Vermont news

• Sen. Leahy guides funds for homeless assistance

  11-06-2018 16:45 via vtdigger.org
  News Release — Sen. Patrick LeahyJune 8, 2018
  Press Contact:David Carle(202) 224-3693
  Leahy Leads Charge Against Homelessness In Senate Appropriations Bill
  WASHINGTON (FRIDAY, June 8, 2018) – Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Thursday guided more than $2.6 billion in Homeless Assistance Grants through the Senate Appropriations Committee, helping to secure a $99 million increase over the fiscal year 2018 funding level in the fight to
  
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• Vermont Conversation: Alternative media pioneer Nat Winthrop on a half-century of covering Vermont

  26-08-2026 23:56 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.Nat Winthrop. Photo Credit: Martha WinthropJournalist Nat Winthrop has been covering Vermont for a half-century, reporting stories that have surprised, infuriated and enlightened readers. From 1978 to 1990, Winthrop was publisher of the pioneering a
  
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• Manchester Selectboard discusses future of Flock cameras

  26-08-2026 23:17 via vtdigger.org
  
  A license plate reader camera on Main Street in Manchester Center seen in June 2026. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story by Ryan Pacheco was first published in the Manchester Journal on Aug. 25, 2026.MANCHESTER — The future of Manchester’s controversial use of Flock cameras was discussed but ultimately not resolved at a public selectboard meeting at the Manchester Town Hall on Aug. 18.Manchester currently has five Flock cameras. According to the surveillance watchdog proj
  
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• What ‘coal rolling’ at protests tells us about this moment

  26-08-2026 23:09 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor,Since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, I have been protesting a great deal, largely in Chittenden County. We get many honks and waves and thumbs-up, as well as the occasional thumbs-down — and, rarely, people flipping the bird. I can imagine flipping the bird to protesters with whom I disagree, and I can deal with receiving that gesture, though I don’t think I would do it myself. What bothers me far more is the loud revving of trucks, speeding thro
  
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• Antisemitism isn’t a shield for Israel’s human rights record

  26-08-2026 19:53 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor, In my recent letter to VTDigger, I expressed my concerns over the United States’ continued support of Israel despite the country’s genocidal actions against Palestinian and Lebanese people. Mark Treinkman’s letter in response, signed by members of the Vermont Friends of Israel, claims that my strong opinions must stem from a lack of Holocaust education and antisemitism in Vermont. This is not true. What is true is that the tragedies of the Holocaust shou
  
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• Vermont Progressive Party chair resigns after less than a year on the job

  26-08-2026 17:53 via vtdigger.org
  
  Bill Hunsinger, who has resigned from his position as chair of the Vermont Progressive Party. Photo courtesy of Bill HunsingerThe chair of Vermont’s Progressive Party, Bill Hunsinger, has resigned from his post. Hunsinger stepped down Tuesday after less than a year in the job as the leader of the state’s third largest political party, according to Heather Thomas, the party’s executive director. The chair is the party’s public-facing leader, while the executive direc
  
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• ‘Watershed moment’: Vermont secures $92.7M and new restrictions for teens in Meta settlement

  26-08-2026 17:33 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Instagram logo is seen on a cell phone in Boston, Massachusetts, Oct. 14, 2022.File photo by Michael Dwyer/APTheo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.Vermont has secured $92.7 million and new limits on use for customers under 18 in a settlement with social media giant Meta, state Attorney General Charity Clark said in a press conference Wednesday morning. The sum is the largest single-company settlement in state history, Clark said, and marks a
  
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• ‘Watershed moment’: Vermont secures $92.7M and new restrictions for kids in Meta settlement

  26-08-2026 17:33 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Instagram logo is seen on a cell phone in Boston, Massachusetts, Oct. 14, 2022.File photo by Michael Dwyer/APTheo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.Vermont has secured $92.7 million and new limits on use for customers under 18 in a settlement with social media giant Meta, state Attorney General Charity Clark said in a press conference Wednesday morning. The sum is the largest single-company settlement in state history, Clark said, and marks a
  
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• Vital Communities enters talks to save town listservs from shutdown

  26-08-2026 11:53 via vtdigger.org
  
  David Beane Jr., left, and Kate Harrison hike along the Appalachian Trail in Hanover, N.H., in Nov. 2023. Harrison donated a kidney to Beane in 2021 after seeing a listserv post from his mother seeking a donor for her son. Photo by Alex Driehaus / Valley News and Report For AmericaThis story by Liz Sauchelli was first published in the Valley News on Aug. 25, 2026.Talks have started between Vital Communities and a group of Upper Valley residents about preserving town-specific listservs before th
  
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• UVM president says school’s budget deficit is closed despite declining enrollment

  25-08-2026 23:43 via vtdigger.org
  
  University of Vermont President Marlene Tromp delivers her State of the University address in Burlington on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — The University of Vermont has closed its $12 million projected budget deficit, President Marlene Tromp reported just days before first-year students are set to arrive on campus. Tromp delivered the first “State of the University” address to trustees and hundreds of staff Tuesday with one resoundin
  
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• As Trump tries to curtail mail-in voting, Vermont officials clean up errors on state voter rolls

  25-08-2026 23:16 via vtdigger.org
  
  Gov. Phil Scott and Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas announce that 900 people who were wrongly registered to vote have been cut from Vermont’s voter rolls on Tuesday. Photo by Shaun Robinson/VTDiggerMONTPELIER — Vermont officials have removed just shy of 900 people from the state’s voter rolls who they said were wrongly registered to vote due to human error at the state Department of Motor Vehicles.None of those 900 people actually cast a ballot and the state wrongly r
  
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• Abuse claimants fight Vermont Catholic Church plan to sell Rice Memorial High to supporters

  25-08-2026 22:19 via vtdigger.org
  
  The grade 9-12 Rice Memorial High School in South Burlington. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerCreditors in the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese’s Chapter 11 financial reorganization case are fighting a church plan to sell Rice Memorial High School to supporters to protect the grade 9-12 South Burlington campus from potential liquidation.In a U.S. Bankruptcy Court filing Monday, lawyers for a creditors’ committee that represents more than 100 clergy abuse claimants questioned the
  
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• Burlington looks to the state for help combating homelessness and drug use downtown

  25-08-2026 22:05 via vtdigger.org
  
  Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak listens as the City Council discusses a resolution requesting more help from the state to battle homelessness, substance use disorder and the mental health crisis on Monday, August 24, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBURLINGTON— Burlington city councilors are requesting the governor take new steps to help the Queen City address homelessness and drug use downtown. The request from city officials comes in the form of a resolution, which Burlin
  
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• Rudulfo “Rudy” Gomez

  25-08-2026 21:50 via vtdigger.org
  
  Born: 04/04/1932Montpelier, VermontDied: 02/06/2026St. Johnsbury, VermontDetails of service:There are no calling hours.  Dad’s interment will be at the Vermont Veterans Memorial Cemetery, September 11, 2026 at 1 pm.Please consider memorial contributions to:Vermont Veterans Place220 Vine Street,Northfield, VT 05663Rudulfo “Rudy” Gomez, 93, of Hardwick, VT, our dad, Poppy, Grandpa, Great Poppy, uncle and brother, passed on February 6, 2026.Born to immigrant parents, Santiag
  
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• Vermont could save Brattleboro’s birthing center — if it does the math

  25-08-2026 20:24 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Lucas Farrell, a farmer and writer in Townshend. He is the treasurer of the board of Grace Cottage Family Health and Hospital. These views are his own.Defenders of Brattleboro Memorial Hospital’s birthing center need to say this out loud, because our case is worthless without it: The hospital’s finances were catastrophically mismanaged, and the community deserves to be angry.The record is in BMH’s own filings: nine years of losses — $33.6 million si
  
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• A Vermont teenager is holding the U.S. to its own law

  25-08-2026 18:22 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor,Zoya Bianchi, a 14-year-old student from Waterbury, recently wrote in VTDigger that U.S. law bars aid to Israel or any other country that commits human rights violations. Continuing U.S. aid to Israel is now well into the billions. Bianchi’s letter underscores two recent United Nations reports: the finding by the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory in September 2025 that Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip
  
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• Why Vermont’s housing shortage can’t be explained by population size alone

  25-08-2026 11:15 via vtdigger.org
  
  A mismatch between Vermont’s home sizes and household sizes is one factor in Vermont’s current housing crunch.Laura Nakasaka / Vermont Public
  Carly Berlin covers housing and infrastructure for Vermont Public, in partnership with VTDigger.For two decades, Dave Felcan had a full house. He and his wife bought their three-bedroom Burlington home with red shutters on a quiet neighborhood street in the early 2000s. The house felt like just the right place to raise their two young kids.But
  
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• A Vermonter is running for treasurer as a Progressive. The party says he’s not their candidate.

  25-08-2026 00:35 via vtdigger.org
  
  Zachary Hampl, the Vermont Progressive Party’s nominee for state treasurer, speaks during a candidate forum in June. ScreenshotTypically, the political party labels on a ballot can give voters a sense of where each candidate stands on the biggest issues. But in at least one case in this fall’s election in Vermont, it won’t be that simple.Zachary Hampl, an author and financial account manager from Rutland Town, won the Vermont Progressive Party primary for state treasurer earli
  
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• 15 years after Irene, plucky business owners recall the monster storm and its aftermath

  25-08-2026 00:08 via vtdigger.org
  
  After the floodwaters receded, the extent of the damage to the Wilmington business community became apparent. File photo by Mike Eldred/Deerfield Valley NewsThis story by John Hurdle was first published in The Deerfield Valley News on Aug. 20, 2026.WILMINGTON — Lisa Sullivan recalled the morning of Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, when raging floodwaters from Tropical Storm Irene threatened to destroy the building that houses Bartleby’s Books.Water pressure on the building was so great from t
  
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• PHOTOS: A day at the rodeo in Vermont’s wild west

  24-08-2026 23:26 via vtdigger.org
  
  A rider leaps off his horse during the steer wrestling competition at the Pond Hill Ranch Pro Rodeo in Castleton on Saturday, August 22, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerCowpokes and crowds gathered at the Pond Hill Ranch Pro Rodeo in Castleton for an afternoon of barrel racing, bareback riding, steer wrestling, and more. VTDigger photographer Glenn Russell attended the rodeo on Saturday, August 22, and captured the energy, exhaustion, and excitement, in and out of the ring.Spectators take
  
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• Prosecution pushes efforts to ‘restore’ competency for suspect in arson at Sen. Bernie Sanders’ office

  24-08-2026 23:22 via vtdigger.org
  
  Trucks are parked outside the building where U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has his offices on Church Street in Burlington in April 2024. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBURLINGTON – More than two years after authorities allege that a former California man set a fire outside the Burlington office of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a federal judge ordered Monday that he remain in custody while issues regarding his competency to stand trial play out. Judge William K. Sessions III last year fou
  
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• Vermont cannot spend its way into affordability

  24-08-2026 21:51 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Elizabeth Brown, who is a state director at the Fiscal Alliance Foundation.Despite six years of skyrocketing state spending, with increases at twice the rate of inflation, for many the answer to Vermont’s affordability crisis continues to be more revenue, higher taxes and an expansion of government programs. With the third-highest total tax burden in the nation, why should taxpayers believe spending even more will make Vermont more affordable?New revenue proposals ha
  
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• Dear Vermont, I’m leaving

  24-08-2026 19:15 via vtdigger.org
  
  This commentary is by Jim Suriano, who lives in Montpelier.I’m leaving. And I’m writing to share my experience living here in the hope of effecting some changes for you all.I moved here in the fall of 2019. For years, I’d been determined to live in Vermont. I loved the Green Mountains and all the encounters I had with people in the state. I through-hiked a section of the Long Trail between Rutland and Waterbury and hitchhiked into Burlington back in 2016. The experience left l
  
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• Veterans Affairs to open clinic in South Burlington

  24-08-2026 13:18 via vtdigger.org
  
  The Brattleboro Community Based Outpatient Clinic on GSP Drive is one of seven in the Vermont Veterans Affairs system. File photo by Mike Faher/VTDiggerThis story by Briana Brady was first published in The Other Paper on Aug. 20, 2026.The Department of Veterans Affairs signed a 20-year lease for a new outpatient clinic at Technology Park in South Burlington.The VA White River Junction Healthcare System expects the new clinic, which will replace the services it currently offers at its clinic in
  
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• The catch in Noah Kahan’s charity concert for Vermont

  23-08-2026 15:11 via vtdigger.org
  
  Dear Editor,I have been a Noah Kahan fan since 2021. I heard a Vermont Public feature about him on the radio in the car with my grandma and have been hooked ever since. I got my mom into him. I cried on my bedroom floor listening to the original “Stick Season” album and again, even harder, when I heard “The Great Divide.” All of this is to say that I really love Kahan. As someone who grew up in Vermont and now goes to Providence College in Rhode Island, I love havin
  
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• Meet three Vermonters whose histories are lesser known

  23-08-2026 15:07 via vtdigger.org
  
  An illustration of a mass revival during the Second Great Awakening. The image is a depiction of what Charles Bowles’ congregation might have looked like. Image courtesy of American History CentralKyle Neece is a reporter with the Community News Service, part of the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program.This summer marked the 250th anniversary of the United States, and many Vermont towns and cities celebrated residents who played important roles in
  
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• Vermont Secretary of State urges voters to update state records before ballots get mailed out

  23-08-2026 14:51 via vtdigger.org
  
  A ballot drop box outside the Randolph Town Clerk’s office in October 2024. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe Vermont Secretary of State’s office is urging voters to make sure they have a current address on file with the state before ballots get mailed out for this fall’s general election.After Sept. 1 — which is in less than two weeks — whatever voter addresses the secretary’s office has listed will be used to mail ballots. The state will start sending
  
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• What’s next for Vermont? Meet the reporters covering politics, elections and health care

  23-08-2026 14:00 via vtdigger.org
  
  VTDigger’s Shaun Robinson and Ethan Weinstein at an event with historian Jill Lepore at the Manchester Community Library on Thursday, September 5, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerState government can be difficult to follow. Major policy decisions take shape through legislative debates, agency actions, elections and negotiations that often happen far from public view.On Thursday, September 10, VTDigger is bringing the journalists who follow those decisions to Manchester for a candid c
  
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• Vermont wants to train the next generation of physicians. How much should insured Vermonters be paying for it? 

  23-08-2026 13:53 via vtdigger.org
  
  The University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington in Nov. 2020. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerTeaching and training the next generation of physicians is expensive work. And commercial insurers are footing more than half that bill in Vermont through their payments for care, according to an independent analysis. Nearly $82 million of commercial insurance dollars went toward the $161 million cost for UVM Medical Center to run its medical education programs last year, analysts said
  
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• Vermont’s statewide ban on cellphones in schools starts this year

  23-08-2026 12:32 via vtdigger.org
  
  Sam Blair demonstrates the use of a magnetically-sealed cell phone pouch at Harwood Union High School in Duxbury in August 2025. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerKids across Vermont will be banned from using smartphones during the school day this year as a new state law takes effect. Although schools are newly required to have policies on banning phones from the classroom, many schools around the state have tried out the ban for the last year or two. And staff in those districts say stu
  
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