Vermont news

• Are Vermonters hungry for neighborhood connection?

  15-06-2026 23:23 via vtdigger.org
  
  A block party hosted on Germain Street in Burlington in May 2026. Courtesy of Thomas DeSistoBen Doyle knows block parties. This time, though, he was in over his head.Last summer, Doyle decided to roast a whole pig for his Montpelier neighborhood’s annual block party. Panicked, he left a voicemail for Richard Amore, a fellow Montpelier resident who happened to know his way around a brine.“Richard, I’m in trouble, man. I got this pig, I don’t know what to do,” Doyle
  
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• Chittenden schools can avoid forced mergers if they act fast

  15-06-2026 22:52 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor,In her recent commentary for VTDigger, Nina Antin correctly identifies the coercive financial architecture underlying H.955’s voluntary language. For small rural districts facing existential pressure, her warning deserves serious attention.The picture looks different in Chittenden County. The six Chittenden Central Cooperative Educational Service Area (CESA) members — Burlington, Colchester, Essex-Westford, Grand Isle, South Burlington and Winooski — are large enoug
  
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• Vermont murder suspect gets 13 years on federal drug charges, faces more time on state homicide count

  15-06-2026 22:25 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Federal Building in Burlington houses the U.S. District Courthouse and the U.S. Postal Service. File photo by Bob LoCicero/VTDiggerBURLINGTON – A Connecticut man awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to a state murder charge in the killing of a Derby woman more than two years ago was ordered Monday to serve a little more than 13 years in prison on federal drug offenses. Judge William K. Sessions III handed down the 157 month prison sentence to 26-year–old Jakiy Tramaine
  
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• Kenneth Ray Helms

  15-06-2026 20:28 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born: 07/28/1954Centralia, WashingtonDied: 06/06/2026Westford, VermontDetails of service:There will not be a memorial service, but we hope those of you who knew him will get out into nature and enjoy the woods in his honor. If you are interested in making a donation in his memory, he was a strong supporter of the Carter Center and the Chittenden County Humane Society (where his last three best friends came from).Ken R. Helms of Westford passed away peacefully on the morning of June 6 after a si
  
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• Vermont’s childcare shortage is really a housing problem

  15-06-2026 19:24 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Erin Roche, who is the director of First Children’s Finance Vermont. She works with childcare businesses statewide on planning, financing and expansion.Housing is on everyone’s minds these days: how to build more of it, and how to make it affordable for more families. There are many ideas to increase funding and reduce regulations to make it more attractive for developers to build in Vermont. But housing is also directly connected to another challenge: access t
  
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• After years of stifling heat, Vermont invests nearly $10.5 million in prison air conditioning

  15-06-2026 12:55 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield in October 2024. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerAfter years of complaints from prison staff and incarcerated people about sweltering summer conditions, Vermont has approved its largest investment in cooling state correctional facilities in recent years. Lawmakers agreed to spend nearly $10.5 million to install prison cooling systems, which appears to be more money than the state put toward the project in the last four years combi
  
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