By Kevin O’Connor/VTDigger Business and government leader Neale Lunderville was just another Vermonter enjoying an end-of-summer weekend when, strolling his South Burlington neighborhood Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, he felt a wet blanket of foreboding slap him in the face. “This is more than a little storm,” Lunderville recalls thinking as pelting rain and 60-mph winds whipped…

By Chloe Learey In 2012, the Local Child Care Planning Council of Humboldt County in California uploaded its video “A Day Without ChildCare” to YouTube. Nearly 10 years later, the points it raised are even more salient, especially magnified by the Covid-19 pandemic. The premise is basic: People who do not have child care are…

By Katy Savage The Woodstock Select Board approved last week the Economic Development Commission’s proposal to spend $110,000 to market the town. Class Four, a marketing firm in Burlington, will be hired under a one-year contract to develop videos and photos that capture the Woodstock lifestyle to increase tourism, attract new residents and entice new…

By Ethan Weinstein Bridgewater’s Aug. 17 Select Board meeting devolved into disarray when the board entered into executive session but failed to end its Zoom meeting, allowing the public to hear the private discussion. Town clerk and recently board-appointed treasurer Nancy Robinson proceeded to claim former treasurer Vicky Young wasted time making frequent trips to…

By Curt Peterson On Aug. 16, the Windsor Central Unified Union School District board, parents and students learned what the Covid-related requirements will be when campuses open on Sept. 1 and witnessed an open meetings law training session conducted by attorney Dina Atwood of Stitzel, Page & Fletcher, P.C. A Vermont school board is considered…

Claude B. Blais, 68, of Killington, a restaurateur and bon vivant, died of the ravages of pancreatic cancer on Aug. 22, 2021. Claude was born in Newport, the third child of Benoit and Floride Blais. He grew up in the family home in Derby Line, traveling by bus during the school year to attend the…

By Lewis Mudge Vermonters should be proud that we continue to outpace the country in vaccines. I say we double down and once again show the rest of the country how we are a little state with big ideas. I tip my hat to Gov. Scott’s recent request to the White House for more refugees…

By Fred Thys/VTDigger Federal benefits run out on Sept. 4, which means that people collecting unemployment (UI) benefits will no longer receive the extra $300 a week they have been getting. Vermont Labor Commissioner Michael Harrington said in a video interview Friday that about 14,000 Vermonters are collecting UI benefits. Vermonters who have exceeded the…

HARTLAND—The state police responded to the area of Route 5 and Rice Road in Hartland for a two-car, head-on motor vehicle crash. Roger Curfman, 67, of Springfield, was traveling north on Route 5 in his Toyota pickup near the intersection of Rice Road and for an unknown reason crossed over the center line. He then…

Delta cases in children are making it worse By Liora Engel-Smith/VTDigger Laura Derrendinger cared for patients with measles and cholera in war-torn countries, but the scenario that scares her the most is much closer to home. She’s lived the nightmare several times in recent years. Her 5-year-old, Pascal, gets hypoxic (faces inadequate levels of oxygen)…

By Virginia Dean When the pandemic hit last year, a wave of people moved to Vermont seeking safety and community. After all, the state was deemed one of the safest areas in the country. The challenge for some in-movers, however, was that Covid-19 tightened the housing market. According to local sources, out-of-state buyers spiked in…

RUTLAND—Community Health’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bradley Berryhill received the 2020 Family Medicine Teaching Award for the health network’s excellence in teaching medical students. The award, given through a joint sponsorship of the Vermont Academy of Family Physicians and the University of Vermont Dept. of Family Medicine, also recognized Community Health for its “commitment above…

RUTLAND—After careful consideration, Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region (CEDRR) and The Paramount Theatre have made the proactive decision to postpone the Parade of Heroes & Community Celebration, originally scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 28, to a later date. In mid-June, CEDRR and The Paramount Theatre released plans for a Parade of Heroes &…

Dear editor, During last Wednesday’s community meeting on Aug. 11 in Rutland’s gym at St. Joseph’s College, there were many stupendous ideas expressed on ways to spend the initial $4.4 million Covid funds that will be coming to Rutland City. Rutland Free Library needs money to modernize the building and its technology. Main Street Park…

By Brett Yates The Downtown Rutland Partnership (DRP) has hired BENT Media, a video production company based in Franklin County, to create a series of advertisements that will promote shopping, dining, art, and entertainment in the city’s historic center. By its own description, the DRP, a nonprofit, serves to “manage, market and maintain the Downtown…