Vermont news

• National education funding expert takes the helm of the State Board of Education

  22-10-2026 23:18 via VTDigger
  
  Tammy Kolbe, vice chair of the Vermont Board of Education, testifies before the House Education Committee at the Statehouse in Montpelier in February 2025. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe state board tasked with setting education standards for Vermont’s schools elected a new chair: Tammy Kolbe, a researcher and national expert in education funding. Kolbe has served as acting chair of the State Board of Education since former chair Jennifer Samuelson suddenly resigned during a meeting
  
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• Beta Technologies takes electric planes to new territories

  22-10-2026 23:05 via VTDigger
  
  A BETA Technologies Alia vertical take-off and landing all-electric airplane is on display during the opening of BETA’s electric aircraft production facility in South Burlington on Monday, October 2, 2023. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermont-based aircraft manufacturer Beta Technologies has received federal certification to fly potential customers aboard its ALIA eVTOL, an all-electric aircraft capable of taking off and landing vertically.The approval marks a new step toward commercial ope
  
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• Bernie Sanders makes rare Vermont campaign appearance, stumping with Amanda Janoo to push universal primary care

  22-10-2026 22:14 via VTDigger
  
  U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont speaks during an event with democratic gubernatorial candidate Amanda Janoo in Winooski on Thursday, October 22, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerWINOOSKI — Bernie Sanders is a regular sight on the campaign trail — just not much in his home state. On Thursday, though, Vermont’s independent U.S. senator stood alongside Amanda Janoo and voiced support for the gubernatorial candidate’s proposal to offer primary healthcare to everyone in the state, fr
  
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• Rural Vermont is done being the state’s expendable class

  22-10-2026 21:37 via VTDigger
  
  This commentary is by Megan Durling, a teacher and an organizer for Rural Vermont Rising.The laws coming out of the Statehouse are not written for rural Vermont. They are written to serve Burlington and Montpelier, ignoring how they will affect Brighton and Manchester. That exclusion is breaking us.Rural Vermont Rising formed this spring in response not just to Act 181 but to the broad pattern of regulatory exclusion that it laid bare. Like so many of our laws, it was written without rural folk
  
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• Stick season approaches, but a beautiful weekend ahead across Vermont

  22-10-2026 20:43 via VTDigger
  
  Foliage forecast data courtesy of Explore Fall – https://www.explorefall.com
  This year, VTDigger is teaming up with Henry’s Weather Channel to help answer the annual question of when and where peak foliage will make its appearance across the state.Each week, we’ll bring you an updated look at how foliage is unfolding statewide, paired with a weekend forecast, so you can plan your drive, hike or porch-sitting accordingly. Henry brings meteorological experience and on-the-ground reporting w
  
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• International and out-of-state students are an asset, not a threat

  22-10-2026 20:10 via VTDigger
  
  Dear Editor,I have spent more than 30 years working in information technology at four institutions of higher education, and I’ve consulted for many others. In my experience, the suggestion that admitting an international or out-of-state student takes away an educational opportunity from an in-state student misses many things, of which I will point out three.First, most of the time, international and out-of-state students do not pay the same amount to attend an institution as do in-state stude
  
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• 5 takeaways from Phil Scott and Amanda Janoo’s first debate of the campaign

  22-10-2026 16:10 via VTDigger
  
  Republican Gov. Phil Scott, left, and Democratic nominee for governor Amanda Janoo. Photos by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermont’s leading candidates for governor agreed at their first debate of the campaign Wednesday that the state is facing a slew of challenges that make life unaffordable. But Republican Gov. Phil Scott and his Democratic and Progressive challenger, Amanda Janoo, presented at times polar opposite ideas for what to do about it. The debate, hosted by Vermont Public, was friendly
  
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• Gov. Scott put property taxes and school consolidation center stage. Now Amanda Janoo is rallying opposition.

  22-10-2026 11:53 via VTDigger
  
  A sign questioning the property tax rate seen in Jericho on Friday, October 16, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerJERICHO — Henry Listenik Jr. says he’s paying double what he did last year in property taxes. The 69-year-old voted for Gov. Phil Scott in 2024, but Listenik said he doesn’t think Scott has followed through on his promises. Now Listenik doesn’t know who to vote for.The Jericho resident said that his kids, who are parents themselves, are considering moving out of state be
  
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• Emergency medicine responders meet with Becca Balint to talk rural health bottlenecks

  22-10-2026 01:42 via VTDigger
  
  U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., speaks during a discussion the challenges faced by first responders at Milton Rescue in Milton on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMILTON — U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., wanted to see how heavy a stretcher is. She got some help lifting it out of the back of one of Milton’s retired ambulances as part of her Wednesday visit with the Chittenden County town’s emergency medicine providers.The ambulance was old and without the now-stand
  
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• Another approval, another appeal in long-running fight over private airstrip in Lincoln

  22-10-2026 00:29 via VTDigger
  
  A 900-foot airstrip at the home of BETA founder Kyle Clark in Lincoln seen on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerLINCOLN — A controversial private airstrip got the stamp of approval from the Vermont Transportation Board this month in what could have been one of the final steps in a years-long process.But two Lincoln residents are pushing back — as they have for years. Residents Marilyn Ganahl and Sarah Laird filed an appeal Monday to the Vermont Supreme Court, asking
  
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• Budget cuts are hurting patients

  22-10-2026 00:02 via VTDigger
  
  Dear Editor, We are practicing clinicians, trainees and recently retired doctors who serve on the Vermont Medical Society’s board and are deeply concerned about healthcare affordability and access in the state. Despite sharing these goals with state regulators and lawmakers, we believe many current strategies unwittingly threaten the very access they seek to improve. As hospitals are required to quickly and dramatically reduce costs without increasing income, they have limited tools to bala
  
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