By Ethan Weinstein Nothing could stop Jessie Gagnon and Earl Kehoe from finally marrying. Kehoe’s stroke hadn’t. Covid hadn’t. And the couple certainly wasn’t going to let the day’s 90-degree heat delay their marriage any longer. So on Tuesday, June 30, the couple’s family and friends gathered outside The Pines Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation…

On the night of July 4, state police from the Rutland Barracks were dispatched to a single vehicle crash involving a pedestrian on Route 7 in Rutland. Upon arrival, they learned that the operator of the vehicle, Taylor Edwards-Galarneau of Proctor struck a pedestrian, identified as Rutland resident Gregory C. Merriam, who succumbed to his injuries…

By Karen D. Lorentz It’s summer, and in a sign of life getting back to normal, Okemo Mountain Resort has resumed summer operations and construction on two lift projects. The mountain opened its adventure zone and mountain bike park on June 17 with 2021 operating hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays…

By Emma Cotton/VTDigger RUTLAND — Health care providers hope a new $600,000 pilot program, coming to Rutland this fall, will help reduce mental health crises that send a high number of children and teens to the local hospital. On average, young people visit Rutland’s emergency room more often than in most other parts of Vermont. Those…

By Ethan Weinstein After a 40-year hiatus from farming, Mission Farm in Killington is working the land once again. Their goal: address the community’s needs through food and faith. Led by Executive Director Reverend Lisa Ransom and “Farm Priest” Reverend Rachel Field, three summer interns have joined the team. These divinity school students, planting rows…

By Curt Peterson The Killington Select Board met on the afternoon of June 30 and set the official FY2022 municipal tax rate: $.5382. In the 2020 Town Report, the municipal tax rate had been estimated at $.5425, slightly higher than the final rate. The rate is made up of two factors: The voter-approved budget and…

By Erin Petenko/VTDigger As vaccinations rise throughout the state — hitting 81.9% of eligible Vermonters on June 29 — readers have written to VTDigger to ask: Just how many vaccinated Vermonters have ended up with Covid-19 anyway? The Vermont Dept. of Health has the answer: 239 Vermonters since Jan. 1. But the small sample of data, plus…

By Angelo Lynn The organization Let’s Grow Kids has been at the forefront of an effort to establish legislation that makes having children in Vermont more affordable and, as it should be, desirable. It recent years it has not been affordable, and therefore, to many, not a desirable option. That’s to Vermont’s great detriment. If the state…

Dear Editor, Blaming OneCare for the high cost of health care and the sluggish pace of reform grabs headlines, but it does not serve the public or advance understanding of our health care system and its impact on our lives and economy. OneCare establishes per capita contracts, disburses funds, and aggregates and analyzes data in…

Dear Editor, In the May 13, 2021, issue of the News & Citizen, Dave Yacovone informed us that the Vermont House of Representatives voted 146-0 to ban “forever” chemicals. One of the reasons he cited for the ban was the adverse health effects on fetal development. If he’s truly concerned about protecting fetal development, why…

Dear Editor, As a university student in Germany in 1966-67, I learned that teaching the history of Nazi Germany in German schools was strictly prohibited, much to the outrage of the younger teachers and their secondary school students. Students born during the Nazi regime and after were asking their parents, particularly their fathers, the painful…

By Richard Slusky Editor’s note: Slusky was CEO at Mount Ascutney Hospital and Health Center in Windsor from 1982 to 2010. After retirement, he was director of payment reform for the Green Mountain Care Board for six years. He now owns Slusky Consulting LLC. What follows is an open letter to the Green Mountain Care Board,…

By Erin Petenko/VTDigger Health Commissioner Mark Levine told Vermonters on Tuesday, July 6, that the best way to create a wall of protection against Covid-19 this fall and winter is to get vaccinated — and to talk to their family members about getting the vaccine, too. Roughly 82.4% of Vermonters ages 12 and older have started…

New leadership will further improve operations, resort says Early May, we announced organization changes in the mountain operations department that took effect in January alongside multiple promotions throughout the resort that shortly followed. We’re happy to announce additional structure adjustments and promotions that will further strengthen our ability to deliver memorable experiences year-round. Longstanding employee…

Richard Morse and his students used what they had and kept it simple By Shelby Graves, Grade 10 at Killington Mountain School While sitting in school, wouldn’t you want to be able to have the opportunity to learn outside while looking at the beautiful blue sky and fresh blooming flowers? Here at Killington Mountain School, math,…