By Katy Savage Rutland School Board members settled the mascot debate on Jan. 10 and decided Rutland High School will simply be called “Rutland.”  The approval of the name came after three years of contentious debate and community divide about what the mascot should be. The former Raiders mascot, deemed racist, was retired in August…

By Katy Savage When a dog went missing in the woods after a car crash in Killington, about 40 people teamed up to find him.  They printed fliers, organized search teams, hiked day and night and flew drones. They found the dog two days later.  Arlo, a 1-year-old pit bull mixed breed, was found near…

Traffic was blocked for two hours on Route 4 in Killington due to a head-on collision after a car collided with a  tractor trailer around 4:30 p.m.on Jan. 13  Police said Joseph Ceccacci of Killington was traveling west on Route in the passing lane near Winterberry Road in a 2005 Dodge Ram pickup. Witnesses report…

By Sarah Mearhoff/ VTDigger Kicking off his fourth two-year term as Vermont’s top government official, Republican Gov. Phil Scott in his inaugural address on Thursday echoed familiar calls for statewide economic recovery in the face of unprecedented opportunity. But from Scott’s seat, this legislative biennium looks quite different from the past two years and presents…

                            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…