When the snow starts melting and the temperatures get warmer, most of us want to get outside and hike! But, mud season is not a good time for hiking in certain areas. Rain and melting snow at higher elevations are keeping many of Vermont’s hiking trails wet and muddy. When hikers tramp on saturated soils,…

Friday, April 3 at 12:30 p.m.—QUECHEE— Just because we are spending more time at home and distancing ourselves from others doesn’t mean the learning has to stop. Check out this virtual engagement opportunity from VINS to reinvigorate your at-home learner. On Friday, April 3, join VINS for a reptile encounter. It’s an important time of…

As everything moves into online communication and connection, Vermont Dance Alliance (VDA) is pleased to offer a new online dance series, every Saturday in April. These classes are free for the public (donations to VDA graciously accepted) and led by VDA members. There are many wonderful online offerings, ranging from ballet to zumba to general movement, posted by VDA…

Vemont is full of lakes, ponds and streams teeming with fish, and fishing is a great form of social distancing. Now that spring is here, the opportunities are abundant and varied, and conditions will only improve in the coming weeks. Fish species that are open to year-round angling include pike, pickerel, bullhead, catfish, and panfish…

By Brooke Geery The old idiom about waiting until after Memorial Day to plant a garden here in Vermont, doesn’t have to apply if you start your garden indoors! In this uncertain world, there has never been a better time to get your hands dirty and plant a vegetable garden. Even minimal success will provide…

KILLINGTON—On March 25, Mary Guggenberger, principal of Killington Elementary School, shared the following good news with the KES community via their newsletter.  She reported that she had heard from John Duke at Killington Resort who said “I’m happy to let you know that Lia Gugliotta won the most creative poster award for the NSAA (National…

On Friday, March 27, the Vermont Public Utility Commission (PUC) expanded the moratorium on utility disconnections to include non-residential ratepayers and regulated water companies. A previous order, issued on March 18, had directed utilities to stop any disconnection of residential utility service due to nonpayment of electricity, natural gas, and telecommunication bills. In Friday’s order,…

April 1-7 is Medication Safety Week and as reports appear in the news of certain drugs being potentially used for treatment or prevention of COVID-19, the Vermont Department of Health urges caution. At this time, the U.S. Drug Administration has not approved any drugs specifically for the treatment of patients with COVID-19, the state said…

There are now 184 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Vermont and 10 deaths. The cases have risen 26 since yesterday; 61 more than Wednesday — an exponential increase over the past few weeks.    

On Thursday afternoon, March 26, Governor Phil Scott directed schools to remain dismissed through the end of the 2019-2020 school year. Districts will close schools for in-person instruction and be required to implement continuity of learning plans for remote learning. This extends the Governor’s previous directive dismissing PreK-12 schools from March 18 to April 6.…

The Outside Story By Meghan McCarthy McPhaul Around the middle of March, I begin to feel that springtime urge to hit the road, to lace up the winter-neglected running shoes and start slogging through some miles. My early-season jogs take me past a wetland area that stubbornly spans both sides of a road near my…

Looking Back By Mary Ellen Shaw Yes, it is I…looking “forward” instead of “back” in my column. Why? Because we all need something to look forward to in a world that has changed in what seems like a “New York minute!” So, for as long as these difficult days last I will attempt to brighten…

Mary Beth Banios, superintendent of the Windsor Central Union School District, announced that she will be leaving the district in a letter to school board members, Wednesday, March 25. Banios told the board that she had gotten the job as superintendent at Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District, in Wenham, Massachusetts, and would be starting there on…

By Virginia Dean and Steven Seitz In an effort to offset the lack of hand sanitizers in the state due to the coronavirus, many Vermont distilleries have begun to make their own. “We’re on it,” said Mimi Buttenheim of Mad River Distillers, located in Waitsfield and Burlington. “We’ve been making small batches for people to…

Auditor’s report shows budget deficit lower than projected, a welcomed surprise By Curt Peterson The Windsor Central Unified School District Board meeting Monday evening, March 23, was a “perfect storm” – literally, as it turned out. A surprise March snowstorm covered the region in up to 10 inches of fresh snow making travel difficult. Most…