By Emma Cotton/VTDigger Vermont is experiencing parallel crises: The state needs more development as Vermonters struggle to find and afford housing, and development is also increasingly encroaching on forests and habitats that are important for ensuring the state’s resilience to climate change. Sen. Chris Bray, D-Addison, said lawmakers sought to address both problems in S.234,…

By Sarah Mearhoff/VTDigger With hardly any debate, the Vermont Senate in a series of votes Friday, March 25, unanimously approved the House and Senate’s newly drawn legislative district lines. If approved and signed into law, the maps would stand for the next 10 years. In the upper chamber, senators debated how to fairly divide representation…

Vermont had the lowest gender-based wage gap of any state in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. But still, women on average were paid $4,600 less than men. Wyoming had the highest gap with men earning on average $21,676 more than women for equal work. Overall, the gender gap in the…

By Peter D’Auria/VTDigger Once they complete the sixth grade, students in the towns of Dover and Wardsboro must leave their school district to attend class. The small River Valleys school district, in rural Windham County like many rural schools in the state, does not operate a high school or a middle school. Under Vermont’s school…

By Christopher Ross/Addison County Independent BRISTOL — It took just six presentation slides by Vermont State Auditor Doug Hoffer to astonish the audience of a virtual healthcare talk hosted by Bristol Democrats earlier this month. State healthcare costs are soaring, transparency is declining and the University of Vermont Health Network (UVMHN) exerts outsize influence on…

Staff report At-home antigen or LAMP Covid-19 tests will now be provided at state-run testing sites, rather than PCR tests, according to state officials. Health Commissioner Mark Levine said PCR tests — which are administered at the testing site and take longer to produce results — will still be available for certain situations, such as…

By Christopher Ross/ Addison County Independent Roughly 14% of Middlebury College students have tested positive for Covid-19 since arriving for the spring semester last month, but the cases have not been severe or persistent enough to warrant a change in campus policies, officials said. Middlebury currently has 2,626 residential students and has logged 383 cases,…

The v voted Wednesday, March 23, to advance legislation that would set limits on public money going to private and religious schools. The final vote on the bill, S.219, then passed Thursday, March 24. Now the measure moves to the House. Vermont students living in “choice towns” — municipalities across the state that don’t operate…

Staff report The Canadian government announced March 17 that fully vaccinated travelers will no longer need Covid-19 test results to enter Canada by air, land or water, effective April 1. “After a challenging two years, we all want the Canadian economy, including the tourism sector, to rebound and grow,” said Randy Boissonnault, PC MP, the…

Innovative program providing free local restaurant meals continues Vermont Everyone Eats (VEE), the unique Covid-19 recovery program that provides Vermonters impacted by Covid-19 with prepared meals made by Vermont restaurants using locally grown and produced ingredients, will continue through July 1, 2022. The program had previously been set to end on March 31 but will…

By Rep. Jim Harrison It’s important to have deadlines to help discipline the legislative process. Without them, the session would likely extend longer than it does. Deadlines mean that the House Appropriations Committee must not only finish its work on the budget, but also act on any bills sent to the committee from House policy…

By Jack Lyons/VTDigger A 30-year effort to reintroduce passenger rail service to Burlington is scheduled to succeed this summer. Rail travelers will be able to board in Rutland and travel to Burlington on the trail, and Burlington residents will be able to travel south — all the way to New York City and points beyond…

By Liz DiMarco Employers from Vermont to Vancouver are facing unforeseen difficulties in attracting qualified workers, but there are jobhunters over 55 who know all too well the challenges of finding meaningful employment. Ageism is more pervasive than ever, and harsh reality is difficult to deny. Accelerated technology, plus political and socioeconomic factors, tend to…

By Julia Purdy Just as Californians hail the return of the swallows to San Juan Capistrano, here in Vermont the return of the peregrine falcon to its breeding grounds is a cause for pride and excitement. This year, peregrine falcons have already returned to their nesting cliffs throughout the state. To protect nesting peregrine falcons…

By Liora Engel-Smith/VTDigger The state is moving away from third-party contact tracing as Omicron cases continue to drop in Vermont.  Last spring, the Vermont Department of Health outsourced the bulk of Covid-19 contact tracing to AM Trace, a contractor in Leesburg, Virginia. Vermont has paid the company — now called AM — almost $15 million since…