Vermont news

• Crews recover body from cliff in Westmore

  20-05-2017 15:22
  
  There’s an update to the recovery of the body in Westmore.
  
  Read more

• Scott administration installs bird noise devices at downtown Montpelier building

  19-08-2026 00:15 via vtdigger.org
  
  State officials installed bird noise devices at the Pavilion Building in Montpelier this summer. David Littlefield/Vermont PublicCarly Berlin covers housing and infrastructure for Vermont Public, in partnership with VTDigger. The issue of unsheltered homelessness has landed on the doorstep of Gov. Phil Scott.The Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services has tallied numerous incidents of individuals sleeping on the porches of the Pavilion Building in downtown Montpelier, the whit
  
  Read more

• Green Mountain Care Board set modest rate increases for 2027 Vermont health insurance marketplace plans

  18-08-2026 23:46 via vtdigger.org
  
  Insurance plans available on the state marketplace through Vermont Health Connect are displayed on a monitor on Monday, August 17, 2026. Photo by Noel Clark/VTDiggerIndividuals and small businesses that buy health insurance on the state marketplace will see their premiums rise between 1% to 6% next year.The Green Mountain Care Board, Vermont’s independent health care regulator, set rate increases late Monday night for coverage sold on Vermont Health Connect, the state’s Affordable C
  
  Read more

• Walter Edward “Ted” Tedford

  18-08-2026 23:33 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born: 08/13/1927Manchester, ConnecticutDied: 07/14/2026Underhill Center, VermontDetails of service:A Celebration of Life Memorial Service is planned for Ted on Saturday, August 29, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the St. Thomas Church Parish Hall on Green Street in Underhill Center. All welcome.A Celebration of Life Memorial Service is planned for Ted on Saturday, August 29, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the St. Thomas Church Parish Hall on Green Street in Underhill Center.Please come to reme
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Suspect surrenders and faces second-degree murder charge in downtown Burlington stabbing

  18-08-2026 23:23 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Burlington Police Department on North Avenue in Burlington on Thursday, August 13, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerA suspect has turned himself in and faces a charge of second-degree murder in a fatal stabbing over the weekend in downtown Burlington.Hassan O. Haji, 24, of Winooski, surrendered at the Burlington police headquarters Tuesday morning. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday afternoon to the murder charge in Chittenden Superior criminal court in Burlington, according to Burlington po
  
  Read more

• Psychiatric hospital beds save lives

  18-08-2026 21:04 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor,The closure of beds for patients suffering from severe mental illness is the worst news possible for those in the midst of a psychotic episode. In 1960, I spent five months at Forest Hospital in Des Plaines, Illinois, living through a horror that, in the end, turned out to be a gift to all my relationships: with my husband, three tiny daughters, parents, brothers and a host of extended family going through their own agony. If there had not been a hospital for me, I don’t
  
  Read more

• Parker’s career took several turns before he settled into a job that works for him and his family

  18-08-2026 19:02 via vtdigger.org
  
  Parker has a strong sense of purpose, and he’s remained flexible throughout his working life—a skill that has enabled him to pivot when necessary and explore opportunities when they’ve come knocking. After he graduated from Harwood Union Middle and High School, he attended Castleton State College (now Vermont State Castleton) to pursue a business degree. He realized that wasn’t his path and left after two semesters. He spent the next few years working at Green Mount
  
  Read more

• Time limits on teacher licensing tests measure the wrong thing

  18-08-2026 19:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Ben Mitchell, a reading interventionist at Riverside Middle School in Springfield and the publisher of Divergents Magazine.In January I found myself at my computer, watching a digital clock aggressively count down the seconds. As a reading teacher in a Vermont public middle school, I love my job; this work challenges me to be my very best. Nevertheless, because I am on a provisional license, my entire career hinges on a number. Vermont requires a score of 164 on the Middle
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Michael Burditt Cadwell

  18-08-2026 18:04 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born: 08/28/1952Pittsford, VermontDied: 08/09/2026Columbus, OhioDetails of service:Michael Burditt Cadwell, son of John and Mary Cadwell, died peacefully on August 9, 2026 after along illness. Michael enjoyed an idyllic childhood on the family farm in Pittsford and attended Otter Valley Union High School ’70, Williams College ’74, and the Yale School of Architecture ’81. He then worked for the firms of Turner Brooks, Cesar Pelli, and Wiemann and Lamphere.There followed scholar
  
  Read more

• New funds for Alburgh rail bridge could boost future Amtrak link to Montreal

  18-08-2026 00:37 via vtdigger.org
  
  Construction work continues on the railroad trestle bridge across Lake Champlain between Swanton and Alburgh on Monday, August 17, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerLong-stalled plans to restart the Amtrak connection between Vermont and Montreal are getting a boost from the federal government.The U.S. Department of Transportation on Friday announced a $4 million grant to plan out repairing, or possibly replacing, an ailing bridge that carries the cross-border rail route over Lake Champlain.
  
  Read more

• 1 dead in spate of violent incidents in Burlington

  17-08-2026 23:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  A Burlington police cruiser is seen outside City Hall in May 2022. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerAn unidentified man was stabbed to death in Burlington early Saturday morning, nearly a year to the day after a fatal beating a few blocks away set off a still-unresolved fight over public safety downtown even as city figures show violent crime declining.Burlington police discovered a man suffering from stab wounds at around 4 a.m. Saturday morning behind 175-199 Main St., WCAX reported. The m
  
  Read more

• Who gets to see themselves on a Vermont ballot?

  17-08-2026 22:49 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Pelin Kohn, a student advising coordinator at the Community College of Vermont and second-term Montpelier city councilor. On July 29, I was at a community screening of “Man With a Plan,” John O’Brien’s film about Fred Tuttle. It’s a low-budget mockumentary about a retired Vermont farmer who runs for Congress. In a strange case of life imitating art, Tuttle actually won the 1998 Republican primary for U.S. Senate, though he declined to cam
  
  Read more

• Accessible housing means dignity, not just ramps and doorways

  17-08-2026 22:02 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor,I am writing to share what accessible housing truly means for someone living with a disability. I hope my perspective helps readers and legislators understand the importance of creating housing options that allow people like me to live safely, independently and with dignity and respect from everyone around me.The home I live in now does not meet many of my accessibility needs. It is a multilevel building, which makes navigating the space difficult and sometimes unsafe. I also do not
  
  Read more

• Dartmouth Health says it needs to close telehealth services for emergency and intensive care

  17-08-2026 17:18 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dr. Roslinde Collins-Gibbard consults on critically ill patients from Dartmouth Health’s Telehealth hub.Photo courtesy of Dartmouth HealthDartmouth Health expects to end its Tele-ICU and Tele-ED services, a move that would affect five Vermont hospitals and more across the region. They “are two services whose costs, at our current scale, without external support, are simply unsustainable,” Audra Burns, a spokesperson for the New Hampshire-based health network, told VTDigge
  
  Read more

• Payouts soar as use of force by Burlington police on Black residents hits record high

  17-08-2026 12:56 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Burlington Police Department on North Avenue in Burlington on Thursday, August 13, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerWhen a call for police to help discipline a child over stealing escalated into a hospital visit, Burlington mother Cathy Austrian filed a complaint with the city’s police oversight body hoping to spur change. The body, the Police Commission, found the incident — in which officers restrained Austrian’s son, who is Black and has emotional and intellect
  
  Read more

• Federal change to Endangered Species Act could affect Vermont’s vulnerable wildlife

  16-08-2026 15:16 via vtdigger.org
  
  Jesup’s milk-vetch. Photo by Levi Smith/Wikimedia CommonsVia Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internshipPresident Donald Trump’s administration finalized a rule change last month that alters the definition of “harm” in the Endangered Species Act, loosening protections for endangered species and making them more vulnerable to habitat loss and extinction. Passed in 1973, the act previously defined “harm” broadly to include any act
  
  Read more

• ‘There it was’: Mike Baker jumps into lakes and digs through poison ivy for lost wedding rings and other precious things

  16-08-2026 14:42 via vtdigger.org
  
  On a sunny July Fourth weekend at Lake Dunmore, with his family running around “pretending to be sharks,” David Miles noticed an odd sensation — his wedding ring was no longer on his finger. Miles, a Montpelier resident, was about to celebrate his 46th wedding anniversary, and he rarely, if ever, removed his ring. He didn’t think it had been very long since it had slipped off his finger. Yet the prospect of finding it in the lake, which was full of swimmers, was dau
  
  Read more

• Vermont proposes changes to primitive camping in the state for the first time in 33 years

  16-08-2026 14:10 via vtdigger.org
  
  A pair of hikers head up the Monroe Trail in Camel’s Hump State Park in Duxbury on Thursday, August 6, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerAfter three decades, Vermont is looking to change its primitive camping rules to help take more preventive measures against wildfires and land pollution, according to the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.Vermonters who participate in primitive camping typically stay in a remote area without any modern amenities, such as running water, elect
  
  Read more

• For emergency department staff, violence at work is a dangerous and demoralizing reality

  16-08-2026 13:12 via vtdigger.org
  
  Sam Demers, a nurse in the Emergency Department at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, on Wednesday, August 5, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerOn the afternoon of Aug. 29, 2025, 24-year-old Destiny Hubbell was in a Morrisville emergency room for a mental health emergency examination, when she grew angry and agitated. She started spitting at healthcare workers, on their faces and in their eyes, court documents show. “Now you’re infected!” she repea
  
  Read more

• Nonprofits are more than charities in the Northeast Kingdom

  16-08-2026 12:52 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Abby Long, the executive director of the Northeast Kingdom Collaborative.I love the Northeast Kingdom.Not just because we’re surrounded by stunning working landscapes, world-class outdoor recreation, vibrant arts and some of the best local food and drink. I love it because it’s home. It’s the community my family chose, and like so many, I want it to thrive.The very qualities that make the Northeast Kingdom, the NEK, such a remarkable place are due in part
  
  Read more

• Can a chatbot be a responsible therapist? Dartmouth professor aims to find out

  15-08-2026 12:54 via vtdigger.org
  
  Nicholas Jacobson, left, associate professor of biomedical data science, psychiatry and computer science, Dr. Michael Heinz, assistant professor of psychiatry, at Dartmouth’s Center for Technology and Behavioral Health in Lebanon, N.H., on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. Heinz and Jacobson have worked together to develop Therabot, an AI mental health chatbot. Photo by Alex Driehaus/Valley NewsThis story by Molly Hughes was first published in the Valley News on Aug. 13, 2026.In the summer of 1956
  
  Read more

• ICE recently arrested at least 9 people in Vermont as the agency appears to ramp up immigration enforcement across the state

  15-08-2026 00:52 via vtdigger.org
  
  A federal agent wears a badge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement while standing outside an immigration courtroom in New York in June 2025. File photo by Yuki Iwamura/APU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested at least nine people across Vermont last weekend in three separate operations — including arrests of workers heading to or from job sites — a pattern that advocates say points to more federal agents than usual operating in the state.“The Trump Administration
  
  Read more

• Post office photography exhibit removed for ‘political content’

  15-08-2026 00:36 via vtdigger.org
  
  River Arts executive director Jonah Rabinowitz takes in an exhibit that was relocated from the Morrisville Post Office gallery, where some of the photographs were deemed to contain “political content.” Photo by Gordon Miller/News&CitizenThis story by Patrick Bilow was first published in the News & Citizen on Aug. 13, 2026.Morrisville arts organization River Arts removed an exhibit from the town post office’s walls after complaints that the artwork was too political.Riv
  
  Read more

• Vermont Supreme Court shuts door on appeal to use police misconduct findings in murder defense

  14-08-2026 22:28 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Vermont Supreme Court in Montpelier on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe Vermont Supreme Court has dealt a legal setback to the defense team of the driver charged with murder in a police chase that killed a Rutland City officer more than three years ago.The state’s highest court in a ruling this week denied a bid by attorneys for 23-year-old Tate Rheaume to challenge a Rutland judge’s decision blocking the introduction at trial of a damning internal affa
  
  Read more

• State regulators voice questions and support as Brattleboro hospital aims to revive its ailing finances

  14-08-2026 20:45 via vtdigger.org
  
  A crowd of about 100 people rally July 14 in support of the birthing center at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerState regulators expressed both concern and support as acting administrators at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital outlined plans at a Friday online hearing to curb deficit spending caused by past administrative and accounting problems.“I do think the Brattleboro community is suffering the consequences of mismanagement at this hospital,” Sara
  
  Read more

• Terri Agnelli

  14-08-2026 20:41 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born: 09/15/1950The Bronx, New YorkDied: 08/10/2026Burlington, VermontDetails of service:Friends are invited to gather for a celebration on her birthday in September to share stories and remember the good times.Terry M. Agnelli, 75, of Vermont, passed away on August 10, 2026.Born in September of 1950 in the Bronx and raised in Connecticut, Terry earned her master’s degree from the University of Vermont and devoted her entire life to nursing. She cared for patients across Vermont and beyon
  
  Read more

• The future of logging and conservation is one and the same

  14-08-2026 18:20 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Jonathan Leibowitz, the president and CEO of Montpelier-based Northeast Wilderness Trust, and Robert T. Perschel, author of “Numinosity: A New England Forester’s Search for the Ineffable” and former executive director of the New England Forestry Foundation.The closure of Finch Paper’s pulp mill in Glens Falls, New York, is a blow that will echo across the Northeast for years. For loggers, truckers, foresters and woodlot landowners, this is not some
  
  Read more

• Local police aid in Border Patrol’s deportation efforts raises questions on statewide compliance to policies on immigration enforcement

  14-08-2026 01:13 via vtdigger.org
  
  A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle patrolling the area near Richford, Vermont in August 2025. CBP file photo by Jerry Glaser/Wikimedia CommonsMoments after a Chittenden County sheriff’s deputy pulled over a Chevrolet Spark on a back road in Berkshire last month, the officer picked up his personal cellphone and texted a group of Border Patrol agents. “Need one of you,” the text said.Within the hour, a farmworker was in federal custody. He was later deported.The act has led obser
  
  Read more

• A quilt project in Brattleboro aims to sew connection across prison walls

  14-08-2026 00:06 via vtdigger.org
  
  Brattleboro locals participated in a community stitch event, adding stitches and messages for the incarcerated people at Springfield prison. Courtesy photo by Katie Kohnfelder/Community News Service.This story by Emily Rodin was first published in the Community News Service on Aug. 6, 2026.Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, and Report for AmericaA quilt stitched by incarcerated Vermonters and Brattleboro community members will go on display in September a
  
  Read more

• Long-vacant ‘pit’ in downtown Newport nears new chapter with purchase plan

  14-08-2026 00:03 via vtdigger.org
  
  An undeveloped vacant lot in downtown Newport in March 2024. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerOn a recent summer afternoon in downtown Newport, portions of Main Street were bustling: Vendors were setting up for the Wednesdays on the Waterfront concert series, neighbors chatted at a cafe, and visitors were enjoying the town’s flower displays and sweeping views of Lake Memphremagog.However, one part of downtown — “the pit” — sat quiet and empty, as it has for over
  
  Read more

Follow @NewsVermont_ on Twitter!