By Julia Purdy MENDON—At its regular meeting Monday, Aug. 28, the Mendon Select Board devoted about half an hour to negotiating the wording for an easement involving a small section of old road in Mendon for emergency purposes, where it passes through Mendon’s portion of the Rolston Rest national forest purchase lands. The next meeting…

This September the Vermont Foodbank, together with the Feeding America nationwide network of food banks, will mobilize across all 50 states in an effort to bring an end to hunger. Hunger Action Month is designed to inspire people to take action and raise awareness of the fact that 42 million Americans, including 13 million children,…

By Alan J. Keays, VTDigger.org RUTLAND – A city panel heard an initial cost estimate of $2.5 million for adding a gymnasium to its recreation building. The results of a $6,000 feasibility and cost analysis by NBF Architects in Rutland of the gymnasium addition were presented to the Rutland Board of Aldermen’s recreation committee at a…

By Lani Duke Hearing to determine Zingale’s position at town administrator Joe Zingale’s position as Rutland Town administrator is under scrutiny. Select Board Chair Josh Terenzini suspended Zingale with pay Aug. 29 after Terenzini’s delivery of a disciplinary letter resulted in an argument. The Select Board will meet to determinate whether Zingale should be fired…

By Lani Duke Lake group tries new approach to eradicating milfoil from Bomoseen: new harvester gets to work The Lake Bomoseen Association has wound up a 10-day, $29,500 weed harvesting program in which a pair of harvester boats cut and pulled Eurasian milfoil from water south of the float bridge. Over time and careful observation,…

Pip the guinea pig, peaking out from his blanket fort By Brady Crain I have, based on the orders of everyone, been taking it much easier.  I lift or do pushup/pullup sets every two days, walk at least once a day, and trail run every two to three days, between four and 12 miles. Easy…

By Kevin Theissen It doesn’t take a degree in finance to see that the cost of college continues to rise. In its 2015 report, the College Board showed that public four-year institutions raised prices an average of 3.4 percent annually between the 2005-06 and 2015-16 school years. Put another way: A $5,000 education in 2005-06…

By Marguerite Jill Dye I feel as if I’m abandoning a sinking ship, leaving America for a pilgrimage across Spain during this perilous time of crises, turmoil, and uncertainty. Keeping up with the news, one can only wonder, has Armageddon begun? Scenes from “Mad Max” and “Water World” flash before my eyes, movies I never…

drawn by Adelaide Tyrol By Brett Amy Thelan I once heard of a biologist with a clever party trick: regardless of where or when a given party was taking place, he claimed that he could produce a wild salamander in 15 minutes or less, and more often than not, he delivered. I suspect he never…

By Brett Yates I’m aware that nearly everyone is probably tired of hearing about Confederate statues by now. But before I finally move on from the Unite the Right fallout and restore this column to its regularly scheduled programming, I want—for one very particular reason—to go back to Trump’s Charlottesville response last month, when he…

By Dom Cioffi Years ago, I spent the summer break in between my sophomore and junior years of college living in Cape Cod with several friends. The idea was to earn a little money and partake in the party scene as much as possible. I was used to living with a roommate in college, but…

Dear Editor, VT Volunteer Services for Animals Humane Society (VVSA) is in the process of organizing a truckload of animal supplies for delivery to the areas ravaged by Hurricane Harvey. Donations of canned animal food with flip tops, bagged cat and dog food, flea and tick medicine, light weight kitty litter and litter boxes, heavy…

Dear Editor, Like most of you, we at Vermont Emergency Management have been watching events unfold in Texas following Hurricane Harvey. As we watch, most of us are no doubt reminded of our own historic disaster: Tropical Storm Irene. We’ve seen many stories from Houston about individuals and families who were rescued from their flooded homes…

Dear Editor, With the new school year upon us, parents turn their attention to school clothes, school supplies, and school food. Yes, school food! More than 31 million children rely on school meals for their daily nutrition, which too often consists of highly processed food laden with saturated fat. Not surprisingly, one-third of children are…

By Barrie Dunsmore How will it end? When will it end? As a  geezer with the newspaper column, those are the questions I am constantly asked. (If I knew the precise answers I could start a new career in Las Vegas.) Of course neither I nor anyone else knows how and when the presidency of…