By Sen. Bernie Sanders Editor’s note: The following is Sen. Sanders prepared remarks June 25, ahead of the Senate’s consideration of a proposed $740.5 billion military budget authorization. Sanders’ amendment to the National Defense Authorization. Mr. President, if there was ever a moment in American history when we needed to fundamentally alter our national priorities,…

The state’s independent non-partisan Vermont Commission on Women released a new data dashboard report on Thursday, June 25, outlining on the ways the Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately and uniquely impacted women. “The economic downturn associated with the pandemic makes women more vulnerable to financial instability,” said Cary Brown, the commission’s executive director. “Our dashboard reveals that a higher percentage of…

Recent rains will help, crowd-sourcing tool allows public to report and track water shortages According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, approximately 571,000 Vermonters or 91% of the population are living in an area of the state that is experiencing abnormally dry conditions. As a result state officials began asking Vermonters to report water shortages in their…

By Grace Elletson/VTDigger Across the country, homeless populations have been battered by Covid-19. Over 700 people without housing have tested positive for the disease in Boston. Similar outbreaks among homeless Americans have taken hold in cities like Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Philadelphia. In Vermont, only one person experiencing homelessness tested positive for Covid-19. No one has died. That’s because…

By Julia Purdy While the official 2020 Census kickoff on April 1, 2020 was delayed by the pandemic, households have now begun to receive invitational postcards by mail or physical invitational packets dropped at their door. A few folks have wondered, why these postcards and packets? The 2020 Census is aiming for a “complete count”…

BY Sen. Allison Clarkson Our extraordinary 2020 Vermont Legislative Session recessed for eight weeks on Friday night June 26 just after 9 p.m. Distinguished by our mid-March pivot to dealing with Vermont’s response to the novel coronavirus pandemic which hit the United States full force – this Legislative Session has been memorable. And, it is…

By Rep. Jim Harrison No, it’s not the sound of a toy car, like the one we gave our son, Ben, many years ago. We quickly regretted the present as that’s all we heard, vroom, vroom…as he revved it up on the floor before letting it fly. Rather, it was a week of daylong Zoom…

Scott Howard of Bridgewater Corners passed away Thursday, June 25 from lung cancer. “He will always be remembered by the Killington community for skiing hard and every day,” wrote Bruce Kimball, a friend. In fact, Howard skied so hard that he broke records. In 2018 he set the record for vertical feet skied in a…

CLARENDON—On June 22, at 7:55 a.m., troopers from the Vermont State Police Rutland Barracks were notified of a burglary at Lucky’s Trailer World in Clarendon that occurred the previous day at 3:35 a.m. Through investigation it was determined a lone male forced entry into the building and damaged property inside. The male appeared to be…

SHREWSBURY—On June 24 at 10:32 a.m. troopers from the Vermont state police responded to a report of a two-vehicle crash in the area of Route 103 south of Spring Lake Road in Shrewsbury. Preliminary investigation indicated that driver Randal Adams, 60, of Cavendish and passenger Katrina Centariczki, 74, of Reading were traveling northbound when Adams’…

On Sunday, June 28, at 2:36 p.m., Troopers from the Royalton Barracks along with Hartford Fire responded to a single vehicle rollover crash on Interstate 91-North in the town of Hartford. The operator was identified as Natausha Smallwood, 22, from Hartland, who sustained non-life threatening injuries from the crash. Investigation revealed that Smallwood was traveling…

Vermont Youth Project mobilizes community to reach youth this summer RUTLAND—When a group of dedicated agencies known as the Vermont Youth Project of Rutland County realized that youth summer camp programs were going to be limited, they acted.  Working together, Mentor Connector, 4-H, and the Partners for Prevention put out the call to action to…

By Curt Peterson The Agency of Education and the Dept. of Health issued long-awaited guidelines for the reopening Vermont schools this fall on June 17. The 25-page report “A Strong and Healthy Start, Safety and Health Guidance for Reopening Schools, Fall 2020” warned that, “This guidance will be periodically updated as new information becomes available.”…

By Lola Duffort/VTDigger Lawmakers have sent legislation setting next year’s school taxes to the governor’s desk, and property taxes will go up if the measure is signed into law. But they won’t skyrocket the way they would have had lawmakers decided to use them to plug the more than $100 million shortfall the state’s education fund…

Staff report STOCKBRIDGE—The Vermont State Police are investigating the drowning of a child in the White River Wednesday evening, June 24, near the Gaysville post office in the town of Stockbridge. The victim was Gabriel McEachern, 7, of Stockbridge. Investigators learned that Gabriel was with his parents, Kenneth and Danielle McEachern; his two siblings; and…