By Kevin Theissen It is now official that starting in January Social Security benefit checks will be going up by 8.7%. The CPI-W, which is the index used to calculate the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), rose by 8.5% over the last year to an index level of 291.8. The Social Security Administration (SSA) takes the…

By Dom Cioffi I took my father-in-law to a professional football game last weekend. Football is one of the few things we bond over, so if I must spend an extended amount of time with him, I prefer it to revolve around football. He’s originally from New York (having grown up in Brooklyn), so he’s…

By Rachel Sargent Mirus One neighbor calls our house “the spider house” because so many orb weavers spin webs outside our large living room windows. Our spiders work on their webs at dawn and dusk, and I watch their silhouettes against pastel skies as they move like aerialists – twisting, pulling, building, repairing. The orb…

By Mary Ellen Shaw The morning host of a local radio station who is fairly new to Rutland said he sees signs on buildings for businesses that are no longer open. He named a few of them and invited people to tell him what they miss about not being able to go to these places.…

By Merisa Sherman Brrr, it has been getting chilly lately. I know, because I am sitting here snuggled up in my favorite down puffy coat getting warm by the remnants of the Killington Block Party bonfire. It’s still going strong this morning after reaching to the treetops last night. Whereas last night, it was surrounded…

By Merisa Sherman We let the dogs lead the way, frolicking and bouncing as is their want when they are just 10-month-old black labradors. A full zest for everything they can possible sniff along the way but always wanting to keep mom in visible range. This young gentleman never ventured further away than a retractable leash would…

I got a call from a coworker a few months ago that started a chain of events that I have oddly become accustomed to. The coworker is someone I have known for several years but don’t normally conduct business with. He’s close to my age, holds a high corporate position, and is well-respected in our…

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is the form students need to fill out to get any financial aid from the federal government to help pay for higher education. Each year, over 13 million students who file the FAFSA get more than $120 billion in grants, work-study, and low-interest loans from the…

By Rachel Sargent Mirus If the enemy of my enemy is my friend, then surely the friend of my enemy is my enemy. This inverted cliche is one way to characterize the tangled relationship between ash trees and the ash-tree bolete. The ash-tree bolete (Boletinellus merulioides) is a fan-shaped brown mushroom with an off-center stem.…

By Liz DiMarco Weinmann If you’re the ringleader of an energetic family that has sampled every maple marvel known to humankind, plus scoped out more autumn selfie scenery than you ever could have imagined, you’re probably looking to, ahem, turn over a new leaf. Coming to the rescue with plenty of other Autumn options are…

The reds are popping, the yellows are vibrant and the greens are glittering. Even the locals cannot get enough of the beautiful transition that turns Vermont from the Green Mountains into a symphony of nature’s beauty. Vermont becomes a postcard state, where tourists run around with cameras attached to their faces, stopping their cars in…

By Dom Cioffi I traveled to Europe last week for a work event — my first trip abroad since the craziness of the pandemic. The outbound flight was uneventful for me other than being fortuitously bumped into business class, which allowed extra legroom and a wider, more comfortable seat. Business class also comes with a…

By Elise Tillinghast During a late summer walk, I noticed that the common milkweed in our back field is becoming not-so-common. Once vigorous patches of the milky green plants have dwindled, engulfed in a sea of Canada goldenrod. Goldenrod is a habitat rock star, and during this walk, I counted at least 13 moth, wasp,…

By Mary Ellen Shaw Once you have lived through several decades you will realize that various aromas have a connection to a certain time period in your life. One of the earliest aromas that I can remember was the delicious scent of a pot roast that my Aunt Nora cooked for Sunday dinners. Back in…

When buying local art, you get more than just the thing It was a classic Vermont autumn morning, with just enough chill in the air to remind you to stand in the sunshine to soak up the warmth. After an almost frosty evening, the perfectly blue sky was a welcome sight and the few trees…