By Cristina Kumka KILLINGTON — The town of Killington has a $1.1 million deficit from Tropical Storm Irene, making the number one priority improving the town's fiscal strength going into the new fiscal year, according to Killington Town Manager Seth Webb. The town performed approximately $3.1 million of projects, but has only gotten paid back…

Dear Editor, I am writing in response to the letter by Mario Vincelette printed in the Aug. 7-13 edition of The Mountain Times. I would suggest that Mr. Vincelette read the book “Vegetarian Myth.”  It is not the meat and dairy products that are polluting our environment, but the government supported meat and dairy industries that…

Dear Editor, My name is Kelly Socia and I am running in the Aug. 26 primary election as a write-in candidate for state senator from Rutland County. I have just retired after 34 years from the United States Postal Service.  For the last 8 years I have been building Vermont Backroad Tours.  I have developed…

Dear Editor, When I read in the August 18, 2014 Rutland Herald article that the Town of Chester is holding a “tutorial” on how state funding for schools really work. The town manager, David Pisha, said that the education rate is too big to understand so why do anything about it. The resident rate funding…

By Karen D. Lorentz There has been some progress concerning the Killington Village Master Plan and Resort Parking Project permits that were issued by the District #1 Environmental Commission on October 7, 2013 but then appealed. Judge Thomas S. Durkin, who is presiding over the two appeals before the Superior Court’s Environmental Division (aka the…

BROWNINGTON—Curtis Smiley with the Vermont Big Game Trophy Club says a huge bear taken in the 2013 hunting season is the heaviest bear taken in Vermont by bow and arrow since 1898; it is a new record, Vermont Fish and Wildlife announced last week.  Kevin Lamere of Brownington, Vt., shot the bear on Oct. 5,…

By Anne Galloway, VTDigger.org MONTPELIER—A legislative panel has come to an agreement with the Shumlin administration on $31.28 million in cuts to the state budget. Lawmakers approved a rescission that will remove a 1.6 percent increase in Medicaid reimbursements for health care providers, saving the state about $10 million. The 10-member Joint Fiscal Committee initially…

By Anne Galloway and VTDigger staff, VTDigger.org MONTPELIER--Gov. Peter Shumlin on Tuesday, Aug. 12, ousted Agency of Human Services Secretary Doug Racine and replaced him with Health Commissioner Harry Chen. “I felt that Doug Racine had done great things for the agency,” Shumlin said at an unrelated news conference. “It was time for a leadership…

By Anne Galloway, VTDigger.org Sen. Jim Jeffords died Monday morning at the Knollwood Military Retirement Residence in Washington, D.C. He was 80 years old. Jeffords had lived at Knollwood since his wife died of ovarian cancer eight years ago. The Vermont congressman and senator served 32 years in Congress until he retired in 2006 after…

By Dom Cioffi Last week, as I was putting the finishing touches on my column, I faintly overheard a newscaster announce from the television in a nearby room, “Folks, we have a developing story from the West Coast.” His tone suggested a level of alarm normally reserved for major news announcements so I immediately took…

By Susan Shea Perhaps you’ve caught a glimpse in your headlights of a mouse with a very long tail, leaping across the road at night.  Or maybe your cat has deposited a specimen on your doorstep. This is the jumping mouse.  My orange tabby, Marmalade, seems to specialize in catching them.  The two jumping mice…

By Scott Funk It isn’t so much that I hate this phone as it is that I miss its predecessor. I’d just gotten where I was comfortable with it when they took it away. The guy at the phone store said it wasn’t compatible with the new 4G network. “No problem” he said, “you’re overdue…

By Cindy Phillips Robin Williams was one of us. He was a Boomer. He shared our era in all its wonderment and maybe even more. In fact, I am sure it was more. He grew up with Shari Lewis, Lambchop and Charlie Horse. I am sure he watched the Mickey Mouse Club and had a…

Aug. 21-24  — RANDOLPH — “It’s all about community,” smiles Peter Sanders, cellist and founder of the Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival. He has brought his music and his professional New York friends and colleagues back once again to the Central Vermont and Upper Valley communities for what he is proud to say is his 22nd consecutive…

Thursday, Aug. 21 at 2 p.m. — KILLINGTON — The Friends of the Sherburne Memorial Library will meet on Thursday, Aug. 21 at 2 p.m. in the Ann Wallen Room of the library for a preview of the programs and events coming this fall and into 2015. Get an early look at the new design for the front…