By Angelo S. Lynn Give Gov. Phil Scott credit for utilizing the element of surprise. In his budget address this past Tuesday, Jan. 24, he rocked Montpelier’s world by suggesting that public schools, K-12, freeze their budgets at current spending levels, force teachers to pay more for their health care plans (from roughly 15 to…

Editor’s note: Mike Solimano is the president and CEO of Killington Resort and Pico Mountain. Mountain Times: Killington Resort has officially asked the town of Killington to help offset the costs of hosting another World Cup event next year with $100,000. The Select Board has agreed and has included it in its budget to be…

By Jasper Craven, VTDigger The U.S. House has unanimously passed a bill co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., that aims to improve the quality of rural phone service. “Whether an emergency call or a business order, Vermonters should have confidence that their calls are completed without disruption,” Welch said in a statement. “This bill…

By Mike Polhamus, VTDigger A report on Vermont’s solid waste shows that more than half of what residents throw away could be recycled, composted or diverted from landfills. About 28 percent of Vermonters’ solid waste is organic matter, much of which could be turned into compost, according to state officials. The Biennial Report on Solid…

By Evan Johnson There’s no such thing as an early bedtime for Charles “Chip” Greeno. That’s because for the past 23 years, he’s worked the door at establishments in Rutland, Killington and as far away as New York, staying from when the doors open to past last call, checking IDs and making sure people get…

By Anne Galloway, VTDigger Gov. Phil Scott said he was not surprised by President Donald Trump’s executive order banning immigrants from certain Muslim countries, but he is “disappointed about the tone and the direction this sets for us.” “I think immigration is part of the path forward for us,” Scott said. “In Vermont, [immigration] would…

By Evan Johnson NORTH CLARENDON—During a visit to Rutland County last week, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch visited General Electric Aviation’s Rutland plant, where he applauded the plant’s collaboration with Efficiency Vermont to reduce energy consumption. “I just came from Washington and we could use a little of your know-how there,” he said at the start…

Immigration, economy, efficiency featured By Evan Johnson RUTLAND—In an address that ranged from President Trump’s recent executive orders barring refugees to economic development to education funding, Governor Phil Scott outlined his plans for Vermont Monday afternoon, Jan. 30, at a luncheon for the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce. Scott’s remarks were the first since presenting…

By Karen Lorentz Many doubted the day would come, but on Jan. 23, 2017, an Act 250 amended permit was issued for Phase I of the Killington Village master plan. Due to an agreement reached Dec. 19, the appeal of the original Act 250 permit for the Killington Village to Vermont’s Supreme Court was dropped,…

By Adam Federman, VTDigger RUTLAND — Hundreds gathered in Rutland on Saturday, Jan. 28, in opposition to President Donald Trump’s executive order suspending refugee resettlement for 120 days and indefinitely barring Syrian refugees from the country. The order, signed late Friday, drew widespread condemnation from legal advocates and spurred an immediate lawsuit by the American…

John J. Hurley, an avid skier, animal lover, and fixture at Killington for the last 40 years, passed away peacefully on Jan. 18. He was 70. John was born on Dec. 31, 1946, in New York City to the late Joseph and Margaret Hurley of Limerick, Ireland. Upon graduation from Saint Helena’s High School in…

Marta M. Thorne, 73 of Wind Gap, Pa., formerly of Killington, Vt., died Jan. 22, 2017, at St. Lukes’s Hospital – Anderson Campus in Easton, Pa. Born Sept. 2, 1943, in Mare Island, Calif. She was the daughter of the late Howard Bankerd. Marta was the loving wife of Douglas A. Thorne for the past…

RUTLAND—Castleton University, in a continuing partnership with MKF Properties and Mark Foley, Jr., will expand its housing options in downtown Rutland to include apartments in the Gryphon Building at the corner of West Street and Merchants Row. The second floor of the building will be renovated to create ten energy-efficient apartments with a capacity for…

By Evan Johnson KILLINGTON—At the Killington Select Board meeting Tuesday, Jan. 24, the Killington Volunteer Fire Department updated the town on new fire trucks and the opportunity for a new fire station on Killington Road (known locally as the Access Road). Chief Gary Roth said the department was going forward with an option to look…

By Evan Johnson KILLINGTON—The Killington Select Board has warned its 2017 town meeting agenda with a number of elected positions to fill, budgets to approve and additional articles. Voters will elect nine town officers, including a Select Board member, moderator, town clerk, lister, grand juror, town agent, trustee of public funds, cemetery commissioner and library…