By Lola Duffort/VTDigger The state is partnering with the National Institutes of Health to send 500,000 free Covid-19 rapid antigen tests to Vermonters’ homes in the coming weeks, Gov. Phil Scott announced Thursday, Jan. 6. On Jan. 11, the announced […]
Tag: By Lola Duffort
Becca Balint, leader of the Vermont Senate, joins race for U.S. House
By Lola Duffort/VTDigger Becca Balint, the president pro tempore of the Vermont Senate, is running for the state’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, she announced Monday morning, Dec. 13. “I’m running because I believe that, even with […]
‘A low simmer’: Vermont’s critical race theory backlash isn’t over
By Lola Duffort/VTDigger America’s school boards have once again become battlegrounds as a network of national groups stoke fears about “critical race theory,” a once-obscure academic theory turned by conservatives into a catch-all bogeyman signifying progressive school initiatives. In Vermont, […]
Lawmakers react to being called back into session to allow town mask mandates
By Lola Duffort/VTDigger As soon as Gov. Scott told top lawmakers in a letter Monday afternoon, Nov. 15, that he would call them back into session and allow them to pass a measure clearing the way for time-limited municipal mask […]
Patrick Leahy to retire after eight terms
By Lola Duffort and Sarah Mearhoff/VTDigger After eight terms and nearly five decades in office, U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy is retiring. He announced his decision during a press conference at the Statehouse Monday morning that was attended by members of […]
Redistricting proposal redraws many local lines
Panel goes all in on single-member House districts By Lola Duffort & Erin Petenko/VTDigger and Polly Mikula Not for the first time, a special panel advising state lawmakers about how to redraw House and Senate district maps has proposed the […]
Gray calls on Scott to take ‘greater measures’ to manage pandemic
By Lola Duffort/VTDigger Amid a rise in cases, Lt. Gov. Molly Gray on Sept. 16 called on the Scott administration to take “greater measures” to dampen the spread of Covid-19. The Vermont Dept. of Health reported a record-setting 314 cases […]
Surveillance Covid testing delayed in most schools until October
By Lola Duffort/VTDigger Surveillance testing has been touted by Vermont officials as a cornerstone of its Covid-19 mitigation efforts in K-12 schools. But only a little more than one-third of Vermont’s public school districts and a quarter of its private […]
As cases surge, experts call for stronger mitigation steps in schools
By Lola Duffort/VTDigger State officials announced last week that students and staff should start the school year masked but could bare their faces once 80% of students in a school had received their Covid-19 shots. Two days later, the Agency of Education and […]
Absent a state of emergency, will schools be able to boot a kid for not wearing a mask?
By Lola Duffort/VTDigger When Gov. Phil Scott’s administration announced new Covid-19 guidance for K-12 schools on Tuesday, Aug. 3, it did so with an important caveat. The state’s recommendations — including around masking — were not themselves requirements. With the […]