By Karen D. Lorentz Okemo Mountain has introduced a Mountain Safety Team to augment the services provided by the ski patrol and to increase mountain safety awareness among skiers and riders. “The mountain safety team’s goal is to build a community…

By Brooke Geery The next generation of ski and snowboard superstars showed off their stuff in the Lil' stash at Killington Resort on Saturday, Jan 7. At Mini Shred Madness, kids get a feel for the rules and navigation of the park and are rewarded with great prizes from sponsors such as Mammut, Burton, Yeti,…

By Ethan Weinstein/VTDigger In what he called his “first day” as a U.S. senator, Peter Welch, D-Vt., returned to Vermont to discuss the opioid epidemic and substance use disorder at Rutland Regional Medical Center. “This has been an area of enormous bipartisan cooperation in Congress,” Welch said at an event at Rutland Regional Medical Center, Monday,…

  By John S. McCright, Addison Independent GOSHEN/LEICESTER — After nearly a year of discussion, the U.S. Forest Service on Friday, Jan. 6, denied a proposal to site a hut for overnight hiker stays near an existing campground at Silver Lake in the Moosalamoo National Recreation Area (MNRA). But Forest Service Ranger Christopher Mattrick, in…

By Fred Thys/VTDigger Vermont’s affordable housing advocates kicked off an expected legislative debate over the state’s housing crisis earlier this month by putting a $175 million price tag on what they say it will take next year for Vermont to build the homes needed to keep and retain workers. “We’re seeing employers really struggling to…

By Karen D. Lorentz Editor’s note: This is part two in a three-part series about the Rutland Region’s “lost” ski areas. The formation of early ski areas was significant for driving the popularity of skiing and contributed to the post World War II ski boom of the 1950s and 1960s and the ensuing economic boost…

By Sarah Mearhoff/VTDigger Three years after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision opened the doors for states to legalize sports betting, Vermonters may soon be able to join their New Hampshire and New York neighbors in their gambling endeavors. That is, as long as a new proposal makes it through the Legislature. In a newly…

By Curt Peterson Windsor Central school district voters will be asked to approve integrating $1.65 million to cover next steps in building a new middle school/high school complex into the district’s budget at March 2023 Town Meetings in seven towns, to be spread out over five years. Board member Ben Ford of Woodstock and Finance…

VEPC approval clears way for bond vote on Town Meeting Day By Polly Mikula The town’s Killington Forward plan is approaching actuality. The plan — two years in the making — aims to provide clean water, road improvements, development of a mixed-use Six Peak Killington village, and to create workforce and affordable housing. Over the…

By Ethan Weinstein/VTDigger A video of citizens violently apprehending an alleged shoplifter at the Rutland Home Depot has highlighted frustration over crime and the vigilantism that can crop up alongside it. The video of the incident, viewed more than 55,000 times on Facebook, appears to tell a deeper story than the arrest made in its…

Killington Resort’s team builds bikes to benefit local kids The Killington community gathered at The Foundry on Dec. 3 for Teddy Arbo’s 36th annual Holiday Toy Party. What started as a small dinner party in 1986 has grown into a community-wide event designed to put presents under the trees of needy Vermont families. “I’m just…

By Katy Savage When Mike Orlando bought property in Danby with a large hill and 30 acres three years ago, he knew what he wanted to do. “I knew right away it would be great to snowboard,” he said. Orlando, who rides at Killington Resort, spent three years cutting trees and building about 25 hiking…

By Curt Peterson The Winsor Central Supervisory Union Board unanimously adopted Mountain Views School District as the new name for the consolidated seven-town district formed under Act 46 on Monday, Dec. 5. The new name will become effective July 1, 2023. Woodstock High students Aiden Keough-Vella and Owen Courcey, who served on the WCSU configuration…

By Sarah Mearhoff/VTDigger Before she became one of Vermont’s youngest serving state legislators, Rep. Becca White, D-Hartford, worked for a short period as a restaurant server. Like countless servers in Vermont, White’s hourly wage was lower than that of Vermont’s standard minimum wage. Currently, Vermont’s tipped minimum wage, $6.28 per hour, is half that of…

By Curt Peterson Killington Select Board members signed and submitted a version of the Vermont Declaration of Inclusion to its sponsoring organization on Nov. 14. The Mountain Times asked Al Wakefield, co-founder of VTdeclarationofinclusion.org, his reaction to the submission at the time. “The Declaration is intended to be a conspicuous, cogent and explicit indication of…