Vermont news

• New book traces Twin States’ cultural split to the soil itself

  28-09-2026 23:47 via vtdigger.org
  
  Brian Porto at his home in Windsor, Vt., on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. Porto spent the past four years of his retirement writing a book about the politics of Vermont and New Hampshire. “I was expecting differences between the two states, but there really are a lot of similarities,” he said. Alex Driehaus/Valley NewsThis story by Molly Hughes was first published in the Valley News on Sept. 24, 2026.New Hampshire puts “Live Free or Die” on its license plates. Vermont&rsquo
  
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• One-year contracts won’t help Vermont’s schools

  28-09-2026 23:31 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor,This time of year, I trade in the cup of coffee for a mug of warm apple cider. The leaves are starting to turn, mornings are colder, and schools are settling into familiar late September rhythms.It is a beautiful time to be a school leader in Vermont. It is also a strange one.Vermont is embarking on the widest transformation of its education system in decades. And now we face a new wrinkle: School boards have been instructed by the Agency of Education to hire superintendents on one-
  
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• Shelter isn’t charity. It’s public safety.

  28-09-2026 23:21 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Paul Dragon, the executive director of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity.Six years ago, as Covid-19 tore through Vermont, the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity was asked to do something we’d never done before: open a shelter. What began as low-barrier, family and recovery shelters quickly became the state’s largest pandemic shelter, welcoming people experiencing homelessness from communities across Vermont.Our staff worked around
  
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• New poll shows Gov. Phil Scott leading Amanda Janoo by 10 points

  28-09-2026 23:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  Republican Gov. Phil Scott, left, and Democratic nominee for governor Amanda Janoo. Photos by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerGov. Phil Scott holds a 10-point lead over progressive Democrat Amanda Janoo in a poll released Monday, a striking reversal from a separate survey last week that showed the race in a statistical tie.Vermont Public’s 2026 Poll reported Scott is leading Janoo by 10 points, 42% to 32%. These results reflect a 16-point swing from Friday’s Green Mountain State Poll by the U
  
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• Vermont man dies in custody

  28-09-2026 22:03 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield in Oct. 2024. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerA Vermont man died in custody at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield Sunday.Trevis Gembarowski, 44, from Newfane, was taken into custody on Saturday, Sep. 26 and died the following day, according to a press release from the Vermont Department of Corrections. He had a medical event on Sunday morning, and correctional and medical staff began emergency medical response proc
  
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• Vermont farmers feel impacts of staffing cuts at USDA

  28-09-2026 13:45 via vtdigger.org
  
  A cow in a field in Lowell in June 2019. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerSeveral years ago, Ben Haigh, a small-scale dairy farmer in Shoreham, received $50,000 in federal funding from an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to put up fencing around his farm, infrastructure he felt was essential for his operation. But lately it’s been a different story for Haigh: In more recent years, he applied again for the same kind of financial assistance and got turned down twice, withou
  
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