By Karen D. Lorentz Twin girls were born to Erin and James Lorentz of Rutland on April 2, 2015. Elana weighed in at 5 pounds, 2 ounces and younger sister (by one minute) Calen weighed 4 pounds, 12 ounces. All are doing well! The girls are the granddaughters of Paula and Dennis Sheridan and Karen…

Submitted Paul Robbins By Ned Dyer Paul Robbins, a.k.a. Fat Paul, a.k.a. Pablo, a.k.a. Paco, passed away April 28, 2015 in Florida. Robbins came to Killington from Point Pleasant, N.J., with a spirit and a zest for life that was unbridled. He was a mixologist’s mixologist with boundless creativity. His signature drink was the Goombay…

Donavon Frankenreiter to headline KILLINGTON — The Killington Pico Area Association (KPAA) announced the return of the free Cooler in the Mountains concert series this summer. National recording artist Donavon Frankenreiter will headline the seven-week line up of free shows, which kicks off July 18 and July 25, and continues on consecutive Saturdays from Aug. 8…

Courtesy of KMS Denise Coriell KILLINGTON — The devastating earthquake that hit Nepal mid-day on April 25 has been a topic of conversation and concern worldwide, including at Killington Mountain School. With the death toll of over 7,000, according to the Nepali government’s estimate released Sunday, May 3, the 7.8 magnitude quake devastated the region and…

By Thomas A. Kennedy While the job market has been gaining strength in recent months, there's one group of Americans who are still struggling to find work: veterans. According to the March report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), unemployment among post-9/11 veterans was 6.5 percent that month—a full point higher than the population…

Growth of renewable energy is slow By Guy Page In an April 13 Associated Press story, a prominent renewable-energy advocate said Vermont’s wind power industry is “just taking a little hibernation here as federal policy gets the tax credits right.” While Vermont waits for Congress to act, now is a good time to examine the…

Dear Editor, The session has entered its final weeks and as we consider (and sometimes reconsider) bills that directly impact you and your lives. Therefore, I and many of my colleagues, have redoubled our efforts to remain vigilant. I am committed to ensuring that your voice for a more affordable Vermont remains heard — a Vermont…

Dear Editor, What an amazing day the spaghetti dinner was. We had approximately 300 people there. I would love to thank those businesses and people that went above and beyond for me and more importantly for my son Matthew Lorman — first and foremost the Loyal Order of Moose (Moose Club) who hosted the event.…

Dear Editor, The state legislature is presently considering a funding bill that contains onerous provisions detrimental to us all. The bill H.489 sections 8 through 10 propose to give the Department of Taxes the authority to collect delinquent tax debts by garnishing wages and attaching property without a court hearing. This runs counter to due…

By Anne Galloway and Elizabeth Hewitt, VTDigger.org The Senate gave final approval to the money bills on Friday. Amendments that would have pushed forward the Shumlin administration’s request to cut $8 million from the budget didn’t materialize, and the budget passed virtually unchanged. A proposal from the governor to cut state workers by an additional…

The Vermont State Police and the Department of Health are warning heroin users to be aware of the proliferation of doses containing a mixture of heroin and fentanyl or, in some cases, pure fentanyl, a powerful narcotic that has caused numerous overdose deaths. According to the Department of Health, fentanyl is an opioid drug that…

Staff report A federal judge Monday, April 27, dismissed an attempt to block the implementation of Vermont’s law requiring the labeling of food containing genetically engineered ingredients. U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss dismissed a preliminary injunction brought by the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which contends that Vermont’s GMO labeling law is unconstitutional. Possibly the most…

By Anne Galloway, VTDigger.org Gov. Peter Shumlin has signed legislation designed to keep guns away from dangerous criminals and people with severe mental illness. The governor has said that he doesn’t believe Vermont would benefit from new gun laws, but Friday, May 1, he called the bill he signed a “shadow” of what was originally…

On May 1, International Workers’ Day, 500 people from Vermont’s labor, racial justice, climate justice, disability rights, and migrant justice movements marched on the statehouse in Montpelier, entering the building while singing, before gathering outside for a rally. Demonstrators denounced Vermont’s political leadership for its failure to equitably address the revenue shortfall and healthcare crisis,…

By Julia Purdy Bloodroot, a spring ephemeral of the northern woods. By Julia Purdy ORWELL — On Sunday, April 26, Amy Olmsted, horticulturist at Rocky Dale Gardens in Bristol, led a group of about 20 participants on a spring wildflower walk at Mount Independence, a Revolutionary War site at the edge of Lake Champlain in…