By Alan Sculley Every fall brings a big-ol’-bag-full of Christmas albums. This year brought a slightly lower number of holiday releases than previous seasons. But happily, we get more than our share of worthy and unique Christmas albums. Here’s a look at the albums fans of Christmas music will want to put on their “to-listen-to”…

Dec. 21 and 22 at 3 p.m.—WOODSTOCK—The Woodstock Vermont Film Series will showcase “The Cowboy & The Queen,” an inspiring documentary about the transformative friendship between Monty Roberts, a pioneering horse trainer, and Queen Elizabeth II. The film will screen on Dec. 21 and 22 at 3 p.m. at the Billings Farm & Museum Visitor…

It’s time to go light-peeping! The Light Up Rutland County winter lights and decorating contest is in full swing, with nine competing households, two non-competing households, and a local business decorator all ready for visitors to come see their lights. Videos and slideshows for school decorators will be posted on Social Tinkering’s website after Dec.…

Dec. 21 through 22 from 9 a.m to 6 p.m.—CHESTER—The Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce (OVRCC), in collaboration with Vermont Rail System, is launching the Okemo Valley Holiday Express, a new festive holiday train experience for families and visitors. Running on Dec 21 and 22, the excursion train offers a scenic journey through South-Central…

RUTLAND—At a Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region (CEDRR) winter mixer held on Dec. 10 at the Ron Hance Operations Center, Heritage Family Credit Union (HFCU) presented five Rutland County nonprofits, each with a $5,000 donation in recognition of their contributions to the local community. The CEDRR mixer drew more than 150 attendees,…

Nowhere on Earth is free from plastic pollution these days, from the highest mountaintops to the deepest ocean canyons. The problem gets worse each year and seems to peak during the holiday season when household trash rates in the U.S. increase by 25% or more. Much of that trash is plastic waste that will be…

Tromping through our woods in December in search of a Christmas tree, I often notice an evergreen fern, one of the few green plants on the forest floor this time of year, other than young conifers. An easy fern to identify, it grows in fountain-like clumps and has glossy, dark green leaflets or pinnae. This…

By Ekaterina Raikhovski Editor’s note: The following story was supplied by Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, originally produced for an assignment for the Winooski News. Grandchildren running around his 1840s farmhouse isn’t the only thing keeping John Rodgers’ hands full these days. There’s the masonry business the West Glover 59-year-old has…

By Peter D’Auria/VTDigger The Guidon, Norwich University’s student newspaper, has resumed reporting and publishing for the first time since it was suspended by administrators earlier this year. Prior to last week, student writers and editors had refused to resume publication of the paper, saying they were protesting administrative oversight of the paper and holding out for concessions. But…

Dear Editor,                                                                                                      Does Vermont still believe in the separation of church and state? The newly elected legislature must address this question. In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Carson v. Makin decision required that states providing tuition reimbursement to independent and charter schools must extend those same programs to religious schools as well as nonreligious…

Dear Editor, According to a Dec. 9 article in VTDigger, a local slaughterhouse, Vermont Packinghouse, is under investigation again for cruelty to animals. Allegedly, workers failed to intervene when a truck driver unloading pigs kicked animals in the head and neck and shoved them off the back of the trailer. The pigs suffered heat stroke…

By John Freitag Editor’s note: This commentary is by John Freitag. He was facilities manager for the Strafford School District for 34 years and in 1994 was named “outstanding support staff” in Vermont. He served three years as PTA president at the Newton School and has closely watched and covered school and school funding issues…

Saint Michael’s College is fortifying its mission to make a deeply engaging, student-centered education more affordable through a new financial aid initiative: the St. Mike’s Community Commitment. The new initiative gives families whose income falls at or below $100,000 a total aid package that covers full tuition after federal grants, according to a news release Friday, Dec. 13.…

By Kristen Fountain/VTDigger Vermont’s senior U.S. senator shared new insight this week into how long he may be willing to represent the Green Mountain State in the nation’s capital.  In an interview published by Politico Tuesday night, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he was likely to call it quits after his fourth six-year term in the chamber. Asked…

Education spending saw its biggest jump in years in fiscal 2025, and school taxpayers are noticing the change in their bills. The increase this year was due to a lot of factors outside both schools’ and taxpayers’ control—inflation, healthcare costs, and the loss of pandemic-era federal support chief among them. All of that led to…