By Guy Payne Editor’s note: Guy Payne is the executive director of Sustainable Energy Outreach Network in Brattleboro. Did you know: Vermont’s Energy Code is the law, yet many builders and homeowners are unaware or choose to ignore it?  Vermont’s housing crisis has highlighted not only the lack of adequate housing in the state…

  Enjoy loons from a safe distance  Few birding experiences rival hearing the haunting call of the loon or seeing them glide by in protected coves on a lake.  However, for the birds’ protection, Vermont Fish and Wildlife is asking boaters and anglers to enjoy loons from a safe distance this summer.  “Loons were removed…

  The cyberattack mostly impacted members of Vermont Blue Advantage By Tiffany Tan/VTDigger The personal information of at least 16,000 Vermont health insurance customers was stolen in a cyberattack in January — more than twice the number originally reported. The affected people included over 14,000 Vermont residents, of whom 13,700 were members of Vermont Blue Advantage…

  Though a number of other states have sued the company, Vermont is the first to sue on the grounds of damage to educational institutions. By Emma Cotton/VTDigger Attorney General Charity Clark has filed her first major lawsuit since taking office in January, taking on agrochemical giant Monsanto for alleged damage to the state’s natural resources…

  By Lola Duffort/VTDigger Sitting in the drizzling rain outside of Montpelier’s Kellogg-Hubbard Library on Friday afternoon, Jeffrey Dorsey rolled back the black sock on his left ankle.  “I just want to show you that so you believe me. Because I feel like some people don’t,” he told a reporter as he revealed a fist-sized, red-and-purple…

  Gov. Phil Scott signed S. 33, an act relating to miscellaneous judicial procedures. The law prohibits a police officer from engaging in sexual contact with an individual who is in custody, being detained, or being arrested to also prohibiting law enforcement from engaging in a sexual act with a person who is the subject…

  By Alan J. Keays/VTDigger A Vermont judge has rejected a bid by a former Rutland child care provider — charged more than four years ago with manslaughter and child cruelty in the death of 6-month-old Harper Rose Briar — to dismiss the counts against her.   Stacey Vaillancourt was accused in 2019 of giving a fatal amount of…

  Joseph William Kay III, 32, of Rutland died on June 15, 2023 at his home.  He was born Dec. 21, 1990 in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Brian and Cathy (Rieben) Kay.  Joseph Kay attended Hamden Hall and later RIT. He worked as a senior network engineer and had his own business, Killington…

  By Brett Yates Seven days a week, the Original General Store in Pittsfield serves hot breakfasts, sandwiches, soups, and pizzas. It also sells beer and wine, but not to its dine-in customers. That’ll soon change. Last Thursday, June 15, co-owner Katie Stiles appeared before the Pittsfield Select Board with an application for what the…

  By Karen D. Lorentz Director of Lift Maintenance Greg Carter recently retired from a challenging and satisfying 40 years of working at Okemo Mountain.   Born in Springfield,  Carter had learned to ski at age 5 at Ascutney and later skied at Round Top. He joined Okemo in 1983 as a lift operator and…

  By Curt Peterson There is a lot of talk around the Three Corners Market coffee counter about the looming general reappraisal of Hartland properties and what it will mean to Hartland tax bills. Not all Vermont towns will be affected by the new evaluation — while two-thirds of the state’s 254 municipalities will be…

  By Curt Peterson For years, Hartland has been a quiet place to live, work and recreate, residents feeling relatively safe under the watchful eye of the Vermont State Police (VSP), contracted to provide a certain number of hours of patrol coverage, and to respond to calls from townspeople for help. Now the Select Board…

  By Brett Yates The Pittsfield Town Hall Building Committee shared some potentially unpleasant news with municipal officials last week: in order to complete the town’s long-standing renovation project on the historic structure that houses both the Pittsfield Select Board and the Pittsfield Historical Society, the committee would need more money. Over the course of…

  The Maclure Library in Pittsford  has been selected to receive a Rural Library Grant for the 2023-2024 school year from the Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF), a nonprofit located in Waterbury Center.  Awarded annually to 12 qualifying public libraries in Vermont and New Hampshire, the Rural Library Grant is designed to help small-town libraries create…

  By Katy Savage Stafford Technical Center has a new satellite program in Killington.   The tech center is renting space above Spa at the Woods on Woods Lane in Killington to offer an esthetician course for adults.  The upstairs has been transformed to a classroom to offer training on  nails,cosmetology, facials and eventually massage. …