• Gov. Phil Scott’s Public Schedule July 24-28, 2017

    News Release — Gov. Phil ScottJuly 24, 2017
    Contact:Ethan Latour
    [email protected]
    Governor Phil Scott’s Public Schedule: 7/24/17 – 7/28/17
    Monday, July 24
    Attending Republican Governors Association Quarterly MeetingAspen, CO
    Tuesday, July 25
    Attending Republican Governors Association Quarterly MeetingAspen, CO
    Wednesday, July 26
    No public events scheduled
    Thursday, July 27
    1:00 – 1:30 PMWeekly Press ConferenceGovernor’s Ceremonial Office, Vermont State House
  • Texas company presents ideas for future Vermont Yankee property use

    Texas company presents ideas for future Vermont Yankee property use
    A worker cuts apart a beam during the deconstruction of the former Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon in October 2023. The salvaged metal from the plant, which is not radioactive, is being recycled. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story by Olga Peters was first published in The Commons on Sept. 29, 2026. VERNON — PowerTransitions officials who held another community meeting on Sept. 23 faced community members who filled a meeting room, expressing skepticism and con
  • Court orders Dairy Farmers of America to keep paying its share of union employees’ health insurance after shuttering the St. Albans Creamery

    Court orders Dairy Farmers of America to keep paying its share of union employees’ health insurance after shuttering the St. Albans Creamery
    Members of the Teamsters local 597 union picket outside the Dairy Farmers of America plant in St. Albans on Tuesday, September 30, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerA U.S. District Court judge has mandated that Dairy Farmers of America keep contributing its portion of the union workers’ health insurance after idling the St. Albans Creamery plant in August.The employees at the plant, which is a subsidiary of the Dairy Farmers of America co-operative, have been out of work since the plan
  • Putney affordable housing project opens after clearing court battles

    Putney affordable housing project opens after clearing court battles
    Developers held a ribbon cutting event for a new affordable housing project in Putney on September 30, 2026. Photo by Carly Berlin/Vermont PublicCarly Berlin covers housing and infrastructure for Vermont Public, in partnership with VTDigger. When Stormy Gammon got the call that she and her family had been approved for an apartment at a new affordable housing complex in Putney, she cried. Gammon, her husband, and their son had been homeless, living in a shelter unit in Springfield, she
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  • Vermont Medicaid braces for new rules coming for nearly 50,000 Vermonters

    Vermont Medicaid braces for new rules coming for nearly 50,000 Vermonters
    The People’s Health and Wellness Clinic in Barre in July 2020. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe first of a series of changes to Medicaid is set to take effect Oct. 1, put in motion by the federal budget bill passed in July 2025. The next round of changes begins in January.Combined, the changes to the state-federal health insurance program are expected to affect nearly 50,000 Vermonters, but that doesn’t mean that all will lose coverage, say healthcare advocates and Medicaid o
  • Vermont Conversation: ‘Gradually, then suddenly.’ Bestselling author Richard North Patterson on how American democracy was undermined.


    The Vermont Conversation with David Goodman is a VTDigger podcast that features in-depth interviews on local and national issues. Listen and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get podcasts.Author Richard North Patterson, left, and his new book “Tripwires: 15 Twenty-First-Century Events That Undermined American Democracy — and How to Reclaim It.” Courtesy photos“Gradually, then suddenly, America reached the precipice
  • UVM awarded record $38M to create ‘AI twin’ of sick patients

    UVM awarded record $38M to create ‘AI twin’ of sick patients
    Dr. Gary An discusses a record-breaking award for his research on AI “twins” at UVM’s Robert Larner College of Medicine on Sept. 30, 2026. Photo by Charlotte Oliver/VTDigger.BURLINGTON — For doctors struggling to treat patients with severe burns or infections, researchers at the University of Vermont are developing a not-so-human solution. They’re working to create an artificial intelligence “twin” of a patient, allowing doctors to test individuali
  • More cops can’t help downtown

    More cops can’t help downtown
    This commentary is by Brian Clifford, an abolitionist mutual aid organizer working in and around Burlington.We can’t police our way to making downtown Burlington feel safe. I do not mean we shouldn’t. I’m not saying we should choose a higher path rooted in care and healing. I mean we can’t, as in, it is literally not possible at this time.The idea that increased police presence will deter scary behaviors downtown makes logical sense. It’s been Burlington Police Dep
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  • Burlington only has itself to blame for its decline

    Burlington only has itself to blame for its decline
    This commentary is by Michael Pill, a lawyer who lives in Burlington.We recently bought a house in Burlington to age in place with younger family who live in the city. I am a confirmed leftist, a staunch anticapitalist with a doctorate in Marxian economic theory, a supporter of gun control and a Jew who believes that every human being is charged with the social mission of repairing the world in which we live. The struggle to eliminate all forms of prejudice that divide us is both an individual
  • Nettie Morse focuses on a future in pediatric occupational therapy

    Nettie Morse focuses on a future in pediatric occupational therapy
    Aneta “Nettie” Morse is a senior at Oxbow High School in Bradford, Vermont. She’s a three-season athlete and is one of the founding members of VSAC GEAR UP Leads, the first-ever student-led leadership club in VSAC’s GEAR UP, a federally funded program that helps students access college and careers after high school. Recently, Nettie was named the national GEAR UP Student Leader of the Year at an award ceremony in Washington DC. This award recognizes a student who go
  • Woodstock police chief resigns after demotion overturned

    Woodstock police chief resigns after demotion overturned
    Former Woodstock Village Police Chief Joe Swanson, stands and stretches during his appeal hearing in Vermont Superior Court on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 in Woodstock, Vt. On the left is Woodstock attorney John H. Klesch, representing the village. Photo by Jennifer Hauck/Valley NewsThis story by Sofia Langlois was first published in the Valley News on Sept. 29, 2026.WOODSTOCK — A judge ruled Tuesday in favor of the Woodstock police chief who town officials have now failed twice to demote.But
  • A rising cohort of vets is giving Vermonters new ways to say goodbye to beloved pets

    A rising cohort of vets is giving Vermonters new ways to say goodbye to beloved pets
    Finnegan and Duffy sit on a chair. Photo by Laura CadmusLaura Cadmus’ cat, Duffy, used to sit on the edge of her table and a CD rack with his front legs dangling off the side. Now, the same spots are decorated with photos of him in those odd positions, her way to hold onto his memory after he died of cancer earlier this year at age 8. “(It) was absolutely so devastating to me,” said the Barre native. “I mean, it’s probably just in the last couple months t
  • A bear broke into my kitchen. Then I watched him die.

    A bear broke into my kitchen. Then I watched him die.
    This commentary is by Rachel Lee Stoll, an antiquarian bookseller.There is much conversation right now about bears in Vermont, about their increasing numbers and how and when we hunt them down. I have a dog in this bear fight, because my son and I came home a few weeks ago to find that our house had been visited in our absence by a hungry bear.  The bear — terrifically nimble — opened a window I had not firmly latched, fell into my son’s room, clambered all about the
  • Vermont is losing the people who keep us alive

    Vermont is losing the people who keep us alive
    This commentary is by Matt Swenson, the founder of Omnidex Solutions, an independent research and strategic analysis company. He lives in Vermont.Vermont’s healthcare debate has spent years arguing about prices. I think the scarier question is simpler: Can you actually get care when you need it? For me, that’s not some abstract policy question. It’s personal. I moved to Vermont partly for its reputation for good medical care, after a rough career in environmental toxicolo
  • ‘If you can’t do it, I’ll do it’: Judge seeks to settle disputes in case of fatal shooting of border agent

    ‘If you can’t do it, I’ll do it’: Judge seeks to settle disputes in case of fatal shooting of border agent
    U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss speaks in Essex in Oct. 2021. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — A federal judge said she plans to advance the slow-moving case against a former Washington state resident accused of killing a U.S. Border Patrol agent in northern Vermont in January 2025.Teresa Youngblut faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted in the fatal shooting of David Maland that took place after a traffic stop on Interstate 91 in Coventry on Jan.
  • Second home tax appeals to majority of Vermont poll respondents

    Second home tax appeals to majority of Vermont poll respondents
    A drone photo captures fall foliage on Oct. 9, 2023, in Moretown. Photo by Kyle Ambusk / Vermont PublicCarly Berlin covers housing and infrastructure for Vermont Public, in partnership with VTDigger. Katie Mandych thought she’d be in a financial position to try to purchase her first home by now. But as rent for her Waterbury apartment has continued to escalate, the 31-year-old career coach has had little opportunity to save.That has informed Mandych’s opinion that Vermont shoul
  • Mental health urgent care center coming to Brattleboro

    Mental health urgent care center coming to Brattleboro
    In 2023, Health Care & Rehabilitation Services opened its Youth Stabilization Program building on Canal Street in Brattleboro. File photo by Brattleboro ReformerThis story by Chris Mays was first published in the Brattleboro Reformer on Sept. 24, 2026. Starting in January, 24/7 walk-in services at a new mental health urgent care center are expected to be offered at a location in Brattleboro. Health Care & Rehabilitation Services will receive $3.6 million in grant funding from
  • New book traces Twin States’ cultural split to the soil itself

    New book traces Twin States’ cultural split to the soil itself
    Brian Porto at his home in Windsor, Vt., on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. Porto spent the past four years of his retirement writing a book about the politics of Vermont and New Hampshire. “I was expecting differences between the two states, but there really are a lot of similarities,” he said. Alex Driehaus/Valley NewsThis story by Molly Hughes was first published in the Valley News on Sept. 24, 2026.New Hampshire puts “Live Free or Die” on its license plates. Vermont&rsquo
  • One-year contracts won’t help Vermont’s schools

    One-year contracts won’t help Vermont’s schools
    Dear Editor,This time of year, I trade in the cup of coffee for a mug of warm apple cider. The leaves are starting to turn, mornings are colder, and schools are settling into familiar late September rhythms.It is a beautiful time to be a school leader in Vermont. It is also a strange one.Vermont is embarking on the widest transformation of its education system in decades. And now we face a new wrinkle: School boards have been instructed by the Agency of Education to hire superintendents on one-
  • Shelter isn’t charity. It’s public safety.

    Shelter isn’t charity. It’s public safety.
    This commentary is by Paul Dragon, the executive director of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity.Six years ago, as Covid-19 tore through Vermont, the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity was asked to do something we’d never done before: open a shelter. What began as low-barrier, family and recovery shelters quickly became the state’s largest pandemic shelter, welcoming people experiencing homelessness from communities across Vermont.Our staff worked around
  • New poll shows Gov. Phil Scott leading Amanda Janoo by 10 points

    New poll shows Gov. Phil Scott leading Amanda Janoo by 10 points
    Republican Gov. Phil Scott, left, and Democratic nominee for governor Amanda Janoo. Photos by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerGov. Phil Scott holds a 10-point lead over progressive Democrat Amanda Janoo in a poll released Monday, a striking reversal from a separate survey last week that showed the race in a statistical tie.Vermont Public’s 2026 Poll reported Scott is leading Janoo by 10 points, 42% to 32%. These results reflect a 16-point swing from Friday’s Green Mountain State Poll by the U
  • Vermont man dies in custody

    Vermont man dies in custody
    The Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield in Oct. 2024. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerA Vermont man died in custody at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield Sunday.Trevis Gembarowski, 44, from Newfane, was taken into custody on Saturday, Sep. 26 and died the following day, according to a press release from the Vermont Department of Corrections. He had a medical event on Sunday morning, and correctional and medical staff began emergency medical response proc
  • Vermont farmers feel impacts of staffing cuts at USDA

    Vermont farmers feel impacts of staffing cuts at USDA
    A cow in a field in Lowell in June 2019. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerSeveral years ago, Ben Haigh, a small-scale dairy farmer in Shoreham, received $50,000 in federal funding from an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to put up fencing around his farm, infrastructure he felt was essential for his operation. But lately it’s been a different story for Haigh: In more recent years, he applied again for the same kind of financial assistance and got turned down twice, withou
  • Grant funded initiative seeks sustainability for regional birthing services

    Grant funded initiative seeks sustainability for regional birthing services
    Deidra Razzaque of Brattleboro, whose son was born at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital’s Birthing Center, holds a sign while attending a hospital board meeting on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. File photo from Brattleboro ReformerBRATTLEBORO — A new grant will help Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and other hospitals, community health organizations, social service providers and other regional partners plan for the future of maternity and newborn care in Southeast Vermont. BMH said it receiv
  • Regulators wanted more transparency on Vermont’s medical education. Now they’re getting it.

    Regulators wanted more transparency on Vermont’s medical education. Now they’re getting it.
    Larner Medical School. Photo by Bob LoCicero/VTDiggerWhen Green Mountain Care Board chair Owen Foster first started to dig into Vermont’s hospitals’ budgets, one question kept surfacing: Where could all the money be going? The solvency of the state’s primary commercial insurer was teetering. Vermonters paid some of the highest rates for healthcare in the country. And still, hospitals’ budgets were tight. How could there not be enough money?Part of the answer, Foster
  • Vermont’s nuclear watchdog has gone quiet

    Vermont’s nuclear watchdog has gone quiet
    This commentary is by Ann Darling, a member of the Citizens Awareness Network, a New England grassroots environmental organization working to end the use of nuclear power and replace it with sustainable, reliable and affordable energy generation.I could have written this letter any time in the past 10 years. Why now and not then? I suppose I was hoping I wouldn’t need to make my opinions so public, because they are quite critical. But something is happening at the Vermont Yankee nuclear p
  • UVM and Middlebury College announce tuition discounts

    UVM and Middlebury College announce tuition discounts
    Williams Hall on the University of Vermont campus in Burlington on Wednesday, September 20, 2023. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerTwo of Vermont’s leading universities are offering new tuition discounts to attract more students. The University of Vermont will offer a more than 35% discount on tuition starting next fall for students from other New England states who study certain majors. And it will offer free tuition for in-state students whose households make less than $125,000. 
  • 3 decades after sparking a debate about censorship, ‘Daddy’s Roommate’ returns to Rutland

    3 decades after sparking a debate about censorship, ‘Daddy’s Roommate’ returns to Rutland
    The children’s book “Daddy’s Roommate,” as pictured at the Rutland Free Library. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerFor newcomers, the inaugural selection of the Rutland Free Library’s upcoming Freedom to Read Book Club might seem an unusual choice: an out-of-print 1990s children’s title with only one sentence on each of its 32 pages.But ask any longtime local: “Daddy’s Roommate” has plenty of backstory.When leaders at the public library
  • ‘Mend it and keep it alive’: Inside Vermont’s growing repair culture

    ‘Mend it and keep it alive’: Inside Vermont’s growing repair culture
    A sign outside the Old North End Repair Cafe. Photo by Simone Traynor/Community News ServiceSimone Traynor is a reporter with the Community News Service, part of the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program.Every third Saturday in Burlington’s Old North End, volunteers come together to fix one another’s broken belongings, eat bagels and do something good for the environment. Everyone has a role.At a recent session of the Old North End Repair Caf
  • Roxbury looks to give its former school a new life

    Roxbury looks to give its former school a new life
    Roxbury Village School building in Roxbury. Photo credit The BridgeThis story by Tracy Brannstrom was first published in The Bridge on Sept. 22, 2026.ROXBURY — When the Roxbury Village School closed two years ago, the building didn’t become obsolete. In fact, it remains the town’s largest public gathering space, housing Town Meeting Day, elections, an afterschool program, community meals and other events.But it comes with a cost. The town took ownership of the building ea

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