Vermont news

• Accountability court docket to continue in ‘modified fashion’

  28-10-2026 23:04 via VTDigger
  
  Windham County State’s Attorney Steven Brown questions a witness during the trial of Cara Rodrigues on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. Reformer file photoThis story by Chris Mays was first published in the Brattleboro Reformer on Oct. 25, 2026.BRATTLEBORO — Windham Superior Court Criminal Division’s Rapid Accountability Docket is ramping down to one day a week. “I think overall it’s been very successful,” Windham County State’s Attorney Steven Brown said in an interview last week. “I
  
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• Upper Valley’s member-owned co-op battles rising food prices

  31-10-2026 12:36 via VTDigger
  
  Gayle Giovanna, of Strafford, goes through her shopping list as she finds items in the aisles of the co-op in Hanover, N.H., on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. Giovanna has been a customer of the co-op for over 40 years. Photo by Sophia Sahni/Valley NewsThis story by Sophia Sahni was first published by the Valley News on Oct. 30, 2026.During the Great Depression, 17 neighbors across Hanover, New Hampshire, and Norwich combined their resources to create a collective buying group. What started in a baseme
  
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• The saga of a sweet turnip

  30-10-2026 21:51 via VTDigger
  
  A turnip dressed as a baby seen as it vies for “best dressed” in theTurnip Contest during the Gilfeather Turnip Festival in Wardsboro on Saturday, October 24, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerJess Shapiro sports a turnip cap during the Gilfeather Turnip Festival in Wardsboro on Saturday, October 24, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerPatrons line up for turnip-based offerings at the Turnip Cafe during the Gilfeather Turnip Festival in Wardsboro on Saturday, October 24, 2026. Photo by
  
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• Community nurse programs are getting a lot of airtime this election. Here’s how they work.

  30-10-2026 21:40 via VTDigger
  
  Hartford Community Nurse Katie Williams talks with Joan Ponzoni in Jan. 2025, at the Bugbee Senior Center in White River Junction. File photo by Jennifer Hauck/Valley NewsJodi Hoyt’s office is a nurse’s bag and an accordion file folder in a rainbow of colors.She totes those items from house to house while checking on patients in her role as the community nurse for the towns of Chelsea and Tunbridge. It’s a role that’s gotten a fair amount of airtime recently as the Democratic/Progressi
  
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• Tax the rich to spare the rest of us

  30-10-2026 21:15 via VTDigger
  
  Dear Editor,There is one single, fundamental issue underlying the election next week, and many people speak a partial truth about it: Our taxes are too high. Agreed; for most Vermonters, they are.  But some people’s taxes are too low. The wealthiest among us have not paid their fair share to properly support our society in generations, if ever. Not in Vermont, and not in the U.S.  According to data from the Vermont Department of Taxes, the number of Vermont income tax filers earning more
  
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• Pranks, parties and prognostication: The history of Halloween in Vermont

  30-10-2026 21:13 via VTDigger
  
  A postcard postmarked Oct. 31, 1921, in Burlington. The reverse side includes a woman’s note to a friend, reminiscing about the Halloween pranks they’d done the year before. Courtesy of Elizabeth A. AllenThis story by Kyle Neece was first published by Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, on Oct. 29, 2026.On Halloween, Vermonters will don costumes and hand out candy as the phrase “Trick or treat!” will be repeated many times over.But decades ago, typical
  
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• High schoolers start podcast to center young transgender Vermonters

  30-10-2026 20:59 via VTDigger
  
  Rafaela Botti, second from right, host of the “Transmission of Truth”podcast, speaks during a podcast release celebration at Outright Vermont in Burlington on Wednesday, October 28, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — The voice of Ace, a 15-year-old transgender Vermonter, broadcasted through a large speaker to a room of about 40 people gathered to listen to a group rarely heard from: trans youth. “In middle school I would be scared to go to school every day. I would be wo
  
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• Voter voices from Milton’s Bombardier Park

  30-10-2026 20:32 via VTDigger
  
  Bombardier Park in Milton as seen on Oct. 29, 2026. Photo by Charlotte Oliver/VTDigger.MILTON — Troves of adults clutching soccer balls and sporting T-shirts came and went from Bombardier Park on a warm Sunday afternoon. Ahead of the Nov. 3 election, those out for a stroll or showing up for a game shared how they plan to vote. Shosawna Mastin, 43, of Milton, said she plans to vote in person next week because she doesn’t believe in mail-in voting. Mastin, who works doing highway constructio
  
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• Lois A. Schumacher

  29-10-2026 23:19 via VTDigger
  
  Born: 03/23/1935Philadelphia, PADied: 10/22/2026Colchester, VTDetails of service:No formal services were requested. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to a charity of your choice in memory of Lois.Lois A. Schumacher, 91, of Essex Center passed away peacefully on October 22, 2026 surrounded by family at McClure-Miller respite house in Colchester.She was born on March 23, 1935 in Philadelphia to Clifford and Myrtle Abrahamson. She attended Springfield High School and g
  
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• Bennington Battle Monument dig reveals possible historic tavern, artifacts

  29-10-2026 22:58 via VTDigger
  
  Researchers think these stones may mark the threshold into the former tavern. Photo by Jeff McRae/Bennington BannerThis story by Jeff McRae was first published in the Bennington Banner on Oct. 27, 2026.OLD BENNINGTON — The archeological dig at the Bennington Battle Monument State Historic Site in Old Bennington was open Monday, Oct. 26 for tours, with members of the Vermont Division of Historic Preservation on hand to make the pits and their thought-provoking revelations meaningful to visitin
  
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• Vermont to receive $4.5M settlement from General Motors following data privacy investigation

  29-10-2026 22:45 via VTDigger
  
  Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark and members of her staff addressed the press on Thursday afternoon. Photo by Theo Wells-Spackman/VTDiggerTheo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.MONTPELIER — Roughly two years ago, Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark and James Layman, who leads Clark’s consumer protection unit, read a New York Times journalist’s coverage of worrying data sharing practices at car manufacturing giant General Motors.The accou
  
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• Let the wealthy help keep Vermont rural

  29-10-2026 22:37 via VTDigger
  
  Dear Editor,I very much appreciate Megan Durling’s recent commentary advocating for Vermont’s education policies to better include rural areas. Local schools are the heartbeat of small communities. They wither when they lose their schools. Though they need tax relief, most rural residents still resist school consolidation. Much of the current debate about Vermont’s future turns on whether we choose to remain a mostly rural state or become more urbanized. Most of us who choose to be here
  
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• Voter voices from Rutland’s downtown Walmart plaza

  29-10-2026 21:10 via VTDigger
  
  Walmart has operated its downtown Rutland store since 1997. File photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerVTDigger reporters visited a variety of sites across Vermont in recent weeks, asking voters directly about the issues they care most about this election season. This week we’ll bring you those voices as we approach Election Day on Nov. 3.RUTLAND — Shoppers meandered outside the Walmart plaza parking lot on a fair weather October Friday as the Nov. 3 election approached. The gubernatorial race
  
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• November brings an end to foliage season — but it’s not winter yet

  29-10-2026 20:13 via VTDigger
  A motorcyclist travels along the Notch Road in Cambridge during stick season on Thursday, October 29, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
  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 b
  
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• Soaring diesel prices are pushing Vermont loggers to the brink

  29-10-2026 19:35 via VTDigger
  
  This commentary is by Dana Doran, executive director of the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast, a regional nonprofit supporting independent logging and forest trucking contractors.A logger in Vermont recently summed up the industry’s mood to our organization in a single sentence: “I would not encourage my son to get into logging.” That sentiment is becoming increasingly common in the state as diesel costs soar, mills close and operating expenses continue to climb. In late
  
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• Bringing flood reporting from VTDigger and FRONTLINE (PBS) to more Vermonters

  29-10-2026 18:03 via VTDigger
  
  Photo by Taylor Haynes/VTDiggerAfter 17 years as an all-digital newsroom, VTDigger is trying something new: our first printed project.“In an era where screens are everywhere, I think even our most die-hard readers appreciate an analog experience where they can take their time and form a stronger connection with what they’re holding in their hands,” said VTDigger CEO Brendan Kinney.VTDigger has partnered with FRONTLINE (PBS) to report on Vermont’s capacity to recover from flooding. The C
  
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• Dartmouth provost resigns after review finds undisclosed AI use

  29-10-2026 16:59 via VTDigger
  
  Santiago Schnell, the Dean of the College of Science at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, has been named the next provost of Dartmouth, the college announced Tuesday. Photo credit: University of Notre Dame – Barbara JohnstonThis story by Molly Hughes was first published in the Valley News on Oct. 28, 2026.HANOVER — Dartmouth Provost Santiago Schnell has resigned and is leaving the university after a faculty-led committee found he used artificial intelligence in his writing without pr
  
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• Voter voices: At the Cambridge dump, unease about Vermont’s future

  28-10-2026 22:53 via VTDigger
  
  Cheryl Vreeland stands outside the free store she runs at the Cambridge transfer station on Oct. 23, 2026. Photo by Shaun Robinson/VTDiggerVTDigger reporters visited a variety of sites across Vermont in recent weeks, asking voters directly about the issues they care most about this election season. This week we’ll bring you those voices as we approach Election Day on Nov. 3. CAMBRIDGE — Benton Donlevy, a 25-year-old mechanic from Jeffersonville, has watched most of the friends he grew up w
  
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• FBI investigates former Burlington school administrator in alleged $1.8 million fraud

  28-10-2026 22:21 via VTDigger
  
  The Burlington School District central office building as seen on Oct. 28, 2026. Photo by Charlotte Oliver/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — Federal investigators are probing whether former Burlington School District administrator Stephanie Phillips defrauded the district in a scheme involving at least $1.8 million over 13 years.  Phillips worked for the district starting in 1988 until she retired in May. She most recently served as the district’s director of teaching and learning. The FBI is looking
  
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• Vermont Conversation: Bill McKibben sees a nation at a crossroads as he barnstorms battleground states

  28-10-2026 20:56 via VTDigger
  
  
  Bill McKibben speaking toa Sierra Club meeting in Montpelier in December 2024. Photo David Goodman/VTDiggerThe Vermont Conversation with David Goodman is a VTDigger podcast that features in-depth interviews on local and national issues. Listen and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get podcasts.Bill McKibben says that “elections should not be this important.”They should not “be the deciding factor between continued stability and whatever kind of cre
  
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• Why Proposal 4 matters to LGBTQ+ youth

  28-10-2026 20:14 via VTDigger
  
  This commentary is by Dana Kaplan, executive director of Outright Vermont.Every day at Outright Vermont, we work alongside young people who are worried. They’re worried about their safety, the rollback of their rights, and their futures. With over 530 anti-LGBTQ+ bills across the country, their very existence is being debated among adults, and their access to healthcare, education, sports and other opportunities is shrinking. For queer and transgender young people, these are not theoretical t
  
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• Listen to rural Vermont before you vote

  28-10-2026 18:48 via VTDigger
  
  This commentary is by Loralee Tester, executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce.A few days ago I was out walking with my son, and he asked: How does a society decide what’s right and what’s wrong?It’s a fair question. Look back through history, and you’ll see that what counts as right or wrong changes depending on where and when you’re born. It shifts in politics, in religion, in how men and women are expected to live. And so much of it comes down to power: who h
  
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• State senator from Rutland County arrested on domestic assault charge, denies allegation

  28-10-2026 13:58 via VTDigger
  
  Defense attorney Toni Dutil, right, makes a statement on behalf of Sen. Terry Williams, R-Rutland, left, after his arraignment in Rutland Superior criminal court in Rutland on Wednesday, October 28, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story was updated at 6:27 p.m.A Vermont state senator from Rutland County is accused of assaulting a woman by striking her in the face during an argument, according to charging documents made public Wednesday.  Terry Williams, 74, of Poultney, appeared Wed
  
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• State senator from Rutland County arrested, jailed on domestic assault charge

  28-10-2026 13:58 via VTDigger
  
  Sen. Terry Williams, R-Rutland, at the Statehouse in Montpelier in Feb. 2025. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerA Vermont state senator from Rutland County has been jailed on a charge of domestic assault, according to Vermont State Police.Terry Williams, 74, of Poultney, is set to appear Wednesday at 12:30 in court for an arraignment on the misdemeanor charge. Williams, a Republican, has served as a state senator since 2022 and is facing re-election on Tuesday. Williams was arrested after st
  
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• Build or tax? Vermont’s governor candidates emphasize different elements of housing policy.

  28-10-2026 10:15 via VTDigger
  
  Republican Gov. Phil Scott, left, and Democratic/Progressive challenger Amanda Janoo have starkly different ideas about what’s driving the state’s housing problems – and how to fix them. Photos by Brian Stevenson and Joey Palumbo / Vermont Public
  Carly Berlin covers housing and infrastructure for Vermont Public, in partnership with VTDigger. The high cost of housing is squeezing Vermonters. One in five people have struggled to come up with rent or mortgage payments in the last year, acco
  
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• As flooding increases and federal aid shrinks, Vermont is not prepared to manage disaster recovery

  28-10-2026 09:55 via VTDigger
  
  This story is part of The Coming Storm, a yearlong investigation by VTDigger, in partnership with FRONTLINE (PBS), into Vermont’s ability to help communities recover from natural disasters.BARRE CITY, VT — Shayd Pecor loves his home, but he wants to leave. For good.On July 10, 2023, up to nine inches of rain pummeled Vermont. Pecor and his wife, Laurie, evacuated as the water overtook their front porch. That night, floodwaters inundated more than 130 towns across the state, killing two peo
  
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• After probe, concerns over Barre City officer’s credibility puts dozens of criminal cases in limbo

  27-10-2026 23:44 via VTDigger
  
  The Barre City Police Department. File photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDiggerA county prosecutor has issued a Brady letter against a Barre City police officer accusing him of having sexual relations with a woman he had arrested while that criminal case remained pending.Orange County State’s Attorney Colin Seaman wrote in a two-page letter issued Friday that his office “has reason to believe” that Barre City Police Officer Matthew Frey “committed acts that create substantial issues pertaining
  
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• Pownal will consider a 5-year permitting pause on data center facilities

  27-10-2026 22:50 via VTDigger
  
  Some in the Pownal area are concerned the former Green Mountain Race Track site is being eyed for a data center. The selectboard is considering a moratorium on such projects. File photo by Holly Pelczynski/Bennington BannerThis story by Jim Therrien was first published in the Bennington Banner on Oct. 26, 2026.POWNAL — The Pownal Select Board is considering a town moratorium on data center facilities amid concerns the former Green Mountain Race Track site is being eyed for a center.Other town
  
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• Southwestern Vermont rail gets an upgrade to help the region’s economy

  27-10-2026 22:26 via VTDigger
  
  West Street looking East in Rutland. Seen on Thursday, September 1, 2022. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe Vermont Agency of Transportation is acquiring $60.3 million in federal dollars to replace 60 miles of rail for freight travel between Rutland and North Bennington, according to an announcement earlier this week.The funding comes from the federal Department of Transportation, and was supported by U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-
  
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• Blunder over legal process impedes school merger studies in some regions

  27-10-2026 22:23 via VTDigger
  
  A school bus in Vermont pictured in January 2026. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerSchool board members who met in St. Albans expected to kick off the process of discussing district mergers under this year’s education reform law. Instead, the Sept. 29 meeting devolved into a public information session because members didn’t think the meeting was properly warned, according to local facilitator John Everitt. The kerfuffle among districts in the Group 17 region was just a preview of how co
  
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