Vermont news

• Traffic restrictions continue at Quechee Gorge Bridge as project faces further setbacks

  26-11-2025 01:30 via vtdigger.org
  A crew from Harrison and Burrowes Bridge Constructors work to add temporary guard rails to the Quechee Gorge Bridge’s eastbound lane, which is closed for construction, in Quechee on March 27, 2025. Construction resumed on the bridge on March 10. Photo by Alex Driehaus/Valley NewsThis story by Lukas Dunford was first published in Valley News on Nov. 25, 2025.QUECHEE — Traffic on the Quechee Gorge Bridge will continue to be limited to one alternating lane this winter due to delays in
  
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• Northfield signs a severance agreement with its town manager

  20-12-2025 02:55 via vtdigger.org
  The Northfield municipal building on Friday, August 1, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerTown Manager Jeff Schulz is no longer an employee of Northfield. Charlie Morse, the town’s selectboard chair, confirmed that Friday was his last day.The five-member selectboard passed a severance agreement at a special meeting Wednesday. Morse was the lone dissenter on the 4-1 vote taken in executive session, according to the meeting minutes.Unlike prior board meetings, the meeting was not str
  
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• Beds are back: Recovery center reopens Vergennes location for people needing low level treatment

  19-12-2025 23:37 via vtdigger.org
  Valley Vista’s headquarters in Bradford. The organization maintains 99 inpatient treatment beds for substance use disorder at two locations in Vermont. Courtesy photoOn Wednesday, Valley Vista reopened the doors of its previously shuttered Vergennes facility and nearly doubled the state’s capacity for low-level substance use residential treatment services. The 27 new beds at the Vergennes location will offer less-intensive treatment for people who do not need around-the clock m
  
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• Federal judge orders release of Afghan trucker detained 104 days in ICE custody

  19-12-2025 23:28 via vtdigger.org
  Enayettullah Walizada and members of his legal team walk out of the Federal Building in Burlington on Friday, December 19, 2025. Walizada, a refugee from Afghanistan, has been released after spending 104 days in detention after being arrested by ICE in Derby Line. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerUpdated at 7:49 p.m.BURLINGTON – An Afghan man held for 104 days without access to counsel or family was released Friday after a federal judge granted bond.A long-haul truck driver living in Oregon
  
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• Afghan man released after 105 days in ICE custody

  19-12-2025 23:28 via vtdigger.org
  Enayettullah Walizada and members of his legal team walk out of the Federal Building in Burlington on Friday, December 19, 2025. Walizada, a refugee from Afghanistan, has been released after spending 105 days in detention after being arrested by ICE in Derby Line. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — An Afghan man held for 105 days without access to counsel or family was released Friday after a federal judge granted bond.A long-haul truck driver living in Oregon, Enayetullah Waliza
  
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• Afghan man released after 104 days in ICE custody

  19-12-2025 23:28 via vtdigger.org
  Enayettullah Walizada and members of his legal team walk out of the Federal Building in Burlington on Friday, December 19, 2025. Walizada, a refugee from Afghanistan, has been released after spending 104 days in detention after being arrested by ICE in Derby Line. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBURLINGTON — An Afghan man held for 104 days without access to counsel or family was released Friday after a federal judge granted bond.A long-haul truck driver living in Oregon, Enayetullah Waliza
  
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• Pediatric asthma worsened in Vermont following Canadian wildfires, UVM study finds

  19-12-2025 21:54 via vtdigger.org
  Smoke billows from the Donnie Creek wildfire burning north of Fort St. John, British Columbia, Canada on July 2, 2023. File photo by AP Noah Berger/APWhen deciding where to live when beginning her PhD, Anna Maassel was drawn to UVM for Vermont’s relative respite from climate catastrophes. Then, the summer before she moved here, the state was slammed with historic flooding and coated in a hazy smoke from Canadian wildfires. Just over two years after the fires of 2023, Maassel, a docto
  
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• Madeleine Connery: What it feels like to realize your country won’t protect you

  19-12-2025 13:01 via vtdigger.org
  Madeleine Connery is a junior at Brown University and lifelong resident of Shelburne.At 4:05 p.m. on December 13, I received the text that every American student fears yet none predict. My 21-year-old roommate sent a message to our group chat “guys I just ran out of the engineering building there were sounds like gunshots.” Over the course of the next 17 hours, my life unraveled.At 20 years old, I became a school shooting survivor, along with my 7,800 peers who hunkered do
  
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• Centers for children with autism fear proposed Medicaid changes may threaten ability to operate 

  19-12-2025 12:55 via vtdigger.org
  Teachers work with kids at the Bounce ADA Preschool in Essex Junction on Tuesday, Dec. 16. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerTo get himself ready to leave the house each morning, Kingston Emilo goes through a series of to-dos outlined in little pictures on a story board. When he puts his socks on, he moves the velcro square from “To-Do” to “Done.” He repeats the ritual when putting on his shoes, his coat, his backpack. Transitions are hard for the 5-year-old with autis
  
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• Burlington School District reaches $475K settlement in former athletic director’s lawsuit alleging gender pay discrimination

  19-12-2025 00:38 via vtdigger.org
  Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe Burlington School District has reached a $475,000 settlement with a former female athletic director who accused the district of gender-based wage discrimination.Jeanne Hulsen, who worked at Burlington High School for 22 years, told VTDigger in a telephone interview that she filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in 2020 after the school district redefined the athletic director position and hired a younger and less experienced man at a starting salary that dwar
  
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• As the new nuclear age rises, questions remain of the waste left behind

  18-12-2025 22:51 via vtdigger.org
  Non-fuel radioactive waste is loaded into a rail car for delivery to a facility in Texas at the site of the former Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon on Oct. 10, 2023. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerWhile the nuclear renaissance grips Washington, Vermont’s congressional delegation introduced a bill this week seeking more local control over the closure of nuclear plants.U.S. Sens. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., along with U.S. Rep. Becca Balint,  D-Vt.,
  
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• Judge throws out Vermont’s lawsuit against facial recognition software firm Clearview AI

  18-12-2025 22:18 via vtdigger.org
  Judge Daniel Richardson. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerA Vermont judge has tossed out a lawsuit brought by the state against a New York-based facial recognition software company, alleging violations of consumer protection laws.Washington County Superior Court Judge Daniel Richardson this week granted Clearview AI’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which was brought earlier this year by the Vermont Attorney General’s Office.“The largely uncontested record here shows that Clearvi
  
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• New federal rules may threaten Vermont hospital funding over gender-affirming care for minors

  18-12-2025 21:08 via vtdigger.org
  Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 30, 2025. Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/APTheo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.Hospitals participating in Medicaid and Medicare would be prohibited from administering gender-affirming care to minors under one of several new proposed rules, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said Thursday.The an
  
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• Wood4Good: Expanding to Reach More Vermonters

  18-12-2025 19:30 via vtdigger.org
  Stephanie loscalzo & Abbie Stevenson from EastRise Credit Union volunteering with Wood4Good.Wood4Good is entering an exciting new phase of growth as we expand our free firewood program into new regions across Vermont. After another record-setting year serving families in need, we are taking intentional steps to ensure that no Vermonter is left out in the cold—no matter where they live.In the coming year, Wood4Good will establish new processing and distribution locations in&nb
  
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• Molly Gray: What Washington gets wrong about Afghan refugees

  18-12-2025 13:03 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by Molly Gray. She has served as the Executive Director of the Vermont Afghan Alliance since April 2023. Previously, she served as Lt. Governor of Vermont from 2021 to 2023.I was a senior in high school when 9/11 happened in 2001. I will never forget where I was or how the day unfolded. I wasn’t yet 18, but my entire adult life would be shaped by that event. Soon after, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, and then Iraq. U.S. involvement in Afghanistan would last 21 years, and
  
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• Watch your language: Trump admin questioned Vermont Head Start provider’s funding request over DEI terms

  18-12-2025 12:54 via vtdigger.org
  Sandra Graves, director of Champlain Valley Head Start in Burlington on Wednesday, Dec. 17. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerTheo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.After Sandra Graves, the director of Champlain Valley Head Start in Burlington, submitted her annual application for federal funding, federal officials sent the request back to her with several issues flagged. Among other similar critiques, the phrase “cultural and linguistic respon
  
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• Gov. Phil Scott says Trump should consult Congress in military buildup near Venezuela

  18-12-2025 01:31 via vtdigger.org
  Airmen hold up the Vermont National Guard flag as two F-35 fighter jets arrive at the Vermont Air National Guard base in South Burlington on Sept. 19, 2019.File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerVermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott said Wednesday that President Donald Trump needs to consult with Congress before further escalating the United States’ military campaign against Venezuela, which as of this week, has killed more than 90 people.Scott’s comments came as the Vermont Air National
  
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• Vermont Conversation: Yankee editor Mel Allen on a half century of New England storytelling

  18-12-2025 00:18 via vtdigger.org
  
  
  Mel Allen’s new book is “Here in New England: Unforgettable Stories of People, Places, and Memories That Connect Us All” (Earth Sky + Water 2025). Photo courtesy of the authorThe Vermont Conversation with David Goodman is a VTDigger podcast that features in-depth interviews on local and national issues. Listen below and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts.For 90 years, Yankee Magazine has been telling stories of and ab
  
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• UVM men’s rugby team wins first-ever national championship

  17-12-2025 23:27 via vtdigger.org
  The University of Vermont men’s rugby team celebrates after winning its national championship game against the University of Chicago on Sunday, Dec. 14. Photo courtesy of National Collegiate RugbyThe University of Vermont men’s rugby team romped the University of Chicago last weekend, 71-5, to win its first-ever national championship. It’s the second time, notably, that a UVM sports team has won a national-level title in the past year.Rugby is not a varsity sport at UVM &mdash
  
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• Scott administration pitches $75 million buydown to help offset property tax spike

  17-12-2025 22:49 via vtdigger.org
  Vermont Finance Commissioner Adam Greshin on Jan. 14, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerGov. Phil Scott’s administration wants to use $75 million to dampen next year’s projected 12% average property tax increase.The funds — unused and rolled over from this year’s state budget — could cut the average projected spike by more than a third. “We have a large education funding challenge, which is the governor’s top priority this year,” Adam Gres
  
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• Community remembers Morgan Brown, advocate for unhoused Vermonters 

  17-12-2025 22:25 via vtdigger.org
  Morgan Brown and his cat Cleo. Photo courtesy of Morgan BrownThis story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.When state leaders debate remedies for homelessness in Vermont, the people most impacted by their decisions are not often in the room.Enter: Morgan Brown. He voiced the needs of Vermonters experiencing housing insecurity, including himself. Surrounded by people paid to roam the Statehouse halls – lo
  
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• Tom Papeika: Change in how pediatric care is delivered is not only reasonable — it is responsible

  17-12-2025 13:04 via vtdigger.org
  This commentary is by Tom Papeika, a resident in Shrewsbury. Rutland Regional Medical Center recently withdrew its request to transition inpatient pediatric care away from a small number of consistently underused beds toward a more modern model of care. The proposal had been scheduled for review by the Green Mountain Care Board under new authority granted by the Vermont Legislature. With the withdrawal, any future changes will now fall under the Agency of Human Services’ broader &ldq
  
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• US farmers to receive $12 billion in aid. Will Vermont see any?

  17-12-2025 12:52 via vtdigger.org
  Heifers head out to pasture on Sept. 15, 2021. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerPresident Donald Trump’s administration recently announced $12 billion available in one-time bridge payments to farmers impacted by trade market disruptions and increased production costs, including some in Vermont.Up to $11 billion would be used for the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program, some of which could provide relief to Vermont row crop farmers eligible for the program. The program will consider c
  
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• NewsMatch: All gifts to VTDigger doubled on Dec. 17 and 18

  17-12-2025 02:00 via vtdigger.org
  Dear Readers,For the next two days, reader support for VTDigger will go twice as far. NewsMatch, a national campaign that invests in independent nonprofit newsrooms, is matching every contribution to VTDigger dollar for dollar up to a total of $24,000. This match helps ensure that trusted, public-service reporting remains strong and accessible to all Vermonters. Will you help us make the most of this opportunity?
  Double your gift
  NewsMatch was created to strengthen local news at a time whe
  
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• Former Montpelier teen center will be emergency winter shelter when temperatures drop below 10 degrees

  17-12-2025 00:32 via vtdigger.org
  A pedestrian braves the cold in St. Johnsbury on Jan. 11, 2022. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThis story by by Cassandra Hemenway and Carla Occaso was first published in The Bridge on Dec. 16.Following several nights of below-zero temperatures and the death of a man who had been sleeping outside in minus-17-degree-Fahrenheit weather in Barre, those without shelter will have a warm bed when it dips below 10 degrees in Montpelier. Montpelier City Council members voted unanimously on Dec. 10
  
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• White out: Vermont’s tallest peak buried under record-breaking powder

  16-12-2025 23:45 via vtdigger.org
  A snowy scene on Mt. Mansfield, the state’s highest peak. Photo by Molly Walsh/CNS
  More than 5 feet of snow currently blanket Vermont’s tallest peak — the deepest powder in recorded history for Mount Mansfield on this date.The Mount Mansfield snow stake hit 63 inches Thursday, said Burlington-based National Weather Service meteorologist Adrianna Kremer, more than 3 feet deeper than the average 22-inch depth expected this time of year. As of Tuesday, the snow depth at the
  
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• Vermont farm hit with claims of dumping toxins into Lake Champlain waterways

  16-12-2025 23:34 via vtdigger.org
  A farmer hays a field in Cambridge on June 8, 2021. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerAn environmental group filed a lawsuit Tuesday against a Vermont dairy farm, alleging that the farm has dumped toxic chemicals into waterways feeding Lake Champlain at levels far exceeding federal and state standards.  Vorsteveld, LLP, an Addison County milking operation with more than 2,300 cows, was sued by the Conservation Law Foundation, an advocacy group in New England, and the Vermont Natural
  
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• Honoring all paths: Tips for talking with students about the future this holiday season

  16-12-2025 20:29 via vtdigger.org
  Winter break offers a welcome chance to slow down, reconnect with friends and family, and—most importantly—rest. These quieter moments often create space for deeper conversations we may not have the time for during busier times, including discussions about interests, goals, and aspirations. Those conversations can naturally lead to important reflections on the future. Fortunately, there are many affordable, flexible ways for students of all ages to learn and train for careers a
  
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• Just ‘one gin and tonic’: Vekos gets probation and possibility for clean record after DUI 

  16-12-2025 17:43 via vtdigger.org
  Addison County States Attorney Eva Vekos pleads no contest to a DUI charge in Chittenden County Superior criminal court Burlington on Tuesday, Dec. 16. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerUpdated at 5:17 p.m.BURLINGTON — Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos pleaded no contest Tuesday to a charge of drunken driving and received a six-month deferred sentence, allowing the conviction to be cleared from her record provided she does not commit any violations during that period.The misdem
  
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• Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos receives deferred sentence after no contest plea in drunken driving charge

  16-12-2025 17:43 via vtdigger.org
  Addison County States Attorney Eva Vekos pleads no contest to a DUI charge in Chittenden County Superior criminal court Burlington on Tuesday, December 16, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerBURLINGTON – Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos pleaded no contest Tuesday to a charge of drunken driving and received a six-month deferred sentence, allowing the conviction to be cleared from her record provided she does not commit any violations during that period.The misdemeanor char
  
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