Vermonters involved in shaping their communities' future took part this past week in a series of listening sessions hosted by Senator Bernie Sanders. At the first session in Lyndon, the Caledonian-Record said Sanders came to hear concerns of people in the Northeast Kingdom and "he got an earful." Later in the week, the Bennington Banner reported that at another session, "Sanders got an earful."

So by the weekend, it was not surprising that the Brattleboro Reformer summed it all up with the observation that Sanders "got an earful."

The week-long series of five meetings focused on jobs, economic development and public works projects. Topics ran the gamut from border issues to cell phone service, water projects and transportation needs.

"Our current government has put a higher priority on tax cuts and corporate welfare for the rich than on spending money on things that benefit every American. And every dollar being wasted on our needless war in Iraq is a dollar that could fixing a bridge, renovating a schoolhouse or upgrading a railroad line in this country," the Reformer editorial concluded. "We need a new New Deal for America. We need to not only rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, but our crumbling social contract. We need a recommitment to shared prosperity and to projects that will help create that prosperity."

To watch a short video of Senator Sanders discussing the Vermont Listening Sessions, click here.

To read more about the Vermont Listening Sessions in the Bennington Banner, Caledoninan-Record, Rutland Herald, and Springfield Eagle Times click here, here, here and here.

To read the Brattleboro Reformer editorial, click here.

To view photos click here.