Dear editor, ARC Rutland Area (ARC) recently held its annual membership meeting for people with developmental disabilities and their families. We celebrated the accomplishments of our members with Maggie Pak Awards and the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. At the meeting, we also explored how the ARC services make impacts in the members’ lives.…

Dear Editor, I started this letter to the editor sometime in June or July. It was intended to be a question to the town manager, his first and only response was a press release. Then, the chair of our Select Board Patty McGrath decided to take this question on. Her first response was excuses such…

By Cal Garrison, a.k.a. Mother of the Skye The Moon has just slipped into Scorpio, and this week's Horoscopes are coming out under a series of aspects that are bound to make for an interesting time. With the Scorpionic vibe putting a twist on things, and the Festival of Lights, and the Advent Season giving…

Cal Garrison (a.k.a Mother of the Skye) writes weekly horoscopes for The Mountain Times. If you would like an emailed notification sent to you weekly, sign up for the newsletter, below. Want to hear more from Mother of the Skye? Check out Mother's Celestial Inspirations     Horoscopes for December 3 - December 9, 2015…

By Lee H. Hamilton When Paul Ryan became house speaker a few weeks ago, he made it clear that he has no intention of spending too much time in Washington. His wife and children are in Wisconsin, he pointed out, and he plans to commute. “I just work here,” he told CNN, “I don’t live…

If you spent 44 years with the same employer, you must love the company. If you’ve been in the same profession for 60 years, you must really love what you do. Both of these statements are true and apply to Doug Gray, the lead vocalist of the Marshall Tucker Band. Don’t miss your opportunity to…

Dear Editor, The reason is simple — because we want Elmore to remain a viable and sustainable community that continues to offer unique educational opportunities to its children and families — in other words, to maintain the Vermont tradition of small towns caring for their own. What does the Elmore community look like? The village…

By C.B. Hall, VTDigger.org Every year the state of Vermont spends $6.5 million to operate two Amtrak trains and $6 million to support local bus operations, but the state, Amtrak and local companies have yet to establish connections between trains and buses, despite calls to do so from transit activists and the Legislature. A lack…

By Jasper Craven, VTDigger.org As part of a comprehensive immigration plan, Sen. Bernie Sanders says as president he will give all undocumented people who have been in the country at least five years immunity from deportation. Sanders also calls for a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. Sanders’s made…

By Dom Cioffi In retrospect, I should have warned my son about the “scene” he was walking into. But then again, sometimes it’s better to let life unfold and talk about it later. I could see his eyes widen as we made our way through the hallway: long, dimly lit and with a faint smell…

Courtesy of Stafford Stafford students recently celebrated the completion of the Student Craft Corporation House. A multidisciplinary effort. RUTLAND–Stafford Technical Center students recently celebrated the completion and sale of its Student Craft Corporation house. The Student Craft Corporation is formed by students from the Construction Technology, Electrical/Plumbing, and Forestry/Natural Resources & Horticulture programs. Biennially, these students…

By Susan Wacker-Donle Bruce Pike with his photo of a waterfall and “Color of Autumn” By Sally D. Curtis KILLINGTON—The “All is White” art show can be viewed at the Killington Arts Guild Gallery now through February. Many visitors viewed the art representative of many media created by local Vermont artists at the opening reception…

Submitted Vermont author Deborah Harte Felmeth’s new book, “Syria, Remember Me,” is filled with photographs that humanize the people of Syria beyond the headlines. The media publishes daily images of Syria that reveal only the devastation, grief, rage and victimhood of war. It is the author’s hope to expand and hearten that limited view. “Syria,…

By Lani Duke Mascot returns from sabbatical CASTLETON—After an unauthorized “vacation” of a couple of months, Castleton’s Spartan mascot is back home. The year-old, green-caped costume returned to academic life when a custodian making maintenance rounds in the on-campus Glenbrook Gymnasium opened an unattended bag in a women’s restroom on Nov. 23. Although “Sparty” smelled…

RUTLAND—Late evening, Nov. 26, a manager at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Rutland contacted state police to report the theft of several North Face jackets, valuing approximately $1,000, by a woman with two accomplices. According to the investigation, a woman and a man went into the store together. The woman went to the coat section and…