Vermont news

• David Moats: Two Americas

  27-11-2025 13:04 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.Two Americas were in evidence in Middlebury one Saturday in October
  One America was present at Middlebury College for a football game against the team from Bates College. This is the America where higher education is a common rite of passage, where international travel is a frequent avenue
  
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• Jerry Ward and John Bossange: Hijacking the abundance myth

  03-01-2026 00:35 via vtdigger.org
  Jerry Ward lives in Randolph and is a retired physician. John Bossange lives in South Burlington and is a retired school principal. Both serve on the Board of Directors of Better (Not Bigger) Vermont.The panic stirred up by some of our leaders regarding the so-called housing crisis appears to be rooted in a loosely defined abundance narrative that has been adopted to justify rapid growth without fully accounting for its consequences.Recent commentaries published in VTDigger by Julie Moore, secr
  
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• Waterbury’s former dairy farm owners struggle to move on

  03-01-2026 00:30 via vtdigger.org
  George Woodard now raises beef cattle after closing his Waterbury dairy operation of 48 years. Photo by Sarah Andrews.Sarah Andrews is a reporter with the Community News Service, part of the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program.
  WATERBURY — For 48 years, George Woodard woke up before dawn and milked his cows. His day would end the same way, in his barn with the herd. For many of those years, Woodard’s 200-acre farm was booming. Now, the
  
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• Ludlow police chief ID’d as shooter of man allegedly armed with knife in New Year’s Day incident

  03-01-2026 00:13 via vtdigger.org
  Ludlow Police Chief Jeffrey Warfle shot and injured a man on New Year’s Day after the man allegedly pulled a knife at a downtown hotel where he had been living, according to Vermont State Police. The wounded man, Jaime Gomez, 18, was taken to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, where he was continuing to receive care, Vermont State Police said in a press release Friday.Ludlow Police Chief Jeffrey Warfle. Courtesy Vermont State Police.State police, who are he
  
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• Two lawmakers appointed to fill Vermont House and Senate vacancies before session begins

  02-01-2026 22:01 via vtdigger.org
  Gov. Phil Scott speaks during his weekly press conference at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerGov. Phil Scott has appointed two new lawmakers to fill vacancies in the Vermont Legislature days before the start of the session next week. John Benson, a managing partner at the engineering firm DuBois & King who currently serves as chair of the Brookfield Selectboard, will fill the vacant Orange County Senate seat left by Republican La
  
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• Bernie Sanders swears in Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor

  02-01-2026 21:50 via vtdigger.org
  Vermont’s Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders swore in Zohran Mamdani, the new Democratic mayor of New York City, during Mamdani’s inauguration on Jan. 1, 2026 (CBS New York).
  Vermont’s Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders swore in Zohran Mamdani, the new Democratic mayor of New York City, during Mamdani’s inauguration on Thursday.Mamdani was officially sworn in at midnight New Year’s Day by New York Attorney General Letitia James. But for his public inauguration
  
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• Robert D. Rachlin

  02-01-2026 17:23 via vtdigger.org
  Born July 22, 1936West Hartford, ConnecticutDied Dec. 27, 2025Burlington, VermontDetails of servicesBurial was held on Dec. 30, at Ahavath Gerim Cemetery in South Burlington. A memorial service will be held at a later date. Arrangements are in the care of LaVigne Funeral & Cremation Service.  To send condolences to his family please visit www.vtfuneralhomes.com.Robert died peacefully on Dec. 27, 2025, at his home in Burlington, Vermont. His wife, Catharine, to whom
  
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• Didier Delmas

  02-01-2026 15:49 via vtdigger.org
  Born May 24, 1954Villefranche-de-Rouergue, FranceDied Dec. 22, 2025Cadours, FranceDetails of servicesA celebration of Didier on Dec. 31 in Cadours before his ashes were laid to rest alongside his mother and grandparents in Villefranche. Vermont friends are invited to send remembrances of Didier, to be translated and shared with his family, to [email protected] Burlington photographer Didier Delmas died Dec. 22 in Cadours, France, from complications of von Hippel Lindau Syndrome
  
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• Karen ‘Kai’ Jean Lowen George

  02-01-2026 15:34 via vtdigger.org
  Born July 30, 1942Brockport, N.Y.Died Dec. 16, 2025Putney, VermontDetails of servicesA memorial celebration is being planned for April 4th in Southern Vermont.Kai George, 83, died peacefully in her home in Putney on Dec. 16, 2025 with her family by her side.Kai’s achievements and rich experiences could fill a book. We will share some of those here, but as anyone who met her recognized, the qualities that made Kai so special were her love of life, her generous spirit, and her des
  
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• A.M. Derrendinger: We need you to say ‘No’ to the gift you will regret having given

  01-01-2026 13:04 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by AM Derrendinger, of Middletown Springs. She is in 9th grade and is a writer.  “It’s here to stay,” people declare, and shrug their shoulders defeatedly. “We live in a digital world, and today’s kids are digital natives. They need to learn how to survive an AI driven future.”Most leave it at that, convinced of the same lies that Big Tech has successfully sold us for years. How hard the tech giants must be laughing, some of whom
  
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• What VTDigger readers couldn’t stop reading in 2025

  01-01-2026 12:52 via vtdigger.org
  Scenes from VTDigger’s stories of the year. Clockwise from top left: Residents evicted from a motel in Colchester; protestors of Vice President JD Vance in Waitsfield; supporters of legislation to make oil companies pay for the costs of climate change; and conservation work in Groton State Forest in Plainfield. Photos by Glenn Russell and Evan L’Roy/VTDigger, and courtesy of Jud Kratzer/Vermont Fish & Wildlife DepartmentFrom breaking news to deeply reported features and investig
  
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• Officials say South Burlington needs growth for tax increment financing to succeed

  31-12-2025 23:37 via vtdigger.org
  South Burlington Public Library and City Hall on Nov. 10, 2021. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story by Liberty Darr was first published in the Other Paper on Dec. 24, 2025.The South Burlington Tax Increment Financing district is in good financial standing, but according to a recent report, for the city to realize the full benefits of its success, development and growth must continue.The city will hold a “substantial change” hearing next month to update anticipated growing
  
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• Return-to-office critics warned of mass resignations. So far, they haven’t happened in Vermont.

  31-12-2025 23:13 via vtdigger.org
  State employees enter the state office complex in Waterbury on Oct. 23, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerWhen Gov. Phil Scott announced that state workers would need to return to offices at least three days per week starting Dec. 1, the state employees’ union warned the initiative could cause a mass exodus of top staff.So far, that doesn’t appear to be the case. Comparing mid-September to mid-December of 2025 to the same period in 2024, retirements are up slightly from 66 t
  
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• New ‘American Abenaki’ curriculum, focused on Vermont, draws rebuke from Abenaki nations based in Quebec

  31-12-2025 21:44 via vtdigger.org
  A map at the Musée des Abénakis showing Odanak and Wôlinak First Nation’s ancestral territory across present-day Canada and New England. Photo by Shaun Robinson/VTDiggerLeaders from four groups recognized as Abenaki by Vermont’s state government have created a new school curriculum about their communities’ history — but the material includes few references, they said, to two Abenaki nations centered in Quebec.The distinction is notable because leaders
  
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• K. Thomas Randall: Vermont’s public workforce didn’t disappear. It dispersed.

  31-12-2025 13:03 via vtdigger.org
  Dear Editor,Dan Jones’ column, “Whatever happened to public service?”, draws the wrong conclusion from the state’s return-to-office dispute. It frames remote work as a loss of civic commitment when the facts suggest something very different.Remote employees living out of state are the exception, not the rule. According to data from the Vermont Department of Human Resources, the state workforce is now distributed more broadly across all fourteen counties than it was prior
  
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• For many Vermont hardware stores, a new calendar year brings paws

  31-12-2025 12:53 via vtdigger.org
  Delilah from Manchester’s Aubuchon Hardware poses with her photo in the 2026 Hardware Store Cat Calendar. Photo courtesy of Manchester’s Aubuchon HardwareBrattleboro’s Brown and Roberts Hardware has sold the nuts and bolts of life for more than a century. So when the Aubuchon chain announced it was acquiring the business and six other locally owned Vermont stores in 2024, the news gave shoppers pause.Make that paws.“Please welcome our newest employees!” reads an en
  
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• Vermont receives $195M federal grant for rural health care transformation 

  30-12-2025 23:21 via vtdigger.org
  A doctor provides remote neurological care to a Dartmouth Health patient in the hospital. Photo courtesy of Dartmouth HealthVermont is set to receive $195 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, the federal body announced on Monday. The money comes as part of the federal government’s new Rural Health Transformation grant program that Vermont’s Agency of Human Services applied for in November. The award is almost two times what the state had expected to receive. 
  
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• Charlotte wildlife corridor map up for revamp

  30-12-2025 23:17 via vtdigger.org
  A biologist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department uses a mapping platform to see connections between land that allow plants and animals to migrate. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story by Liberty Darr was first published in The Citizen on Dec. 24, 2025.The Charlotte Conservation Commission is hoping to secure some big bucks to do what they say is a much-needed revamp of the town’s wildlife corridor map. They are anticipating that the work could cost roughly $25,000 to complet
  
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• Mount Mansfield study looks at effects of shorter winters

  30-12-2025 22:03 via vtdigger.org
  A snowy scene on Mt. Mansfield, the state’s highest peak. Photo by Molly Walsh/CNS
  This story by Aaron Calvin was first published in News & Citizen on Dec. 24, 2025.This winter the University of Vermont marks a quarter century of continuous research documenting two key tributaries of Mount Mansfield — the West Branch of the Little River and Ranch Brook.After 25 years, researchers have a clearer picture of the changes in runoff on Mount Mansfield, where a warming climate continue
  
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• Amy Guala: Commitment to public service can’t be measured by attendance

  30-12-2025 13:03 via vtdigger.org
  Dear Editor,Dear Editor,I believe Dan Jones’ Dec. 26 commentary regarding state employee remote work conflates physical presence with emotional presence. I strongly disagree with the idea that commitment to public service is rooted in shared place or shared fate. Equating remote work with diminished dedication is a false equivalence. Remote work has no bearing on whether someone is a committed public servant.Service is an attitude, not a location. Anyone who has worked in a service profes
  
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• More bailouts for nursing homes? Why Vermont has given millions to keep care centers afloat.

  30-12-2025 12:53 via vtdigger.org
  With the second oldest population in the country, Vermont needs its nursing homes. Yet, while Vermonters rapidly age, the state’s long-term care capacity has dwindled, losing 900 beds in the last two decades. To keep the struggling system afloat, the state has bailed out nursing homes with around $38 million in state and federal Medicaid dollars for so-called extraordinary financial relief over the past five years, according to records obtained by VTDigger. The practice, which h
  
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• Carolyn Van Vleck: How ideology helped derail Burlington

  29-12-2025 22:52 via vtdigger.org
  Dear Editor,I am honestly astonished that Burlington, our former Queen City, is now demanding help from the state to clean up its own mess. What went wrong? Too many bad decisions by local government, driven by ideology rather than common sense.I’ve lived in the Burlington area several times and worked on Church Street. It was once a great city — a wonderful place to people-watch, shop and eat. Vermont has always been expensive, and I don’t begrudge anyone who wants to move he
  
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• Vermont Department of Corrections staff vote to stay with state employees union

  29-12-2025 22:43 via vtdigger.org
  A security and operations supervisor at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington on Aug. 27, 2024. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermont Department of Corrections staff will stick with their existing union. Prison workers and probation and parole staff voted 132-116 to stay with the Vermont State Employees’ Association rather than join the National Correctional Employees Union, which represents more than 50 local branches in the Northeast and Mid-Atlant
  
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• Year ends in ice, outages and tricky travel    

  29-12-2025 22:38 via vtdigger.org
  A town plow keeps roads clear in Underhill during an ice and rain storm on Monday, Dec. 29. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermonters woke up Monday to roads covered in ice and sleet, thousands of homes without power and warnings that conditions may persist overnight.      Burlington-based National Weather Service Meteorologist Conor Lahiff said northern and central Vermont east of the Green Mountains were hit hardest by the ice storm and outages. The western porti
  
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• Triple your impact for Vermont news before year’s end

  29-12-2025 21:58 via vtdigger.org
  VTDigger’s Shaun Robinson and Ethan Weinstein at an event with historian Jill Lepore at the Manchester Community Library on Thursday, September 5, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerDear Reader,VTDigger relies on reader support to fund the nonprofit reporting Vermonters depend on. As we close out 2025, we’re working to reach our year-end goal by New Year’s Eve.Right now, your gift in any amount up to $500 will be tripled by a group of generous Vermont donors. 
  3X your g
  
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• Vermont’s agriculture exports to China surge 80%, defying U.S. trade slump

  29-12-2025 21:50 via vtdigger.org
  Paul Doton, left, talks with milk truck driver Dewey Fischer, of K. Pope and Sons, right as he unloads the bulk tank at Doton’s Barnard dairy farm on Wednesday, Dec. 24. Doton ships his milk to the Agri-Mark’s cheese plant in Middlebury and is on the milk co-op’s board of directors. Vermont agricultural producers have bucked a trend of declining export income from China with an increase of just over $2.5 million in the first eight months of 2025 over the previous year. The inc
  
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• Economic development leader hit with embezzlement charge

  29-12-2025 21:04 via vtdigger.org
  Melissa Bounty. Photo courtesy of Central Vermont Economic Development CorporationThe former executive director of the Central Vermont Economic Development Corporation has been charged with embezzling more than $70,000 from the organization. Melissa Bounty, 42, of Waitsfield, is expected to appear in Washington County Superior criminal court on Jan. 15 for an arraignment on the felony charge, according to a Saturday press release from the Montpelier Police Department.The charge against Bou
  
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• To hasten housing permits, lawmakers consider moving appeals out of a courtroom 

  29-12-2025 12:53 via vtdigger.org
  Contstruction of a housing development on Park Road in South Burlington seen on Monday, Dec. 15. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.Thirty-two new homes will soon be built adjacent to a nature preserve in South Burlington — but only after a drawn-out legal battle launched by neighbors stalled the project for three years. Shortly after the developers secured
  
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• Jess Frey: Vermont’s economy no longer works for working families

  28-12-2025 13:02 via vtdigger.org
  Dear Editor,I’m done being told to “work harder” in a state where the numbers prove the system is failing — especially for kids.I have a healthy 3-year-old, and like countless Vermont parents, I am doing everything right. I work. I budget. I plan. And still, stability feels out of reach. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, a single adult in Vermont needs about $25 an hour just to cover basic necessities — housing, food, transportation, health care —
  
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• It’s bird feeder season in Vermont. Here’s what to know about owning one.

  28-12-2025 12:52 via vtdigger.org
  A bird perches on a feeder in Jericho on Thursday, Dec. 18. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerJillian Kilborn is particularly excited to put up her bird feeders this year. Food shortages up north are expected to send winter finches to Vermont for the season, meaning that she could see Red Crossbills and Pine Grosbeaks in her yard for the first time since 2021. Birders call it the “finch irruption.” “We were home on a consistent basis because of Covid, so I really kind o
  
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