Vermont news

• Community Kitchen Academy program seeking applicants

  25-10-2017 20:50 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Chittenden Emergency Food ShelfOctober 24, 2017
  Media Contact:Anna McMahon, Chittenden Emergency Food Shelfp. 802.658.7939 ext. 32
  Burlington, VT – The Community Kitchen Academy (CKA) program is seeking applicants for its 24th Session which begins on November 13th. CKA is a statewide program of the Vermont Foodbank that has partnered locally with the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf since 2009.
  The CKA program teaches underemployed or unemployed Vermonters culinary and
  
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• 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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• Early numbers show many Vermonters dropping their insurance for 2026

  22-01-2026 23:41 via vtdigger.org
  Photo via Adobe StockSharon Poddick is someone who budgets down to the last dollar. When she lost her job in companywide layoffs a little over a year ago — and with it, her employer-sponsored health insurance — she and her husband started buying health care from Vermont Health Connect, the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace.They started to “tighten everywhere we could tighten” when it came to their budget, as Poddick described it. Her car is paid off
  
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• Economic development leader denies embezzling as court records reveal new details of probe 

  22-01-2026 23:16 via vtdigger.org
  Melissa Bounty. Photo courtesy of Central Vermont Economic Development CorporationBARRE — The former leader of a nonprofit economic development organization has denied a charge accusing her of embezzling more than $70,000 from the group.A charging document filed ahead of Thursday’s arraignment for Melissa Bounty also provided new details into what authorities say she spent the money on. “She was making weekly purchases from Amazon which were not received at the office but
  
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• Here’s where Vermont shelters are opening to help in extreme cold

  22-01-2026 23:05 via vtdigger.org
  People who are unhoused line up to be admitted to a temporary shelter in Burlington on March 18, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.With subzero temperatures expected to set in on Friday, communities across Vermont are opening emergency shelters for people experiencing homelessness.VTDigger/Vermont Public confirmed that seven extreme cold weather shelter location
  
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• Brattleboro hospital nurses threaten strike amid budget woes

  22-01-2026 18:55 via vtdigger.org
  A sign marks the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital campus on Belmont Avenue. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger.A union representing nurses at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is threatening to strike after the 500-employee facility changed its contract offer upon projecting a $14.5 million annual budget shortfall for the current fiscal year.The 135-member Brattleboro Federation of Nurses said the hospital had proposed wage increases totaling 11% over three years, only to reduce that figure during
  
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• Temps to plummet as bitter cold front approaches, prompting emergency shelters to open

  22-01-2026 12:54 via vtdigger.org
  Rev. Jay Voorhees, pastor of Grace, Northfield and Trinity Methodist churches, near Montpelier’s cold weather shelter at City Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 21. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerExtreme cold temperatures are expected across the state of Vermont starting Friday night and continuing into Sunday, according to the National Weather Service, which forecasted windchills to drop to as low as minus 40 degrees in some areas. Two arctic fronts are anticipated to roll across Vermont in co
  
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• Vermont hires contractor with troubled record in $21.5 million deal for new youth residential program

  22-01-2026 12:52 via vtdigger.org
  Vermont has inked a five-year contract worth up to $21.5 million with a Pennsylvania company to run a new three-bed program for youth in state custody despite documented past allegations of negligence and mistreatment.Cornell Abraxas Group will run the West River Haven, a crisis-stabilization youth program in Brattleboro meant for children who require short-term specialized care and do not have another immediate placement option.West River Haven will offer support to children for up to 45 days,
  
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• David Moats: America’s promise of freedom is being tested

  22-01-2026 03:22 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by David Moats, of Salisbury. He is editorial page editor emeritus at the Rutland Herald, where he won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for a series of editorials on Vermont’s civil union law.Twenty-three new citizens from 12 countries took the oath of allegiance to the United States at the federal courthouse in Burlington on Jan. 14. They came from four continents and represented a slice of America as diverse as might be expected. What united them was their pledge—to
  
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• Vermont Agency of Transportation proposes more layoffs as revenue sputters

  22-01-2026 01:03 via vtdigger.org
  Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn speaks during an interview at the Vermont Agency of Transportation District 6 maintenance facility in Berlin on Thursday, October 23, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMONTPELIER — Vermont Gov. Phil Scott’s administration is proposing to lay off as many as 19 employees at the state Agency of Transportation in order to save money in its budget for the fiscal year starting in July.Overall, the governor’s fiscal year 2027 budget would cut 31
  
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• Vermont USCIS employees tapped to help ICE enforcement in Minnesota

  22-01-2026 00:35 via vtdigger.org
  A federal agent wears a badge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the immigration court at Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York on June 9, 2025. Photo by Yuki Iwamura/APAt least seven U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees based in Vermont have been told they will be temporarily reassigned to Minnesota to help with expanding enforcement actions there, according to an employee.The employee, who has worked at a USCIS office in Vermont for several years and is not one of
  
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• 3 years after Act 76, lawmakers eye Vermont’s lagging child care workforce

  22-01-2026 00:32 via vtdigger.org
  Taylor Kuske leads her charges on an outdoor excursion at Turtle Island Children’s Center in Montpelier on Thursday, November 13, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerToddlers can enter a state of conflict every 20 minutes, Shannon Edmonds-Folsom told lawmakers Wednesday morning. It’s a symptom of their gradual development, the child care manager at Jay Peak Resort said — and it’s part of what makes caring for young children such a challenging career.“Sounds like t
  
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• State issues warning but won’t intervene in Brattleboro hospital budget saga

  21-01-2026 23:45 via vtdigger.org
  The Brattleboro Memorial Hospital campus on Belmont Avenue. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger
  Vermont health care regulators have issued a warning, but won’t intervene, as new leaders at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital work to control a projected $14.5 million annual budget shortfall.“We want Brattleboro to thrive,” Owen Foster, chair of the state’s Green Mountain Care Board, said during a pair of review hearings that ended Wednesday. “The solution to make sure
  
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• Gov. Scott endorses bill that would cap spending for school districts

  21-01-2026 23:29 via vtdigger.org
  Senate President Pro Tempore PhilBaruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, listens as the Senate Judiciary Committee discusses a bill concerning the masking of law enforcement personnel at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Tuesday, Jan. 20. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerGov. Phil Scott during his budget address on Tuesday threw support behind legislation sponsored by Senate Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, that would cap school district spending in future years.Scott’s endorsement of
  
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• Vermont Conversation: House Speaker Jill Krowinski on the state budget, federal immigration crackdown

  21-01-2026 23:22 via vtdigger.org
  
  
  Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, at the Statehouse in Montpelier on May 28, 2025. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe Vermont Conversation with David Goodman is a VTDigger podcast that features in-depth interviews on local and national issues. Listen below and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts.Jill Krowinski,D-Burlington, was elected Speaker of the House in 2021. It was the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and st
  
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• Williston passes resolution opposing ICE

  21-01-2026 20:16 via vtdigger.org
  About 300 protesters gather outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Williston on Tuesday, Jan. 20. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger“I’m assuming you’re not all here for the budget,” Ted Kenney, chair of the Williston Selectboard, told the crowd of people attending the Tuesday night meeting. “I’m assuming you’re here to talk about ICE.”Soon after, the five-member town board unanimously passed the first known resolution in the stat
  
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• Norwich University appoints new provost

  21-01-2026 18:34 via vtdigger.org
  Lea Williams will serve as Norwich University’s provost. Photo courtesy Norwich University.
  Norwich University has appointed Lea Williams as provost and dean of the faculty, the university announced in a press release Tuesday. Williams was appointed to serve as acting provost in May and then as interim provost in August. In her new role, she is expected to act as the chief academic officer, overseeing academic programs, faculty affairs and institutional learning initiatives, accordin
  
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• BETA Technologies—the coolest thing in Vermont (and the coolest place to work!) 

  21-01-2026 16:19 via vtdigger.org
  BETA Technologies, headquartered in South Burlington, made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange in November. At home, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce named Alia, its electric airplane, the Coolest Thing in Vermont. Reflecting on the incredible achievements of 2025, BETA is moving swiftly to grow its most valuable asset—team talent. BETA employees are builders and pilots, designers and inventors, flying what they build themselves. And, culture is everything. All employees, regardl
  
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• Lydia’s close-knit family inspired her to pursue a future in nursing

  21-01-2026 15:47 via vtdigger.org
  The youngest of seven, Lydia Ste. Marie describes her family as loving, full of energy, and busy. She learned early the value of care, connection, and responsibility—lessons that ultimately led her to pursue a degree in nursing.“I’ve always known I was meant to help people,” she said. Initially, that interest showed up as an interest in teaching. Her mother, Cathi, works as a childcare provider, and two of Lydia’s sisters are teachers. It’s clear Lydia admire
  
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• PHOTOS: Hundreds of Vermonters protest ICE in Williston

  21-01-2026 12:55 via vtdigger.org
  About 300 protesters gather outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Williston on Tuesday, January 20, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerWILLISTON — Braving below-freezing temperatures and a stiff breeze, about 300 people protested outside an Immigration Customs and Enforcement facility here Tuesday evening. Chanting demonstrators blocked traffic before gathering in front of the ICE building to demand an end to the federal agency’s presence in Vermont.Speakers r
  
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• John Bossange: Using TIFs to fund growth is a big risk

  21-01-2026 01:10 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by John Bossange, the president of the board of directors of Better (not Bigger) Vermont.For taxpayers in Vermont, the success of designating Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts to promote commercial and residential development must be understood as a program with inherent risks. In many cities and towns across America, TIF has been a tool used by municipalities to finance public infrastructure, including streets, sidewalks, public water, public sewage treatment and
  
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• Vermont lawmakers consider the tricky legality of unmasking ICE 

  21-01-2026 00:33 via vtdigger.org
  A person confronts a U.S. Border Patrol officer on Wednesday, Jan. 14 in Minneapolis. Photo by Adam Gray/AP
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  Senators in the Judiciary Committee are trying to thread a needle, hashing out a bill that could stop law enforcement officers — including federal agents operating in Vermont — from
  
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• Gov. Scott forecasts comeback for nuclear

  21-01-2026 00:29 via vtdigger.org
  Spent nuclear fuel casks stored at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in Vernon on July 11, 2019. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerGov. Phil Scott, long a proponent of nuclear energy, threw his weight behind a bill Tuesday that could usher in a comeback for nuclear in 2026.“There’s a better way to lower energy prices and reduce emissions much faster if you’re willing to work with us to change course,” Scott told lawmakers in his budget address on Tuesday.The gov
  
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• Northfield fills key vacancies with interim hires, signs agreement for police coverage

  20-01-2026 23:57 via vtdigger.org
  The Northfield municipal building on Aug. 1, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerNorthfield started the year with some key interim hires and signed an agreement with Montpelier for police coverage in the small Washington County town of about 5,900.Steven Mackenzie, an engineer and former city manager in Barre, came out of retirement this month to serve as the interim town manager on a part-time basis. Introduced at a Jan. 13 selectboard meeting, Mackenzie said he learned about the vacancy
  
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