Vermont news

• Gov. Phil Scott proclaims fifth annual national apprenticeship week in Vermont

  11-11-2019 17:57 via vtdigger.org
  ContactKyle Thweatt, Department of Labor802-828-4251 | [email protected], Vt. – Governor Phil Scott and the Department of Labor today celebrated the fifth annual National Apprenticeship Week during a proclamation signing at Benoit Electric in Barre.“As our labor force has declined, Vermont employers are left struggling to fill good paying jobs and too many of our kids aren’t being exposed to the full range of available career opportunities,” sai
  
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• Vermont’s chapter of Girls on the Run celebrates 25 years 

  16-04-2024 20:49 via vtdigger.org
  
  Some of the 1,700 girls entered in the annual Girls on the Run 5K Run/Walk pass the starting line in 2012. File photo by Alexandra Ossola/The CommonsThis story by Victoria Chertok was first published by The Commons on April 10.BRATTLEBORO — In 1999, when her daughters were young, Nancy Heydinger said she “wanted to find a way to ensure that they would grow up loving themselves, feeling complete.”“I wanted them to celebrate and embrace their natural gifts, to know that wh
  
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• Bill Schubart: What are the dumbest things we do or don’t do in Vermont?

  16-04-2024 18:32 via vtdigger.org
  
  We like to think of ourselves as progressive, pioneering and aware of our neighbors’ needs. Why then do we have some of the worst socioeconomic benchmarks in America?Unsheltered: As of a January 2023 count, Vermont had the second-highest rate of homelessness in the country.Food insecurity: Twenty-seven percent of Vermonters experienced food insecurity in 2022, and families with children are more than five times more likely to be food insecure than those without.Suicide: As of 2021, Vermont
  
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• College decisions can be stressful: Take care of the FAFSA, and take care of yourself

  16-04-2024 18:06 via vtdigger.org
  
  Between sports, theater productions, concerts, presentations, and holding down a part time job—senior year is stressful. Add graduation and saying goodbye to friends, and it can feel like a lot. Maybe too much. This year may feel even more overwhelming than usual. Delays caused by federal financial aid processes have made it even harder to answer that question that well-meaning people love to ask: what are you planning for next year? You’re not alone — planning for n
  
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• How a hurricane and a cardinal launched a UVM professor on a new career path

  16-04-2024 12:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  Professor Trish O’Kane and participants in her course, “Birding to Change the World,” spot a spider in the forest at Derway Island in 2016. Courtesy of The University of Vermont, photo by Joshua Brown.Before Hurricane Katrina hit her newly adopted city of New Orleans in 2005, Trish O’Kane knew next to nothing about the environment — let alone birds.O’Kane had spent much of her life working as an investigative human rights journalist in Central America and a h
  
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• Alice Boutin

  16-04-2024 04:05 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born July 29, 1925Laconia, New Hampshire
  Died April 12, 2024Rochester, New HampshireAlice Marie Ann Boutin, 98, died on Friday, April 12, 2024, under the loving care of her two daughters, Suzanne Boutin and Elizabeth McGrath DNP, and her husband, John McGrath, in Rochester, NH, where she lived the remaining three years of life. Alice’s family was with her the week before she died. Alice was born in 1925, the daughter of William and Celanaire (Blais) Boucher of Laconia, NH where she grew up
  
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• David Kinsley Ricklefs

  16-04-2024 03:26 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born July 20, 1970Lafayette, IndianaDied April 12, 2024Middlebury, VermontAthletic, artistic, passionate, entrepreneurial — these are all words that describe who David was.As a youth, David was an elite junior ski and bike racer. David spent his formative years in York Pennsylvania, ski racing at Round Top and competing in local, national, and international bike races. David attended high school at Burke Mountain Academy in East Burke, VT, where he pursued his passion to become an elite sk
  
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• Chip Hedler

  16-04-2024 03:11 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born May 13, 1945Toledo, Ohio
  Died March 19, 2024South Strafford, VermontDetails of services
  A celebration of life will be held on June 29th 2024, additional details will be released to the website beforehand.Chip Hedler passed away in his home in South Strafford, Vermont, on March 19th, 2024. He is survived by his wife, Maria Cabri, his stepchildren Cedar Davidson and Gioia Cabri, and his siblings Susan, Martin, and Alan Hedler. He was born in Toledo, Ohio, on May 13, 1945, to Doris Sing and Ri
  
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• On the road with the salamander rescue team 

  16-04-2024 00:46 via vtdigger.org
  
  Sean Beckett, programs director at the North Branch Nature Center, holds a spotted salamander before helping it cross the road in Middlesex on Friday, April 12, 2024. Photo by Natalie Williams/VTDiggerMONTPELIER — The duo heard them long before seeing them, a wild cacophony from the darkness beyond the road. The throaty ribbits were wood frogs. The flighty chirps were minuscule spring peepers, small as a thumbnail. But what the pair was looking for was silent. “Here,” sai
  
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• Program to help marginalized Vermonters own their first homes expands statewide

  16-04-2024 00:02 via vtdigger.org
  
  Marnie Avila Alvarez (right), her husband Osvaldo Viera Martiatu and Lucy, their German Shepherd, enjoyed a romp in the recent snowstorm outside their new home in South Burlington. Immigrants from Cuba, they bought their first home in February 2024 through the Champlain Housing Trust’s homeownership equity program. Courtesy/contributed photo
  A program in northwest Vermont that helps people from marginalized communities with down payments on their first homes is expanding statewide.The pro
  
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• Stamford officials say ‘no’ to flood-related federal buyout program

  15-04-2024 23:46 via vtdigger.org
  
  The North Branch of the Hoosic River runs beside this property in Stamford, which Debra and Robert Burchard own. Photo courtesy of Nick Burchard
  The Bennington County town of Stamford has decided not to participate in a federal buyout program for properties under threat from flooding after considering the question multiple times.A local homeowner said the Stamford Selectboard’s decision has left her family in limbo, and she is now considering asking the courts to intervene. Deb Burch
  
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• ‘Provider burden’ bill pits health care providers against insurance companies

  15-04-2024 22:56 via vtdigger.org
  
  Photo via Adobe Stock.
  For weeks, health care providers have been telling lawmakers horror stories about dealing with insurance companies. At a press event last week, Kristen Connolly, a pediatrician at Timber Lane Pediatrics in Milton, told a story about treating a malnourished infant who needed a special formula. But the baby’s health insurer declined to approve that special formula, reversing course only after Connolly spent hours on the phone, writing letters and filling out pape
  
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• Spring Drive: Your support helps VTDigger provide trusted news and sends a children’s book

  15-04-2024 22:11 via vtdigger.org
  
  VTDigger reporters Peter D’Auria and Shaun Robinson. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerWe are so close to wrapping up our annual Spring Drive. Today we need 150 members to join VTDigger in order to stay on track. Can you help us meet our goal? Please join us with a donation in any amount today. You’ll become a VTDigger member and your gift will also send a brand-new book to a Vermont child through our partnership with the Children’s Literacy Foundation.
  Donate & send a b
  
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• Jill Martin Diaz: No more ‘border brain’

  15-04-2024 21:25 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Jill Martin Diaz. They are the executive director of Vermont Asylum Assistance Project and a member of the New England Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
  “Border brain” was how one congressional staffer described Capitol Hill’s myopic focus on U.S./Mexico border fortification during the 2024 National Day of Action hosted by the American Immigration Lawyers Association, also known as AILA. The staffer and their fellow congression
  
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• Citing flooding concerns, Act 250 commission denies Hinesburg housing project

  15-04-2024 17:08 via vtdigger.org
  
  Artist rendering of a portion of the proposed Hinesburg Center II project in downtown Hinesburg. An Act 250 commission has denied the project. Image via Town of HinesburgThis story by Corey McDonald was first published by The Citizen on April 11.An Act 250 commission denied a major housing project in Hinesburg over flooding concerns.The project, Hinesburg Center II, has been in the works for nearly a decade, and received approval from the town’s development review board in February 2023.
  
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• Rep. Laura Sibilia: Looking for state accountability on education spending

  14-04-2024 16:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Rep. Laura Sibilia, I-Dover.
  For years, a multitude of factors beyond the control of school districts have been affecting school budgets and tax rates: demographic shifts, pandemic disruptions, the end of federal funding and deeply flawed equity calculations in the education finance mechanism. Gov. Phil Scott and the Legislature have regularly addressed these challenges by buying down tax rates one year at a time, potentially delaying difficult budget discussions.&nbs
  
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• Young Writers Project: ‘Thirteen ways of looking at a goldfinch’

  14-04-2024 15:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  “Goldfinch,” by Lauren McCabe, 17, of South Burlington.
  Young Writers Project is a creative online community of teen writers, photographers and artists, which has been based in Vermont since 2006. Each week, VTDigger features the writing and art of young Vermonters who publish their work on youngwritersproject.org, a free, interactive website for 12- to 18-year-olds. To find out more, visit youngwritersproject.org, or contact Executive Director Susan Reid at sreid@youngwritersprojec
  
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• Windsor jam company’s expansion plans bear fruit

  14-04-2024 14:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  A customer tries a few of the many samples at Blake Hill Preserves in Windsor on Tuesday. As part of a larger financing package, the business is applying for funding through the Town of Windsor to support a $2.7 million facility expansion in Artisan Park. Photo by Jennifer Hauck/Valley News
  This story by Patrick Adrian was first published by the Valley News on April 11. WINDSOR — A fruit preserves manufacturer in Artisans Park is close to financing a $2.7 million expansion of their b
  
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• Amid mud season, a Vermonter finds the Boston Marathon to be just the rush

  14-04-2024 12:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  Timothy Noonan of Montpelier is a veteran runner who will be competing in the Boston Marathon on Monday. Seen at home on Wednesday. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermonter Tim Noonan knows the long slog of winter, having seen this April spring more snow than showers.The 67-year-old Montpelier resident is also well aware of the endurance test of life, having retired after a four-decade career resolving employment disputes as head of the state Labor Relations Board.That’s why he’s ha
  
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• Childhood literacy is key; Unlock it with your gift today

  13-04-2024 12:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear reader,From the time I was a young child, my parents lovingly fostered a passion for reading in me. I remember my brothers and I piling into bed with my mom while she read us stories before bed; Harry Potter and The Time Warp Trio were our favorites. Stretching back earlier than I can recall, my sunny childhood bedroom window was lined with books. It was sitting on my bed right beside this window that I vividly remember reading my very first book all by myself, The Chick and the Duckling.
  
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• Final Reading: Committee expected to vote on Act 250 reform next week

  13-04-2024 01:49 via vtdigger.org
  
  Sen. Chris Bray, D-Addison, chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee, speaks as the committee takes testimony on a bill that would provide a statewide river management system at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Tuesday, February 13, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Credit: Glenn Russell
  The Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee has a mighty task. By Wednesday, committee members plan to have hammered out complex details of Act 250 reform while sticking to a com
  
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• Amid Black Lives Matter flag debate, Milton school board votes to only fly U.S. and Vermont flags

  13-04-2024 00:55 via vtdigger.org
  
  A group of people waves Black Lives Matter flags outside Milton High School on March 20. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
  MILTON — The Milton school board on Thursday avoided talking about the Black Lives Matter flag that has flown outside the high school for five years. But the board voted to change the flagpole policy to effectively exclude such flags.After a three-hour long, packed meeting at the high school library, the school board voted 3-2 to allow only the United States and Vermont
  
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• As committee scrambles on school tax plan, administration pitches curveball idea

  12-04-2024 23:58 via vtdigger.org
  
  Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, D-Brattleboro,left, and Tax Commissioner Craig Bolio. Photos by Glenn Russell and Mike Dougherty/VTDigger
  When the week started, the House’s tax writing committee looked poised to structurally transform Vermont’s education finance system.By Thursday, such changes seemed less certain.And on Friday, Gov. Phil Scott’s administration entered the room, throwing out an unexpected proposal to lower property taxes this year by spreading out the tax increase ove
  
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• Confirmation hearing scheduled for Zoie Saunders as education secretary 

  12-04-2024 23:36 via vtdigger.org
  
  Zoie Saunders has been appointed as Vermont’s new secretary of the Agency of Education. Courtesy photo
  The Vermont Senate Committee on Education will hold its confirmation hearing for Gov. Phil Scott’s pick for education secretary, Zoie Saunders, on April 23. The committee’s chair, Sen. Brian Campion, D-Bennington, initially considered holding the hearing next week, when Saunders plans to begin work. But Campion said in an interview on Thursday that the administration had
  
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• Bethel officials under fire for their handling of firefighter’s comments

  12-04-2024 19:03 via vtdigger.org
  
  “You guys disgust me,” Tom Harty, Pastor of the United Church of Bethel, and a former medical examiner, told the Bethel, Vt., Selectboard during a meeting at Town Hall on Monday, April 8, 2024. Harty told the board it should support the removal of a firefighter from the town’s volunteer department who made an insensitive social media post about a Vermont State Trooper after he was critically injured in a crash on Interstate 89 last month. Photo by James M. Patterson/Valley New
  
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• Vermont’s Union Mutual insurance company announces affiliation plan with Norfolk & Dedham

  12-04-2024 18:46 via vtdigger.org
  
  Union Mutual’s offices on State Street in Montpelier, as seen on Friday, April 12, 2024. Photo by Juan Vega de Soto/VTDiggerTwo New England insurers want to join forces. Vermont’s Union Mutual and Massachusetts’ Norfolk & Dedham announced their intent to affiliate in a joint statement released Wednesday. The contract between the two companies, signed last Friday,  would have them pool their finances as part of a business partnership. The affiliation is subject to
  
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• Vermont lawmakers, governor at odds over how much to invest in housing

  12-04-2024 17:40 via vtdigger.org
  
  Crews work to finish construction at Farmstead Lofts in South Burlington in December 2023. File photo by Carly Berlin/VTDigger and Vermont PublicThis story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.When lawmakers arrived in Montpelier in January, most could agree on one thing: addressing Vermont’s crushing housing shortage – and homelessness crisis – would be a priority. As the 2024 legislative sess
  
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• Deeming Slate Ridge now in compliance, court rescinds Daniel Banyai warrant

  12-04-2024 16:40 via vtdigger.org
  
  Daniel Banyai appears remotely in Rutland County Superior criminal court in Rutland on Thursday, March 21, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
  The state Environmental Court has rescinded its arrest warrant for Daniel Banyai after the town of Pawlet said it had brought his Slate Ridge property into compliance with court orders related to zoning violations.  As of 9:30 a.m. Friday, Vermont’s inmate locator database still showed Banyai as detained at Marble Valley Regional Correc
  
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• Assia Hamana and Alice Urban: Youth mentoring in Vermont fosters community and connection

  12-04-2024 13:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Assia Hamana of Winooski and Alice Urban of Burlington. Assia is a graduate of Winooski High School and a junior at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, studying international relations. Alice is a member of the MENTOR Vermont board of directors and is a director of business development at Tetra Tech, a global engineering and consulting firm with an office in Burlington. They were both participants in the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) Vermont’s
  
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• Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield: Baby bonds would empower vermonters to improve their lives 

  12-04-2024 12:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, founders of Ben & Jerry’s.
  As the founders of Ben & Jerry’s, we know firsthand the power of investing in Vermont’s communities. Since opening our first location in downtown Burlington, we’ve used our platform to support economic and social justice. That’s why we wholeheartedly support the proposal to create a baby bonds program in Vermont. The status quo isn’t working for regular people, both
  
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