By Alan J. Keays, VTDigger RUTLAND — The Board of Aldermen made a move that turned a small tax increase into a slight decrease. The board voted unanimously Tuesday night, July 18, to reduce the amount of money the city sets aside for working capital that helps manage cash flow throughout the year. However, while…

By Evan Johnson ROCHESTER—The 17 high school students at Rochester School will be able to attend the high school of their choice next year, significantly changing the composition of secondary education in the town. The latest development in Rochester’s search to provide quality education for its young people and comply with state education mandates follows…

Two fish caught in tributaries of Lake Champlain earlier this year have been certified as new Vermont state records. A new state record carp, weighing 33.25 pounds and measuring 40 inches in length, was caught in Otter Creek in April by Ferrisburgh angler Chase Stokes. Stokes, an accomplished youth angler, caught the carp while fishing…

The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for June was 3.2 percent. This reflects no change from the revised May rate. (The national rate in June was 4.4 percent.) Vermont’s overall unemployment rate was tied for the seventh lowest in the country for the same time period. Number of…

By Anne Galloway and Erin Mansfield, VTDigger Economists told lawmakers on Friday, July 21, that revenue for the state’s base operating budget will come in $28.8 million lower than expected this fiscal year. Tom Kavet, the economist for the Vermont Legislature, and Jeffrey Carr, the economist for the Scott administration, downgraded fiscal year 2018 revenue…

Saturday, July 29, 7 p.m.—KILLINGTON—The Killington Music Festival’s Music in the Mountains special season finale performance will take place at 7 p.m., Saturday, July 29 at Killington’s Peak Lodge. A festival favorite, this program will impress with the likes of quartets by Haydn, Puccini and Dvorak’s “American String Quarter No. 12.” Join KMF faculty members…

Saturday, July 29, 7:30 p.m.—WOODSTOCK—Pentangle Arts presents singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Chris Pierce, in collaboration with the 9th annual Bookstock Literary Festival, Saturday, July 29, 7:30 p.m. Pierce’s presentation “A Path for the Song” will explain his personal approach to songwriting and his interpretation of the human experience. Chris Pierce is an established artist who’s released seven independent albums…

Saturday, July 29, 7:30 p.m.—BRANDON—Juilliard trained identical twins Peter and Will Anderson have headlined the Blue Note, Kennedy Center, and New Orleans Jazz Festival, playing “with a passion, unpredictability, and sense of discovery,” said All About Jazz. On July 29 at 7:30 p.m., they return to Brandon Music to play their exciting renditions of American Songbook…

Friday, July 28, 7 p.m.—BELMONT—National Academies of Sciences environmental scientist and Belmont native April Melvin will speak at the Mt. Holly Town Library on Friday, July 28 at 7 p.m. Melvin will present her program, “Understanding Climate Change in Your Backyard.” Melvin is a native Vermonter who has spent her career studying the impact of climate change…

July 29-Sept. 17—WOODSTOCK—Billings Farm & Museum will host its 31st annual quilt exhibition July 29 through Sept. 17, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, featuring quilts made by Windsor County quilters. The exhibition will include quilting activities and demonstrations for every age and skill level, with quilters on hand to discuss their work. Challenge quilts made by the Heart of…

Thursday, July 27, 5 p.m.—KILLINGTON—On Thursday, July 27 at 5 p.m., Killington’s 5th Chili Cook-off will return! Originally scheduled to take place at the Sherburne Memorial Library on River Road, organizers have made the official call to move it indoors to the Long Trail Pub located inside Snowshed Lodge at Killington Resort. This year, the…

July 28, 29, 30—WOODSTOCK—One of New England’s premier literary festivals — Bookstock — returns to Woodstock for its ninth consecutive year on July 28, 29, and 30. Situated at venues on and near the historic Village Green of Woodstock, the festival attracts over 40 notable presenters. Novelists, poets, historians, experts, memoirists, essayists, artists, activists, philosophers, and biographers…

Thursday, July 27, 7 p.m.—FAIR HAVEN—Bluegrass is back! Catamount Crossing will take the stage at the Fair Haven Concerts in the Park Thursday, July 27, at 7 p.m. Catamount Crossing features Bob Amos on banjo, guitar and vocals; Sarah Amos on vocals; Freeman Corey on fiddle; Bob Dick on bass; Gary Darling on mandolin; and…

July 26-Aug. 5—RUTLAND COUNTY— Award-winning Rutland Youth Theatre presents Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” July 26-Aug. 5 as a traveling troupe. Produced by Saskia Hagen Groom, directed by Andrew Freeman, “The Tempest” is a play believed to have been written in 1610–1611, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It…

Tuesday, Aug. 1, 4:30 p.m.—RUTLAND—REDC Growing Business Series presents Rutland Road Pitch Tuesday, Aug. 1, 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the Rutland Free Library. Three Rutland-area entrepreneurs will present ideas for new products and business expansion to an audience of Vermont’s leading venture capitalists and angel investors during the Rutland stop of the annual Road Pitch. Members of…