Vermont news

• NH motorcycle crash kills 1, injures another

  05-07-2017 16:08
  
  Police in New Hampshire are investigating a crash that killed a motorcyclist and injured his passenger.
  
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• An insurance card is not an appointment

  26-07-2026 15:52 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Matt Swenson, who is the founder of Omnidex Solutions, a risk diagnostics company. He lives in Vermont.Vermont’s healthcare debate has spent a decade stuck on the wrong question. The political class argues about who should pay the bill. Patients are asking something simpler: Can I actually see a doctor?Insurance is not care. Coverage is not capacity. A promise from the government does not create a primary care appointment, a hospital bed, a nurse or an operating room
  
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• Norwich sets $250 fee for short-term rentals

  26-07-2026 15:18 via vtdigger.org
  
  Priscilla Vincent raises her hand with a question, at left, during a public comment period before the Selectboard at Tracy Hall on a proposed zoning bylaw to regulate short-term rentals in Norwich, Vt., on Wednesday, July 23, 2026. Planning Director and Zoning Administrator Steven True is at right. The Selectboard voted to approve the bylaw for a two-year period which will require owners of such accommodations to register the property, submit to an inspection, and pay a $250 fee. Photo by: Jame
  
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• Then Again: When a mysterious killer stalked the men of Bristol

  26-07-2026 14:18 via vtdigger.org
  
  A group of men pause to pose and enjoy a drink in a photo taken circa 1900-1910. In 1903, Vermont ended the longstanding statewide prohibition of the sale or consumption of alcohol for anything except “medicinal, chemical or mechanical purposes.” Replacing it was a “local option” law, whereby individual communities voted whether to ban alcohol within their boundaries. Photo courtesy of Lake Champlain Maritime Museum/Vermont Historical SocietyThe first signs of trouble we
  
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• ‘Fertile period’ in Rutland City 25 years ago served as backdrop for photographer’s surreal scenes of suburban life

  26-07-2026 13:33 via vtdigger.org
  
  GREGORY CREWDSON, Untitled, 2002, Digital pigment print, image size 40 x 25 in. © Gregory CrewdsonOver the course of several weeks in the summer of 2001, photographer Gregory Crewdson captured unsettling and surreal scenes of American suburban life in a ranch-style home in Rutland. The series made in Rutland included pictures of a stunned Tilda Swinton looking toward the sky out of frame, with her hand gently resting on a car hood. One photo shows a weary Phillip Seymour-Hoffman droop
  
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• ‘The worst possible catch-22’: Fish and Wildlife struggles to combat bear rumors

  26-07-2026 12:45 via vtdigger.org
  
  A bear enjoying a dumpster feast earlier this year in Eden, Vermont. Photo by S. Chambers, courtesy of Vermont Fish and Wildlife.As bear-human incidents continue at record rates, the state Fish and Wildlife Department is encountering public misperception that is leading Vermonters to avoid reporting minor bear activity because they fear the bear will be killed.This often leads to “the worst possible catch-22 for the bears,” said Joshua Morse, public information officer for the depar
  
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• Vermont expands housing investment program

  25-07-2026 13:06 via vtdigger.org
  
  Vermont State Treasurer Mike Pieciak chats before a groundbreaking ceremony at the Cambrian Way housing complex in Burlington in August 2025. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story by Chris Mays was first published in the Brattleboro Reformer on July 21, 2026.BERLIN — An additional $25 million is now available in low-interest financing to help spur new housing, job creation and affordability across Vermont. “Our state continues to be in desperate need of more housing,&r
  
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• Dartmouth students push back against medical school admissions probe

  25-07-2026 00:54 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Geisel School of Medicine admissions office at Dartmouth College occupies part of the former Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital in Hanover, N.H., on Thursday, July 23, 2026. Photo by James M. Patterson / Valley NewsThis story by Sofia Langlois was first published in the Valley News on July 24, 2026.Amid a federal investigation into the Geisel School of Medicine for racial discrimination in its admissions practices, some Dartmouth community members are speaking out against a narrative that peo
  
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• Vermont doesn’t need political parties to get things done

  24-07-2026 23:29 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor,Since Vermont has a political landscape that is probably less partisan than most states and, without a doubt, far less partisan than Washington, maybe it can set an example for how to move away from partisan politics. We urgently need cooperative, nonconfrontational efforts to mitigate the host of critical problems we face.It seems that political parties often foster irrational noncooperation. What if Vermont eliminated political parties and candidates ran on their individual merits
  
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• Protesters again block access to ICE surveillance hub in Williston, prompting arrests

  24-07-2026 20:05 via vtdigger.org
  
  A person is carried to a vehicle by four Vermont State Troopers after being arrested for blocking the entrance to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Center in Williston on Friday, July 24, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerWILLISTON — Police arrested a group of protesters at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement surveillance office in Williston on Friday morning. The group intended to block ICE employees from accessing the facility
  
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• Owen Foster stepping down as chair of state’s most powerful healthcare regulator 

  24-07-2026 18:48 via vtdigger.org
  
  Owen Foster, chair of the Green Mountain Care board, speaks during roundtable on health care costs hosted by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, in Burlington on Friday, May 31, 2024.Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe chair of the regulatory board that decides hospital budgets and health insurance premium increases in Vermont is stepping down at the end of September, Gov. Phil Scott announced Friday. Scott appointed Owen Foster as the Green Mountain Care Board’s chair in 2022 and re
  
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• Help VTDigger reach 500 supporters before midnight Sunday

  24-07-2026 15:35 via vtdigger.org
  
  VTDigger reporter Shaun Robinson. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerDear Reader,VTDigger’s July Member Drive ends Sunday, July 26 at midnight, and we’re asking our readers to help us finish strong and reach our goal of 500 supporters.Every donation made before the drive ends will be matched dollar for dollar up to $10,000, thanks to two generous supporters from Burlington and Addison County.
  Double your impact
  Reader support powers the reporting Vermonters rely on every day.Just this w
  
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• Help VTDigger reach 500 supporters before midnight Saturday

  24-07-2026 15:35 via vtdigger.org
  
  VTDigger reporter Shaun Robinson. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerDear Reader,VTDigger’s July Member Drive ends Saturday at midnight, and we’re asking our readers to help us finish strong and reach our goal of 500 supporters.Every donation made before the drive ends will be matched dollar for dollar up to $10,000, thanks to two generous supporters from Burlington and Addison County.
  Double your impact
  Reader support powers the reporting Vermonters rely on every day.Just this week, ou
  
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• VTDigger is hiring fall reporting interns

  24-07-2026 14:15 via vtdigger.org
  
  VTDigger intern Emma Green listens as Pastor Steven Tendo, right, speaks before a check-in meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security facility in St. Albans on Tuesday, June 16, 2026. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerLicense plate surveillance. Immigration enforcement. A dairy economy under strain. Rising temperatures and energy costs. All of it was reported this year by journalists who came to VTDigger as interns — and the newsroom is now h
  
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• Wanted: Large space for 100-bed emergency shelter in Chittenden County

  24-07-2026 11:15 via vtdigger.org
  
  A cold-weather shelter in Burlington is seen on Jan. 23, 2026. The Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity and Champlain Housing Trust are seeking to open a 100-bed emergency shelter that would operate year-round. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerCarly Berlin covers housing and infrastructure for Vermont Public, in partnership with VTDigger.Two local nonprofits are seeking a space to open what would be Vermont’s largest year-round shelter for people experiencing homelessness.Th
  
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• Vermont to give local news priority for state advertising dollars

  24-07-2026 01:21 via vtdigger.org
  
  Gov. Phil Scott signs an executive order to prioritize spending state ad dollars on local news on July 23, 2026. Photo by Charlotte Oliver/VTDiggerMONTPELIER— Gov. Phil Scott signed an executive order Thursday that directs the state to prioritize local news platforms when deciding where to run its ads. “Vermonters breathe and trust their community news,” Scott said after signing the order, a statement rare for him to make to a room of reporters. The intent of the pol
  
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• Gerald “Jed” Kenneth Hornung II

  24-07-2026 00:16 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born: 07/31/1929Oklahoma City, OklahomaDied: 07/20/2026Burlington, VermontDetails of service:The family will hold a private burial. There will be a Memorial Service, at a later date. Arrangements are through Day Funeral Home, Randolph, Vermont and Vermont Forest Cemetery in Roxbury.Gerald Kenneth (Jed) Hornung II, age 96, passed away on July 20, 2026, surrounded by his loving family after a brief illness. Gerald was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on July 31, 1929, the son of Gerald Kennet
  
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• Ex-Rutland City officer faces allegations of violating anti-bias policy, falsifying report

  23-07-2026 23:51 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Rutland City Police Department in Dec. 2021.File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerA now-former Rutland City police officer is facing allegations from law enforcement authorities that he violated the state-mandated Fair and Impartial Policing Policy and in a separate incident falsified a police report.In one instance, a state panel overseeing law enforcement in Vermont is set to hold a hearing regarding allegations that Nicholas Fontana improperly asked people in a vehicle for identification a
  
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• Don’t blame incomers for Vermont’s housing woes

  23-07-2026 23:28 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor,We know Vermont has a housing problem; affordability and availability are both major issues here. I moved here during Covid-19 not to get away from a city but because my family lived here. I wanted to be a part of my grandchildren’s lives, so here I am. I want to rebut something a previous letter to VTDigger raised, saying newcomers to Vermont paid “obscene prices” for housing and ruined it for everyone else in the state. May I ask who set the prices for the h
  
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• Statehouse know-how or outsider’s perspective? The 2 Democrats who want to be Vermont’s next governor

  23-07-2026 21:53 via vtdigger.org
  
  Aly Richards, left, and Amanda Janoo, democratic candidates for governor, speak during a housing forum in South Burlington on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe two Democrats vying to take on Vermont’s Republican Gov. Phil Scott this year have never run for office before. But they’ve also raked in far more money at this stage in the race than either of the Democrats who challenged Scott in 2024 and 2022.Ask Amanda Janoo and Aly Richards why that might be th
  
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• VTDigger expands statewide news partnership with four southern Vermont newspapers

  23-07-2026 21:14 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Bennington Battle Monument. Photo via Adobe StockVTDigger CEO Brendan Kinney announced Thursday that the online statewide news organization has recently partnered with four newspapers covering southern Vermont. The latest partnerships with the Bennington Banner, Manchester Journal, Brattleboro Reformer and Mountain Times (Killington) build on VTDigger’s existing partnership with The Commons in Brattleboro, bringing the total number of community news sharing partners to 21.“
  
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• Vermont schools should invest in student journalism

  23-07-2026 20:56 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Katerine Lacourciere, a rising senior at Essex High School, where she is a staff writer for the Hive.Journalism is essential to inform communities, hold those in power accountable and give voice to perspectives that might otherwise go unheard. So why isn’t there more of a push to train the next generation of journalists?A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to work in a newsroom alongside 13 other dedicated high school journalists through the New England High School
  
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• Vermont-born Broadway musical ‘Hadestown’ returns home — as a movie

  23-07-2026 20:38 via vtdigger.org
  
  The cast of “Hadestown” performs at the 73rd annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 9, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)Vermont singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell’s musical “Hadestown” began two decades ago as what she calls a “do-it-yourself community theater project” before begetting a concept album, a touring concert, theater workshops and a Tony Award-winning Broadway show.Now the modern take on ancient
  
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• Killing trees to save the forest: The deadly experiment to rescue the American elm

  23-07-2026 19:28 via vtdigger.org
  
  A research specialist with the University of Vermont records information about young elm trees that have been inoculated with Dutch elm disease on May 19, 2026. Jessica Rinaldi / The Boston Globe via Getty Images via GristThis story was produced by Grist and co-published with VTDigger.After more than a decade of nurturing, it had come time to infect this 28-acre grove of American elms with a disease that would almost certainly kill them. Dressed in hunter-green muck boots, gray pants and a brow
  
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• Is it safe to eat lettuce? Upper Valley experts answer key questions on cyclosporiasis outbreak

  23-07-2026 00:26 via vtdigger.org
  
  Danielle Pappo chooses bags of spinach from Killdeer Farm and lettuce from Crossroad Farm while shopping at the Co-Op Food Store in White River Junction, Vt., on Friday, July 17, 2026. “It’s more fun to shop up here honestly because they have so much local stuff,” said Pappo, of Palmer, Mass., who is staying in the Upper Valley while working as a baker at King Arthur Flour. Dawn Archambeault, director of marketing and consumer relations for the Co-op Food Stores said the groce
  
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• Enough with the excuses. Help Vermont’s loggers.

  23-07-2026 00:14 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by William Sargent, a lifelong Vermont woodsman and the author of the memoir “50 Years a Dirt Forester: Always Outside and Never Behind a Desk.”Since the announcement of the closure of the Finch Paper mill in Glens Falls, New York, on July 17, I’ve received multiple emails, texts and phone calls asking for my take on the situation.Without a doubt, it is one of the most impactful events in my 50-plus-year career as a forester in Vermont. The economic impact o
  
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• The new Route 7 project is a waste of money

  22-07-2026 23:57 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor,Vermont’s federal legislators have secured $19.7 million in federal funding for reconstruction of Route 7 between Brandon and Pittsford. The goal is to add truck climbing lanes and wider shoulders for cyclists. The work will take two years and will inevitably lead to huge traffic backups during that period. In my opinion, this short stretch of road is already quite safe, and most people drive sensibly on it.
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  Furthermore, even after the wider shoulders are built, it w
  
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• Vermont Conversation: ‘I’m sorry that this isn’t what we promised.’ Immigration attorney Jill Martin Diaz on fear and hope in Vermont’s immigrant community

  22-07-2026 23:01 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.Jill Martin Diaz, executive director of the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project in Burlington in Aug. 2025. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerPresident Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown is intensifying. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents
  
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• ‘A step forward’: Deep in the new federal housing law, changes to disaster recovery funding are brewing

  22-07-2026 22:51 via vtdigger.org
  
  A sign on a flood-damaged home on Lower Main Street in Johnson pleading for a buyout from the state. Photo by Gordon MillerThree years after the July 2023 floods, communities across Vermont are still working on long-term recovery, with much of the effort focused on housing. Changes tucked into a new federal housing law could make aid for those efforts more predictable in the future. The new policy, part of an enormous federal housing bill that became law July 11, could smooth some of the p
  
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• Brattleboro weighs a municipal tax hike to aid the local hospital’s endangered birthing center

  22-07-2026 19:01 via vtdigger.org
  
  A crowd of about 100 people rally July 14 in support of the birthing center at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerBRATTLEBORO — As medical groups call for higher state reimbursements to help Brattleboro Memorial Hospital’s birthing center stay open, local leaders are debating whether to ask residents to assist by raising municipal taxes for an unspecified donation.“The choice belongs to the taxpayer, and it’s one that deserves an open, t
  
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