Vermont news

• Howard Center to end program that provides clean syringes

  23-01-2026 23:50 via vtdigger.org
  The Howard Center in Burlington on Thursday, July 10, 2025. Photo by Corey MacDonald/VTDiggerBurlington’s Howard Center intends to shut down its sterile syringe distribution program, and the services surrounding it, this summer, according to a letter from its CEO and confirmed by the Health Department.The Safe Recovery Program is one arm of the substance use treatment, mental health treatment, and developmental disabilities services that the Burlington nonprofit offers. The program provid
  
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• Freeze first, then bury: Vermont prepares for one-two combo of coldest temps and heaviest snow this winter

  23-01-2026 23:31 via vtdigger.org
  A plow clears snow from Browns Trace in Jericho Center on Thursday April 4, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerAfter a weekend of projected extreme cold temperatures, Vermont is expected to be hit with heavy snowfall as a massive winter storm rolls over the state.The National Weather Service is predicting between 8 inches of snow in the north part of the state and 12 to 18 inches in south and central Vermont. Temperatures are expected to drop to well below zero over the weekend and snow storm
  
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• What comes after climate fights? Better numbers, lawmakers say

  23-01-2026 22:53 via vtdigger.org
  Traffic at an intersection along Route 302 in Berlin on April 19, 2022. File photo by Natalie Williams/VTDiggerInstead of launching a shiny new climate program this year, lawmakers are looking at a more concrete means to meet legally binding goals to reduce carbon emissions: data collection. A proposed greenhouse gas reporting program would collect data on emissions from fuel suppliers, largely for heating and transportation, which together make up about 70% of state emissions. The Agency
  
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• Midwives plan birth center for Central Vermont, community invited to weigh in

  23-01-2026 21:57 via vtdigger.org
  Organizers and founders of the Green Mountain Birth Center, from left to right: Vicki Rich, Heidi Riendeau, Alison Fischman, Erinn Mandeville, Lindsay Lachant and Mary Lou Kopas. Photo by Nate Beyer/The Bridge
  This story by Tracy Brannstorm was first published in The Bridge on Jan. 22, 2026.Vermont is the only state in the Northeast without a freestanding birth center. That could soon change: a team of Vermont midwives is developing the Green Mountain Birth Center and inviting the public to wei
  
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• Bob Warrington: Controlled burns protect Vermont’s air

  23-01-2026 04:03 via vtdigger.org
  Dear Editor,The smoke-filled, unhealthy air quality last summer reminded us all again how wildfires out West and in Canada still affect us here in Vermont. Beyond our exposure to smoke and particulate matter, the massive amounts of carbon dioxide released further stoke global warming and increase the likelihood of more wildfires.Risk of severe forest fires centers on the density and dryness of the trees, shrubs, grasses and forest debris that act as fuel. 
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• Flor Diaz Smith: You don’t balance a budget by ignoring the biggest expense

  23-01-2026 01:14 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by Flor Diaz Smith, president of the Vermont School Boards Association.Now that legislators have returned to Montpelier and are back in session, Act 73, the state’s sweeping education reform law, is once again taking center stage. Much of the public debate so far has focused on school district mergers, consolidation and governance. Those questions matter. But amid the focus on how schools are organized, we risk overlooking what is driving education costs in the fir
  
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• How a middle-schooler got the Vermont Senate to upgrade its seating

  23-01-2026 00:30 via vtdigger.org
  Legilslative pages sit in chairs in the well of the Senate chamber at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Jan. 7, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThere are a host of historic fixtures adorning the Vermont Senate chamber, far from the least of which are the black leather chairs stationed behind each senator’s desk. But for the legislative pages tasked with attending to lawmakers’ needs during floor sessions, the seating has long been less luxurious: small, wooden stools with no back
  
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