By Kevin Theissen Social Security is a critical component of many Americans’ retirement financial strategy. Before you begin taking it, consider ways to maximize this retirement income source for yourself. When to start? You have the choice of 1) starting benefits at age 62, 2) claiming them at your full retirement age, or 3) delaying…

By Dom Cioffi In a couple weeks, I will drive to Jacksonville, Florida, where I’ll meet with my oncologist at the Mayo Clinic. I have been visiting this world-renowned hospital for the past five years, ever since being diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in 2016. If this appointment goes well (fingers crossed), they will transfer…

Calista to open a new houseplant shop downtown this fall By Katy Savage RUTLAND—In March 2020, just days before the state shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Calista Budrow moved into a new house with her family in Rutland. She brought her small collection of houseplants with her. A year later, Budrow has more than…

By Riley Robinson/VTDigger The song was about the world being on fire. And as they rehearsed the musical number on an athletic field in Lyndon, they watched haze from the Manitoba wildfires obscure the mountains, the trees and the moon. At one point, Silas Brubaker, 14, and a couple of other actors sat in a parked car to…

RUTLAND — Removal of the Dunklee Pond Dam on Tenney Brook in the City of Rutland is now underway following a three-year design and permitting process, according to a news release from the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC), Aug. 6. The dam is classified as a “Significant Hazard Potential Dam,” meaning there is potential for…

By Curt Peterson KILLINGTON— Sherburne Memorial Library Director Jane Ramos will be one of three rural librarians chosen to speak at the Association of Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL) annual convention in Reno, Nevada in October. The conference theme is “The biggest little library.” ARSL will be hosting the conference at the Nugget Resort Oct.…

By Angelo Lynn PITTSFORD — Pittsford Town Manager John Haverstock has notified the Town’s Select Board of his decision to resign his post after next year’s Town Meeting in March 2022. “I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the Select Board over the past 13 years to serve the residents of Pittsford,” Haverstock said in remarks…

By Reps. Michelle Bos-Lun, Westminster, and Mike Mrowicki, Putney Climate change and its resulting weather variations are contributing to floods and massive roadway erosion in some parts of Vermont and floods and droughts in other areas this month. A large section of northern Vermont experienced abnormally dry conditions in July, but southern Vermont endured two major storms…

STOCKBRIDGE—Monday, at 2:11 p.m., state police received a 911 call of a head-on two vehicle car crash on Route 107 in Stockbridge. Investigation determined that Blake Manning, age 31 of Fairlee, who was driving a Hyundai sedan, was traveling eastbound when he crossed over the center line and collided with the front end of a…

Cross-county road rage ends in arrest BENSON—On Aug. 7, at about 7 p.m., troopers from the State Police — Rutland Barracks were notified of a road rage incident that began on Route 22A in Addison County and continued into Rutland County to the town of Benson. Investigation revealed Matthew Haunte, age 26 of Colchester, attempted…

Dear Editor, Summer is synonymous with creemees, and well-timed ones at that. Dairy, as an industry, has supported Vermonters for 150 years. Summer is a wonderful time to celebrate the food that dairy provides, and the hardworking families who have produced that food while stewarding the land and landscape that sets Vermont apart from so many…

Dear Editor, Education finance in Vermont is an often hard-to-understand and quite complex system. Act 59 of 2021 created the Task Force on the Implementation of the Pupil Weighting Factors Report, a group of eight Vermont legislators who will spend time this summer, as the name implies, determining the best path forward to implement the…

Dear Editor, Virtually every business owner or manager Green Mountain Economic Development Corp. works with as the regional development corporation for Windsor and Orange counties, cites the lack of decent housing and child care as the most important factors hampering recovery from Covid. We believe this is true throughout New England and beyond. Both were…

By Rep. Jim Harrison Unlike earlier this summer when daily Vermont Covid cases were declining and often in the single numbers, they are now significantly up due to the more contagious Delta variant. Last Friday, there were 88 new cases despite over 84% of Vermonters aged 12 and older having at least their first vaccine…

The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Dept. says bear hunting season starts in September and reminds hunters about the bear hunting regulations. Vermont has two bear hunting seasons. The early season, which requires a special bear tag, starts Sept. 1, and continues through Nov. 12 with one exception. Nonresident hunters using dogs cannot start bear hunting…