Vermont news

• Fall Weed Warrior Program announced

  07-08-2017 21:47 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — South Burlington Recreation and ParksAugust 2, 2017
  Contact:
  [email protected]
  Register for the Fall Weed Warrior Program!
  Join us for the fall Weed Warrior Training event at City Center Park.
  When: SATURDAY, August 26th, 9 AM – 12 PM
  Location: City Center ParkEnd of Iby Street (Park along Iby Street)South Burlington
  This program is focused on creating a corps of stewards that will be armed with the knowledge and expertise to remove invasive plants in South Burlington
  
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• Why therapeutic schools matter for Vermont

  02-02-2026 17:26 via vtdigger.org
  When traditional schools aren’t working, what comes next?When “Ethan” arrived at Kindle Farm School, he had already experienced years of disruption in school. Suspensions were frequent, frustration came quickly, and staying in class for a full day was impossible. At home, his parents were exhausted and worried, fielding constant calls, wondering what would happen next, and fearing their child was running out of options. Like many students who come to Kindle Farm, Ethan wanted t
  
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• Bruce Roy: Taxed to the max —  enough is enough

  02-02-2026 13:06 via vtdigger.org
  Dear Editor,It’s happening again. Surprise, surprise! In December 2025, the Vermont commissioner of taxes released the joint office education tax rate letter describing the property tax increase residential homeowners will face next year. 
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  The letter projects property tax bills to increase by an average of 12% next year. This doesn’t include planned increases in local town spending.With this new property tax increase, Vermont taxpayers will have seen a phenomenal
  
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• Vermont has no facility for people incompetent to stand trial. Could that finally change? 

  02-02-2026 12:55 via vtdigger.org
  Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health Emily Hawes. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerKelly Carroll’s daughter was slashed to death five years ago — and she thinks the man accused of murdering the 26-year-old slipped through cracks in the system.The Pownal man charged with killing Emily Hamman was previously charged with other violent crimes and found incompetent to stand trial, meaning he was unable to take part in his own defense or understand the charges he was facing.
  
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• Young Writers Project: ‘Ours’

  01-02-2026 13:04 via vtdigger.org
  “Welcome,” by Isla Segal, 14, WoodstockYoung Writers Project is a creative, online community of teen writers and visual artists that started in Burlington in 2006. Each week, VTDigger publishes the writing and art of young Vermonters who post their work on youngwritersproject.org, a free, interactive website for youth, ages 13-19. To find out more, please go to youngwritersproject.org or contact Executive Director Susan Reid at sreid@youngwriterspr
  
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• Leanne Harple: Don’t treat rural schools as mistakes

  01-02-2026 13:03 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by Rep. Leanne Harple, D-Glover, who serves on the House Committee on Education.The Northeast Kingdom — known to all who live here as the NEK — is where I was born, where I grew up, and where I am now raising my own children on the same dirt road where I grew up. My love for the NEK runs deep. One of the things I cherish most about this place is that we have always done things a little differently — and often a little better — than the rest of the
  
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• Then Again: The ‘perfect run’ that made her Olympic alpine legend

  01-02-2026 12:55 via vtdigger.org
  Andrea Mead Lawrence, center, awaits race results during the 1952 Olympics in Oslo, Norway. Photo courtesy of U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of FameIt would have been natural for Andrea Mead Lawrence to be nervous as her skis nudged the starting line and she awaited the race official’s tap on her back and the command to go. The moment she had been training so hard for — the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway — had arrived. Lawrence wasn’t the only one waiting her sho
  
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• Then Again: The ‘perfect run’ that made an Olympic legend

  01-02-2026 12:55 via vtdigger.org
  Andrea Mead Lawrence, center, awaits race results during the 1952 Olympics in Oslo, Norway. Photo courtesy of U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of FameIt would have been natural for Andrea Mead Lawrence to be nervous as her skis nudged the starting line and she awaited the race official’s tap on her back and the command to go. The moment she had been training so hard for — the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway — had arrived. Lawrence wasn’t the only one waiting her sho
  
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• A Vermont sportscaster’s behind-the-scenes replay of a half-century of Olympics

  01-02-2026 12:55 via vtdigger.org
  Thetford-based announcer Peter Graves poses with Vermont-schooled Olympic skier Mikaela Shiffrin. Photo courtesy of Peter Graves
  Peter Graves was an aspiring 27-year-old sportscaster when ABC offered him a 1980 Winter Olympics gig with a two-week paycheck that rivaled his annual entry-level salary.The one stipulation: “Did I know Bill Koch,” he recently recounted to VTDigger, “and did I have access to him?” Graves said “yes” about Koch, the publicity-adv
  
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• Upper Valley Red Cross volunteers remain committed in spite of dwindling ranks

  01-02-2026 12:51 via vtdigger.org
  Linda Nordman, of White River Junction, closes up a Red Cross storage unit in West Lebanon, N.H., on Wednesday, Jan. 21. Nordman, who says she is sometimes “a bit fanatical” about being prepared,” keeps her van loaded with kits of toiletries, phone chargers, teddy bears, pet food and resources for people who have been impacted by fires and other catastrophic events. “I know what it’s like to be desperate and need help.” Photo by James M. Patterson/Valley News
  
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• How Donald Trump reshaped Vermont in just 1 year

  31-01-2026 12:55 via vtdigger.org
  Clockwise from top left: Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in January 2025; Vermonter and Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi is released from federal detainment in Burlington in April 2025; Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark has filed more than 40 lawsuits against the Trump administration over the past year; and protests against the Immigration Customs and Enforcement Department have spread across the state, contin
  
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• Kesha Ram Hinsdale: The tax Vermonters have never heard of

  31-01-2026 04:11 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Vt., the majority leader of the Vermont Senate, representing Chittenden-Southeast.Vermont is in the middle of a deep affordability crisis, and most people assume the solutions must be complicated, slow, or politically impossible. But one of the most effective tools we have is already on the books, quietly working — and generating more revenue than expected. I know because I wrote the law.It’s a vacancy tax, embedded today in
  
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• Community rallies for longtime Somali taxi driver detained by ICE

  31-01-2026 01:39 via vtdigger.org
  Hussien Noor Hussien with his wife Runbila Aden. Photo courtesy of Runbila AdenBurlington-area community members plan to rally next week to support a longtime Somali resident who was detained by federal immigration officers at the airport on New Year’s Day.Hussien Noor Hussien, 63, has been held at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans since. The rally coincides with his next scheduled hearing at U.S. District Court in Burlington at 11 a.m. Wednesday.Hussien’s frie
  
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• A new bill in Vermont would expand school choice for pre-K students in Essex County

  31-01-2026 00:30 via vtdigger.org
  Democratic Majority Leader Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden Southeast, listens to debate at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Feb. 25, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerParents in the Northeast Kingdom’s Essex County — the most rural county in the state — have few options when it comes to finding a pre-K program for their children. At least, one this side of the Connecticut River.But lawmakers and local school officials hope to change that.S.214, a bill introduced b
  
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• ‘The pit’ in Newport may soon be sold as mop up from EB-5 scandal nears end

  30-01-2026 23:11 via vtdigger.org
  Michael Goldberg, the court-appointed receiver in the EB-5 fraud case, speaks at a Statehouse news conference on April 13, 2017. File photo by Michael Dougherty/VTDiggerThe federally-appointed person charged with overseeing properties at the center of an investor fraud scandal that rocked Vermont appears to be winding down his work after nearly a decade on the job. Michael Goldberg wrote in a recent court filing that he expected soon to sell off the last receivership property, a piece of l
  
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• Vermont House backs Gov. Phil Scott’s call for ‘pause’ of Trump’s immigration crackdown

  30-01-2026 19:42 via vtdigger.org
  Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington,, addresses her colleagues on the first day of the second year of the legislative biennium at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Tuesday, January 6, 2026.Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMONTPELIER — The Vermont House passed a resolution Thursday backing a recent statement by Gov. Phil Scott that called for a “pause” of federal immigration enforcement operations after the killing of a second protestor in Minneapolis.The resolution w
  
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• ‘ICE Out’ national event leads to protests, small business closures across Vermont

  30-01-2026 19:24 via vtdigger.org
  Buch Spieler Records in Montpelier is closed Friday to protest federal immigration enforcement, on Jan. 29, 2026. Photo by Charlotte Oliver/VTDiggerA nationwide call to protest President Trump’s violent immigration crackdown led Vermonters to take to the streets and small business owners to close their doors across the state Friday. In Vermont, at least 15 small businesses announced that they would be closing for all or part of the day in response to the “ICE Out” movemen
  
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• Vermont man dies in Mississippi prison 

  30-01-2026 18:30 via vtdigger.org
  Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, run by CoreCivic. Photo by Alan Keays/VTDiggerA Bennington man incarcerated in Mississippi died Thursday after he was found unresponsive in his cell. Titus Peters, 42, has been imprisoned by the state of Vermont since 2017. In 2019, Peters was moved to Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Mississippi to continue serving his prison sentence for the crimes he committed  in Vermont, according to a statement from the Vermont Department of
  
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• Matt Wormser: Vermont needs real education reform, not more reports

  30-01-2026 13:03 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by Matt Wormser, a member of the Shelburne selectboard.As a member of the Shelburne selectboard, one of the unfortunate benefits of my service is the continual reminder of tradeoffs, which acutely come into focus during budget season. This year, we are struggling to maintain services and limit our property tax increases to twice the rate of inflation — an unsustainable pace even in the best of times.This pales in comparison to the forecast for my colleagues on the
  
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• More extreme cold to hit Vermont, capping off week of below-zero temperatures

  30-01-2026 00:43 via vtdigger.org
  A truck leaves the town garage in Bolton with a fresh load of sand to treat local roads on Thursday, January 29, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerEmergency shelters and warming centers that have stayed open throughout a long week of cold temperatures are beginning to feel the strain as extreme lows are expected again Thursday night, according to the National Weather Service.“We’re tired, but we’re happy that we’re helping people,” said Roxanne Carelli, executiv
  
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• A ‘top priority in this building’: Senate health committee seeks to broaden access to primary care

  30-01-2026 00:38 via vtdigger.org
  Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden Southeast, speaks on the floor of the Senate at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerIt was 4:30 on a Friday afternoon when Dr. Anne Morris faced a problem that may sound all too familiar for many primary care providers. By Morris’s telling, a patient looked at her, teary-eyed, and asked, “Why does everything have to be so hard?”In this particular instance, Morris, who is a primary care physician
  
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• New immigration legal services expand into southern and central Vermont

  30-01-2026 00:10 via vtdigger.org
  Jill Martin Diaz, executive director of the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project in Burlington, Aug. 27, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerImmigrant communities in southern and central Vermont will have expanded access to legal services through a new partnership announced this week. The new program, the Immigration Community Lawyering Initiative, is a partnership between Vermont Legal Aid and Vermont Asylum Assistance Project. Through the initiative, Vermont Legal Aid is setting up a forma
  
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• Senate panel won’t recommend Micheal Drescher for Vermont Supreme Court 

  29-01-2026 23:29 via vtdigger.org
  Vermont Supreme Court appointees Christina Nolan and Michael Drescher speak before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Jan. 13, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMONTPELIER — After receiving hundreds of emails about the governor’s two latest appointees for the Vermont Supreme Court, senators in the Judiciary Committee on Thursday failed to vote in favor of supporting Michael Drescher and voted unanimously to recommend Christina Nolan. The two nominee
  
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• Senate panel won’t recommend Michael Drescher for Vermont Supreme Court 

  29-01-2026 23:29 via vtdigger.org
  Vermont Supreme Court appointees Christina Nolan and Michael Drescher speak before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Jan. 13, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMONTPELIER — After receiving hundreds of emails about the governor’s two latest appointees for the Vermont Supreme Court, senators in the Judiciary Committee on Thursday failed to vote in favor of supporting Michael Drescher and voted unanimously to recommend Christina Nolan. The two nominee
  
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• Rutland City mayor Mike Doenges announces resignation

  29-01-2026 18:43 via vtdigger.org
  Mike Doenges. Photo courtesy of Mike DoengesRutland City Mayor Mike Doenges is stepping down from his post midway through his second term, he said Thursday.Doenges will remain in the role until Feb. 27, less than a week before Town Meeting Day on March 3, according to his announcement.
  The decision came after Doenges received a “once-in-a-decade” opportunity to return to his former employer in the technology sales sector, and he made the choice for the long-term benefit of him and h
  
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• Vermont schools are making headway to address chronic absenteeism, but rates remain stubbornly high

  29-01-2026 16:24 via vtdigger.org
  A kindergarten classroom. Photo via Adobe StockThe Maple Run Unified School District in Franklin County has made some meaningful progress toward addressing chronic absenteeism, a persistent problem for school districts since the Covid-19 pandemic.Bill Kimball, the district’s superintendent, said he’s seen a 17% decrease in the number of students considered chronically absent through the first quarter of this school year compared to last year.Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of the di
  
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• Laura Hill-Eubanks: Quiet, please!

  29-01-2026 13:03 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by Laura Hill-Eubanks, a Vermont attorney with expertise in environmental law and policy. Vermont has a noise problem. There are a significant number of loud motor vehicles on our roads, and they are getting louder and the noise more pervasive. There are two main sources of loud motor vehicle noise. The first is the practice of modifying mufflers and exhaust systems on motorcycles, cars and trucks to deliberately increase their noise level. The second is l
  
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• Rubaina Anjum: What will you do when ICE comes for you?

  29-01-2026 01:04 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by Rubaina Anjum, a graduate student at the University of Vermont (UVM) studying economics and sustainability. She is a member of UVM Graduate Students United, United Autoworkers Local 2322. The views expressed here are Anjum’s and do not necessarily reflect those of UVM.A couple of weeks ago, I took the Amtrak Vermonter to Northampton, Mass., gazing out the window as the train wound its way through the snow-covered countryside. Our state’s picturesque landsc
  
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• Mary Sullivan: Honor Burlington’s vote on guns in bars

  29-01-2026 01:02 via vtdigger.org
  Dear Editor,Last March, more than 86% of Burlington residents voted to ban guns from bars because of the sensible and simple belief that guns and alcohol do not mix. This ordinance change will make our people feel safer while they enjoy everything downtown Burlington has to offer, including our great pedestrian mall and our wonderful restaurants and pubs.Unfortunately, we’ve yet to see it implemented. All charter changes must be approved by the Vermont Legislature before being e
  
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• Winter weather compounds Vermont’s shortage of blood donations

  29-01-2026 00:36 via vtdigger.org
  Photo via Adobe StockThe recent winter storm and extreme cold have worsened an already severe shortage of donated blood, according to the American Red Cross’s Northern New England Region. On Monday, following a winter storm that dumped up to 20 inches of snow across Vermont, the Red Cross canceled its blood drives in the state, forgoing the collection of 47 units of blood, according to Jennifer Costa, the New England region’s communications director for the organization.“
  
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