By Brooke Geery With life upended for everyone in the world, it’s important to stay positive and look for whatever rays of sunshine may come. Things may not be perfect, but they’re definitely going to get better eventually. In the meantime, be thankful for what you have. Here are 10 bright sides, or silver linings,…

Staff report Now you can have an alcoholic beverage with your takeout meal. Gov. Phil Scott signed an executive order Thursday, March 19, that allows restaurants to provide “to-go” orders of cocktails, beer and wine. Restaurants can also deliver those drinks. The order also allows licensed retail stores to deliver beer, wine and liquor (including cocktails). The…

By Anne Wallace Allen/VTDigger BRANDON — Faced with the loss of their standard food deliveries from New York City as a result of COVID-19, the owners of Li’s Chinese decided to cook the ingredients they did have and give the meals away for free Tuesday before closing their restaurant altogether. “Lunch is on us today!” the…

Local businesses that benefit from events and the recreational opportunities here in central Vermont, are a big part of the Mountain Times. Our pages are typically chock-full of photos and news related to the ongoings throughout our region — many of which happen at Killington, Pico and Okemo Mountains this time of year. However, due to…

Dear Editor, I’m trying to make sense of the recent VPR-Vermont PBS 2020 poll done in conjunction with Castleton University.  I’m not having much luck. A strong majority, 74%, favored raising the minimum wage. A majority, 56%, favored the family leave bill even if it meant a tax increase. But, the poll said, if the election were held today…

Dear editor, Today I received a thin envelope from Census 2020 in my mailbox. It instructed me to respond by internet. It took me all of three minutes (I do live alone). This is the first time the Decennial (10-year) Census has been able to take responses by internet. It can be done the next…

By Marc Sherman We are facing an unprecedented catastrophe. Whether you believe the threat is real and upon us or you think it’s a hoax, the reality is people are suffering very real illness and very personal challenges. For my business, Stowe Mercantile, we have closed following the governor’s proclamation for food service businesses. We unfortunately…

By Art Woolf We are in the first weeks of what will probably be the fastest and largest employment decline in Vermont’s history. The economy will be in much worse shape than I imagined just a week ago. Today there are 314,000 jobs in Vermont. By May, we will have lost 28,000 of them. That’s more than 8%…

Young adults reflect on their generation’s difficulty with social distancing By Vivian Finck Just last week the federal government, backed by the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization, sounded a warning to all to implement social distancing into our daily lives. Social distancing, if properly executed, will hopefully help curb the spread of…

By Sen. Alison Clarkson We are all adjusting to our new COVID-19 normal. The Legislature has just finished its first week of working remotely on Vermont’s response to this crisis. In each committee we are addressing different ways to respond to the anxieties and uncertainties we are all facing. This crisis is affecting almost every…

By Rep. Jim Harrison, Bridgewater, Chittenden, Killington & Mendon President Kennedy’s words, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country,” never rang more true than in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. We must all make sacrifices and help out where we can. The spread of the…

By Xander Landen/VTDigger Gov. Phil Scott announced Monday, March 23, that the state has pushed back tax deadlines for businesses and individual Vermonters, in an effort to provide economic relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Scott administration also announced that businesses would not need to pay meals and rooms or sales and use tax “until further…

By Anne Galloway/VTDigger and Polly Mikula As the nation, and the region, faces a dearth of personal protective equipment for health care providers in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, volunteers and small local companies are stepping up to fill the void. Jillian Bradley, co-owner of the Barnard General Store, posted the following message to the…

Photo courtesy of Bridgewater Volunteer Fire Department: One tractor trailer hit another head-on at the intersection of Routes 4 and 100 in Bridgewater on Monday evening. The Bridgewater store was significantly damaged. By Katy Savage The Bridgewater Corners Country Store was forced to close Monday, March 23, after a tractor trailer slid off the road…

Photo by Paul Holmes: Hannah, Hanne and Margie cycled up Killington Road, skinned up Ramshead, then skied.   By Katy Savage Editor’s note: at press time Tuesday afternoon, Killington Resort updated its uphill travel policy on its website, stating simply “Uphill is closed for the season. Thank you for understanding.” The following story was writen…