Hiring to begin for 25-30 jobs Harbor Freight Tools, a tool and equip- ment retailer, has announced that it will be opening a new store in Rutland. The new store will be located behind Aldi market, Route 7 South in Rutland town. It is expect- ed to open late summer. An official opening date will be announced closer…

WEST HAVEN—Tanner Siemons made an authoritative statement at Devil’s Bowl Speedway’s Mid-Season Championships on Saturday, July 10, by winning on the half-mile track for the first time in his career and holding off some of the region’s top stars to do it. The Granite Stater headlined a decidedly youthful win list that also included Beau Reeves, Chris…

By Neil P. Allen RUTLAND — One hundred years ago, a Rutland resident had the foresight to donate 273 acres of land on Pine Hill to the city of Rutland to be used as a park and it is still fulfilling that vision today. On May 2, 1921, Henry O. Carpenter gave the land to Rutland with the idea…

By Ethan Weinstein   We're working on a podcast, My Side of the Mountain, featuring overlooked stories of everyday life. For the first episode, I went foraging with Ian Vair. Listen here:     “I didn’t just do this because I said, ‘Oh cool, medicinal mushrooms.’ They healed me in some ways. And it was really…

By Ethan Weinstein Nothing could stop Jessie Gagnon and Earl Kehoe from finally marrying. Kehoe’s stroke hadn’t. Covid hadn’t. And the couple certainly wasn’t going to let the day’s 90-degree heat delay their marriage any longer. So on Tuesday, June 30, the couple’s family and friends gathered outside The Pines Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation…

On the night of July 4, state police from the Rutland Barracks were dispatched to a single vehicle crash involving a pedestrian on Route 7 in Rutland. Upon arrival, they learned that the operator of the vehicle, Taylor Edwards-Galarneau of Proctor struck a pedestrian, identified as Rutland resident Gregory C. Merriam, who succumbed to his injuries…

By Karen D. Lorentz It’s summer, and in a sign of life getting back to normal, Okemo Mountain Resort has resumed summer operations and construction on two lift projects. The mountain opened its adventure zone and mountain bike park on June 17 with 2021 operating hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays…

By Emma Cotton/VTDigger RUTLAND — Health care providers hope a new $600,000 pilot program, coming to Rutland this fall, will help reduce mental health crises that send a high number of children and teens to the local hospital. On average, young people visit Rutland’s emergency room more often than in most other parts of Vermont. Those…

By Ethan Weinstein After a 40-year hiatus from farming, Mission Farm in Killington is working the land once again. Their goal: address the community’s needs through food and faith. Led by Executive Director Reverend Lisa Ransom and “Farm Priest” Reverend Rachel Field, three summer interns have joined the team. These divinity school students, planting rows…

By Curt Peterson The Killington Select Board met on the afternoon of June 30 and set the official FY2022 municipal tax rate: $.5382. In the 2020 Town Report, the municipal tax rate had been estimated at $.5425, slightly higher than the final rate. The rate is made up of two factors: The voter-approved budget and…

Richard Morse and his students used what they had and kept it simple By Shelby Graves, Grade 10 at Killington Mountain School While sitting in school, wouldn’t you want to be able to have the opportunity to learn outside while looking at the beautiful blue sky and fresh blooming flowers? Here at Killington Mountain School, math,…

RUTLAND—The Vermont Society of Health-System Pharmacists (VTSHP) recently announced its 2021 Pharmacist and Pharmacy Technician of the year, honoring two practitioners from Rutland Regional Medical Center. Saisha Branchaud, PharmD, BCPS, the director of pharmacy services, was named the 2021 Pharmacist of the Year. She was recognized for her “steadfast leadership” during the past year and…

By Curt Peterson Killington Police chief Whit Montgomery said their dispatcher has had numerous complaints over the past two weeks about “very loud explosions somewhere in town.” “The complaints have been on-going,” Montgomery told the Mountain Times. “The explosions will occur for a couple of days, then it will be quiet for a couple, then…

By Ethan Weinstein Earlier this year, the town of Mendon performed property reappraisals for the first time in 16 years, and the increased assessments have blindsided some residents.  “I estimate that 95% of the properties went up in this reappraisal,” said Mendon Town Assessor Spencer Potter.  Some homeowners took to the Killington Locals+ Facebook page…

By Julia Purdy At 10:45 a.m., Sunday, June 27, a silver-blue-and-red Amtrak train rolled into Rutland with celebratory blasts of the train horn. The Ethan Allen line is preparing to get back in business starting July 19. Several training runs began in March, a full year after the state shut down interstate transportation to contain…