Public Safety Commissioner Thomas D. Anderson and Tax Commissioner Kaj Samsom said a tax examiner employed by the Department of Taxes has been arrested by the Vermont State Police on suspicion of embezzling more than $15,000 from the state of Vermont by altering a single taxpayer’s return information in fall 2018. Chelsea Hoadley, 26, of…

By Melinda Myers Brighten your indoor décor with plants that bloom. Whether growing traditional favorites, flowering tropical plants, or annuals moved inside for winter; their colorful flowers are sure to elicit smiles and months of enjoyment. Just provide the right growing conditions and sufficient light and you will be enjoying months of indoor color. You…

After years of preparation reading feng shui books, it feels quite miraculous: I’m attacking every corner after assuming that the organizing gene in my family skipped me. But suddenly, as I flow through the house, putting like with like in containers that fit, I’m so in the flow, I can’t stop myself! From bath to…

By Meghan McCarthy McPhaul The other day I was driving through New Hampshire’s Crawford Notch, where my eyes are usually drawn to the tall mountains and long, cascading waterfalls on either side of the road. But on this day my gaze shifted toward the snow banks lining the narrow highway. The sun was shining and…

Cal Garrison (a.k.a Mother of the Skye) writes weekly horoscopes for The Mountain Times. If you would like an emailed notification sent to you weekly, sign up for the newsletter, below. Copyright - Cal Garrison: 2018: © Want to hear more from Mother of the Skye? Check out Mother's Celestial Inspirations for a deeper look into this weeks horoscopes…

By Cal Garrison a.k.a. Mother of the Skye This week’s Horoscopes are coming out under an Aquarius Moon, in the wake of the Epiphany, on the day that Venus crosses the line between Scorpio and Sagittarius, and within 36 hours of Mercury’s ingress into Capricorn. What is also noteworthy is the fact that Uranus, the…

By Dom Cioffi Not long ago, my son had a few neighborhood friends over to hang out. For years the kids have been congregating at our home so I generally don’t pay much attention to their activities. I’m just happy when they’re within earshot and outside playing. A little while into this particular romp, my…

Dear Editor, Pizza is a big and tasty business in America; luscious and lip-smacking. In 2015, $38.5 billion worth of pizza was sold nationwide, according to Pizza magazine. The story of America’s love relationship with pizza began in 1905 in New York City—not Italy. Drum roll, please. Put your hands together for Gennaro Lombardi—then say…

Dear Editor, Secretary of Commerce and Community Development Mike Schirling highlighted actions his agency has taken to make a positive impact on Vermont’s previously lackluster economic development program: “focusing on fundamental activities, supporting economic growth, and affordability,” in a recent VTDigger piece. There are many moving parts to economic development. Presently, Vermont has spread those…

By James Ehlers As you know, 2019 is a constitutional amendment year, with the next one not coming until 2023. For this reason, I ask, on behalf of a broad constituency of Vermonters, for your consideration of and assistance in amending our Vermont Constitution beginning this coming legislative session. Vermont’s Bill of Rights, Chapter I…

By Anson Tebbetts As we enter a new year, many Vermont dairy farmers, as well as farmers nationwide, continue fighting through their economic fog. Trapped in an antiquated federal dairy pricing system, Vermont’s hard-working stewards of the land are at the whim of a highly competitive global structure. Compensation for their milk is out of…

Staff report The Slate Valley Unified School District is considering a new middle school to create better learning opportunities in the face of declining enrollment and rising costs. The Slate Valley Innovation Committee has been studying the possibility of a middle school since October, based on results from a community survey that shows the need…

Vermonters filed 5,471 scam reports with the Attorney General’s Consumer Assistance Program in 2018 according to the Attorney General’s list of top 10 most commonly reported scams of the year. This amounts to a 4.55 percent increase in scams from 2017. As new scams emerged, old scams persisted. The IRS scam, which involves scammers claiming…

Staff report The skiing was so good, Okemo Mountain Resort had to scramble to find employees after the holiday period ended on Wednesday, Jan. 2. Resort officials anticipated ski visits to drop off after New Year’s Day, but the mid-week days following the holiday turned out to be as strong as they were during the…

By Curt Peterson After a 10-day trip to Israel, Woodstock Police Chief Robbie Blish said he noticed one big difference between Israel and the U.S.: Israels’s “willingness to spend the extra money needed to have desired security.” In Israeli shopping malls, he said, 43 percent of the complex’s budget is dedicated to security – in…