Thursday, Nov 7, at 6 p.m.—ROCHESTER—The world premiere of “Leave Nice Tracks” comes to Pierce Hall in Rochester on Thursday, Nov. 7. The doors open at 6 p.m. with a potluck, vendors and bar. Bent Hill Brewery has provided some Backcountry Stash Ale in commemorative cans. Bring a potluck item to share, or a pot of your…

Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m.—WOODSTOCK—On Nov. 6, Detective Richard King will give a community presentation on drug trends and the new marijuana laws in the Woodstock Union High School Middle School library. King has been a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) with the Ludlow Police Dept. for over 10 years. The focus will be on…

Friday, Nov. 8 at 5 p.m. —BRANDON—Join the Brandon Artists Guild in celebrating with art this holiday season. All are welcome to join the opening celebration on Nov. 8 from 5-7 p.m. and pick up an affordable one-of-a-kind arts and crafts piece from the gallery. “Art makes a great gift, but buying art for someone…

by DJ Dave Hoffenberg New York’s Brotality makes their Vermont debut Saturday, Nov. 16, at The Howlin’ Mouse Record Store at 7 p.m. with Rutland’s own Max Crowley opening up the show. They’re trying to bring metal to the masses, while spreading faith and love. Brotality was formed by brothers Bryce Maopolski, 17, on guitar…

By Brendan Crowley You wake up to the sound of an alarm. It’s early. You don’t want to go to work, you’re tired, yet you muster up the energy to roll out of bed, get ready, and drive to work. The commute may be a challenge. There’s traffic, you’re still exhausted, and the car ride…

By Curt Peterson The volunteer speakers at Rutland’s Veterans’ Town Hall Nov. 3 were men who served in wars in Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan. They didn’t speak about heroism, or the excitement of combat, about brotherhood or about victory against the enemy — they told personal stories mostly about personal damage and about the hell…

Leslie Smith, the daughter of Killington founder Preston Smith, was inducted into the Middlebury College Hall of Fame on Nov. 2. Smith, a member of the Middlebury College class of 1983, was Middlebury’s first four-time All-American. She finished second twice in the Giant Slalom at the AIWA National Championships (1980, 1982), and placed fourth in…

Staff report In an overtime game, Green Mountain Union High School’s fourth seeded boys soccer team in Chester defeated No. 7 Mill River 4-0 Saturday, Nov. 2 to take the D-III title at Hartford’s Maxwell Athletic Complex. This was Green Mountain’s boys’ soccer team’s first state title in the school’s history. “It was awesome,” Athletic…

Kurt A. Burdack, 68, passed away peacefully Thursday, Oct. 31, at Rutland Regional Medical Center. His family will celebrate his life privately. Family and friends will meet at Killington Peak at a later date. He was born in Orange, New Jersey, on May 1, 1951, son of Arthur Walter Burdack and Bernadine Betty (Karg) Burdack.…

Staff report The KPAA has a new employee. Krista Neary, 26, started her new job as communications and volunteer director of the Killington Pico Area Association, replacing Sarah Newell, who left to become the town recreation and after school program director. Neary will be responsible for updating the KPAA website and social media pages in…

Area schools continue to be tested this week By Katy Savage Killington Mountain School is awaiting test results from a second water test after an initial test on Sept. 26 found elevated chemicals in the water supply. The test found Killington had 27.2 parts per trillion of PFAs, which is above the state limit of…

Dear Editor, In an editorial, published Oct. 24, titled “Let small schools prove themselves” Angelo Lynn writes: “Surely, when the idea of consolidated governance was conceived in Act 46, no one imagined district boards would rule like kings.” That is incorrect. From the very outset of Act 46 the constant refrain of many of us…

Dear Editor, Why are American health care costs so high?  Experts offer up an extensive menu of explanations, which other experts dispute.  The answer is a lot simpler than they make it.  To paraphrase James Carville, “It’s the administrative costs, stupid.” In 2011, the Commonwealth Fund reported that U.S. medical offices spent 20.6 hours a…

National standardized test scores drop By William J. Mathis The latest round of flagellation of dead horse flesh has been provoked by the release of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores. After 20 years of overall progress, many of the scores went down. While all groups improved over the long haul, the gaps…

By Angelo Lynn The story of two hikers and their small dog being attacked by a pack of hunting hound dogs while hiking in the Green Mountain National Forest near the Goshen-Ripton border is as shocking as it is frightening. Frightening because the dogs surrounded and attacked the couple for much of the half hour…