By Sally McCay, UVM Photo A student tosses an orange into the garbage can at lunch. School lunch study proves mandated fruits and veggies going into trash Less than a month before Congress votes on whether to reauthorize a controversial program mandating healthier school lunches, a new study confirms the suspicions of school officials—many students…

RUTLAND–Aiming to fill the Rutland Community Cupboard with everything from tuna and pasta to cereal and peanut butter, Green Mountain Power announced on Aug. 25 a 21,000-item goal for the 2015 GMP Fill the Cupboard Challenge. Businesses, clubs, schools, sports teams, churches and other organizations are encouraged to register for the challenge, then collect food…

A study released Aug. 26 by researchers at the University of Vermont paints a picture of school meals that experts at Hunger Free Vermont say is misleading. New school meal regulations that were put into place at the start of the 2012-2013 school year in an effort to add more whole grains and increase fruit…

IRA — On Sunday, Aug. 30, at 11:19 a.m. EMS and Vermont State Police responded to the town of Ira, for a report of a nine year old girl who had been accidentally shot by her father. The child, McKenzie P. Ezzo, had reportedly been shot in the stomach by her father, Randy A. Babcock…

A record number of students applied to the University of Vermont this year, and this week, UVM welcomes its new class—the most academically talented in school history. Incoming students earned an average GPA of 3.53 on a 4.0 scale and an average SAT score of 1197, a 12-point increase over last year. The Class of…

Research poll shows only one quarter of voters feel regulation is adequate On Aug. 26 news was released in Denver that is a negative for the marijuana industry. SmithJohnson Research, a polling firm who has worked with Democrats and Republicans, released a poll finding that a majority (51 percent) of likely Coloradan voters would oppose…

On Aug. 25, Sen. Bernie Sanders announced that all 11 community health centers in Vermont received funding totaling $493,860, in recognition of their achievements providing high quality health care. The awards are Vermont’s share of $63.3 million in nationwide grants for 1,153 health centers and will be used to expand access to high quality primary…

By Anne Galloway, VTDigger.org In a letter released Tuesday, Aug. 25, Justin Johnson, the secretary of the Agency of Administration, urged commissioners and secretaries to be “extremely cautious and restrained” as they develop budgets. Typically, budget instructions are issued to secretaries and commissioners in October and budgets are submitted about a month later. This year…

By Lee H. Hamilton The campaigning for next year’s elections is starting to draw more attention, and with it comes a focus on voters and their mood. Which is all well and good, but it leaves out of the equation one large bloc of citizens: people who are eligible to vote, but don’t. They give…

By Deb Markowitz Last week I had an opportunity to spend some time with an older gentleman who has lived in the hills of Vermont his whole life. As he showed me his land, he shared his belief that more Vermonters are environmental stewards than folks in other states because we are connected to the…

Dear Editor, It appears that there is a concerted Killington town effort to either eliminate the West Hill slip lane, or make it dysfunctional. For many years the slip lane has safely removed exiting Access Road traffic from the dysfunctional Route 4 intersection during peak ski traffic mass exodus times. The convoluted logic to force…

Dear Editor, The Maine House of Representatives made big news at the end of June: it soundly defeated a bill to legalize retail marijuana, 98-45. This is significant for two reasons. First, the margin of defeat was a full 27 points greater than the first time Maine turned down a pot legalization bill in 2013.…

Dear Editor, For 105 years, the Boy Scouts of America has played an important and significant role in shaping the lives of its youth members by instilling in them the values found in the Scout Oath and Law. For those readers who are unfamiliar with the Oath and Law, please read on: Scout Oath: "On…

Dear editor, In this past week’s edition Rob Roper, president of the Ethan Allen Institute, wrote an opinion telling us that in order to improve the job market in Vermont we need to become a "right-to-work" state and that all workers should become "independent contractors" instead of employees. If employees became contractors, business owners would…

The end of summer and the beginning of another school year is an important milestone in the life of each child. For many Vermont kids, this summer was likely a time of rich experience and opportunity, with travel to a new place, quality time with family and friends, camp, and days packed with learning, excitement,…