Today, it is different. The police stopped a man whose resemblance and car's description fit a Bellows Falls PD BOLO for an armed driver who threatened another motorist. The alleged suspect was black. The officer drew his gun on the driver. Long story short, the driver took his racial bias case to the Human Rights Commission where they found 5-0 that the man's rights were violated. He received $50,000 from the town.

Shortly after, the town did a 180. Police bad, bad guys misunderstood. Crime went up.

I purchased my home in 2004. It sat empty 18 months while we were in NY for my husband's cancer battle during COVID. We returned Summer 2021 to a town which had seen changes; some good, some drug-related, and an uptick in COVID refugees. Nonetheless, it was good to be home.

3. In September of 2021, my house was burglarized. The police chief did an obligatory appearance. Didn't take a note, didn't dust for fingerprints. Dismissed it as junkies. We felt violated and for the first time ever, unsafe. I had security cameras installed.

4. Last month, while back in NY for a cancer-related hospital visit, my security camera picked up a strange man walking around my house. I called the local police. The number transferred me to VSP which took some of my info incorrectly. VSP then transferred me back to the local officer. He went out, but the criminal was already gone. He had caused damage in his efforts to break in and also attempted steal a large house generator. The local officer took a pair of snips to dust which the miscreant used in his attempted theft.

Within the course of 20 months my space was violated twice.

If communities continue to tether the police, crimes will continue to escalate. If given a choice -- how many people want to move to an area experiencing an increase in crime?