By Peter D’Auria/VTDigger Jonathan Spiro, interim president of Castleton University, will retire next month, the Vermont State Colleges announced Monday, Dec. 6, but he’ll stay in the position until Jan. 3. Thomas Maughs-Hugh, Castleton’s provost, will take over as interim president at that point. “I offer my sincerest thanks to President Spiro for his many…

Officials say boosters necessary The Vermont Dept. of Health announced Saturday, Dec. 18, that it confirmed the state’s first case of the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus. Genetic sequencing identified the new variant in a specimen collected on Dec. 8. The individual is a Lamoille County resident in their 30s. The individual was fully…

By Karen D. Lorentz When Killington turned 63 on Dec. 13, it was eerily reminiscent of its opening day in 1958, a day without much fanfare. It had been a three-year struggle to get the ski area open — mostly because the state had to build the access road for skiers to get to the…

Last Thursday, Dec. 9, Rutland Regional Medical Center began restricting visitors in order to protect patients from rising Covid cases in the community. Adult inpatients will not be allowed to have visitors; a few patients, such as mothers in labor, will be allowed one designated essential support person per patient for the duration of the…

By Ethan Weinstein Since its founding nine years ago, the Killington 100 Day Club has garnered hundreds of members. At least 10 are hoping to make this season their 10th straight with at least 100 days on snow — what might yet be called the 1,000 Day Club. Paul Holmes, of Killington, is one of…

By Ethan Weinstein With cases rising country-wide, Governor Phil Scott and his administration focused their weekly Covid press conference on encouraging Vermonters to get their booster shots and faulting the unvaccinated for the state’s current surge. “It’s become clear that this isn’t going away anytime soon,” Scott said. “If you’re still unvaccinated, I want to…

By Frank Kaczmarek Wilson Bentley (1865-1931) lived his entire life in Jericho, Vermont, where he developed a passion for snowflakes at an early age. He started by collecting snowflakes and trying to create detailed drawings of each one, but the snow crystals’ tiny size and the speed at which they melted made this a futile…

By Virginia Dean With her father, Michael, inspiring her love of cooking and her mother, Virginia, a part of the Killington community for 28 years, Lindsay (“Lulu”) Ochman found herself in a perfect position to open up a local restaurant. Yama Ramen offers a unique take on Japanese and other Asian specialties, including bao buns,…

By Virginia Dean Local resident Matt Buck had always dreamed of opening a soup eatery, and this past November, his wish came true. Soup Dog is now open for business and offers a wide selection of soups and a variety of hotdogs and toppings to go with them. “I’ve been a big fan of soups…

U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy and Governor Phil Scott on Thursday, Dec. 2, announced that Vermont will be receiving $63,041,000 in funding for drinking water systems and wastewater treatment as a result of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed by President Biden late last month. The funds will go into the state’s revolving loan…

By Curt Peterson On Nov. 18, the Hartland Select Board decided to retract their proposed abandonment of a section of Town Highway 8, a Class 4 road that connects Barron Hill Road and Advent Hill Road. Town manager David Ormiston said at least part of their decision was influenced by an organized public campaign against…

By Ethan Weinstein Despite another week of record high case counts, hospitalized Covid patients, and patients needing ICU treatment, Governor Phil Scott and his Covid team will not make any substantive policy changes to stop the spread of the virus. “We need to continue to watch hospitalizations,” Scott said, not specifying when, if ever, Vermont’s…

By Angelo Lynn BURLINGTON—Early Monday morning, Vermont Lt. Gov. Molly Gray declared her candidacy for Vermont’s lone congressional seat being vacated by Congressman Peter Welch. A lifelong Vermonter, Gray, 37, was born and raised in South Newbury on a vegetable and dairy farm still operated by her family. She has served Vermont in Washington as…

U.S. Alpine Ski Team member and two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin won the Slalom race for the fifth time in a row at Killington Resort in front of a sold-out crowd as Killington Resort hosted the Audi FIS Ski Women’s World Cup over Thanksgiving weekend. “The crowd here is so amazing. They are just pure…

Future success of town, businesses, development prospects assessed By Polly Mikula A lack of basic municipal infrastructure is holding the town of Killington back. That was the summary of a presentation by White + Burke Real Estate Advisors to the Killington Select Board at a special meeting, Monday, Nov. 29. Growth is lacking namely due…