Vermont news

• Gov. Scott recognizes top sustainability projects

  04-09-2018 18:14 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Vermont Agency of Natural ResourcesAug. 31, 2018
  CONTACT:Catherine Coteus(802) [email protected]
  Governor Recognizes Vermont’s Top Sustainability Projects
  Middlebury, VT — What do a brewery, a coffee company, and a semiconductor facility all have in common? These businesses represent some of this year’s winners for the Governor’s Award of Environmental Excellence. Every year, the Governor recognizes several organizations and compani
  
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• VTDigger announces newsroom leadership changes

  06-03-2026 20:32 via vtdigger.org
  VTDigger Editor-in-Chief Geeta Anand speaks during a conversation with David Goodman at the Manchester Community Library in Manchester on Tuesday, November 11, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVTDigger announced today that Editor-in-Chief Geeta Anand will step down on June 30, 2026, as she returns to teaching journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.VTDigger also announced appointments to top editing positions. Susan Allen, veteran Vermont journalist who has led several o
  
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• Vermont targeted in federal investigation of Medicaid waste, fraud and abuse 

  06-03-2026 17:36 via vtdigger.org
  Jill Mazza Olson, deputy director for health care reform at the Vermont Agency of Human Services, speaks before the Senate Health and Welfare Committee at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday, January 14, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermont is the target of the latest federal probe into Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse. On March 3, state officials received a letter from representatives on Congress’s Committee on Energy and Commerce requesting information on the state&rsq
  
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• From cookies to community: one impact investor’s story

  06-03-2026 13:45 via vtdigger.org
  VCLF Impact Investor Nicki Steel in her garden in southern Vermont.It was a warm summer day in cherry growing country of rural Michigan when Nicki Steel’s dad pulled the car over to the side of the road. She watched as he got out to help a family of migrant workers whose vehicle had stalled. When he couldn’t get their engine started, he offered the family some of the groceries they had just bought. Much to her disbelief, he even gave away the package of her favorite cookies.Nicki wa
  
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• Gabe Lajeunesse: Update CHIP to build flood-ready housing

  06-03-2026 13:04 via vtdigger.org
  Dear Editor,Vermont’s housing crisis keeps colliding with another reality we can’t wish away: our rivers are moving. As the recent Waterbury proposal shows, the only places with water, sewer and walkable access are often the same places shaped by the 100-year floodplain. That tension isn’t going away. But we can choose whether it becomes a barrier or a catalyst for smarter building.Right now, the Community Housing and Infrastructure Program (CHIP) helps communities use future
  
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• Residents question Colchester board’s approval of a $8M waterfront hotel project

  05-03-2026 23:57 via vtdigger.org
  Colchester’s Development Review Board has approved plans for a proposed $8 million hotel on a small slope overlooking Malletts Bay in Chittenden County after months of heated opposition.The proposed project, named The H on Malletts Bay, would be the first new development to connect to the Malletts Bay sewer that is under construction. Residents are concerned that if local and state regulations designed to protect Lake Champlain are not enforced, the project could set a dangerous precedent
  
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• After bond approval, Woodstock school project faces next tests

  05-03-2026 22:24 via vtdigger.org
  Woodstock Union Middle School and High School, January 15, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story by Alex Hanson was first published in Valley News on March 4, 2026.WOODSTOCK — Area voters this week narrowly approved a long-debated replacement for its aging schools.There’s more work left to do.Voters in the Mountain Views School District on Tuesday approved a $112 million bond issue for a new middle and high school.Ballots cast in the district’s seven towns favor
  
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• Sen. Alison Clarkson to retire after more than two decades in Vermont’s Legislature 

  05-03-2026 21:49 via vtdigger.org
  Sen. Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor, at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Jan. 7, 2026. Photo by Brian Stevenson/Vermont Public
  This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.After more than two decades serving in the Vermont Legislature, Sen. Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor, does not plan to run for reelection this fall. Clarkson made the announcement to voters at Reading’s town meeting on Saturday, the Valley
  
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• Grand Isle man accused of driving over deputy sheriff after traffic stop

  05-03-2026 20:11 via vtdigger.org
  The Grand Isle County Courthouse in North Hero. Photo courtesy of Jimmy Emerson/Flickr
  A Grand Isle man accused of driving over a deputy sheriff following a traffic stop in South Hero Wednesday night has pleaded not guilty to several charges, including attempted first-degree murder, according to court documents.Kevin Marx, 36, had been held in custody without bail since his arrest after police said they tracked him down at his home late Wednesday night, about three hours after the incident.He w
  
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• Andrea Colnes: What does conservation mean in Vermont?

  05-03-2026 13:04 via vtdigger.org
  Dear Editor,In his recent commentary, “Vermont’s forests need management, not mandates,” Michael Snyder, former commissioner of Vermont’s Departments of Forests, Parks and Recreation, cautioned against the risks of defining conservation too narrowly.  At the New England Forestry Foundation, where I am deputy director and climate fellow, we couldn’t agree more. To support the long-term health of our region’s forests for the next generation, set the s
  
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• Bryan Gantt: A win for foster kids and religious freedom

  05-03-2026 13:03 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by Bryan Gantt, the lead pastor of Agape Christian Fellowship in Brattleboro. He and his wife served as foster parents for seven years and adopted three children through foster care.Across the country, foster care systems are in strained, with thousands of children waiting for permanent placements. In Vermont, the opioid crisis has significantly impacted some of our most vulnerable children hardest. Now, Vermont has thankfully scuttled a previous policy that excluded loving f
  
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• Waterbury considers building new housing on the edge of 100-year flood zone

  05-03-2026 11:00 via vtdigger.org
  This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.WATERBURY – On July 10, 2023, Carrie MacMillan watched as floodwaters crept toward her Waterbury home. The nearby Winooski River had jumped its banks, and MacMillan recalled seeing the water swirl up to the parking lot wedged between her house and the towering state office complex next door. Firefighters came and urged her family to evacuate, she said.The wat
  
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• Local option tax proposals see mixed reception in nearly 20 Vermont communities

  05-03-2026 00:47 via vtdigger.org
  A restaurant bill in an unspecified country. Stock photo via PexelsTheo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.Voters in at least 19 towns and cities across Vermont weighed new municipal taxes on some combination of meals, rooms, alcohol and sales this Town Meeting Day, with mixed results.While local officials were largely supportive of the measures, which they said would direct new revenue into much-needed community projects under increasing financial
  
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• Voters approve a majority of Town Meeting Day school budgets

  05-03-2026 00:43 via vtdigger.org
  Voters second a motion during Town Meeting at Colchester High School in Colchester on Monday, March 2. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVoters approved the vast majority of school budgets on Town Meeting Day this year, the second year of relative calm in school budget voting following the historic rejection of school budgets in 2024.According to preliminary results compiled by the Vermont Superintendents Association and the Vermont School Boards Association, 85 school budgets were approved, while
  
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• Delegation asks FEMA to explain why it denied aid for Vermont’s 2025 flooding damage 

  05-03-2026 00:34 via vtdigger.org
  Robert Rydeski walks across his flooded driveway in Sutton on July 11, 2025. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermont’s congressional delegation has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to explain why it won’t send aid to the state even though damage from flooding in 2025 met the agency’s threshold. During flash flooding on July 10, towns in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom sustained more damage to roads and bridges than they could cover with their own annual
  
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• Vermont Conversation: Bill McKibben on fighting climate denialism with democratic power

  04-03-2026 22:36 via vtdigger.org
  
  
  Environmental activist and author Bill McKibben speaks during a march and rally in Burlington calling for a stop to the Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota on Sept. 24, 2021. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe Vermont Conversation with David Goodman is a VTDigger podcast that features in-depth interviews on local and national issues. Listen below and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts.As the world contends with increasingly destructive a
  
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• Legislation takes aim at waste from Vermont’s only landfill

  04-03-2026 20:40 via vtdigger.org
  Vermont’s only landfill, located in Coventry, is owned and operated by Casella Waste Systems. File photo by Riley Robinson/VTDiggerThe Northeast Kingdom produces less than a tenth of Vermont’s total waste, but bears all of the burden, according to locals who live near the state’s only landfill in Coventry.They’re asking the legislature to protect the lake that abuts the landfill through H.652, a bill that would prohibit discharge of waste from the landfill, or any other
  
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• Free College & Career Pathways event helps students and families plan next steps after high school 

  04-03-2026 15:13 via vtdigger.org
  On Saturday, March 14th, students and families from across Vermont are invited to the Davis Center at the University of Vermont (UVM) for College & Career Pathways. Organized by VSAC, College & Career Pathways is a free event to help high school students, family members, and guardians discover resources and connect with local experts.  
  When: Saturday March 14th, 2026, 1:00 – 5:00 PM Where: UVM Dudley H. Davis Center Registration: Free but required. Register he
  
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• Jim Willard: Don’t let Vermont miss the AI boom

  04-03-2026 13:05 via vtdigger.org
  Dear Editor,Where many people see risk, they should seek opportunity instead.Some very large companies with deep pockets are desperate to find places to build artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, thanks to resistance in many states. Amazon recently announced a $12 billion data-center expansion, and Google has signed long-term power deals to support new facilities. Vermont is desperate to solve systemic and intertwined problems, including lack of affordable housing, not enough young famili
  
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• Narain Batra: The politics of ‘after Trump’

  04-03-2026 13:04 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by Narain Batra, a professor, historian, journalist and author whose work spans freedom, artificial intelligence, media and geopolitics. He will teach a weekly seminar in April, “India, America and the Shaping of the Modern World,” in person and on Zoom at the Osher Institute at Dartmouth College. Is Pete Buttigieg a beautiful angel beating his luminous wings in the void, or is he a hard-rock pragmatist who could go to the White House? He came to New Ham
  
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• Tom Donahue wins Rutland mayor race in rare write-in election

  04-03-2026 03:28 via vtdigger.org
  Tom Donahue. Photo by Greta Solsaa/VTDiggerRUTLAND CITY — Voters elected Tom Donahue as Marble City’s next mayor, a choice made through a rare write-in ballot.Faced with a blank line for the mayoral election ballot measure, 1,323 voters inked the name Tom Donahue for Rutland’s highest post, according to unofficial results issued by the City Clerk’s office Tuesday night. Donahue won with 40.4% of the 3,276 write-in votes cast for mayor. Seldom seen in the city, the w
  
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• Rutland City elects Tom Donahue as next mayor via write-in ballot

  04-03-2026 03:28 via vtdigger.org
  Tom Donahue. Photo by Greta Solsaa/VTDiggerRUTLAND CITY — Voters elected Tom Donahue as Marble City’s next mayor, a choice made through a rare write-in ballot.Faced with a blank line for the mayoral election ballot measure, 1,323 voters inked the name Tom Donahue for Rutland’s highest post, according to unofficial results issued by the City Clerk’s office Tuesday night. Seldom seen in the city, the write-in election was triggered by the unexpected resignation of for
  
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• Vermont Air National Guard supporting war in Iran

  03-03-2026 23:22 via vtdigger.org
  A youngster peers at a pair of F-35 jets at an Open House held by the Vermont Air National Guard at the airbase in South Burlington on Sunday, September 11, 2022. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe Vermont Air National Guard is positioned to assist with the war in the Middle East, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a press briefing Monday. Caine said that the Vermont Air National Guard was part of a forces buildup in the region over the past month. After the bui
  
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• Vermont Air National Guard deployed to war in Iran

  03-03-2026 23:22 via vtdigger.org
  One of the first two F-35 fighter jets to arrive at the Vermont Air National Guard base in South Burlington does a flyover at the Burlington International Airport on Thursday, September 19, 2019.Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerUpdated at 5:32 p.m.The Vermont Air National Guard is positioned to assist with the war in the Middle East, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a press briefing Monday. Caine said that the Vermont Air National Guard was part of a forces buil
  
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• New lawsuit challenges restrictions on school choice in Vermont’s education reform law

  03-03-2026 23:15 via vtdigger.org
  Rice Memorial High School. Photo via FacebookTwo parents from Georgia, Vermont, have filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s education reform law, claiming it arbitrarily violates their children’s access to private school and limits their educational opportunity.The lawsuit, filed on Friday in Washington County Superior Court, centers on Vermont’s publicly funded tuition system, which allows families in districts without a public school for certain grades to use public dollars
  
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• Latest results: 2026 Vermont Town Meeting voting

  03-03-2026 23:08 via vtdigger.org
  Rockingham residents stand and hold up their voter cards during the school district portion of Town Meeting at the Bellows Falls Opera House on Saturday, Feb. 28. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerAmid concerns about the cost of living, Vermonters from northwestern Alburgh to southeastern Vernon used Town Meeting voting to express their opinions on everything from local spending to state universal health care to the national and global actions of President Donald Trump.The state’s 247 munici
  
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• Lawsuit alleges Vermont prison failed to treat diabetic inmate before fatal fall

  03-03-2026 21:46 via vtdigger.org
  Lisa Steadman, themother of Jason Colebaugh, speaks about his case during a press conference in Burlington on Monday, March 2, 2026, on the one year anniversary of his death while incarcerated. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — The family of a man who reportedly died last year after an injury in prison is suing the Vermont Department of Corrections and its health care provider, claiming that prison and medical staff didn’t properly treat the man’s diabetes, leading t
  
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• PHOTOS: Vermont Town Meeting Day 2026

  03-03-2026 21:00 via vtdigger.org
  A voter casts their ballot at the polls at Mt. Mansfield Union High School in Jericho on Town Meeting Day on Tuesday, March 3. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerTown Meeting Day is here. That means VTDigger photographer Glenn Russell is stationed around the state, capturing the scenes in Vermont communities — including Colchester, Cornwall, Franklin, Jericho and Rockingham.Rockingham residents stand and hold up their voter cards during the school district portion of Town Meeting at the Bello
  
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• Susan Marie Hunter

  03-03-2026 17:32 via vtdigger.org
  Born: 08/24/1955Kerbs Memorial Hospital, St. Albans VermontDied: 02/05/2026University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington VermontDetails of service:A celebration of Susan’s life will be held on Saturday, June 6, 2026. There will be a mass in Susan’s honor at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary at 65 Canada Street, Swanton, Vermont, at 11:00 AM. It will be followed by a Christian burial at St. Mary’s Cemetery with a reception following at the parish center h
  
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• Ellen Parent: Keep AI out of schools

  03-03-2026 13:05 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by Ellen Parent, a high school English teacher who lives in Berlin.Let’s say you wake up one morning and decide it’s finally time to get ripped. Being absolutely chiseled will make it easy to lift heavy objects, help you feel strong and competent and — let’s be honest — get you ready for swimsuit season. So you head to the gym.Gyms are great places to get strong. They have instruments specially designed to build your muscles. They have trainers a
  
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