By Lani Duke Rutland City voters returned Christopher Louras to the mayor’s office for a fifth term. He received 1,863 votes to David Allaire’s 1,341 votes. The third candidate, Kam Johnston, received 99 votes. Louras campaigned that he had put the city in a position to make major improvements and that changing leadership would stop…

By Lani Duke A survey of 993 respondents showed strong report for a municipal pool, even among people who have not used White’s Pool. The closing of the disintegrating pool leaves summer recreation with a gaping hole—a hole that 90 percent of the respondents want a pool to fill, Parks and Rec superintendent Cindi Wight…

 STOCKBRIDGE—On March 3 at about 11 a.m., Barbara Kessel, age 66 of Shelburne, Vt., hit a patch of ice on Route 107 in Stockbridge, losing control of her vehicle and crossing into the oncoming lane. Donna Thompson, age 58 of Pittsfield, Vt., driving in the oncoming lane, was unable to avoid hitting her and the…

Tuesday, March 17 at 6:30 p.m. — RUTLAND — Working with the Creative Economy, the Rutland Recreation & Parks Department is hosting a meeting about a possible dog park in Rutland. The meeting will take place at the Rutland Recreation offices at 16 North Street Extension on Tuesday, March 17 at 6:30 p.m. The Rec Department is looking…

By Lani Duke Here is a roundup of changes by town: BENSON—Benson’s public floor meeting presented the best possible illustration of the value of the Vermont election process. Speakers explored the issue of public versus individual responsibility as they debated whether the town should give $1,500 to the Benson Youth League or leave funding to…

Provided by Rutland Regional Medical Center Pictured (l-r) Kathleen M. Craig, Director, Rutland Women’s Healthcare, Andrea Borchlewicz, RN (center) and Valerie Pajak, cousin of Andrea Borchlewicz. RUTLAND–Rutland Regional Medical Center’s Andrea Borchlewicz, a registered nurse (RN) with Rutland Women’s Healthcare, was honored for excellent care by the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, a peer-elected awards…

Apply by March 20 The Journalism Education Foundation of New England, a division of the New England Newspaper & Press Association (NENPA), will award up to ten $1,000 scholarships this spring to high school seniors and college students residing in the six New England states who aspire to a career in journalism. This program encourages…

KILLINGTON—Killington Mountain School, in partnership with Killington Resort, recently announced a new series offered this summer: the Killington Mountain Adventure Camps Series (KMACS), which will run through July 2015, for kids 8 to14 years old. Spartan Race coach Mark Jones and his staff of expert coaches have come on board to offer three one-week sessions…

By Joe Rankin A guy down the road has been working in his woods for the last couple of years. He’s cleaning them up-—and I mean cleaning. He cuts the underbrush, takes out the dead trees, the downed logs, the dead branches. Okay, I confess. The neatnik in me is envious. Part of me would…

“Saturday Night Live” recently did a sketch that mocked Kanye West’s latest awards show-related apology, which came two and a half weeks after Kanye rose in protest at the Grammys when alt-rock legend Beck beat out R&B star Beyoncé for Album of the Year. The begrudgingly contrite tweet was funny in part because it came…

Editor’s note: Names, including the author’s, have been changed to protect identities due to the personal nature of this column. It’s commonly said that on a first date one should never discuss money, religion and politics. The buzz around town has been about the town’s budget and where people stand…so it was hard to avoid.…

If you like Pink Floyd, then head to the Pickle Barrel on Thursday night to see the next best thing to Floyd: The Machine. I have seen The Machine numerous times and they put on a great show. If you close your eyes, you would swear you were listening to Floyd, and when you open…

By Tom Joyce “Give everyman his DEW!”  Tullamore D.E.W. that is. How’s that for a whiskey slogan? It’s not as effective as being mentioned in a country or rap song but for 1873 it’s pretty impressive. Daniel E. Williams used his initials to market this Irish Whiskey after rising though the ranks at the distillery,…

By Dom Cioffi I first started hearing about the product with the code name of “Ginger” in the early months of 2001. Secretive press releases called it a “paradigm shift in the way humans will live” and “the next big thing.” I craved any and all information about this mysterious device, but little was available.…

By Andy Robinson, VTDigger.org contributor Despite what you’ve heard, Vermont is a great place to do business. In 2002, I moved my business and my family to Vermont. Since we arrived, the business has grown every year, so our adopted state has been a great place to own and run a business. Let me tell…