• Longtime Rutland City school leader to retire

    Mary E. Moran, superintendent of Rutland City Public Schools. Photo by Andrew Kutches/VTDiggerRUTLAND — Longtime Rutland Schools Superintendent Mary Moran said her passion for education and the outdoors made Vermont a perfect location for a high school administrator from Massachusetts to live and build on a career.
    And after more than two decades working for the Rutland City school system, most of that time as the district’s top leader, the Boston native says she’s retiring nex
  • South Burlington student spotlights girls’ education access

    South Burlington senior Kiran Waqar organized an event spotlighting global access to education on International Day of the Girl. Courtesy photo by Dina AlsaffarSouth Burlington high school senior Kiran Waqar was teaching in Pakistan this summer when she asked a fifth-grader about his enthusiasm for school.
    His answer, she said, helped her to realize how meaningful an education can mean to children around the globe.
    Waqar added later: “It’s also about being a better citizen, being a g
  • Vermont Contemplates The Future Of Public Safety Communications dlvr.it/PvPJvw https://t.co/G2Xs5Jn5M2

    Vermont Contemplates The Future Of Public Safety Communications dlvr.it/PvPJvw https://t.co/G2Xs5Jn5M2
    Vermont Contemplates The Future Of Public Safety Communications dlvr.it/PvPJvw https://t.co/G2Xs5Jn5M2
  • LISTEN: Vermont Contemplates The Future Of Public Safety Communications dlvr.it/PvPJhK https://t.co/RHuP6LBycI

    LISTEN: Vermont Contemplates The Future Of Public Safety Communications dlvr.it/PvPJhK https://t.co/RHuP6LBycI
    LISTEN: Vermont Contemplates The Future Of Public Safety Communications dlvr.it/PvPJhK https://t.co/RHuP6LBycI
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  • Local co-op pushes its case for Burlington Telecom purchase

    Megan Epler Wood and Alan Matson of Keep BT Local speak at City Hall on Friday. Photo by Mark Johnson/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — Supporters of a local co-op trying to buy Burlington Telecom rebutted Friday arguments against their bid, including claims by Mayor Miro Weinberger, and reiterated they were “very actively pursuing” a purchase of the city’s internet, cable and telephone service provider.
    Keep BT Local is one of three remaining bidders, but their $12 million offer
  • Vermont bald eagles nest in record numbers in 2017

    News Release — Vermoont Fish & Wildlife DepartmentOctober 12, 2017
    Media Contacts:John Buck, 802-476-0196; Margaret Fowle, 802-238-0046
    Peregrine falcons, common terns, and loons also have nesting success
    MONTPELIER, Vt. – Vermont’s bald eagle population continued its recovery in 2017. Twenty-one pairs of adult bald eagles successfully produced 35 young in Vermont in 2017, a modern-day record in the state according to the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department.The species r
  • Southwestern Vermont Medical Center presented 2017 ANCC Magnet Prize

    News Release — Southwestern Vermont Medical CenterOct. 12, 2017
    Media Contacts:Ray SmithSouthwestern Vermont Health Care802-447-5003
    [email protected]
    Rachel FarbmanANCC301-628-5062
    [email protected]
    Houston—October 13, 2017—Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) is proud to announce that it was presented with the 2017 American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet Prize™ before an audience of more than 10,000 nurses and conference attendees at the A
  • Vermont Livestock Slaughter and Processing recalls ground beef

    News Release — USDA FSISOct. 13, 2017
    Contact:Congressional and Public AffairsJeremy J. Emmert (202) [email protected]
    Recall Release
    CLASS I RECALLHEALTH RISK: HIGH
    DUE TO POSSIBLE E. COLI O157:H7 CONTAMINATION
    WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2017 – Vermont Livestock Slaughter and Processing, LLC, a Ferrisburg, Vt., establishment, is recalling approximately 133 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foo
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  • University of Vermont honored for leadership in alcohol abuse prevention

    News Release — UVMOct. 13, 2017
    Contact:Jeff Wakefield, [email protected], 802-578-8830
    UVM one of five schools nationally to receive distinction from higher education technology leader EVERFI
    Officials from EVERFI, a leading education technology innovator, has recognized the University of Vermont with the group’s prestigious Prevention Excellence Award. The award recognizes UVM’s commitment to adopting the highest standards in alcohol abuse prevention.
    Colleges and uni
  • Renewable energy innovators, change makers recognized at REV2017

    News Release — Renewable Energy VermontOctober 13, 2017
    Contact:Austin DavisCommunications & Operations AssociateRenewable Energy Vermont
    [email protected]@re_vermont
    Earlier in October the 17th Annual Renewable Energy Vermont Conference & Expo, REV2017, brought together 505 attendees, including 28 government officials from across New England and Quebec to focus on “Renewables For All”. Recognizing entrepreneur, citizen, and renewable energy champions and
  • Sanders to host Vermont College Fair Saturday in Castleton

    News Release — Sen. Bernie SandersOct. 13, 2017
    Contact:Dan McLean(802) 862-6695
    BURLINGTON, Vt., Oct. 13 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will hold a college fair for Vermont high school students and their families this Saturday at Castleton University.
    The college fair begins Saturday at 10 a.m. Sanders will make remarks at 12:30 p.m. Vermont colleges, universities, and certificate and apprenticeship programs will be on hand to describe post-secondary educational opportunities th
  • Vermont highlights ‘Children’s Environmental Health Day’ by calling for stronger protections from harmful chemicals

    News ReleaseOctober 12, 2017
    Contact:Shaina Kasper, Toxics Action Center, [email protected], 802-922-4780Carol Westinghouse, Informed Green Solutions, [email protected], 802-626-8643Lauren Hierl, Vermont Conservation Voter, [email protected],860-670-2629
    Montpelier – Governor Phil Scott, along with numerous elected officials across the country, declared October 12th Children’s Environmental Health Day. Environmental health organizations,
  • LISTEN: Empty Shelves: How Vermont Food Pantries Are Coping With Increased Demand dlvr.it/PvMdw5 https://t.co/nnCmizHt6I

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  • Living Well Group receives multiple awards at VHCA ceremony

    News Release — Living Well GroupOct. 12, 2017
    Contact:Chloe Marchand603-831-3515
    [email protected]
    Burlington, VT-
    This year at Vermont Health Care Association’s annual conference at the Stoweflake resort, the nonprofit residential care organization Living Well Group received four prestigious awards that spanned each of their three Vermont facilities.
    Susie Otis and Tina Donohue from Heaton Woods Residence in Montpelier won the Activity Director of the Year award and Outstandi
  • Sanders visits solar regional testing center

    News Release — Sen. Bernie SandersOct. 12, 2017
    Contact:Dan McLean(802) 862-6695
    WILLISTON, Vt., Oct. 12 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) applauded the “cutting-edge role Vermont is playing in researching, testing and deploying solar energy,” during a visit to the U.S. Department of Energy’s solar testing site in Williston on Thursday morning.
    The Vermont Regional Test Center (RTC) is one of five such facilities in the United States that give manufacturers of sola
  • Partnership to lower costs of care provided to homeless wins national praise

    News Release — UVM Medical CenterOct. 12, 2017
    Contact:Michael CarreseThe University of Vermont Medical CenterMedia Relationsdesk: (802) 847-0368cell: (802) 324-8166
    [email protected]
    UVMHealth.org/MedCenter
    Innovative “population health” program also improved services for housing-insecure patients
    Highlights§ More than $1 million saved in cost of care§ Model combines temporary housing with social services
    LOUISVILLE – The University of Vermont Medic
  • Painted-over mural stokes debate in Londonderry

    The mural designed by students at Londonderry’s Flood Brook School. Photo provided by Garrison Buxton(This story by Cherise Madigan was published in the Manchester Journal on Oct. 12, 2017.)
    LONDONDERRY — Ed Brown freely admits it: He painted over a mural designed by area students, on a cement wall in the middle of town, in broad daylight.The 74-year-old restaurant owner stands by his decision, despite recently being cited by state police for unlawful mischief.“I acted on my pr
  • Lawmakers spar over noise limits for wind turbines

    A proposed rule on noise limits for wind turbines generated tense interactions Thursday between lawmakers.
    The rule proposed by the Public Utility Commission sets a 42-decibel limit for wind turbines during the day, when measured 100 feet from the outside of neighboring homes, and a 39-decibel limit at night.
    The Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules chose to extend the deadline for a vote on the rule.
    Several lawmakers argued the nighttime noise limit seemed arbitrary or in conflict wit
  • YWP: ‘Names’

    Young Writers Project, an independent nonprofit based in Burlington, engages young people to write and use digital media to express themselves with clarity and power, and to gain confidence and skills for school, the workplace and life.Check out the most recent issue of The Voice, Young Writers Project’s monthly digital magazine. Click here.Each week, VTDigger features a writing submission – an essay, poem, fiction or nonfiction – accompanied by a photo or illustration from Yo
  • SCOV Law Blog: Family trust issues

    Editor’s note: This piece from the SCOV Law Blog is by SCOV Law editor Andrew Delaney. 
    Lamson v. Lamson, 2017 VT 41
    Creative Commons photo by walknboston via Flickr
    Love. It’s what makes a Subaru a Subaru. If you listen to VPR, you’ve heard this tagline. I’m guessing the Lamson brothers might have a couple things to say about that. Personally, I hate Subarus.
    Roger and Frank were both beneficiaries and trustees of a trust established by their mom. Roger sued Frank i
  • Opposition leads PhytoScience to look for new Bennington dispensary site

    Marijuana buds dry with an electronic tag used to track plants. File photo by Elizabeth Hewitt/VTDiggerBENNINGTON — A group seeking to open the first medical marijuana dispensary in the Bennington area has abandoned plans to use an Elm Street site and will explore other locations in town.
    William Cats-Baril, CEO of PhytoScience Institute LLC, said Wednesday that, after speaking with town zoning officials about a vacant building at 345 Elm St., the group will seek an alternative site.
  • Chittenden County Sen. Debbie Ingram arrested for DUI

    Sen. Debbie Ingram, D-Chittenden, on the first day of the legislative session. File photo by Anne Galloway/VTDiggerWILLISTON — State Sen. Debbie Ingram, D-Chittenden, was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol Thursday night.
    Police responded to a crash on South Road around 8 p.m. They said Ingram, 55, drove off the road and struck a “fixed object” before continuing on and veering off the road again, according to a Seven Days report. Ingram, who is serving her firs
  • Burlington cleans up Church Street graffiti

    “Off the Wall,” was painted on a mural off Church Street in Burlington to protest its exclusion of the Abenaki who lived in the Champlain Valley prior to Samuel de Champlain’s arrival. Photo courtesy of Albert PetrarcaA man spray painted the words “OFF THE WALL,” on a Church Street Marketplace mural on Monday in a Columbus Day protest. The city removed the graffiti Monday afternoon.Albert Petrarca defaced the mural to honor the holiday, which has been unofficially r
  • How are #VT food shelves coping with increased demand? We'll discuss today with John Sayles, @VermontFoodbank CEO: dlvr.it/Pv8hZl

    How are #VT food shelves coping with increased demand? We'll discuss today with John Sayles, @VermontFoodbank CEO: dlvr.it/Pv8hZl
  • GS Precision finishes $17M expansion in Brattleboro

    Norm Schneeberger, CEO of Brattleboro-based G.S. Precision, talks about his company’s $17 million expansion project on Thursday. Photo by Mike Faher/VTDigger
    BRATTLEBORO – In early 2015, it looked like longtime Brattleboro manufacturer G.S. Precision Inc. was set to leave Vermont.
    But a team of local, state and federal officials crafted an elaborate financing package to prevent that from happening. Not only did G.S. Precision stay, but the company has just put the finishing touches o
  • The Deeper Dig: A ‘new ruralism’ for Vermont

    Interstate 91 in Rockingham. File photo by Kristopher Radder/Brattleboro ReformerJon Margolis has written columns for VTDigger since 2010. This week, his piece on a national survey showing the relative economic strength of metropolitan areas compared to rural ones raised broad questions about the future of Vermont’s economy.
    “Metropolitan areas grow organically,” Margolis says. Vermont is unlikely to build new ones from scratch. So how can a predominantly ru
  • Document: Opting out of national telecom plan could cost Vermont millions

    A confidential draft memo circulating among state officials as Vermont prepares to decide whether to join a national public safety communications project is being likened by one member of a state review panel to a mafia protection racket.
    “I grew up in New Jersey,” said Ron Kumetz, a representative of volunteer firefighters to the Vermont Public Safety Broadband Commission. “There were certain family-owned businesses that would send around a ‘health adviser,’ who wo
  • Brattleboro community rallies to protest local man’s deportation

    (This story is by the Brattleboro Reformer, in which it first appeared Oct. 12, 2017.)
    BRATTLEBORO — Community member Mamadou Bah was spirited away to Canada on Thursday to avoid being deported to his native Guinea West Africa, from where he fled in 2002.
    Bah had been told by U.S. Customs and Immigration Services to turn himself in on Thursday for his return to his native country. According to Lost River Racial Justice, which has been advocating for him to stay in Vermont, Mamadou was a po
  • Burlington council asked to OK revised development deal

    Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, left, and businessman Don Sinex announce a multimillion-dollar plan to redevelop downtown Burlington. File photo by Cory Dawson/VTDiggerMayor Miro Weinberger is urging city councilors to approve an agreement Monday that would allow construction to begin on a redevelopment of the Burlington Town Center mall and surrounding downtown area.
    The agreement lays out timelines, details payments and includes a commitment the developer will participate in the city’s
  • Fred Kniffin: The all-payer model is Vermont’s best kept secret

    Editor’s note: This commentary is by Dr. Fred Kniffin, who is president and CEO of UVM Health Network — Porter Medical Center.
    While health care reform is in the national news week after week, Vermont and Vermont providers continue to chart our own course of meaningful reform, and UVM Health Network — Porter Medical Center is an active participant in this progress. In 2017, we “put a toe in the water,” receiving about 5 percent of our revenue through the new all-pay
  • Mary Peterson: Take steps against identity theft

    Editor’s note: This commentary is by Mary Peterson, who is an attorney with the law firm Rath, Young & Pignatelli in Montpelier. In addition to private practice, she has served as commissioner at the Vermont Department of Taxes, on the Way & Means Committee of the Vermont House of Representatives, and as a local official.
    Nearly half of all Americans had their personal information exposed through the breach at the giant credit bureau Equifax. This is just the latest major breach, a
  • Akara Draper & Linnie Jones: Keep school decisions local

    Editor’s note: This commentary is by Akara Draper and Linnie Jones, both of Dummerston. Draper is a lifelong community advocate, serves on the Dummerston Cares Inc. board and is a member of the group supporting alternative governance structures. Jones is a licensed social worker, and is a member of the group supporting alternative governance structures.
    The vote to meet the goals of Act 46 by consolidating schools in the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union will occur on Nov. 7 in Brattlebo
  • UPDATED: Man held in fatal cleaver attack on relatives in Burlington

    Burlington police released this photo when announcing they were investigating an attack with a cleaver Thursday on Hyde Street.(This story was updated Oct. 12 at 9:05 p.m.)
    A 34-year-old Burlington man killed his wife with a meat cleaver Thursday and injured her mother, according to police.
    Aita Gurung was arrested in connection with the slaying of his wife, Yogeswari Khadka, 32, the Burlington Police Department said Thursday evening. The victim suffered blows to her hands, arms and skull.
    In a
  • Man held in fatal cleaver attack on female relatives in Burlington

    Burlington police released this photo when announcing they were investigating an attack with a cleaver Thursday on Hyde Street.A 34-year-old man was in custody, one of his female relatives was dead and a second was clinging to life after he attacked them with a cleaver Thursday in Burlington, police said.
    City police had not released the names of the victims or the suspect by early Thursday evening, but authorities said the incident unfolded earlier in the day at 72 Hyde St. in the Old North End
  • Weeks after key deadline, children’s health care program remains unfunded

    Illustration
    WASHINGTON — Almost two weeks after a federal health care initiative for children passed a key deadline, lawmakers have yet to move forward to continue the program.
    The Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, expired Sept. 30 — meaning that the federal government is no longer providing new funds to states to administer the program that serves more than 8 million children nationwide.
    Most states have enough money in their coffers to continue running the progra

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