Forms, growing state requirements present undue burden filmmaker says By Lani Duke When Rutland filmmaker David Giancola shot scenes for his in-process feature film Axcellerator around the downtown Rutland parking deck before 9 a.m. October 26, he took care to have permission from the parking deck operator LAZ Parking and to inform the Rutland County…

Green Mountain College will host a Syrian Neighbors symposium on Saturday, March 18 to raise awareness and spark dialogue around the Syrian refugee crisis. Free and open to the public, the symposium brings together three national scholars, Dr. Wendy Pearlman, Dr. Clare Gillis and Ms. Mehlaqa Samdani, to discuss the origins and evolution of the…

RUTLAND—BROC-Community Action in Southwestern Vermont, a nonprofit committed to ending poverty and helping low-income people move forward toward self-sufficiency, has been selected as a beneficiary of the Hannaford Helps Reusable Bag Program for March. This program has been designed to support local nonprofits like BROC-Community Action. For every blue Hannaford Helps Reusable Bag with the…

Program provides opportunity for graduates to begin a natural resource career, focusing on environmental needs The Vermont Environmental Careers and Opportunities (ECO) AmeriCorps program is seeking applicants interested in beginning an environmental career, according to a March 9 news release. Recent and soon-to-be graduates with a background in environmental conservation, natural or agricultural sciences, environmental…

BROC-Community Action in Southwestern Vermont is an Internal Revenue Service recognized Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site. Certified staff and volunteers from the Castleton University accounting program are available to prepare and file Federal income tax returns, Vermont income tax return, Homestead Declaration and Property Tax Adjustment Claim, Household Income Schedule and Renter Rebate Claim.…

Milky Way Farm hopes to continue operating the last dairy farm in Ira By Alan J. Keays, VTDigger IRA — Robbie Clark Jr. cares most about the cows — even Periwinkle, a Jersey who is a little too rambunctious in the farm’s milking parlor. Clark prefers to see the upside: Periwinkle, he says, is just…

The College of St. Joseph Baseball team had a busy week in Florida, playing in seven games over a five-day span. It was a challenging road trip, as they faced some of the best teams the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has to offer. The Fighting Saints went 1-6, earning the lone victory in their…

 By Evan Johnson CASTLETON—Castleton University’s longest-serving president is looking forward to his next venture. Dave Wolk announced at a campus assembly last week that he will step down in December after serving for 16 years. “I want to go out on a high,” he said in an interview with the Mountain Times. Wolk came to…

By Erin Mansfield, VTDigger Four towns in the Upper Valley of Vermont are opposing a Utah man’s plan to build a giant development that could eventually hold 1 million people right in their backyards. Residents voted Tuesday, March 8, by Australian ballot in Royalton (123 to 16), Sharon (100 to 16) and Tunbridge (165 to 4)…

Ski resorts and snowsport enthusiasts rejoice By Evan Johnson Winter storm Stella came down hard on the northeast dumping up to two feet of snow by early Wednesday. The fast-moving storm caused thousands of flights across the northeast to be canceled and closed schools. The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for all of…

By Evan Johnson  On Town Meeting Day last week, voters in Rutland County passed successful merger votes for the Addison Rutland district, while voting down mergers in Rutland Central and Rutland Southwest. Of the 10 school district merger votes around the state, six were approved. SU04 Addison Rutland Four of six towns will form a…

Four of six towns in WCSU pass Act 46 school board unification By Polly Lynn Mikula On Tuesday, March 7, six towns in the Windsor Central Supervisory Union voted on the proposed Act 46 school district merger. Killington,Woodstock, Bridgewater and Pomfret passed the measure to form a union school district, while Barnard, Reading, defeated it.…

By Tiffany Danit Pache, VTDigger Gov. Phil Scott asked voters to reject increases in school spending on Town Meeting Day, but only 18 out of 209 budgets failed — fewer than half the number that were struck down in 2014 when calls for tax relief hit a fever pitch. Scott voted against the school budget…

By Tiffany Danitz Pache, VTDigger Out of the 10 school district mergers put to voters on Town Meeting Day, three were completely successful, including a large all-school choice district in the Northeast Kingdom, while four unification votes failed. Three others will create modified unified unions, or larger consolidated districts with fewer members than the potential…

Four of six towns in WCSU passed Act 46 school board unification By Polly Lynn Mikula On Tuesday, March 7, six towns in the Windsor Central Supervisory Union voted on the proposed Act 46 school district merger. Killington,Woodstock, Bridgewater and Pomfret passed the measure to form a union school district, while Barnard, Reading, defeated it.…