Vermont news

• Incoming UVM class breaks record, again

  26-08-2018 15:10 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — UVMAug. 24, 2018
  Contact:Jeff Wakefield, UVM, (802) 578-8830
  For the fourth year in a row, UVM’s incoming class has achieved the highest academic credentials in the university’s history. The Class of 2022, an estimated 2,500 students, have earned an average SAT score of 1264 and an average ACT of 28.1, record highs for any incoming class.
  It’s a record that’s been set year after year since this year’s senior class arrived on campus in the fall o
  
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• Rutland City’s hectic mayoral race packed with write-in candidates

  27-02-2026 22:50 via vtdigger.org
  Rutland City Hall on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021.Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerRutland City voters will elect a new mayor on Town Meeting Day in a rare write-in race that has left candidates only a month to campaign.The election was set in motion on Jan. 29, after current Mayor Mike Doenges unexpectedly announced his resignation midway through his second term. After a mayoral vacancy, the Board of Aldermen president would normally fill the role until the next annual meeting, according to the
  
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• State’s Attorney will not prosecute Williston ICE office protesters

  27-02-2026 17:52 via vtdigger.org
  The Chittenden County State’s Attorney has declined to prosecute charges against the 13 people cited by Vermont State Police for criminal trespass during a civil disobedience action in a Williston business park on Feb. 9.“Our office protects the community by focusing on solving problems and meeting needs instead of simply obtaining convictions,” wrote State’s Attorney Sarah George in letters dated Feb. 25 to Vermont State Police Detective Trooper Brandon Degre.The partic
  
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• Emily Anderson: Fragile wetlands could lose protection

  27-02-2026 01:13 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by Emily Anderson, policy manager at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VCE), a wildlife research nonprofit based in White River Junction. For a few weeks in the spring of 2020, visiting vernal pools — ephemeral springtime wetlands — became my after-work ritual. Every day brought discoveries: freshly laid salamander eggs, tadpoles darting among submerged leaves, raccoon tracks in the soft earth. Each pool offered its own private drama, watched only by a few n
  
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• 30 years on, a Vermont cult classic film rings true

  27-02-2026 00:30 via vtdigger.org
  The late Tunbridge farmer turned “Man with a Plan” film star Fred Tuttle holding a picture of his father holding a picture of his father. Photo by Peter MillerThere’s a “magnetic” charisma in some politicians that’s similar to that of a movie star, said Rep. John O’Brien, D-Tunbridge, between meetings of the House Agriculture Committee Thursday.“Fred Tuttle had that,” he said.This week marks the 30th anniversary of the 1996 Vermont cult clas
  
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• Northfield pays nearly $65K in separation agreement with former town manager

  26-02-2026 22:55 via vtdigger.org
  The Northfield municipal building on Friday, August 1, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerNorthfield has paid former town manager Jeff Schulz nearly $65,000 in separation costs following his sudden departure from the position in December.The town’s five-member selectboard approved a severance agreement with Schulz after a 4-1 vote on Dec. 17, two months after the longtime employee announced his plan to retire or resign in 2026. Schulz then left the position in December while on leave.Sc
  
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• Mad River Glen ski area buys 1,100 surrounding acres

  26-02-2026 22:21 via vtdigger.org
  The Sunnyside chair sits idle at the Mad River Glen ski area in Fayston on Wednesday, January 11, 2023.Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMad River Glen ski area has purchased more than 1,000 acres of surrounding land that it plans to conserve and maintain for backcountry use. The cooperatively owned ski area closed the $2.5 million deal Tuesday, according to Matt Lillard, general manager of the resort. Famous for its single person chairlift and skier-only exclusivity, the Fayston ski area is
  
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• Health insurance, inflation and federal funding cuts: Here’s what’s driving school budget increases this year

  26-02-2026 17:55 via vtdigger.org
  Adam Bunting, superintendent of the Champlain Valley School District, speaks before a joint meeting of the House and Senate education committees at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Jan. 13. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermonters headed to the polls on Town Meeting Day will cast votes on critical decisions around school district budgets and the future of small elementary schools, as property taxes and education reform remain top of mind for lawmakers and voters.Adam Bunting, the Champlain Vall
  
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• Corporate requests for public records are weighing down already burdened town officials in Vermont

  26-02-2026 12:55 via vtdigger.org
  The side entrance doors, as well as the center doors (not seen), were open at the Statehouse in Montpelier as temperatures rose into the low 50’s on Feb. 16, 2023. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerCOLCHESTER — In one of Vermont’s largest towns, most of the requests officials get for public records aren’t coming from local residents. Instead, said Renae Marshall, Colchester’s deputy town manager, they’re coming from people — and companies — arou
  
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• Anya Schwartz: Pledges won’t bring peace

  26-02-2026 03:23 via vtdigger.org
  Dear Editor,With Town Meeting Day around the corner on Tuesday, March 3, many of us will be asked to weigh in on pledges concerning Israel and Palestine. I want the ongoing Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and the soul-shattering violence in Gaza to end. Yet I find the Apartheid-Free Communities (AFC) pledge — which urges organizations to boycott and divest from Israel over its policies toward Palestinians — circulating in Vermont towns deeply problematic. 
  REA
  
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• Francine Miller: Why I’m voting for the Apartheid-Free Communities pledge

  26-02-2026 03:20 via vtdigger.org
  Dear Editor,As a Jewish Vermonter supportive of the Apartheid-Free Communities (AFC) pledge — which calls on organizations to boycott and divest from Israel in response to its policies toward Palestinians — on the ballot in some of our towns on Town Meeting Day next Tuesday, March 3, I want to respond to Michael Cohen’s recent opinion piece urging people to support more funding for efforts at bringing Israelis and Palestinians together instead of the pledge.I support more fund
  
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• An inside look at Beta Technologies’ big plans for Vermont 

  26-02-2026 02:02 via vtdigger.org
  Blain Newton, chief information officer at BETA Technologies, explains a detail of the cockpit of an electric aircraft at a manufacturing facility in South Burlington on Thursday, Feb. 12. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerSOUTH BURLINGTON — Beta Technologies opened its nearly 200,000-square-foot aircraft manufacturing facility less than three years ago, but the company is already bursting at the seams and planning to knock down walls. The building is literally running out of desks &mda
  
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• Connecticut man reaches plea deal on reduced charge in Northeast Kingdom fatal shooting

  26-02-2026 01:34 via vtdigger.org
  The Vermont Superior Court building and the Orleans County Court House in Newport on March 18, 2024. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerA Connecticut man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a reduced charge of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a Derby woman two years ago in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.Jakiy Tramaine Corey Keith, 26, had been facing a charge of first-degree murder in the death of  29-year-old Kayla Wright of Derby after police said he shot her multiple times earl
  
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• This Town Meeting Day, Vermont towns consider calling for universal health care 

  26-02-2026 01:18 via vtdigger.org
  The Middlebury Chapel at Middlebury College in Middlebury on Nov. 19, 2025. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerAbout 18 months ago, Jack Mayer, Ellen Oxfeld and Michael Palmer began meeting in their local coffee shop to discuss ways that they, as concerned citizens, could improve the health care system in Vermont. They called themselves the Little Seeds, both for the Middlebury cafe where they congregated and for the movement they saw germinating. With Town Meeting Day ahead on March 3, t
  
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• Landowners could restrict hunters with purple paint under bill in Vermont house

  26-02-2026 01:16 via vtdigger.org
  Photo by Natalie Williams/VTDiggerRose Gale misses the good old days, in the early 1960s, when she would ask to hunt on a neighbor’s land over a cup of coffee. “Usually in the end he also ended up with a couple of steaks,” the Salisbury woman told the House Environment Committee Wednesday. But in recent years, Gale said she’s seen more landowners put no trespassing signs on their property, closing off access to hunters. It’s “a clear indication to m
  
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• Vermont National Guard to train Ukrainian soldiers in Germany

  26-02-2026 00:34 via vtdigger.org
  Vermont National Guard soldiers assigned to Task Force Saber, a multinational training mission for Ukrainian soldiers, case their colors during a transfer of authority ceremony at Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Feb. 19, 2026. Photo by Francisco Torres/U.S. ArmyThe 86th Infantry Brigade, a mountain warfare specialized unit of the Vermont National Guard, has been deployed to Germany to train Ukrainian forces.  “As Task Force Alpine assumes responsibility, we do so with humility —
  
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• Gov. Phil Scott to bring pilot ‘accountability court’ model to Rutland County

  25-02-2026 23:21 via vtdigger.org
  Merchants Row in Rutland on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021.Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMONTPELIER — On the heels of a Burlington pilot court praised by state officials, Gov. Phil Scott announced Wednesday that he plans to replicate the “accountability court” model in Rutland County. In the Burlington pilot court, defendants were fast tracked-through the legal system if they faced many legal cases. And with social workers hired to sit in the courtroom, defendants were connecte
  
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• Vermont Conversation: How Ben Ogden became the best men’s cross-country skier in US Olympic history

  25-02-2026 22:55 via vtdigger.org
  
  
  Ben Ogden, of the United States, poses after winning the silver medal in the cross-country skiing men’s sprint classic at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Tesero, Italy on Tuesday, Feb. 10. Photo by Evgeniy Maloletka/APThe 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.When cross country skier Ben Ogden wo
  
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• Community land trust exploring the acquisition of Sterling College campus

  25-02-2026 22:24 via vtdigger.org
  The greater Craftsbury community is weighing potential uses for the Sterling College campus once the school closes its doors to students this summer.Headwaters Community Trust, founded in 2024, announced in a recent newsletter it is exploring the acquisition of the campus.“It is one of those generational opportunities,” said Linda Ramsdell, president of the community land trust’s board of directors. “It’s really big and we’re a really young, new land trust an
  
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• Vermont Supreme Court sides with Tunbridge in longstanding trails case

  25-02-2026 16:57 via vtdigger.org
  Keegan Tierney of the Green Mountain Club walks a section of the Burrows Trail that was re-routed during a tour of a rebuilding project at Camel’s Hump State Park in Huntington in October 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story by Clare Shanahan was first published in the Valley News on Feb. 24. TUNBRIDGE — The Vermont Supreme Court reaffirmed municipalities’ rights to maintain public trails in the latest ruling in a years-long legal battle over two trails in Tunb
  
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• Vermont House advances data protections for people who use genetic testing sites

  25-02-2026 00:30 via vtdigger.org
  Jeff Robb, a Seattle resident wintering in Tucson, signs a banner supporting Nancy Guthrie in Tucson, Ariz., on Friday, Feb. 13. Photo by Ty ONeil/APInvestigators desperate for leads in the abduction of Nancy Guthrie from her Arizona home are turning to a new tool in their search, according to reports this week: databases of genetic data compiled by companies that offer ancestry tracing direct to consumers online.That news, in addition to concerns over a 2023 breach of data from the DNA testing
  
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• Neil Ryan: Save small farms from Act 181 

  25-02-2026 00:17 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by Neil Ryan, a third-generation Vermont farmer and consultant helping brands and nonprofits in Corinth. Rural Vermont is more than a “forest block,” as defined by planners via geographic information system maps and rulemaking. Rural Vermont is a human institution created by generations of men and women who loved the land and their way of life.I am a third-generation Vermont farmer who has called three different farms in three Vermont towns home. Each of thos
  
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• Marc Cote: Who pays for prescription discount cards?

  25-02-2026 00:01 via vtdigger.org
  Dear Editor,I appreciated VTDigger’s recent article on Vermont’s consideration of joining the ArrayRx prescription discount card program. Efforts to make medications more affordable are important, and pharmacists share that goal. However, it is essential to understand how these programs function and who ultimately bears their financial impact.Community pharmacies do not set drug prices. We must purchase medications at market rates, maintain facilities, employ licensed professionals
  
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• Vermonters head to Massachusetts to help with aftermath of winter storm 

  24-02-2026 23:35 via vtdigger.org
  Vermont Agency of Transportation vehicles assemble before driving to Massachusetts to assist with snow removal on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Photo courtesy of Vermont Agency of TransportationWhen Vermont’s snow plows roll before breakfast, it’s usually for a mess on our roads. On Tuesday, it was for Massachusetts. As Massachusetts and other parts of New England grapple with the aftermath of an intense snowstorm, VTrans stepped in to help. The agency sent over 30 pieces of equipment and
  
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• Jenny L. Copeland

  24-02-2026 22:59 via vtdigger.org
  Born: 08/07/1945Mason City, IowaDied: 02/19/2026Bradford, VTDetails of service:A Celebration of Life has been scheduled for April 18 at 11:00 a.m., at the Bradford Academy, 172 Main Street, Bradford, VT 05033.  A reception will follow next door in the Gathering Room at Grace Methodist Church.Jenny Louise Abrams CopelandJenny L. Copeland of South Road, Bradford, VT, died unexpectedly at home on February 19, 2026.  She was 80.Jenny Louise Abrams was born August 7, 1945, at Park Hos
  
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• Vermont lawmakers stop short of an immediate fix for Section 8 shortfall

  24-02-2026 22:58 via vtdigger.org
  Rep. Robin Scheu speaks with fellow lawmakers on the first day of the 2026 Vermont legislative session, Tuesday, Jan. 6. Photo by Brian Stevenson/Vermont PublicThis story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.State lawmakers have decided not to give immediate cash aid to prop up a rental assistance program facing federal cuts, opting to consider funding later this year.Federal Section 8 housing vouchers help thou
  
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• Stephen J. Murphy

  24-02-2026 22:37 via vtdigger.org
  Born: 01/17/1950Died:Details of service:Calling hours will be held on Thursday, February 26, 2026, from 5-7:00 p.m. at Guare & Sons Funeral Home, 30 School Street, Montpelier, Vermont.A Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, February 27, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Augustine’s Church, 16 Barre Street, Montpelier, Vermont.In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. Augustine’s Parish Community Luncheon, 16 Barre Street, Montpelier, VT 05602, or to Central Vermont Pregn
  
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• Turning dreams into reality: overcoming obstacles to become a psychiatric nurse

  24-02-2026 22:36 via vtdigger.org
  “When I say Miss Danielle is my mom, everyone says how much they love her,” shared Lee Blanco. His mom is a teacher at Albany Community School, and Lee draws inspiration from the connection she builds with her students. “She does this thing as a teacher where she makes a point of calling all of her kids’ parents the first week of classes. That’s so inspiring to me because you need that connection. It makes me think about what it means for people and what I could do
  
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• Turning dreams into reality: how Lee Blanco is overcoming obstacles to become a psychiatric nurse

  24-02-2026 22:36 via vtdigger.org
  “When I say Miss Danielle is my mom, everyone says how much they love her,” shared Lee Blanco. His mom is a teacher at Albany Community School, and Lee draws inspiration from the connection she builds with her students. “She does this thing as a teacher where she makes a point of calling all of her kids’ parents the first week of classes. That’s so inspiring to me because you need that connection. It makes me think about what it means for people and what I could do
  
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• Vermont plugs into the data center conversation

  24-02-2026 21:38 via vtdigger.org
  Vermont has so far escaped the arrival of giant data centers, but developers have begun “kicking tires or sniffing around,” according to top Vermont utility lawyer who spoke to lawmakers in February. Lawmakers are trying to get in front of the possible arrival of data centers, which have begun querying the state as the Trump administration pushes for the development of data centers, fueled by the rise of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. The Legislature is consid
  
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