Wendy A. Witherell Hill, 87, died peacefully in her sleep on Feb. 3, 2021, following the effects of a stroke. Born Oct. 7, 1933, in Troy, New York, Wendy Witherell Hill graduated from Emma Willard School in 1951, and Cornell University in 1955. She and her husband Robert wed in 1955 and enjoyed 65 years…

By Curt Peterson Killington Police Chief  Whit Montgomery told the Mountain Times the department has obtained an arrest warrant for “theft of services” from North Star Lodge on Weathervane Drive in Killington. The warrant names Katie L. Safford, 30, who maintains a Rutland address. “I feel pretty confident [Safford] will be located and cited,” Montgomery…

By Karen D. Lorentz Killington is a massive mountain — its variety of terrain is its most distinctive and renowned feature. Part of that is the variety of trails, but for freestyle skiers  and riders, it is the dedication to providing terrain parks that makes the mountain their favorite winter playground. That dedication was rewarded…

By Karen D. Lorentz Okemo opened Vermont’s first-of-the-season halfpipe on Sunday, Feb. 7. The superpipe was the first to open in New England (the only other one open by Feb. 7 was in Pennsylvania). One of the factors that has delayed halfpipe builds was the need to make snow on ski trails first so more…

By Emma Cotton/VTDigger Four and a half years ago, a single mom moved to Rutland and started her life over from scratch. After breaking away from domestic violence, she found herself in a new city with a few bags of clothes, two hours away from anyone she knew, with no job or connections and two kids…

By Victoria Gaither At 3 years old, Harley Ruffle, known locally as “Lil Homie,” is a snowboard sensation. His mother, Jill Ruffle, just laughs. “I’m amazed he is so good. He can barely talk,” she said. Harley started walking and skateboarding at the same time, explained his father, Gary. “He has good balance, and Tucker…

Former Sec. of Ed Rebecca Holcombe and interim Super. Sherry Sousa are finalists The former Vermont secretary of education (2014-2018) and gubernatorial candidate in 2020, Rebecca Holcomb, is a finalist for the Windsor Central Unified District (WCUD) superintendent position. “We are enthusiastic about presenting two finalists for the position, Sherry Sousa, MA and Rebecca Holcombe,…

By Katy Savage With the closure of bars, people are drinking at home like never before. Liquor stores across the country and locally have seen record sales since the start of the pandemic last March. The week after a national state of emergency was declared, alcohol sales jumped 54% from the previous year, according to…

The Killington Mountain School (KMS) team traveled to Winter Park, Colorado, on Jan. 25-28 for the U.S. Freestyle selection event. Despite a challenging start to the season, there were strong performances from all of the KMS Freestyle athletes. Ray Lamlein, Jesse Duda, Manuela Passaretta, and Tyler Damore all finished mid-field in their first ever FIS…

By Merisa Sherman It has not stopped snowing for weeks. Every morning, I wake up and look outside the window only to reach for the shovel. Every day, I’m shoveling. It might just be a few inches of fluff, but it still has to get relocated before it freezes solid and makes my walkways a…

By Tony Crespi, The Mountain Journal “A good tune can drive high performance skiing,” emphasized Jed Duke, director of product development at Blizzard Skis. “More than ever tuning is the link between a successful or hateful experience,” added former World Cup tuner Mike DeSantis, owner and tuner of Ski MD, a Boston area shop dedicated…

By Mary Ellen Shaw Recently there has been talk about the possibility of no more snow days in some schools. What a disappointment that would have been when I was a student! Back in the 50s and 60s remote learning would have been considered “science fiction.” If you weren’t in your classroom, education came to…

By Dom Cioffi Like many children across the country, my son has been learning remotely for the better part of a year. Unlike some kids who struggled with staying focused amidst the distractions of home and the ease of slouching off during Zoom meetings, my son’s performance in school actually improved. Of course, it didn’t…

By Kevin Theissen Certain red flags could increase your chances of getting the attention of the IRS. Luckily, the chances that your tax return will be chosen for an audit are very low. The IRS audited less than 0.5% of all tax returns in 2019. The majority of exams were by mail, which means that…

By Tiffany Soukup Last summer I regularly passed a stand of towering white pine trees at Camp Plymouth State Park in Ludlow, where I live and work. Most days I saw at least one hairy woodpecker, a few blue jays, chickadees, a pair of broad-winged hawks, and a multitude of red squirrels around the trees.…