By Curt Peterson Long-time employee BJ Mattson is the recently appointed new permanent highway department road foreman. Mattson, 44, has worked for the department for 18 years. He replaces 20-year road foreman Bill Barrows, who retired in June.  Mattson has been “acting” road foreman since Barrows’ departure, so it’s just an official title change. Town…

By Curt Peterson Several residents from Bird Hill Road in Hartland Four Corners petitioned the Select Board Monday evening to take over maintenance of their short private road accessed over a short bridge from Brownsville Road. Deborah Davis, who lives in the first house, read a prepared presentation describing the history of homeowner maintenance over…

By Curt Peterson Amanda Ann Palmer’s ceramics studio seems a “hidden corner of creativity.” She makes her beautiful array of hand-made pottery pieces that range in size from small tree ornament mushrooms and coffee mugs to good-sized fruit bowls. She exhibited her wares at Reading Greenhouse’s crafts fair last weekend, and generally at Long River…

By Curt Peterson Governor Scott’s controversial appointment of senate-rejected Zoie Saunders as “interim” secretary of education, after leaving the important post vacant for a year, came with his defensive endorsement: “Once you meet her, you will know she is the right person for the job.” Secretary Saunders is touring Vermont school districts to introduce herself,…

By Curt Peterson State Representative Charlie Kimball hosted a Public Forum on the Future of Education in Vermont at North Chapel in Woodstock last Thursday, Oct. 17, featuring Rep. Emily Kornheiser, chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means and chair of the Education Financing Subcommittee, and Rep. Peter Conlon, chair of the Vermont…

By Curt Peterson At 6 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 29, Debra and Chuck Dupuis, who live just past the second covered bridge on Mill Street, called 9-1-1 and asked for an ambulance. Chuck, 73, who has diabetes, has had by-pass surgery, and suffers dementia, exhibited symptoms of transient ischemic attack (TIA), what’s called a “mini-stroke.”…

By Curt Peterson Twenty-five people, fans and the curious, gathered at the Hartland Library Sept. 12 for Sarah Stewart Taylor’s introduction of her new crime novel, “Agony Hill” (Minotaur Books, 2024). The first in a new series by Taylor, “Agony Hill” has a local setting — Bethany, a fictional village in Vermont’s Upper Valley in…

By Curt Peterson A dozen Hartlanders joined “master baker” Jeffrey Hamelman at the public pizza oven on Saturday morning, Sept. 7, bent on learning how to make bagels. Ten women, one rising 8-year-old girl, and an aging male journalist brought a short list of kitchen equipment. One of the women, Sara Fuschetto, is a breadmaker…

By Curt Peterson Sewage limitations and surrounding wetlands preventing expansion are forcing the Rutland County Humane Society to seek new digs, according to RCHS Executive Director Beth Saradarian in an Aug. 14 letter to supporters. Since RCHS announced last spring that the organization needed a new home, they have investigated about 30 suggested sites. To…

By Curt Peterson Last Tuesday, Aug. 6, local fire departments and emergency personnel responded to the collapsed roof of a residence on Brooklyn Road in Mount Tabor. What they found was almost 30 dogs trapped in the house.  One died in the incident.  The Rutland County Humane Society (RCHS) came to the rescue with a…

By Curt Peterson The topic of “phone-free schools” was introduced by Sarit Werner during public comment session at Monday evening’s Mountain Views Supervisory Union (MVSU) board meeting, Aug. 5.  Reception of the idea among meeting attendees was generally positive. Werner, who is creative director at Plymouth Cheese Co. in Plymouth, read a letter from the…

By Curt Peterson With funding secured, the Hartland Conservation Commission (HCC) and the Upper Valley Land Trust hope to close on the “Pohl Property” and conservation easement purchase by the end of this year. According to a listserv post by Rob Anderegg, HCC chair, funding includes private donations, a $128,000 grant from the Vermont Housing…

By Curt Peterson UPDATE, July 18: The HPC has chosen not to appeal the summary judgment regarding the Sunnymede store. On July 8, the Vermont Superior Court, Environmental Division, issued a summary judgement in favor of Sunnymede Farm’s application to construct a “farm store” on the former Lamb Farm property on Route 5 in Hartland.…

By Curt Peterson The saying “Lightning never strikes the same place twice,” was proven false in Hartland this week when bolts hit Cobb Hill barn, on a 275-acre farm in Hartland, twice at the same time. At 7:14 a.m., it was reportedly raining here and there, but no signs of a storm. Kerry Gawalt and…

By Curt Peterson On July 5 Rob Anderegg, chair of the Hartland Conservation Commission, posted an update regarding the “Pohl Property Conservation Project” on the local listserv. “We are getting close to the goal,” Anderegg wrote. “Only $17,000 needs to be raised to finish the job.” The Hartland Conservation Commission added an article to the…