By Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor, UVM What do fish tanks, brandy snifters, and Mason jars have in common? They are all containers that can be used to make gardens in glass, or terrariums. Whether you put together a terrarium on a rainy summer day or for garden-relief in the dead of winter, this activity…

Sanders: Statement in Response to the President's State of the Union Address WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement tonight after President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address: “As President Obama indicated, our economy today is much stronger than it was six years…

Video courtesy of Tim Buttner

Video Courtesy of Tim Buttner

New snowsport thrives with sales doubling every year since 2010 By Polly Lynn “It’s like I’m riding on a cloud,” said Alex Kerpel, a Killington resident who joined a group of nine cyclists to ride the trails of Mountain Meadows, Monday, Jan. 12. Tony Accurso of Fat Bike Vermont in Woodstock provided the bikes. He…

By Cristina Kumka RUTLAND TOWN — Rutland City will lose money and at least 30 local workers will lose their jobs come April, when J.C. Penney will leave the Diamond Run Mall. In a statement made on Wednesday, Jan. 7, Rutland Alderman Ed Larson said: “In a lengthy telephone conversation with J.C. Penney Corporate, they…

By Laura Krantz, VTDigger.org Gov. Peter Shumlin was re-elected to a third term Thursday morning, Jan. 8, in a secret ballot by a joint assembly of the Vermont Legislature. Shumlin defeated Republican Scott Milne in a 110-69 vote. In the Nov. 4 general election, Shumlin beat Milne by 2,434 votes. He won 46.4 percent of…

William Duval, 68, died on Jan. 3, 2015, at his home in Waits River. He was born in Rutland on Dec. 9, 1946, the son of Charles L. and Germaine Duval. Bill grew up as one of ten siblings in Castleton and graduated from Fair Haven Union High School in 1965. He served in the…

By Polly Lynn KILLINGTON — “He has been found!!! He is alive. Very thin, feet cut up, but happy to see Kimberly,” a family member posted on the “Find JD - just dog VT” community Facebook page Sunday, Jan. 11 at 2:39 p.m. The 5-year-old yellow lab from Boston had survived 11 days outside, in…

By Tom Brown, www.VTDigger.org Groups that support the legalization of marijuana joined forces Tuesday, saying that decades of prohibiting recreational use of the drug has failed. “No matter how you slice it, marijuana prohibition has not been an effective policy for the state of Vermont,” Matt Simon, New England political director of the Marijuana Policy…

Governor Peter Shumlin, who was sworn in for a third term as governor of Vermont on Thursday, Jan. 8, used his inaugural address to outline Part I of his Agenda For Progress, focusing on initiatives critical to working families, economic growth, energy and the environment, and citing Vermont’s special quality of life. The Governor’s multifaceted…

Illustration by Maxx Steinmetz Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly newspaper, featuring controversial cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes, was attacked by terrorists Jan. 7, 2015, presumably in response to a number of controversial cartoons it published of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. In total 12 people were killed in the Paris headquarters of Charlie Hebdo. After…

By Governor Peter Shumlin It’s an incredible honor to continue serving as governor for another two years. Vermont is an amazing state which holds a certain promise that has led so many like me to live, work and raise a family here. But our state faces present and future challenges that have left many feeling…

Dear Editor, As I sit here in the old Bill’s Country Story writing this, I look back on the past year and couldn’t be more pleased with all that we’ve accomplished: we moved the Chamber offices and converted Bill’s Country Store to a Welcome Center. We increased visits to the Welcome Center from 4,500 to…

Dear Editor, On Jan. 8, I participated in a sit in at the Vermont Statehouse. I participated in this sit in because co-pays and deductibles have made it impossible for me to get adequate care to relieve my chronic pain. We have a law, Act 48, that requires our state government to create a healthcare…