Vermont news

• Shaftsbury school board addresses CO2 concerns

  14-06-2016 03:35
  
  SHAFTSBURY >> The Shaftsbury School Board and principal on Wednesday responded to concerns about transparency and student safety after elevated levels of carbon dioxide were detected at the school in April.
  
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• In Kirby, a potluck and debate night brings neighbors together

  03-11-2026 00:28 via VTDigger
  
  Kirby residents gathered for a potluck followed by a moderated House candidate debate on Oct. 15 at the Kirby Town Hall. Photo by Juliette Dutton/Community News ServiceThis story by Finn McDonough and Juliette Dutton was first published by Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, on Nov. 2, 2026.KIRBY — A potluck and a debate. That’s how Kirby, a small town in the Northeast Kingdom, got ready for Election Day.Kirby has 575 residents, according to the 2020 censu
  
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• Workers at Lake Champlain Chocolates push to unionize

  02-11-2026 23:42 via VTDigger
  
  Lake Champlain Chocolates runs two separate molding lines at its facility in Williston. Photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDiggerTheo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.A group of employees at Lake Champlain Chocolates is pushing to unionize, saying they want better compensation and benefits, as well as changes to the company’s workplace environment. Workers at the company will vote Nov. 17 on whether to accept representation, according to Curtis Clough, pres
  
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• Gifford Health Care raises rates and reduces hours on its employee daycare center

  02-11-2026 23:29 via VTDigger
  
  Robin’s Nest, the child enrichment center at the Gifford Medical Center in Randolph, seen on Monday, November 2, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerHillary McAllister-Bove works as a social worker at Gifford Primary Care in Randolph because of its daycare, the Robin’s Nest.She learned of the job opening at her first midwifery appointment at the hospital, when she was pregnant with her first child in 2022. The subsidized employee childcare center, posted as a benefit, caught her eye.“I b
  
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• I nearly died because I couldn’t find a primary care doctor

  02-11-2026 22:57 via VTDigger
  
  Dear Editor,To understand why universal primary care is so important, you have to experience what it is like to have a life-threatening disease without access to a primary care doctor. Twenty years ago, that was me. I nearly lost my life because of it. The breathtaking question is why our political system — federal and state  — has been so cavalier about the awful injustice of our healthcare mess. I was one of the lucky ones back then. I had employer-sponsored health insurance. Still, tha
  
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• Universal primary care will strain a shrinking doctor workforce

  02-11-2026 18:54 via VTDigger
  
  Dear Editor,As someone who has worked in Vermont’s healthcare financial advisory sector over the past year, I think Olivia Gieger’s recent VTDigger report does a great service by highlighting universal primary care, a goal both gubernatorial candidates view as important for Vermont. However, turning this vision into reality requires overcoming substantial structural and financial challenges.On the care side, our delivery system is under immense strain. With nearly a third of our primary car
  
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• Vermont has assigned its $195 million in federal rural health dollars. Here’s where it’s going.

  02-11-2026 17:55 via VTDigger
  
  Jill Mazza Olson, deputy director for health care reform at the Vermont Agency of Human Services, speaks before the Senate Health and Welfare Committee at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday, January 14, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerRight before its deadline, Vermont has allocated all $195 million of federal Rural Health Transformation funding it received last December.In the 10 months since receiving the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid dollars, the state has built out a team to
  
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• An affluent southern Vermont town considers adding housing — or keeping green space

  02-11-2026 11:15 via VTDigger
  
  A rendering of a potential housing development on Raptor Lane in Dorset. Vermont Integrated Architecture/Courtesy of Town of DorsetCarly Berlin covers housing and infrastructure for Vermont Public, in partnership with VTDigger. On Tuesday, voters in the affluent Bennington County town of Dorset will decide whether the town ought to move forward with a housing project on municipal land. Local officials hope to encourage homebuilding at the site on Raptor Lane, citing Dorset’s need for smalle
  
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• Data centers need guardrails now

  01-11-2026 16:24 via VTDigger
  
  Dear Editor,As a parent and a teacher, I urge local leaders to demand accountability for data centers. Right now, big polluters are profiting while our families foot the bill. Data centers take up acres of much-needed land that could otherwise be used for affordable housing, education or agriculture. We need our rural landscapes to keep protecting wildlife and providing clean air and water. 
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  The rush to power data centers is driving new fossil fuel development, threatening climate pr
  
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• Public phone now available in downtown Middlebury

  01-11-2026 14:46 via VTDigger
  
  Daniel Houghton, who teaches industrial design at Middlebury College uses the free Midd Tel phone in downtown Middlebury. Photo by Norah Khan/The Middlebury CampusThis story by Norah Khan was published by the Addison Independent on Oct. 29, 2026.MIDDLEBURY — In Cannon Park across from Ilsley Public Library sits a citrine yellow payphone with a hand-painted logo that reads “Midd Tel.” The phone — which is completely free to use — was born out of Middlebury College’s Makerspace.Daniel
  
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• New Burlington police chief will face tall order

  01-11-2026 13:33 via VTDigger
  
  New Watervliet Police Chief Anthony Geraci speaks after being sworn in to the department at the Watervliet Senior Center on Thursday, July 25, 2019 in Watervliet, N.Y. Anthony retired from the Albany Police Department where he was a lieutenant to accept the appointment. File photo by Lori Van Buren/Times UnionShoring up the beleaguered Burlington police department won’t be easy but residents and leaders said they are hopeful the newly selected chief, Anthony Geraci, could make headway — esp
  
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• Barre arena no longer on thin ice thanks to volunteers

  01-11-2026 12:21 via VTDigger
  
  Volunteers who helped repair the Barre ice rink gather for a photo in Barre on Friday, October 30, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBARRE — On an October afternoon four days away from opening night, the Barre BOR Arena, with a coat of fresh paint and the ice bright and smooth, was quiet and still. It’s hard to imagine that just a week earlier, the rink was nothing but a concrete slab with more than a dozen people racing around the clock to fix the rink’s many broken pipes in time for
  
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• Will Vermont history repeat itself with another November nail-biter?

  01-11-2026 11:15 via VTDigger
  
  The Rutland Herald went to press around 2 a.m., on Nov. 7, 1984, with a headline deeming Vermont’s gubernatorial race “A Draw” before switching it around 4 a.m. to report Madeleine Kunin’s victory. Photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerSeen all the stories about the Vermont Republican governor facing a headline-grabbing challenge from an upstart Democrat?Former Gov. Jim Douglas has — although he’s not talking about this fall’s contest between incumbent Phil Scott and challenger Amanda
  
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• Upper Valley’s member-owned co-op battles rising food prices

  31-10-2026 12:36 via VTDigger
  
  Gayle Giovanna, of Strafford, goes through her shopping list as she finds items in the aisles of the co-op in Hanover, N.H., on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. Giovanna has been a customer of the co-op for over 40 years. Photo by Sophia Sahni/Valley NewsThis story by Sophia Sahni was first published by the Valley News on Oct. 30, 2026.During the Great Depression, 17 neighbors across Hanover, New Hampshire, and Norwich combined their resources to create a collective buying group. What started in a baseme
  
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• The saga of a sweet turnip

  30-10-2026 21:51 via VTDigger
  
  A turnip dressed as a baby seen as it vies for “best dressed” in theTurnip Contest during the Gilfeather Turnip Festival in Wardsboro on Saturday, October 24, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerJess Shapiro sports a turnip cap during the Gilfeather Turnip Festival in Wardsboro on Saturday, October 24, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerPatrons line up for turnip-based offerings at the Turnip Cafe during the Gilfeather Turnip Festival in Wardsboro on Saturday, October 24, 2026. Photo by
  
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• Community nurse programs are getting a lot of airtime this election. Here’s how they work.

  30-10-2026 21:40 via VTDigger
  
  Hartford Community Nurse Katie Williams talks with Joan Ponzoni in Jan. 2025, at the Bugbee Senior Center in White River Junction. File photo by Jennifer Hauck/Valley NewsJodi Hoyt’s office is a nurse’s bag and an accordion file folder in a rainbow of colors.She totes those items from house to house while checking on patients in her role as the community nurse for the towns of Chelsea and Tunbridge. It’s a role that’s gotten a fair amount of airtime recently as the Democratic/Progressi
  
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• Tax the rich to spare the rest of us

  30-10-2026 21:15 via VTDigger
  
  Dear Editor,There is one single, fundamental issue underlying the election next week, and many people speak a partial truth about it: Our taxes are too high. Agreed; for most Vermonters, they are.  But some people’s taxes are too low. The wealthiest among us have not paid their fair share to properly support our society in generations, if ever. Not in Vermont, and not in the U.S.  According to data from the Vermont Department of Taxes, the number of Vermont income tax filers earning more
  
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• Pranks, parties and prognostication: The history of Halloween in Vermont

  30-10-2026 21:13 via VTDigger
  
  A postcard postmarked Oct. 31, 1921, in Burlington. The reverse side includes a woman’s note to a friend, reminiscing about the Halloween pranks they’d done the year before. Courtesy of Elizabeth A. AllenThis story by Kyle Neece was first published by Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, on Oct. 29, 2026.On Halloween, Vermonters will don costumes and hand out candy as the phrase “Trick or treat!” will be repeated many times over.But decades ago, typical
  
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• High schoolers start podcast to center young transgender Vermonters

  30-10-2026 20:59 via VTDigger
  
  Rafaela Botti, second from right, host of the “Transmission of Truth”podcast, speaks during a podcast release celebration at Outright Vermont in Burlington on Wednesday, October 28, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — The voice of Ace, a 15-year-old transgender Vermonter, broadcasted through a large speaker to a room of about 40 people gathered to listen to a group rarely heard from: trans youth. “In middle school I would be scared to go to school every day. I would be wo
  
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• Voter voices from Milton’s Bombardier Park

  30-10-2026 20:32 via VTDigger
  
  Bombardier Park in Milton as seen on Oct. 29, 2026. Photo by Charlotte Oliver/VTDigger.MILTON — Troves of adults clutching soccer balls and sporting T-shirts came and went from Bombardier Park on a warm Sunday afternoon. Ahead of the Nov. 3 election, those out for a stroll or showing up for a game shared how they plan to vote. Shosawna Mastin, 43, of Milton, said she plans to vote in person next week because she doesn’t believe in mail-in voting. Mastin, who works doing highway constructio
  
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• Lois A. Schumacher

  29-10-2026 23:19 via VTDigger
  
  Born: 03/23/1935Philadelphia, PADied: 10/22/2026Colchester, VTDetails of service:No formal services were requested. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to a charity of your choice in memory of Lois.Lois A. Schumacher, 91, of Essex Center passed away peacefully on October 22, 2026 surrounded by family at McClure-Miller respite house in Colchester.She was born on March 23, 1935 in Philadelphia to Clifford and Myrtle Abrahamson. She attended Springfield High School and g
  
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• Bennington Battle Monument dig reveals possible historic tavern, artifacts

  29-10-2026 22:58 via VTDigger
  
  Researchers think these stones may mark the threshold into the former tavern. Photo by Jeff McRae/Bennington BannerThis story by Jeff McRae was first published in the Bennington Banner on Oct. 27, 2026.OLD BENNINGTON — The archeological dig at the Bennington Battle Monument State Historic Site in Old Bennington was open Monday, Oct. 26 for tours, with members of the Vermont Division of Historic Preservation on hand to make the pits and their thought-provoking revelations meaningful to visitin
  
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• Vermont to receive $4.5M settlement from General Motors following data privacy investigation

  29-10-2026 22:45 via VTDigger
  
  Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark and members of her staff addressed the press on Thursday afternoon. Photo by Theo Wells-Spackman/VTDiggerTheo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.MONTPELIER — Roughly two years ago, Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark and James Layman, who leads Clark’s consumer protection unit, read a New York Times journalist’s coverage of worrying data sharing practices at car manufacturing giant General Motors.The accou
  
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• Let the wealthy help keep Vermont rural

  29-10-2026 22:37 via VTDigger
  
  Dear Editor,I very much appreciate Megan Durling’s recent commentary advocating for Vermont’s education policies to better include rural areas. Local schools are the heartbeat of small communities. They wither when they lose their schools. Though they need tax relief, most rural residents still resist school consolidation. Much of the current debate about Vermont’s future turns on whether we choose to remain a mostly rural state or become more urbanized. Most of us who choose to be here
  
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• Voter voices from Rutland’s downtown Walmart plaza

  29-10-2026 21:10 via VTDigger
  
  Walmart has operated its downtown Rutland store since 1997. File photo by Kevin O’Connor/VTDiggerVTDigger reporters visited a variety of sites across Vermont in recent weeks, asking voters directly about the issues they care most about this election season. This week we’ll bring you those voices as we approach Election Day on Nov. 3.RUTLAND — Shoppers meandered outside the Walmart plaza parking lot on a fair weather October Friday as the Nov. 3 election approached. The gubernatorial race
  
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• November brings an end to foliage season — but it’s not winter yet

  29-10-2026 20:13 via VTDigger
  A motorcyclist travels along the Notch Road in Cambridge during stick season on Thursday, October 29, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
  This year, VTDigger is teaming up with Henry’s Weather Channel to help answer the annual question of when and where peak foliage will make its appearance across the state.Each week, we’ll bring you an updated look at how foliage is unfolding statewide, paired with a weekend forecast, so you can plan your drive, hike or porch-sitting accordingly. Henry b
  
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• Soaring diesel prices are pushing Vermont loggers to the brink

  29-10-2026 19:35 via VTDigger
  
  This commentary is by Dana Doran, executive director of the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast, a regional nonprofit supporting independent logging and forest trucking contractors.A logger in Vermont recently summed up the industry’s mood to our organization in a single sentence: “I would not encourage my son to get into logging.” That sentiment is becoming increasingly common in the state as diesel costs soar, mills close and operating expenses continue to climb. In late
  
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• Bringing flood reporting from VTDigger and FRONTLINE (PBS) to more Vermonters

  29-10-2026 18:03 via VTDigger
  
  Photo by Taylor Haynes/VTDiggerAfter 17 years as an all-digital newsroom, VTDigger is trying something new: our first printed project.“In an era where screens are everywhere, I think even our most die-hard readers appreciate an analog experience where they can take their time and form a stronger connection with what they’re holding in their hands,” said VTDigger CEO Brendan Kinney.VTDigger has partnered with FRONTLINE (PBS) to report on Vermont’s capacity to recover from flooding. The C
  
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• Dartmouth provost resigns after review finds undisclosed AI use

  29-10-2026 16:59 via VTDigger
  
  Santiago Schnell, the Dean of the College of Science at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, has been named the next provost of Dartmouth, the college announced Tuesday. Photo credit: University of Notre Dame – Barbara JohnstonThis story by Molly Hughes was first published in the Valley News on Oct. 28, 2026.HANOVER — Dartmouth Provost Santiago Schnell has resigned and is leaving the university after a faculty-led committee found he used artificial intelligence in his writing without pr
  
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• Accountability court docket to continue in ‘modified fashion’

  28-10-2026 23:04 via VTDigger
  
  Windham County State’s Attorney Steven Brown questions a witness during the trial of Cara Rodrigues on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. Reformer file photoThis story by Chris Mays was first published in the Brattleboro Reformer on Oct. 25, 2026.BRATTLEBORO — Windham Superior Court Criminal Division’s Rapid Accountability Docket is ramping down to one day a week. “I think overall it’s been very successful,” Windham County State’s Attorney Steven Brown said in an interview last week. “I
  
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