The 2018 Vermont State Gymnastics Championships provided an opportunity for the Rutland-based Cobra Gymnastics team to shine. The meet was held at Bellows Falls High school March 17 and 18. Ten Vermont gymnastics clubs competed, with 371 total gymnasts in the meet. Cobra qualified 52 girls for the meet and competed in six awards in: vault, bars,…

By Joe Rankin When you think about the iconic landforms of the Northeast, what comes to mind? The mountains, of course. The lakes. Of course. Rivers? Probably. But there’s another. Stone walls. An estimated 100,000 miles of them. They might not be as impressive as the Presidential Range or Moosehead Lake, but collectively they make…

By Marguerite Jill Dye You’d think I’d have learned to be more discerning about who can be trusted and who cannot, but I realized it’s a continuing theme that pops up in daily life. My experience began 50 years ago at the American College of Monaco. Adam McQueen Vandenberg stole my heart. He was a race…

Saturday & Sunday, March 24-25—Maple Open House Weekend, March 24-25, is Vermont’s most anticipated spring event, bringing an estimated 30,000 visitors to tour the sugar houses and meet the sugar makers responsible for leading the nation in maple syrup production (nearly 1.8 million gallons averaged over the past three seasons). The weekend celebrates the current…

KILLINGTON—For the first time, Pico Mountain hosted the Special Olympics Vermont Winter Games March 18-20. “This will be my first Winter Games experience, and the first time Special Olympics Vermont has hosted the event at Pico,” said Sue Minter, president and CEO of the statewide organization, before the event. “We are honored by the warm…

RUTLAND—In spite of snowy conditions, over 150 local community members and luminaries gathered together for Rutland Regional Medical Center’s 2018 annual corporators meeting and retirement celebration for president and CEO Tom Huebner. Following the regular board business and remarks by Governor Phil Scott, bigger news emerged. Rutland Regional Health Services and Rutland Regional Medical Center…

Twenty Rutland-area African-American Civil War veterans will be honored through a new downtown Rutland sculpture commissioned by Rutland Regional Medical Center. The sculpture, part of a series planned by the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center, MKF Properties, Vermont Quarries, and Green Mountain Power’s Rutland Blooms, will highlight the heroism and sacrifice of soldiers who served…

Chittenden family farm plans for its second century By Julia Purdy CHITTENDEN—Jenna Baird and Jacob Powsner live in a modest house on land belonging to Baird’s parents, steps away from the large, traditional farmhouse where Bonnie and Bob Baird live. It’s a common arrangement among working farm families that have been on the same piece…

KILLINGTON—Laura McKenna, owner and operator of Sunup Bakery of Killington, was recently presented with the U.S. Department of Defense Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) Patriot Award. David Wheel, representing Vermont Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, presented the award for the outstanding support that McKenna has given to her employee and…

By Katy Savage RUTLAND—Gov. Phil Scott started a speech before members of the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce and Rutland Economic Development Fund Monday, March 12, by addressing what he called “the elephant in the room.” About a month ago, Fair Haven High School—20 miles from Rutland—was threatened by a shooter. The threat at Fair…

Wednesday, March 21, 7 p.m.—RUTLAND—Rutland High School’s Encore Theatre presents “The Stallion Howl” by Dale Wasserman on March 21, 29, 30, and 31 in the Rutland High School Theater at 7 p.m. each night. What does it mean to have faith in someone? Can faith and love overcome the great trial of the instinctual jealousy…

Thursday, March 22, 1 p.m.—CASTLETON—The Castleton Community Center offers its next Great Course workshop series on Genealogy with video professor John Phillip Colletta, an independent genealogist, on Thursdays, 1-2:30 p.m. beginning March 22. Genealogy is a journey of discovery that can teach individuals as much about themselves as about those who came before the. Many…

By Stephen Seitz LUDLOW—A recent school shooting in Florida and a close call in Fair Haven, where a student plot was foiled in time, have school systems everywhere pondering their safety measures, and the Two Rivers Supervisory Union is one of them. “School safety is one of our highest priorities,” Two Rivers Superintendent Meg Powden…

By Kelsey Neubauer, VTDigger The state’s only polling institute is among the casualties as Castleton University seeks to address a $1.5 million budget gap. Two dean positions have also been eliminated. Castleton spokesperson Jeff Weld said Tuesday, March 13, that the university had cut the positions of Dean of Administration Scott Dykman and Dean of Entrepreneurial…

By Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Bridgewater, Chittenden, Killington and Mendon Some of the sessions big issues will be up for votes on the House floor this coming week, including the “must pass” state budget. This is the time of year when committees have passed out bills they have been working on this year to get them…