“The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes,” a new report released March 18, by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), finds a national shortage of nearly 7 million affordable and available rental homes for extremely low-income (ELI) renter households, those with incomes at or below the poverty level or 30% of their Area Median…

  By Julia Purdy Editor's note: This is part one in a three-part series exploring the rapidly rising cost of housing, real estate in Central Vermont. The disappearance of realistically affordable housing is a story that is told over and over, especially in the rental arena. Vermont is in the middle of the pack among…

Bill would make the popular mailed ballots policy permanent for all general elections in Vermont The Vermont Senate gave approval last week to legislation that will make permanent the policy that was put in place as an emergency measure in 2020 to mail all active registered voters a ballot for the general election. In addition…

Over $1.9 million will soon be available from the Vermont Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC)’s Green Schools Initiative to reduce stormwater runoff and pollution entering Lake Champlain via public school grounds. The Green Schools Initiative offers funding and technical assistance to help public schools and state colleges meet the three-acre general permit stormwater regulation. “In…

  By Lola Duffort/VTDigger The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new guidelines for distancing in K-12 schools on Friday, March 19, likely paving the way for much more full-time, in-person instruction in Vermont. For now, the state recommends that schools keep children in K-5 grades 3 feet apart, and older students…

The sprint adds excitement, attracts crowds, goes global By Polly Mikula “We’re the ones who started the sprint series which is now an Olympic event,” Mike Miller said of the cross-county race he developed. “It started at Mountain Meadows, that was the first one. The next year we traveled all over the country — Alaska,…

By Victoria Gaither A year after Gov. Phil Scott ordered restaurants and bars to close due to the coronavirus, March 16, 2020, two restaurant owners in Killington and one in Rutland looked back on a year of challenges, changes, and Covid-19 precautions. “It was a challenging year, last year being our first year open and…

Will Rutland again be designated as a resettlement site? By Kit Norton/VTDigger Gov. Phil Scott is calling on the federal government to resettle more refugees in Vermont, describing it as integral to his plans to grow the state’s economy and workforce. Scott wrote to the U.S. Dept. of State on Monday, March 15, urging the…

By Brett Yates On March 15, Rutland City Mayor David Allaire swore in four new members of the Board of Aldermen: Mike Doenges, Thomas Franco, Devon Neary, and Carrie Savage. Two returning aldermen, Tom DePoy and Bill Gillam, also took the oath of office. DePoy, the owner of a commercial cleaning company, now begins his…

The Vermont Dept. of Public Service announced two pre-draft public hearings on the 10-year telecommunications plan. The plan will provide an overview of statewide growth and development as it relates to future requirements for telecommunications services, including patterns of urban expansion, statewide and service area economic growth, shifts in transportation modes, economic development, technological advances,…

An opportunity for the community to learn puppet-making as well as craft a star character for the upcoming puppet performance of ‘How Chipmunk Got His Stripes’ It began on a Zoom Talk Back after Chandler’s presentation of No Strings Marionette Company’s filmed production of “Treasure Hunt” back in November. One of the children on the Zoom…

On Thursday, March 18, at 6:14 a.m. state troopers from the Rutland Barracks were notified of a single vehicle crash with injury at the intersection of Route 7 and East Pittsford Road in Rutland Town. Through investigation it was determined Brian Tarmy, 50, of Rutland Town was driving a 2011 GMC Terrain and came to a…

All Vermonters are eligible by April 19 Governor Phil Scott has laid out a timeline for all remaining age bands to sign up for Covid-19 vaccination. Based on the supply assurances from the federal government, the state says all Vermonters who want to be vaccinated can expect be fully immunized by July 1. Additionally, high…

Local business and all girls club team up to grow Rutland’s mountain biking community Alpine Bike Works is proud to announce its sponsorship of the Gritty Girls Mountain Bike Club with a donation of $1,500 and two new Giant youth mountain bikes. The Gritty Girls events take place at the Rutland Recreation Community Center. The…

By Brooke Geery At Killington Mountain School, you can get an education, but more importantly, you can get on snow nearly every day. Woodward Killington’s miles of freeriding and terrain parks offer an exceptional training facility for those who want to improve their skills, or just have fun! One of the favorite parks of many…