By Lana Cohen/VTDigger There is a shortage of foster homes in Vermont, and the pandemic is at least partially to blame. Placing older teenagers and children needing specialized care has always been difficult, state social workers say, but now finding appropriate homes for children of all ages and all levels of need is posing an…

By Anita Lobel William Edward Giles, a country gentleman, an adventurous world traveler and entrepreneur, an easy New Yorker, was born in Windsor on July 31, 1946. He died at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City on Sept. 25, 2021 after an eight year struggle with progressive anti-MAG peripheral neuropathy, a disease that chips…

By Dan Galdenzi As Vermonters, we take on a certain reputation — or maybe, more accurately, a set of stereotypes — that come immediately to mind for non-Vermonters. Whether earned or not, those stereotypes are part of being a resident in this unique community. In fact, there was a study recently that said Vermont was…

Program supports hungry Vermonters and local restaurants, farmers, food producers The state of Vermont has granted an extension through April 1, 2022, for Vermont Everyone Eats (VEE), the innova- tive Covid-19 response program that provides meal assistance to Vermonters while supporting local restaurants, farmers, and food producers. Rutland County Vermont Farmers Food Center, Rutland County’s…

By Liora Engel-Smith/VTDigger As Vermont braces for the Omicron variant of Covid-19, influenza appears to be making a comeback. Roughly 1 in 10 people tested for respiratory symptoms in Vermont had the flu in mid-December up from about 3 in 100 people the first week of the month, according to the Vermont Dept. of Health.…

By Dom Cioffi My father started smoking cigarettes when he was 13 years old. He lived in a time and environment where the activity was perfectly acceptable — almost encouraged — so there was little or no thought of the consequences or long-term effects. Needless to say, it was a lifelong habit that he struggled…

By Susan Shea Most winters, the dark-eyed junco is one of the most common birds at my feeder. While I rarely see juncos in summer, except when hiking in the mountains, small flocks of juncos typically appear soon after I hang my feeder in early December. Due to their sudden appearance in winter, John James…

Staff report Vermonters across the state have waited in long lines to pick up take-home Covid tests ahead of holiday get-togethers — only to be told, in many cases, that the tests were all gone. State officials had announced on Tuesday, Dec. 21, that tens of thousands of test kits would be available at 16…

Bernard L. Pierce, 81, born in Pittsfield and grew up in Woronoco, Massachusetts, and was a long time Killington resident died peacefully on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021. Bernie loved to golf, travel, spend time with family and especially his grandchildren. He always stayed current with the news and stock market. He enjoyed a good joke…

The winter/spring series of VTeen 4-H Science Pathways Cafés features a diverse range of topics from new cancer therapies to quantum computers and aquaponics. Several cafés are scheduled, both virtual and in-person, beginning Jan. 11. Teens are encouraged to mark their calendars now so they don’t miss out on the fun. University of Vermont (UVM)…

Emerge Vermont, a statewide organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for office, announced Dec. 15 that it has selected its 2022 class. This year’s chosen group of 26 future women political leaders is Emerge Vermont’s largest and most diverse class, with women from all parts of the Green Mountain State who come…

"In order to ensure that we can keep doing what we do into the New Year, we need to slow down the spread of Covid-19. With cases surging again in the Northeast, we are reinstating our indoor mask mandate," Killington Resort announced Dec. 26. "As of Dec. 27, 2021, masks will be required for everyone…

By Peter D’Auria/VTDigger Jonathan Spiro, interim president of Castleton University, will retire next month, the Vermont State Colleges announced Monday, Dec. 6, but he’ll stay in the position until Jan. 3. Thomas Maughs-Hugh, Castleton’s provost, will take over as interim president at that point. “I offer my sincerest thanks to President Spiro for his many…

Two Groton residents were issued citations by a Vermont game warden on Nov. 11, following the investigation of an incident of hunter harassment. Both were found guilty of interfering with hunters on Nov. 22, in Caledonia Superior Court. Topsham resident Theodore Shumway and two companions were hunting black bear with hounds in the 26,000-acre Groton…

By Brett Yates Thanks to a team of volunteers, Pittsfield residents will have a free place to go ice skating this winter, as long as the weather cooperates. When Coral Hawley, the self-proclaimed “ringleader” behind the Pittsfield Community Ice Rink, spoke to the Mountain Times on Dec. 17, an unseasonable warm spell had delayed its…