WOODSTOCK—The Woodstock Area Jewish Community, Congregation Shir Shalom, is seeking volunteers for this year’s High Holy Day choir, under the direction of Dr. James Lorenz. The choir will perform during the High Holy Day period, beginning with Selichot on the evening of Sept. 16, followed by Rosh Hashana services (the evening of Sept. 20 and morning of Sept. 21) and Yom…

Sunday & Monday, Aug. 27-28—RUTLAND—Rutland Youth Theatre holds open auditions for the creepy “Boo! Thirteen Scenes from Halloween,” a play by Pat Cook. Produced by Saskia Hagen Groom and directed by Mikki Lane, “Boo! Thirteen Scenes from Halloween” is a story about a full moon and a grinning jack-o’-lantern beaming from every window. Celebrate Halloween…

Saturday & Sunday, Aug. 26-27—ORWELL—On Aug. 26 and 27, the Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell will host the annual Soldiers Atop the Mount living history weekend honoring the 240th anniversary of the 1777 Northern Campaign of the American Revolution. The historic ground of Mount Independence will be brought back to life with activities related…

Saturday, Aug. 26, 8 a.m.—CHITTENDEN—The town of Chittenden will celebrate Chittenden Day on Saturday, Aug. 26, at Barstow School, 223 Chittenden Road, Chittenden. The Barstow Sap Run, sponsored by the Barstow PTO, will kick off the day’s events with registration at 8 a.m. at Barstow School. The one-mile fun run will start at 8:30 a.m., followed by the 5k…

By Daryle Thomas There was a time when Texas beef lived and died in Texas. That concept pretty much ended in the 60s when almost all beef grown in Texas was sent up north to the feed lots to be fattened on grain. They had to be fattened because that good grass-fed marbling was worked…

Saturday, Aug. 26, 7:30 p.m.—HUBBARDTON—The Green Mountain Astronomers are back at the Hubbardton Battlefield State Historic Site in Hubbardton, Saturday, Aug. 26, for another Deep Sky Discovery Night.  The program runs 7:30-11 p.m. The astronomers bring their own telescopes to share. They are happy to present the depths of the night sky to attendees. Bring blankets,…

Thursday, Aug. 24, 5:30 p.m.—WEST PAWLET—The West Pawlet Volunteer Fire Department auction will be held Thursday, Aug. 24 at the West Pawlet Firehouse, Route 153, West Pawlet. The auction event begins at 5:30 p.m. and ends when all items are gone. Auctioneer for the event will be Chris Mars, son of the late, famous Vermont auctioneer Bus Mars,…

By Dom Cioffi Ever since my first major rock concert in high school, I have been a fan of live music productions. It didn’t matter if it was a local band playing in a nearby nightclub or a nationwide act performing for thousands of fans in an arena, that feeling of a thumping bass line…

By Alan J. Keays, VTDigger A lawsuit over a traffic stop in Wallingford and subsequent vehicle search that police justified based on a whiff of marijuana is heading to the Vermont Supreme Court. The Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the state in 2014 on behalf of Gregory Zullo of Rutland,…

Dear Editor, Many of you will recall that two years ago KMS received our first accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. As part of that accreditation process, KMS is required to submit two-and five-year reports. What they didn’t mention is how amazing everyone here is to work with, and what a…

By Lee Hamilton One reason I consider myself fortunate to have led a life in politics is that, over time, I’ve had a chance to work with nine presidents. From Lyndon Johnson through Barack Obama, I’ve talked policy, politics and, sometimes, the trivial details of daily life with them. Johnson was a deal-maker — always…

By Mike Smith In the early 1960s we still had racist state laws defending the widespread practice of segregation. Slowly — too slowly for many black Americans — those laws began to change. However, racism and bigotry don’t end by changing laws. In many respects, integrating lunch counters, schools and bathrooms is the easy part.…

By Erin Mansfield, VTDigger Vermont’s economy added 1,700 jobs in July, causing the unemployment rate to fall from 3.2 percent to 3.1 percent. Just as it has been for several years, the state unemployment rate continues to be far lower than the national rate, which was 4.3 percent in July. Vermont tied with Indiana and South…

HEAT Squad, an energy efficiency service developed by NeighborWorks of Western Vermont, is expanding to the Northeast Kingdom with the help of a $250,000 Northern Border Regional Commission grant. The strategy of HEAT Squad focuses on educating homeowners about energy efficiency; offering low-cost energy audits and same day audit reports; objective advice and guidance regarding…

Just over three years have passed since Green Mountain Power was recognized as the first utility in the world to become a Certified B Corp - and the Colchester-based energy company has received recertification. B Corps are companies that believe business can be a force for good and are certified by the nonprofit B Lab…