By Gaen Murphree ORWELL—Hail, flood, drought, plagues of locusts—since ancient times farming has been one of the riskiest of human endeavors. And it still is. Just ask Orwell turkey farmer Peter Stone, who faced devastating losses just as Turkey Day approached. An outbreak of what’s known as fowl cholera, possibly introduced into one of the…

LUDLOW—Okemo Mountain Resort opened for the 2016/2017 winter season on Nov. 23 with top-to-bottom skiing and snowboarding on seven trails with three lifts operating, including the Sunburst Six high-speed bubble chair with retractable orange domes and heated seats for six passengers at a time. “In spite of varying temperatures this year, our snowmakers have made…

By Julia Purdy RUTLAND—On Friday, Nov. 4, 2016, NeighborWorks of Western Vermont opened its second completely renovated private home at 59 Baxter Street to the public in an open house aimed at attracting a buyer and informing the community of the transformation of run-down houses throughout Rutland’s lower-income Northwest Neighborhood. The first project of this…

As the days get darker and the heater begins to purr, the Cobra Gymnastics Team readies for its the competitive season.  With 58 girls  participating, the team will compete under USA Gymnastics rules in both the Junior Olympic and Xcel Programs. In her fifth year of hosting a competitive team and seventh year in business,…

Dear Editor, The framers of the US Constitution created the Electoral College as a result of a compromise for the presidential election process.  During the debate, some delegates felt that a direct popular election would lead to the election of each state’s favorite son and none would emerge with sufficient popular majority to govern the…

Dear Editor, As I reflect on this World Cup weekend, I would like to offer my greatest thanks to Killington Resort and the volunteers that made this event a success. Without the town, the resort and the business community working together, this international skiing competition would have been near impossible to pull off. Very rarely…

Dear Editor, This past weekend Vermont hosted over 30,000 spectators for the return of the Audi FIS Ski World Cup to Killington – one of the largest women’s weekend crowd in the 50-year history of the World Cup. On behalf of the athletes who came from every corner of the globe, a big thanks to…

By Governor Peter Shumlin One of the key responsibilities of governing is crafting a budget that reflects Vermonters’ priorities and lives within our means as a state. As we transition this important responsibility to the incoming administration, it’s worth reviewing the last six years of financial management. Let’s remember where we started. Before I took…

By Rahmat Shoureshi Today’s 20-something tech wizards might not worry about the challenges of old age. But they should. Seniors represent a huge untapped market for tech companies. While just 13 percent of America’s population is 65 or older today, that slice will jump to 19 percent by 2030. One area that holds particular promise?…

Secretary of State Jim Condos announced last week that Vermont’s Elections Division will be conducting a random audit of the 2016 General Election results beginning Tuesday, Nov. 29. The audit will include six towns randomly selected by the Secretary of State. “Voting is one of the most important responsibilities and privileges that comes with being…

By Tim Traver As a kid fidgeting at my grandmother’s Thanksgiving table, I often wondered, what’s the point of cranberries? She had a live-in Irish cook who insisted on serving whole cranberries suspended in a kind of gelatinous, inverted bog. If I ventured to eat a berry I experienced the power of my gag reflex.…

By Marguerite Jill Dye We were grateful that the snow arrived in time for a beautiful Thanksgiving and to provide ideal conditions for Killington’s first World Cup where excitement and energy stirred up The Beast. Daydreaming about the great event and sparkling white world, my mind wandered to Killington’s  Canada lynx kitten. How wonderful and…

The first was realizing I’d aged out of joining the military.  It was something I’d always kept as an option. It had its attractions.  I could simply join the Navy and go see the world, except a day came when it was no longer possible.  I was too old. That was a long time ago…

In the weeks and months following an election, it’s impossible—at least for me—to look at a map of our country without mentally filling in the appropriate color for each state: red or blue. A plurality of Americans voted Democrat, but most of the land belonged, as usual, to the Republicans, owing to the vast swath…

By Stephen Seitz RUTLAND – Attorneys for Pittsfield resident Nadine Price are asking for $300,000 in damages from Killington Mountain Resort after Price spent several hours trapped in a cold and dark gondola which had stopped running unexpectedly on Oct. 1, 2011. Price has alleged negligence on the part of the resort as a cause…