Vermont news

• Susan Newell

  07-11-2026 00:59 via VTDigger
  
  Born: 04/08/1953Edinburgh, ScotlandDied: 09/11/2026Lebanon, NHDetails of service:In Loving Memory of Susan Newell (nee Donaldson).In the early morning hours of September 11th, 2026, Susan, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, passed away peacefully after a life that carried her from Scotland to the United States nearly 48 years ago. A graduate of the Edinburgh School of Nursing, she was a Registered Nurse and Certified Midwife.Fiercely proud of her Scottish roots, she carried Scotland with her wher
  
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• PHOTOS: Anti-ICE march of remembrance

  07-11-2026 00:20 via VTDigger
  
  More than 200 people participate in a protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Williston on Friday, November 6, 2026. Local clergy carry cardboard coffins past the entrance to ICE’s National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Center during a march from there to ICE’s Law Enforcement Support Center. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerActivists staged a mock funeral procession Friday in Williston to protest the presence of two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in
  
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• Promising growth, Utah-based investor leads board takeover at Ethan Allen

  07-11-2026 00:08 via VTDigger
  
  The Ethan Allen factory pictured in Orleans. Photo by Fred Thys/VTDiggerTheo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.Three of Ethan Allen’s five board members were ousted on Wednesday in a shareholder vote, marking a successful takeover led by Utah-based investor and former Verifone CEO Doug Bergeron. Ethan Allen, a furniture and interior design company, was founded in Vermont in 1932, and has long been an “anchor employer” in the state’s Northeast
  
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• Burlington City Council president launches bid for mayor

  06-11-2026 23:58 via VTDigger
  
  Democrat Ben Traverse, Ward 5 representative and president of the Burlington City Council, announced his bid to run for mayor at a press conference in Battery Park on Nov. 6. 2026, flanked by supporters of his campaign. Photo by Auditi Guha/VTDigger.BURLINGTON — City Council President Ben Traverse is running for mayor, potentially setting up a contest with the incumbent, Progressive Emma Mulvaney-Stanak.The mayor said Friday, in a statement via her political director, that she will make an an
  
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• Vermont stores feel ripple effect of strike at grocery distributor

  06-11-2026 23:48 via VTDigger
  
  An aisle in a grocery store with canned food items. Photo via Adobe StockSome Vermont grocery and convenience stores are seeing reduced stock and delayed deliveries as a New England labor union refuses to give up its pension plan.“We certainly hope that this is resolved soon,” said Matt Cota, executive director for the Vermont Retail and Grocers Association, a trade group representing the state’s retail stores. Teamsters at the Associated Grocers Northeast warehouse in Pembroke, New Hamp
  
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• ‘Where is your emergency?’: Hartford’s emergency communications specialists shortage echoes national trend

  06-11-2026 21:54 via VTDigger
  
  Christina Kramer, 47, answers a 911 phone call in the communications center of the Hartford Public Safety Building in White River Junction, Vt., on Thursday, October 29, 2026. An emergency communications specialist, Kramer takes phone calls and dispatches all over Vermont, often working between 65 and 70 hours a week. Photo by Sophie Levenson/Valley NewsWHITE RIVER JUNCTION — In the bathroom at the Hartford Emergency Communications Center, there are two radios and a phone atop the toilet tank
  
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• Essex Junction cannabis and duck farmer poised to get his growing license back

  06-11-2026 21:51 via VTDigger
  
  Jason Struthers with some of the cannabis plants at his licensced growing operation at his home in Essex Junction on Tuesday, September 30, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe Essex Junction man long mired in controversy for growing cannabis and raising ducks in his suburban backyard wants permission to keep cultivating. Vermont Superior Court Judge Thomas Walsh ruled late last month that Jason Struthers, who has farmed in his half-acre backyard since 2022, did not violate local zoning la
  
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• Clear the grid backlog and lower Vermont’s power bills

  06-11-2026 21:06 via VTDigger
  
  This commentary is by Alex Messinger, co-leader of the Vermont chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.There’s a new bipartisan bill in Congress that will significantly reduce emissions, speed up clean energy and lower energy costs for us here in Vermont. The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act is a comprehensive package of permitting reforms that was recently introduced in the Senate. Climate champions Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., were at the forefr
  
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• Construction of the South Burlington Walk-Bike Bridge advances at Exit 14

  06-11-2026 20:11 via VTDigger
  
  Construction work continues on the South Burlington Walk-Bike Bridge near Interstate 89. Photo by Scarlett Glazebrook/Community News ServiceScarlett Glazebrook  is a reporter with the Community News Service, part of the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program.SOUTH BURLINGTON — For people traveling on foot, walking along Williston Road over Interstate 89 means navigating the traffic barreling on and off the ramps leading to the busy highway at Exit 14. And
  
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• For new taxes, only room at the inn

  06-11-2026 00:33 via VTDigger
  
  People hold signs for candidates and ballot measures at Essex Middle School in Essex Town on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Photo by Brendan Kinney/VTDiggerLocal option taxes met a mostly chilly reception in Bennington, Hinesburg and Essex on Tuesday, with only one — a rooms tax  — passing in a preliminary vote.“People feel the stress of increased gas prices,” said Ted Brady, executive director of Vermont League of Cities and Towns. “They feel the stress of the cost of inflation, and the
  
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• ‘We will not be intimidated’: 3 anti-ICE protesters plead not guilty to federal charges

  06-11-2026 00:00 via VTDigger
  
  From left: Sherri Wormser, Henry Prensky, and Peter Booth read from a joint statement to supporters outside of federal court in Burlington on Thursday, November 5, 2026, following their arraignments on charges stemming from anti-ICE demonstrations in Williston. Photo by Alan J. Keays/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — Three people have denied federal charges stemming from demonstrations where they allegedly blocked doors at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement surveillance facility in Williston.Peter
  
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• Washington County voters approved $54.9 million bond for new career center

  05-11-2026 23:34 via VTDigger
  
  An architect’s drawing shows the proposed site plan for the new facility on the U-32 campus. Image courtesy of CVCCVoters in Washington County supported an effort to nearly double the Central Vermont Career Center, approving a $54.9 million bond to build a new campus. The current technical education center at Barre’s Spaulding High School only has space for about 250 students. Last year more than 400 kids applied, according to Jody Emerson, the center’s director. With a new building in
  
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• Vets Town Hall events will highlight veterans’ stories in November

  05-11-2026 23:29 via VTDigger
  
  Veteran Larry Stoneking speaks at a Vets Town Hall event in Colchester in 2022. Photo by Megan Humphrey/Waterbury RoundaboutThis story was first published in the Waterbury Roundabout on Nov. 2, 2026.The Vermont nonprofit organization Vets Town Hall will host 10 community storytelling events in Vermont and New Hampshire from Nov. 6-15 to increase community understanding between veterans and nonveterans.The public is invited to attend, regardless of whether one has any ties to military service. A
  
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• Wealth shouldn’t fast-track a private runway in Lincoln

  05-11-2026 23:20 via VTDigger
  
  Dear Editor,Few would dispute that Beta Technologies is a boon to Chittenden County employment and its economic environment. However, the company’s CEO, Kyle Clark, would like to be able to fly to and from his $3.5 million home in Lincoln, a 45-minute drive from Beta’s headquarters at Burlington International Airport. The planes could include traditional fuel-powered aircraft and not just quiet, nonpolluting electric planes.Vermont should hold public hearings about a private airport proposa
  
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• Lighten up and let ’em fly

  05-11-2026 22:47 via VTDigger
  
  Dear Editor,I keep reading with fascination about the ongoing contention over Beta Technologies CEO Kyle Clark’s desire to build an airstrip on his land. I live in Grand Isle, where there is an airstrip on my road as well as float planes on the lake. There has never been a problem. Not one. The noise is minimal and certainly far quieter than the F-35 training runs that can happen here several times a year. Seeing a plane in the air so close is almost magical. And when our neighbor sees us, h
  
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• Apparent election ploy to oust Chittenden County state’s attorney fails

  05-11-2026 22:11 via VTDigger
  
  Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George speaks during closing arguments in Chittenden Superior criminal court in Burlington on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. Jason Eaton faces charges of attempted second-degree murder in the shooting of three Palestinian students. Pool photo by Paul Heintz/Boston GlobeAn incumbent won reelection over an opponent who said he didn’t even want the job.In Chittenden County — the state’s most populous — Sarah George, the incumbent state’s attorney who r
  
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• Porter Medical Center nurses sign new 3-year contract

  05-11-2026 20:01 via VTDigger
  
  Porter Medical Center in Middlebury seen on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story by John Flowers was first published by the Addison Independent on Nov. 2, 2026.MIDDLEBURY — Porter Medical Center nurses have agreed on a new three-year contract that grants them annual wage increases of 3.25% in each of the first two years and 3.5% in year three, as well as additional gains in such areas as shift differentials, incentive pay and bereavement leave.The agreement,
  
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• Vermont invested in her. Now she’s coming back.

  05-11-2026 17:49 via VTDigger
  
  Two out of three young Vermonters say they want out, according to a 2026 Campaign for Vermont survey, citing costs, taxes, and a lack of opportunity. Makayla Towne plans to come back. The Curtis Fund helped make that possible.Makayla grew up in Manchester, where money was always tight. She received new clothes once a year from her grandparents. Anything else, she earned through jobs at camps, after-school programs, mentoring—whatever paid.Home carried other challenges, too. Her mom cycled thr
  
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• In a ‘blue tsunami,’ how did Republican Gov. Phil Scott win another term?

  05-11-2026 00:14 via VTDigger
  
  Gov. Phil Scott the Associated General Contractors facility in Montpelier on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Photo by Andy Duback/VTDiggerThere are just two Republican governors, as it stands, who serve alongside a state legislature controlled by Democrats. One of them, Gov. Joe Lombardo of Nevada, was ousted Tuesday night amid a “blue tsunami” of Democratic gains across the country.But the other, Vermont’s GOP Gov. Phil Scott, defied the national trends — again.Scott overcame a well-funded
  
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• Hunting is part of who we are as a state

  04-11-2026 23:09 via VTDigger
  
  Dear Editor,I adore Vermont in the fall. As mornings turn crisp, leaves begin to change and fall, and days grow shorter, a familiar feeling of anticipation stirs in my heart. It is not just the anticipation of my favorite holidays — Thanksgiving and Christmas — that I look forward to. It is also the season that comes first: hunting season.For me, hunting season begins at the end of September. On a sun-drenched October afternoon, I love nothing more than simply going for a walk in the woods
  
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• Republican incumbent state senator from Rutland County arrested last week loses reelection bid

  04-11-2026 22:44 via VTDigger
  
  Sen. Terry Williams, R-Rutland, center, on the first day of the legislative biennium at the Statehouse in Montpelier in Jan. 2023.File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerAn incumbent Republican Rutland County state senator arrested last week on a charge of domestic assault has lost his bid for reelection, ousted by an independent candidate who served in the state Senate over 30 years ago. Republicans also suffered setbacks in House districts in Rutland County, with four seats flipping to Democrati
  
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• Vermont Conversation: ‘An incredible repudiation of Trump.’ Sen. Peter Welch on the 2026 Democratic tsunami.

  04-11-2026 19:26 via VTDigger
  
  
  U. S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, speaks in Burlington on Election Night, Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell, VTDiggerThe 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.Landslide. Tsunami. Earthquake. Bloodbath. Wipeout. Massacre.That is how mainstream news accounts are characterizing the results of this
  
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• A shrinking state can’t afford to lose its top earners

  04-11-2026 19:03 via VTDigger
  
  Dear Editor,In his recent letter to VTDigger, Alan Turnbull proposes raising taxes on “the rich” to spare up to 90% of Vermonters from income taxes. Like most such proposals, Turnbull’s would hurt Vermont and Vermonters, not help. I support raising taxes on the wealthy — on a national level. I think it would be a major mistake to do so in Vermont. Vermont is already among the states with the highest tax burdens in the country. Unlike other very high-tax states, such as California, New
  
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• Vermont Democrats regain supermajorities in Statehouse amid nationwide ‘blue wave’

  04-11-2026 18:55 via VTDigger
  
  The Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier in June 2026. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerTheo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.This article was updated at 5:37 p.m.The Democratic “blue wave” felt across the country swept through Montpelier too on Tuesday.Two years after the party saw its supermajorities shattered in both state legislative chambers with significant Republican wins, Democrats returned to two-thirds majorities in both the Senate and H
  
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• Vermont Democrats make major Statehouse gains amid nationwide ‘blue wave’

  04-11-2026 18:55 via VTDigger
  
  The Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier in June 2026. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerTheo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.The Democratic “blue wave” felt across the country swept through Montpelier too on Tuesday.Two years after the party saw its supermajorities shattered in both state legislative chambers with significant Republican wins, Democrats returned to a veto-proof majority in the Senate and substantially strengthened their control of
  
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• On fourth attempt, Barre voters approve school district budget

  04-11-2026 16:49 via VTDigger
  
  The Barre City Elementary and Middle School seen on Tuesday, August 8, 2023.File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerUpdated at 4:56 p.m.BARRE — Voters in the Barre Unified Union School District approved an annual spending plan for the district on their fourth attempt Tuesday. The district was the last in the state to approve a budget, which allocates $56.6 million this fiscal year, which started July 1. Residents across Barre Town and Barre City previously voted down three costlier proposed spen
  
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• Barre voters approve school district budget on fourth attempt

  04-11-2026 16:49 via VTDigger
  
  The Barre City Elementary and Middle School seen on Tuesday, August 8, 2023.File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBARRE — Voters in the Barre Unified Union School District approved an annual spending plan for the district on their fourth attempt Tuesday. The district was the last in the state to approve a budget, which allocates $56.6 million this school year. Residents across Barre Town and Barre City previously voted down three costlier proposed spending plans. Notably, the district’s new
  
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• Barre voters approve school district budget on 4th attempt

  04-11-2026 16:49 via VTDigger
  
  The Barre City Elementary and Middle School seen on Tuesday, August 8, 2023.File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBARRE — Voters in the Barre Unified Union School District approved an annual spending plan for the district on their fourth attempt Tuesday. The district was the last in the state to approve a budget, which allocates $56.6 million this school year. Residents across Barre Town and Barre City previously voted down three costlier proposed spending plans. Notably, the district’s new
  
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• First in their families: Five first-generation students share their stories

  04-11-2026 15:39 via VTDigger
  
  What does it mean to be a first-generation student? Technically, a first-generation student’s parents or guardians have not yet completed a four-year degree from a college or university. First-generation students may face barriers to attending college, like financial and time pressures related to caregiving or employment. And they may need additional support to successfully navigate the application and financial processes, as well as the academic system. Despite these challenges, being first
  
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• Vermonters vote to approve 2 constitutional amendments

  04-11-2026 05:20 via VTDigger
  
  A ballot in the Vermont General Election on November 3, 2026. Photo by Noel Clark/VTDiggerVermonters decisively approved two amendments to the state constitution Tuesday. The public referendums were the final steps in ratifying the new items, which fortify collective bargaining rights and guarantee equal protection under the law regardless of a number of characteristics.The complex, yearslong amendment process requires legislative support in two consecutive bienniums. Voters last ratified const
  
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