Vermont news

• Sen. Leahy appropriations statement

  28-09-2018 20:22 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Sen. Patrick LeahySept. 13, 2018
  CONTACT:Jay Tilton202-224-2667
  Statement of Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)On the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; Financial Services and General Government and Related Agencies; Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies
  I am pleased to be here at the third appropriations conference of
  
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• Federal judge releases third of three people detained in South Burlington ICE raid

  21-03-2026 00:56 via vtdigger.org
  Camilia Patin Patin smiles after being released after her hearing in federal court at the Federal Building in Burlington on Friday, March 20, 2026.Patin Patin is one of three people detained during an ICE raid last week. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — A federal judge has freed from custody the third of three people who were detained last week by federal immigration authorities during a raid on a home in South Burlington.Judge Christina Reiss ordered the immediate release of D
  
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• Human services committee wants state to renegotiate $21.5M contract with troubled Pennsylvania family services company

  20-03-2026 23:52 via vtdigger.org
  The Windham County Sheriff’s Office building on Old Ferry Road in Brattleboro. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger.Theo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.The House Human Services Committee wants officials in Gov. Phil Scott’s administration to rethink their approach to caring for youth in state custody — starting with renegotiating a contract that’s already on the books.In January, officials in the state’s Department fo
  
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• Vermont lawmakers consider using state funds for flood recovery after Trump denied request for federal aid

  20-03-2026 23:30 via vtdigger.org
  A house in Sutton was severely damaged by floodwaters from the Calendar Brook, as seen on July 11, 2025. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerAfter President Trump twice said no to Vermont’s request for federal funding to help towns in the Northeast Kingdom fix damage caused by flooding last summer, state legislators are weighing a proposal from Gov. Phil Scott’s administration to use state dollars, instead, to help those towns. Doug Farnham, the state’s chief recovery off
  
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• Emily Bridges: No one should have to choose between family and a paycheck

  20-03-2026 23:18 via vtdigger.org
  Dear Editor, Having a great home and job and a healthy family you can love and be with is the American dream. But without universal paid leave in Vermont, many workers are forced to make the terrible choice of deciding which part of this dream they might have to give up. I’m one of them.With elderly parents, I was forced to make numerous hard decisions quickly when my dad died of a heart attack at the same time my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.Already reeling from the lo
  
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• Woodstock police chief’s demotion upheld, lawsuit and appeal expected

  20-03-2026 22:26 via vtdigger.org
  Jeffrey Kahn, vice chair of the Woodstock Village Board of Trustees, second from left, listens as attorney Linda Fraas reviews evidence she plans to submit in support of her client, Police Chief Joseph Swanson, during his public personnel hearing at the Woodstock Masonic Lodge on Monday, March. 2, 2026. Photo by James M. Patterson/Valley NewsThis story by Alex Ebrahimi was first published in the Valley News on March 18, 2026.The Village Board of Trustees this week decided for the second time to
  
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• A new electric vehicle fee is taking shape in Vermont

  20-03-2026 22:20 via vtdigger.org
  An electric vehicle plugged into a fast charger in Rutland in 2022. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMONTPELIER — A proposal to charge electric vehicle drivers a fee based on how many miles they drive, meant to make up for the taxes those drivers don’t pay at the gas pump, is coming together in the Vermont House after years of planning.The levy, which drivers would likely start paying in 2028, is part of a larger transportation policy bill that cleared the chamber’s tax and
  
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• Laura Ida Marineau

  20-03-2026 15:57 via vtdigger.org
  Born: 01/07/1935Holland, VTDied: 03/14/2026Barre, VTDetails of service:A graveside service will be held in Newport at the convenience of the immediate family.Laura “Ida” MarineauMontpelier, VTLaura “Ida” Marineau passed away on Saturday, March 14, 2026, at the Lincoln House in Barre, VT.Laura was born to Calixte Champigny and Exilper Labonte on January 7, 1935, in Holland, VT. Laura was one of eleven children.Laura attended Sacred Heart Catholic School in Newport, VT, an
  
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• Julie Wasserman: Where are the doctors in Vermont’s $195M rural health plan?

  20-03-2026 02:40 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by Julie Wasserman, MPH, of Burlington. She is an independent health policy advocate who worked for Vermont state government for more than 25 years.The Trump administration recently awarded Vermont a $195 million Rural Health Transformation grant whose stated purpose is to strengthen health care access, quality and outcomes in rural communities. One of the most critical elements to achieving this goal is an adequate supply of primary care physicians, yet Gov. Phil Scott&rsquo
  
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• Judge orders immediate release of man who ICE detained after a traffic stop last week. The detention may have violated the man’s rights. 

  20-03-2026 00:46 via vtdigger.org
  A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. File photo by Gregory Bull/APBURLINGTON — A Burlington man detained last week on his way to work by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials was released by a federal judge Thursday, pending a bond hearing in immigration court. Federal Judge William K. Sessions III ordered the immediate release of Jaime Eliceo Castro Guaman, 40. Castro Guaman had been held at Northwest State Correctional Facility for nine days after b
  
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• Vermont’s high court weighs pulling law license of Addison County State’s Attorney

  19-03-2026 23:49 via vtdigger.org
  Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Credit: Glenn RussellThe Vermont Supreme Court heard competing arguments Thursday over whether Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos should lose her law license while awaiting disciplinary proceedings stemming from her drunken driving conviction late last year.The five justices did not make a ruling Thursday or indicate when they might.The hearing, which took place over video, comes amid multiple con
  
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• Local police officials defend officers’ conduct during immigration operation, blame ‘agitators’ 

  19-03-2026 23:43 via vtdigger.org
  South Burlington Police Chief William Breault, center, speaks before a joint meeting of the House and Senate judiciary committees to discuss the role of local law enforcement in an ICE raid in South Burlington last week at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Thursday, March 19. With Breault are Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison, left, and Col. Matthew Birmingham, director of the Vermont State Police. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMONTPELIER — Local and state police officials were
  
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• House Education panel pivots to voluntary mergers in school consolidation efforts

  19-03-2026 23:30 via vtdigger.org
  Rep. Peter Conlon, D-Cornwall, chairs the House Education Committee at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Feb. 5, 2025. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBack in January, virtually no one imagined that lawmakers responsible for consolidating school districts would go anywhere near last fall’s disparaged recommendations from the school redistricting task force.Recall that lawmakers last year had punted the responsibility of drawing consolidated school district maps to the task force. But in
  
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• Angela Marchetti: In the Northeast Kingdom, school choice is a lifeline

  19-03-2026 22:23 via vtdigger.org
  Dear Editor, I am a lifelong resident of the Northeast Kingdom. Like many who choose to call this place home, my husband and I weighed the trade-offs of raising a family in a small town with limited resources. We knew our children might have fewer local extracurricular activities, but we traded those for a close-knit community, with the promise that when they reached ninth grade, the world would open up to them through high school choice. This is the experience I had growing up in Lunenbur
  
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• Sunshine Week Match: Your gift is doubled right now

  19-03-2026 20:53 via vtdigger.org
  
  VTDigger reporter Audi Guha covers a press conference in Colchester on Monday, October 28, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerDear Readers,This Sunshine Week, a generous supporter in Norwich, VT is matching every gift to VTDigger dollar for dollar, up to $15,000. That means your support for independent journalism will go twice as far.
  Donate now
  From our Montpelier office, I have the honor of observing our reporters and editors in action. They are in constant motion, working quickly but caref
  
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• Bove brothers plan to renovate Winooski apartments with tumultuous history 

  19-03-2026 20:51 via vtdigger.org
  
  This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.Rick and Mark Bove are planning a full-scale renovation of a beleaguered Winooski apartment complex that has sat vacant for months and drawn public scrutiny and concern over the last four years.The Boves’ new plan to remodel the two dozen townhomes and charge market-rate rents is a pivot from their prior aim to demolish them and construct a new, nearly 70-uni
  
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• Rodolphe (Rod) James Vallee

  19-03-2026 19:50 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born: 05/27/1937St. Albans, VermontDied: 03/12/2026Georgia, VermontDetails of service: Calling hours will be at the Heald Funeral Home, 87 South Main Street, St. Albans on Friday, March 20, 2026 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM.A service to celebrate Rod’s life will be held at the Georgia Plains Baptist Church, 1493 Stone Bridge Road, Georgia at 2:00 PM on Saturday, March 21, 2026.Rodolphe (Rod) James Vallee passed away peacefully following a long illness at his home in Georgia, Vermont on March 12,
  
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• Federal government investigates Vermont’s abortion coverage mandate

  19-03-2026 19:40 via vtdigger.org
  
  Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks at an event sponsored by the Ethan Allen Institute in South Burlington in June 2023. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has launched an investigation into a Vermont law that requires health insurance companies in the state to cover abortions.Representatives from the Department of Financial Regulation have confirmed that they received a letter from the federal government Wednesday evening informing them that the departmen
  
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• Detained a week, Honduran man taken in South Burlington ICE raid released

  19-03-2026 16:17 via vtdigger.org
  Cristian Humberto Jerez Andrade is led out in handcuffs by federal law enforcement agents during an ICE raid on a Dorset Street home in South Burlington on Wednesday, March 11, 2026. Jerez Andrade was granted bond and released in immigration court Thursday. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerUpdated at 6:37 p.m.A man detained in an armed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement standoff in South Burlington last week was granted bond and released in immigration court Thursday.Held at the Northwest S
  
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• Detained a week, Honduran man taken in South Burlington ICE raid is released

  19-03-2026 16:17 via vtdigger.org
  
  Cristian Humberto Jerez Andrade is led out in handcuffs by federal law enforcement agents during an ICE raid on a Dorset Street home in South Burlington on Wednesday, March 11, 2026. Jerez Andrade was granted bond and released in immigration court Thursday. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerA man detained in the armed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement standoff in South Burlington last week was granted bond and released in immigration court Thursday.Held at the Northwest State Correctional F
  
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• Vermont State Police make arrest in Brownington suspicious death

  19-03-2026 14:48 via vtdigger.org
  
  A Vermont State Police cruiser seen in 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermont State Police have made an arrest relating to a suspicious death in Brownington Wednesday night. Ariana Rodger, 43, of Newport was taken into custody by VSP on charges of second-degree murder, first-degree aggravated domestic assault and violation of conditions of release.The investigation began early Wednesday morning after police received a report of a deceased man at home just outside of Brownington, in O
  
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• Newport woman charged with second-degree murder in Brownington death

  19-03-2026 14:48 via vtdigger.org
  A Vermont State Police cruiser seen in 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerUpdated at 6:30 p.m.A Newport woman was charged Thursday with second-degree murder after a man was stabbed to death with a machete in Brownington, according to court records. Ariana Rodger, 43, of Newport was taken into custody Wednesday by Vermont State Police on charges that also included first-degree aggravated domestic assault and violation of conditions of release.Rodger was arraigned in Orleans County Superio
  
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• Spirit Hollow silent retreat and Ruffed Grouse Society take opposite stands on Green Mountain National Forest logging

  19-03-2026 13:30 via vtdigger.org
  
  Tracey Forest, who runs Spirit Hollow, a silent nature-based retreat in Shaftsbury, described on December 22, 2025 how she needed to re-locate her business during logging in the adjoining Green Mountain Forest. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerIn late November, Tracey Forest heard loud grinding and beeping and raced down the road to find a fleet of logging trucks with giant claws and saws near where she runs Spirit Hollow, a silent retreat. The loggers with machinery were traveling toward th
  
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• Philip Finkelstein: Will the Democrats ever learn their lesson?

  19-03-2026 01:17 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by Philip Finkelstein, an independent journalist and writer from Vermont, with a master’s degree in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. One of the first op-eds I ever wrote was in 2017. I was about to graduate from college, and President Donald Trump was a year into his first term. He had narrowly beaten Hillary Clinton in an election that had shocked America. The polls had failed to predict the outcome. It was my
  
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• Legislative panel votes against keeping southern Vermont judge on the bench

  18-03-2026 23:45 via vtdigger.org
  Senators join Representatives for a joint assembly on judicial retention at the Statehouse in Montpelier on March 26, 2024. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerMONTPELIER — A panel of Vermont legislators took the rare step of recommending that the full House and Senate reject Superior Court Judge Rachel Malone’s application to remain on the bench when she faces a “retention” vote next week.The Judicial Retention Committee’s recommendation March 12 stemmed largely f
  
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• Want to buy more cannabis? This Vermont bill could allow it. 

  18-03-2026 23:28 via vtdigger.org
  Immature cannabis plants. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger“The biggest killer in this country is isolation,” said Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden Southeast. And cannabis, she argued, could be part of the solution. “We have seen our cannabis industry follow all the rules, give people a third place, give people the opportunity to find community and they have done it in a more constrained market than the states around us,” Ram Hinsdale said, sitting before th
  
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• Bobbi Warner Somers and Joy Ely: When rural teens struggle, schools step in

  18-03-2026 23:09 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by Bobbi Warner Somers, the director of health and wellness, and Joy Ely, a school counselor, who both work at Lyndon Institute.As school counselors in a rural community, we see every day what many people never do: teenagers carrying adult-size burdens into our classrooms. Often, these burdens appear long before they surface as failing grades, chronic absenteeism or crises.In rural communities like the Northeast Kingdom, these challenges are not rare. Limited access to mental
  
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• Vermont attorney general clears Ludlow police chief of criminal wrongdoing in shooting, wounding man

  18-03-2026 21:52 via vtdigger.org
  Stock photo by PexelsVermont Attorney General Charity Clark has ruled that Ludlow Police Chief Jeffrey Warfle was justified when he shot and injured a man on New Year’s Day.The office of the state’s top prosecutor announced the findings in a press release Friday stemming from the incident where police said Jaime Gomez, 18, allegedly pulled out a knife and lunged at Warfle at a downtown inn in Ludlow where Gomez had been living. Warfle, according to the release, “reasonabl
  
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• Attorney general begins taking new high-profile cases from embattled State’s Attorney Vekos

  18-03-2026 21:26 via vtdigger.org
  Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos is arraigned on a DUI charge in Addison County Superior criminal court in Middlebury on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Credit: Glenn RussellUpdated 4:41 p.m.The Vermont Attorney General’s Office will begin handling a host of high-profile cases usually assigned to embattled Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos, according to a Tuesday letter from the office obtained by VTDigger. The decision comes as Vek
  
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• Vermont State Police investigating suspicious death in Brownington

  18-03-2026 19:20 via vtdigger.org
  Police cruiser lights. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermont State Police are investigating a suspicious death in Brownington Wednesday morning, with no arrests announced pending the results of an autopsy. The investigation began after police received a report of a deceased man at home just outside of Brownington, in Orleans County, at 2 a.m., with first responders discovering a body.  An initial investigation indicated that the incident arose from a dispute involving individual
  
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