Saturday - Sunday, Dec. 3 - 4 — BROWNSVILLE — Plans are all set for a community Christmas celebration on the weekend of Dec. 3 and 4 and a beautiful Christmas Eve candle light service on Dec. 24. Starting on Saturday, Dec. 3 , there will be the much-anticipated Brownsville Community Church Christmas bazaar with…

By Annette Smith Editor’s note: Annette Smith is the executive director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment. She lives in Danby.  Not long ago, utilities envisioned a new renewable electricity system that would involve time-of-use rates and load management via smart meters. The idea was that customers would do laundry and charge electric vehicles (EVs)…

By Dave Hoffenberg The Vermont Comedy Festival kicks off Thursday, Dec. 1 and the area will be filled with comedy until Sunday night. Four days and nights with shows at the five locations: the Bridgewater Woolen Mill complex and Long Trail Brewery both in Bridgewater, at Rivershed in Killington, at the Grange Theater in Pomfret,…

By Juliet Schulman-Hall/VTDigger Hidden among the trees of Forest Road in St. George, two strangers, 40 years apart in age, began sharing a home. Carol Blakely, a retired teacher in her 70s and mother of four, once had a house full of people. But her children grew up and moved out, and her husband died,…

Forward part 2: Flip your dial from ‘stuck’ to ‘forward’ By Sandra Dee Owens Have you ever noticed when one negative emotion (i.e., resentment, anger, fear, guilt, anxiety, or the ‘should’ gremlin), comes to call, they all jump in? It’s like a pig pile of yuck. And suddenly, without your consent, you’re trapped in an…

Sunday, Dec. 4 — MIDDLETOWN SPRINGS — All are invited to browse the annual Middletown Springs craft fair to be held on Sunday, Dec. 4, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Organizers are pleased to announce a collaboration with Brigid's Crossing (formerly the Middletown Springs Inn) and the Middletown Springs Historical Society. Come and enjoy…

By Curt Peterson On Monday night, Nov. 28, Killington Select Board voted unanimously to increase annual financial support for the Chamber and Economic Development of the Rutland Region (CEDRR) from $1,500 per year to $5,000 — more than tripling the town’s contribution. Selectman Jim Haff  made the original motion to double the town’s support, raising…

Rutland Regional Medical Center Board chair Mark Foley, Jr. announced Nov. 22 that president and CEO Claudio Fort has resigned his position and will leave the hospital at the end of December. Fort joined Rutland Regional in April 2018 and led the hospital and the Rutland community through the unprecedented response to the Covid-19 pandemic.…

Wednesday, Nov. 30 — KILLINGTON —The Town of Killington Dept. of Parks and Recreation is seeking donations for a new outdoor ice skating rink at the Johnson Recreation Center. The rink is 50 feet by 90 feet, with enough room to accommodate adult, family, and children’s programs. It will be open to the community in…

By Merisa Sherman I could feel the snow melting underneath my feet, as I swung my oldest, bestest ski sister around by the elbow. We were dancing in the joy of the moment and celebrating our 35-year-old sisterhood. Then we grabbed the next elbow, a woman who has never ski raced a day in her life,…

Tuesday, Dec. 6 — MIDDLEBURY—Vermont Folklife announces its 24th annual gingerbread house competition and exhibit. After two years of holding the contest remotely through an online photo submission process, we are thrilled to continue this ever-popular tradition in hybrid format this year. Completed houses will be on display in Vermont Folklife’s 88 Main St. Middlebury…

By Laurie D. Morrissey Even if you’ve never ventured farther into the forest than an urban park or a college campus, you’re probably familiar with Sciurus carolinensis, the eastern gray squirrel. While it’s easy to identify gray squirrels by sight, however, recognizing the various sounds they make is more complicated. Their vocalizations – squeaks, moans,…

Staff report KILLINGTON—On Tuesday, Nov. 29 at approximately 2:15 p.m. a Rutland County Sheriff's Deputy stopped a vehicle on Route 4 in Killington near the top of Sherburne Pass for a motor vehicle infraction. After the deputy approached the vehicle and identified himself to the lone male in the car, the driver informed the officer…

By David Goodman/VTDigger Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from The Vermont Conversation with David Goodman, a VTDigger podcast on local and national issues with politicians, activists, artists, changemakers and citizens who are making a difference. Santa Claus is coming to town. But the person shimmying down the chimney may not be the rotund, bearded…

By Dom Cioffi Eighteen years ago this week, I wrote a letter to a young woman I barely knew. In that letter, I summarized the first months of an infant boy — the same boy she gave up for adoption earlier that spring. Every year since, I have written that young woman at Christmastime. I…