Dear Editor, Earning a college degree is challenging, especially for Vermont students who balance school, jobs, and family while working to put food on the table. Fortunately, a new policy change now makes it easier for Vermont’s community college students to access 3SquaresVT, the state’s name for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), to…

By Dan Smith Editor’s note: Dan Smith is the president and CEO of the Vermont Community Foundation. People are tired of politics. Fear, mistrust and polarization have that effect. Trust is the connective tissue of civic structures, and the trend at every level is to trust leaders and each other less and less. As elections…

Vermont’s legislative focus is sharpening on healthcare and housing as Representative Lori Houghton (D-Essex Junction) and Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D-Chittenden County) take on their new roles as House and Senate majority leaders, respectively. Both leaders transitioned from key committee chair roles, marking the first in at least two decades for Vermont’s Legislature. Houghton, a…

2024 was a banner year at Vermont State Historic Sites. New data released Dec. 3 by the Vermont Dept. of Housing and Community Development’s Division for Historic Preservation shows 80,678 people spent $512,053 at seven Vermont State Historic Sites during the 2024 season. Spending is the result of admission fees (charged at six sites) and sales at six…

On Tuesday, Dec. 3, Speaker Jill Krowinski and the Chairs of House Education and Ways and Means outlined the groundwork for the upcoming legislative session to address the rising property taxes and the future of public education in Vermont. Governor Scott issued the administration’s “December 1 Letter” which projected a property tax increase next year…

By Karen D. Lorentz When someone has worked their entire adult life in as many different ski-industry positions as John Neal, it’s not too surprising to hear him say, “The people and the passion for the sport and lifestyle have given me the opportunity to have a career I enjoy.”  Neal grew up in Ludlow,…

By Peter D’Auria/VTDigger A Vermont advisory group is not recommending a state psychedelic therapy program after group members could not agree on its potential risks and benefits. In a final report issued mid-Noveber, the Psychedelic Therapy Advisory Working Group declined to support the creation of some kind of a state-backed program involving therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs, specifically…

By John Flowers/Addison Independent and Mountain Times staff The leadership of the Rutland Area NAACP raised concern over recent developments in neighboring Addison County related to the actions of two Mary Hogan Elementary School parents/guardians who have challenged gender-related instructional materials to educate kindergarten students at the Middlebury school. According to sources, the complaints relate…

Howard Barbash passed peacefully on Dec. 6 at the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative and Hospice Care at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center following a long but hard-fought battle with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). His wife, Connie, was with him durinag this time as she had always been during their 41 years of “blissful” marriage. …

By Brett Yates In January, Bridgewater residents will have an opportunity to vote on a proposal to ameliorate the town’s troubled finances. According to local officials, anticipated federal reimbursements for flood recovery projects have not arrived on schedule. Amid delays in Washington, D.C., the town has relied on loans to keep cash in its coffers.…

By Alan J. Keays/VTDigger The Vermont Supreme Court has reversed a lower court ruling and reinstated the nearly 20-year prison term handed down in the high-profile hit-and-run that killed a well-known Rutland County dairy farmer in 2016. Thomas H. Velde Jr., 49, had challenged his sentence from 2018 through a civil process known as post-conviction relief.  Judge Mary…

The Attorney General’s Office announced that Emily St. Peter, 46, of Rutland, Vermont, was arraigned today on one count of felony Medicaid fraud. The charges brought against Ms. St. Peter are the result of an investigation conducted by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud and Residential Abuse Unit (MFRAU), which found Ms. St. Peter had falsely…

By Sarah Mearhoff/VTDigger The owners of Simon Pearce, Vermont’s iconic glass and pottery maker, have sold an unspecified stake in the half-a-century-old business to a San Francisco-based private equity firm. Simon Pearce has been headquartered in Windsor since its namesake founded it in 1971. In a press release Tuesday, Dec. 3, the company said it had…

Pico Mountain will kick off its 2024/25 winter season at 9 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 13, welcoming skiers and riders for another season of snowy adventures.  The mountain will operate Thursday through Monday throughout the season, with daily operations during holiday weeks. “This season is already shaping up to be an exciting one,” said Rich…

The first extreme skiing The ski school constructed an upward-sloping ramp in front of the Snowshed Lodge observation deck. We blew snow on it to maintain the right amount of surface needed to create a perfect ski jump. Two daredevils, Herman Goellner and Tom LeRoy, figured out that they could get enough speed to hit…