Vermont news

• Lorraine Mae Barnes

  03-08-2026 18:48 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born: 07/02/1949Died: 07/26/2026Details of service:A Celebration of Life will be held on August 8, 2026 at 1-4 p.m. at the American Legion in Island Pond, Vt.Lorraine Mae Barnes, born July 2, 1949, passed away peacefully on July 26, 2026, at the age of 77.She will be deeply missed by her family and all who knew and loved her. Her memory will live on through the many lives she touched and the love she shared with those closest to her.She was predeceased by her beloved husband, George.Lorraine le
  
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• Vermont’s housing crisis isn’t one problem: it’s three

  05-08-2026 23:16 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Bryan Sell, who teaches in Vermont State University’s Resort and Hospitality Management program. Vermont’s housing debate is mostly treated as a problem of not enough units, with capitalist bogeymen feasting on the stock — outsiders hoarding homes, or investors gouging rents. These arguments resurrect Vermont’s old flatlander/woodchuck divide, sometimes said out loud in public forums. But look closer, and the conflict splits again: workers dema
  
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• Vermont’s GOP primary for U.S. House pits 2 different personalities against each other

  05-08-2026 23:15 via vtdigger.org
  
  Gerald Malloy, left, and Mark Coester, Republican primary challengers for Vermont’s U.S. House of Representatives seat. Photos by Glenn Russell/VTDigger and VTDigger EditorIn the Republican primary this year for Vermont’s sole seat in the U.S. House, two candidates who have run for Congress before are on the ballot again. But other than the fact they’ve both sought federal office — and lost by large margins each time — Gerald Malloy and Mark Coester see differ
  
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• Vermont Conversation: ‘You have a choice on how you respond.’ Kelly Brush on thriving after a life-altering accident

  05-08-2026 22:14 via vtdigger.org
  
  
  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.Kelly Brush riding an adaptive mountain bike during the 2025 Kelly Brush Foundation bike camp. Courtesy photoFew people have turned adversity into opportunity as dramatically as Kelly Brush.Brush was on the Middlebury College ski team when she was paraly
  
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• A shrinking market for low-grade wood threatens Vermont’s forests

  05-08-2026 19:42 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Rob Riley, president of the Northern Forest Center; Danielle Fitzko, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation; Dana Doran, executive director of Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast; Kate Forrer, executive director of the Vermont Woodlands Association; Jamey Fidel, vice president for Vermont at the National Audubon Society/Audubon Vermont; Steve Hardy, president of the Vermont Forest Products Association; Tracy Zschau, president
  
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• Brattleboro hospital projects more deficit spending as it reveals ‘significant deficiencies’

  05-08-2026 19:02 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Brattleboro Memorial Hospital campus on Belmont Avenue. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerBRATTLEBORO — Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is projecting a seventh consecutive year of deficit spending in its fiscal 2027 budget, even with the proposed closure of its financially ailing birthing center.“We are not financially stable at this time, but we are stabilizing,” a team of new hospital leaders wrote this week in a required state filing they said was a month late due to
  
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• ‘I’m the awakener’: Evangelist Tommie Zito plans to transform Poultney’s Green Mountain College campus into a Christian university

  05-08-2026 12:52 via vtdigger.org
  
  Evangelical preacher Tommie Zito is planning to covert Green Mountain College in Poultney into Z University.Seen on Friday, July 31, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerPOULTNEY — Tommie Zito was visiting Vermont to preach for congregations in Rutland and Burlington earlier this year when he learned of a call for the “third great awakening” from the owner of the defunct Green Mountain College.The whiskey merchant and former media personality Raj Bhakta, who bought the campus
  
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• Phil Scott administration pushes through wetlands changes, despite lawmakers’ objections

  04-08-2026 23:47 via vtdigger.org
  
  A view of Class II wetlands in Essex on May 22, 2026. Legislators have rejected Gov. Phil Scott’s proposals around wetlands regulation, including reducing the buffer zone for housing. Photo by April McCullum/Vermont PublicCarly Berlin covers housing and infrastructure for Vermont Public, in partnership with VTDigger. Gov. Phil Scott’s administration is moving forward with rule changes that will make it easier to build housing near wetlands, despite repeated objections from lawm
  
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• Vermont’s healthcare crisis needs more than bake sales

  04-08-2026 23:31 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Manny Mansbach, a member of the Vermont Workers Center, which has been working for economic justice and human dignity, including healthcare as a human right.    Since Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) announced they plan to close southeastern Vermont’s only birthing center in the next six to nine months, Windham County residents and officials have begun mobilizing to find a way to keep safe birth alive in our community. It is imperative that the
  
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• Democratic Socialists of America wants to abolish the U.S. Senate. Bernie Sanders says ‘No.’

  04-08-2026 23:30 via vtdigger.org
  
  Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., leaves a meeting for Senate Democrats at the Capitol in Washington, in Nov. 2025. Photo by J. Scott Applewhite/APThis story by Igor Bobic was first published in NOTUS on Aug. 2, 2026.Democratic Socialists of America, a group that’s gaining momentum across the country, is pushing to scrap the U.S. Senate and replace it with a unicameral legislature. Senate Democrats aren’t on board.“It’s in the Constitution, and it is a critical component of th
  
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• Drawing attention: Vermont gets its first tourism branding

  04-08-2026 21:24 via vtdigger.org
  A new Vermont tourism logo and branding was unveiled July 30, 2026. ProvidedMost Americans already like Vermont. The challenge is getting them to actually visit.State tourism officials hope a new logo and slogan, which they unveiled last week, will entice more people to book a trip by highlighting Vermont’s landscape and its many local artists. The logo is a “Vermont” wordmark with hand-drawn letters shaped after Camel’s Hump and other geographic features, and the motto
  
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• Vermont’s Catholic diocese has plenty of shame to go around

  04-08-2026 20:22 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor,I’m writing to thank VTDigger reporter Kevin O’Connor for shining a light on corruption in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington in its effort to prevent justice for survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Vermont. There is plenty of shame to go around.Let’s start with Vermont’s former bishop, Christopher Coyne, and his once second-in-command, John McDermott. According to a whistleblower, a woman who applied for the position of chief financial officer of the d
  
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• Judge allows clergy abuse claimants to sue for parish assets in Vermont Catholic bankruptcy case

  04-08-2026 13:52 via vtdigger.org
  
  A statue watches over Rutland’s shuttered Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerA U.S. Bankruptcy Court will allow clergy abuse claimants to sue for an estimated half-billion dollars in parish assets to fund settlements under the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese’s current financial reorganization case.In a written order, Burlington-based Judge Heather Cooper said creditors can pursue not only the highest-level bank and building holdings of the state&rs
  
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• Pro-Aly Richards super PAC launches big ad buy late in Democratic governor primary

  04-08-2026 00:40 via vtdigger.org
  
  Aly Richards, democratic candidate for governor, speaks during a housing forum in South Burlington on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. Photo by Glenn RussellA political action committee backing Aly Richards in this year’s Democratic primary for Vermont governor has injected more than $200,000 into the race just weeks before election day.The PAC, called Time for a Change, is not affiliated with Richards’ campaign. But the organization spent large sums in recent days on digital advertisement
  
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• Burlington is facing a public safety emergency

  03-08-2026 23:26 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor,As a father of two young daughters, aged 4 and 5, I never imagined that a simple walk to get ice cream would become a lesson in open-air drug use and public disorder in the heart of our city.Recently, while walking to Ben & Jerry’s on Church Street in Burlington, we passed a park where multiple individuals were openly using drugs. Moments later, we were followed by another person who appeared to be under the influence, yelling at people trying to eat dinner on Church Stree
  
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• Scott’s veto reasoning doesn’t hold up

  03-08-2026 23:17 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Ben Edgerly Walsh, the climate and energy program director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group.Let’s start with what isn’t in dispute. The data center bill Gov. Phil Scott vetoed, H.727, was among the strongest such laws written in any state. AI data centers are driving up electricity bills across the country, and having major impacts on air, water and climate pollution in the process. And here in Vermont, that now-dead bill that would have addressed
  
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• Vermont Green FC men are undefeated national champions — again

  03-08-2026 22:43 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Vermont Green FC men’s team defeated Flint City Bucks on Aug. 1, 2026, to win the USL2 championship. Courtesy Vermont Green FCTheo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.Mike Popovitch, a dyed-in-the-wool Vermont Green FC fan, spent a rainy Saturday evening in Flint, Michigan, leading over 150 traveling fans in song through a megaphone.The Green won 2-1 against the Flint City Bucks that night in the national final of the United Soccer League&
  
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• After years of neighbor opposition, a private airstrip for Beta’s CEO nears approval 

  03-08-2026 17:21 via vtdigger.org
  
  A 900-foot airstrip at the home of BETA founder Kyle Clark in Lincoln seen on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerLINCOLN — Four years ago, local residents believed Beta Technologies’ CEO Kyle Clark would not be able to fly his planes over their homes after the town denied his application for a private airstrip. But Clark’s efforts have since shifted to federal and state channels. Recently, the project has quietly inched closer to final approval. 
  
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• Vermont Democrats turn to second home taxes as a matter of principle – and cash

  03-08-2026 11:05 via vtdigger.org
  
  Homes and fall foliage in Rochester in October 2023. Photo by Kyle Ambusk / Vermont PublicCarly Berlin covers housing and infrastructure for Vermont Public, in partnership with VTDigger.All five candidates competing in Vermont’s Democratic primaries for governor and lieutenant governor have signaled their support for raising taxes on second homes.“We must, must, must get control over the houses that we are losing to the secondary market,” said Aly Richards, one of two Democrat
  
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• Why Vermonters won’t call Fish and Wildlife about bears

  02-08-2026 16:40 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor,A recent article in VTDigger provided good information about human encounters with bears. Mostly, though, it focused on comments by staff at the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department complaining that people do not call them when they encounter bears.In the article, it seems no one understands why people do not call the department when a bear gets into their garbage. Ironically, a letter published in VTDigger in May has already explained why, with supporting data. Walter Medwid provid
  
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• World War II soldier’s remains returned home to Bennington

  02-08-2026 15:27 via vtdigger.org
  
  The recently identified remains of World War II soldier Bernard Sweet returned home to Bennington on Thursday, Aug. 30. Photo by Danny Zaffarano/Bennington BannerThis story by Jim Therrien was first published in the Bennington Banner on July 31, 2026.BENNINGTON — The long journey of Bennington native Bernard Sweet, who died in the Philippines during World War II, came full circle on Thursday evening when his remains were escorted back to his hometown.Army Pfc. Sweet was 21 when he died in
  
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• Local property dispute lands tea farmer in hot water

  02-08-2026 14:51 via vtdigger.org
  
  Amber Collett Terway, the owner of Tilia Tea, harvests calendula at her microfarm in Barre on July 31, 2026. Photo by Erin Petenko/VTDiggerBARRE — On a cool, damp morning in Barre, Amber Collett Terway harvested her resin calendula flowers with nothing but a plastic bin and her bare hands. The sticky yellow flowers, valued for their medicinal properties, were destined for one of Terway’s “Quiet Mind” tea blends sold through her small-batch tea company, Tilia Tea.&nb
  
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• A Vermont farmer has a growing voice in Trump’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ campaign

  02-08-2026 14:13 via vtdigger.org
  
  John Klar, a Brookfield farmer and conservative voice in Vermont politics, has garnered a growing role in the Make America Healthy Again movement. Klar is pictured at his home in June 2020. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerJohn Klar has long had a prominent and at times provocative voice in conservative politics in Vermont. But since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became the U.S. health and human services secretary, the Brookfield cattle and sheep farmer has been finding a new, seemingly larger platf
  
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• Vermont keeps a list of where large crowds gather. The feds get a copy.

  02-08-2026 13:44 via vtdigger.org
  
  Thousands of people participate in a Fourth of July parade in Warren on Saturday, July 4, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerState and federal authorities looking for potential threats have long monitored parades, sporting events and county fairs in Vermont — and some town officials are only now finding out. Last week, town clerks throughout Vermont received an email asking if they would voluntarily hand over a list of potential public and private events of at least 2,500 attendees
  
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• After years of debate, Stowe caps short-term rentals

  01-08-2026 13:28 via vtdigger.org
  
  Downtown Stowe. Photo via Adobe StockThis story by Patrick Bilow was first published in the Stowe Reporter on July 30. Stowe has officially enacted regulations on certain short-term rental properties in town.The action, taken by the town selectboard last week, activates amendments to the town’s short-term rental ordinance and ends years of debate over how to regulate those properties to potentially create more long-term housing opportunities for residents of Stowe — or whether
  
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• ‘My thoughts were distorted’: Woman gets at least 10 years in Rutland fatal shooting

  01-08-2026 00:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  Judge Cortland Corsones presides in Rutland County Superior criminal court in Rutland in Jan. 2026. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerRUTLAND – A judge has approved a plea deal and sentenced a Rutland County woman to at least 10 years in prison for fatally shooting a man inside an apartment four years ago stemming from a drug-related dispute.Judge Cortland Corsones handed down the sentence to 39-year-old Courtney Samplatsky during a hearing Friday in Rutland Superior criminal court.&nbs
  
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• Regulators reject Route 100 quarry in Morristown

  01-08-2026 00:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  A 12-acre hill along Route 100 in Morristown. Photo by Gordon Miller/Stowe ReporterThis story by Patrick Bilow first appeared in the News & Citizen on July 30, 2026. After a two-year deliberation, the state Act 250 commission has rejected a Morristown business’s proposal to build a quarry operation on land across Route 100 from the Morrisville-Stowe Airport.Garret Hirchak, CEO and founder of Manufactured Solutions Inc., has for years been trying to build an industrial park on the
  
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• Vermont Green FC men will compete for national championship Saturday

  31-07-2026 22:26 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Vermont Green FC men’s team defeated Laredo Heat 7-1 on July 27, 2026, to earn a spot in the USL2 championship. Courtesy Vermont Green FCTheo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.Vermont Green FC’s men’s team will return to the national championship Saturday after high-scoring wins last weekend over Asheville City SC and Laredo Heat in Texas. The Burlington-based team, on the brink of a second consecutive championship and u
  
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• Vermont is not for sale

  31-07-2026 21:36 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by John Bossange, president, and Jerry Ward, a board member, of Better (not bigger) Vermont.The pro-development advocates finally got it right. Vermont is in trouble but not for the reasons offered in a recent VTDigger opinion piece written by representatives of the Vermont Futures Project, the Vermont Professionals of Color Network, the Vermont Business Roundtable, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, Let’s Build Homes and the Lake Champlain Chamber.Vermont is in trouble b
  
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• The only licensed prosecutor leaves Addison County office

  31-07-2026 17:24 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Addison County Superior criminal court in Middlebury. File photo by Alan Keays/VTDiggerThe only state prosecutor with a law license in Addison County is leaving the job next week. Without a deputy state’s attorney, embattled State’s Attorney Eva Vekos — who has been temporarily barred from practicing law — would be the only state prosecutor in the county. In the absence of a deputy attorney in Vekos’s office, the Vermont Attorney General’s Offic
  
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