Friday, June 2, 7:30 p.m.—RANDOLPH—Rescheduled from March 11, Vishtèn will be performing at Chandler Music Hall Friday, June 2 at 7:30 p.m. Vishtèn is a contemporary Acadian traditional group. Members Pastelle and Emmanuelle Le Blanc and Pascal Miousse have become a distinctive and powerful international voice for traditional music from this part of the world…

By Dave Hoffenberg and Rick Redington If you’re free Wednesday, June 7, I highly recommend you go to the West Rutland Town Hall Theater to see an incredible show. For only $20, you get to see a legend in the business—and some local legends, as well. Ike Willis, singer and guitarist from the Frank Zappa…

Dear Editor, Thank you to the farmers who grew the food we served for our first Vermont Farmers Food Center Incubator Kitchen dining event held the weekend of May 20-21. Thank you also for the hard work of our volunteer kitchen crew who are helping the VFFC incubator kitchen promote the consumption of local food…

Dear Editor, The fiscal year 2018 federal budget proposed by the Trump administration would be devastating for the 48 million Americans who face hunger. In Vermont, this would have serious implications on the food security of the 1 in 4 people in our state who turn to the Vermont Foodbank for assistance each year. The…

Dear Editor, The Vermont State Labor Council AFL CIO unequivocally supports the Vermont National Education Association (NEA) in their struggle to protect collective bargaining rights. While Governor Scott’s administration has put forward a radical “plan” to save taxpayers a projected $26 million, this plan appears to be a cousin to Trump’s skinny budget proposal, half-baked…

By Lee H. Hamilton I’ve had a number of conversations recently that convince me our country is divided into two political camps separated by a deep and uncomfortably wide gap. No, I’m not talking about liberals and conservatives, or pro- and anti-Trump voters. I’m talking about people who believe in politics and our political system,…

By Jon Margolis, VTDigger We have seen the enemy: teachers. They are bankrupting the state. They make too much money. Their benefits are too generous. They have too much political power. So, at least, one might think from some of the speechifying and commentating that accompanied the recent (and to be continued) flap over where…

 By Erin Mansfield, VTDigger Five weeks after the deadline for filing tax returns, more than 26,000 people are still waiting for the Vermont Department of Taxes to issue refunds on their personal income taxes. Some of those people are very low-income and are planning to use the refunds to pay living expenses, according to Susan…

By Elizabeth Hewitt, VTDigger S.22—”An act relating to eliminating penalties for possession of limited amounts of marijuana by adults 21 years of age and older” The final proposal for marijuana legalization, S.22, would legalize adult possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and allow people to grow up to two mature and four immature…

By Jasper Craven, VTDigger Rob Quist, a Democratic poet cowboy from Montana strongly supported by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., lost in a special election for the state’s sole House seat, Thursday, May 25. Quist’s Republican challenger, Greg Gianforte, won roughly 50 percent of the vote despite being charged with misdemeanor assault Wednesday after allegedly…

By Julia Purdy RUTLAND  TOWN—Vermont has dozens of explored ancient sites that date as far back as 10,000-13,000 years and feature cookfires, refuse dumps, implements and workshops, points, pottery, charcoal and bones, shells, petroglyphs and even burials. Many more lie undisturbed beneath the surface on glacial plateaus, high in the mountains or alongside lowland creeks…

George Vincent Lyons, 92, died Wednesday, May 24, 2017, at Rutland Regional Medical Center. George Lyons was born in Troy, N.Y., May 25, 1924, son of Emma C. Ahearn and William J. Lyons. He was a 1941 graduate of St. Joseph’s High School, Troy, N.Y., a 1950 graduate of Siena College, Albany, N.Y., and went…

Phoenix Books funds sculpture, honoring Vt. author Rudyard Kipling RUTLAND—Work on the first carving announced in a planned series of historical stone sculptures in downtown Rutland will begin in August—but organizers say the “second” sculpture will be completed before the first. The second planned project, a tribute to “The Jungle Book” and famed Vermont author…

By Elizabeth Hewitt, VTDigger Gov. Phil Scott became the first governor in the country to veto a bill that would legalize marijuana. Scott announced Wednesday, May 24, he will send the bill, S.22, back to the Legislature. However, the governor said he is “offering a path forward.” If lawmakers make certain changes to the legislation,…

By Erin Mansfield, VTDigger RUTLAND—Sen. Kevin Mullin, R-Rutland, is stepping down from his position as state senator to become the top health care regulator in the state. Mullin, 58, of Rutland Town, will be the chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, which regulates health insurance prices and hospital budgets, among other things. The chair…