By Brett Yates Last spring, when the Rutland Redevelopment Agency (RRA) established a temporary lending policy to assist mom-and-pop businesses devastated by the pandemic, city officials hoped that, within a year, business would be back to normal. But now, it seems Rutland City’s entrepreneurs may need some extra help. “We’re finding that a number of…

By Katy Savage With some restaurants, inns and bars being forced to close last year, option tax revenue is down by 50% or more in some towns, but many of them will be able to make up some of that with the help of a federal Covid-19 relief bill. Part of $2.7 billion in federal…

By Brooke Geery For most people, the ski season is over. If you live anywhere other than the Killington-area, that is. (And even many locals have shifted their goals to spring and summer pursuits — fishing, mountain biking, golfing or even yard work.) The fact is, most have other things that come to mind first…

By John Flowers, Addison Independent SALISBURY — The familiar sounds of laughing, shouting, splashing and playing — both the youthful abandon and instrumental varieties — will once again tickle the ears of those living near Lake Dunmore this summer. That’s because three popular camps — Keewaydin, Songadeewin and Point CounterPoint — will reopen to children…

  By Polly Mikula Governor Phil Scott issued the “Vermont Forward, Roadmap to Reopening” on April 6, which outlined a three step approach to reopening the Vermont economy based on projected vaccination milestones reached. “We now have three safe and effective vaccines in our toolbox, which gives us a level of predictability we didn’t have…

On Tuesday, March 30, the City of Rutland mayor, David Allaire, along with president and CEO of Heritage Family Credit Union Matt Levandowski, signed the closing documents associated with the city's purchase of the athletic building on the former College of St. Joseph campus. “Many of us have been working for years to come to…

By Peg Bolgioni The popularity of gardening has not waned in the past year. In fact, the demand for seeds, plants, and garden tools may well outpace 2020. No one knows how long the pandemic will continue so people have created outdoor havens populated with patio furniture, above ground swimming pools, and backyard gas fire…

Foreign workers find new adventures in Killington By Brooke Geery Some may think that lift operators are people who didn’t graduate from high school and are excited to have an interesting— albeit cold— job on the mountain. Others may think they’re ski bums who don't want to wait tables. But in 2021, that is no longer…

By Emma Cotton/VTDigger RUTLAND — A 9,100-square-foot expansion of the MINT, a makerspace in Rutland, will soon provide a space for local residents to learn a slew of new skills the organization has not offered before. Volunteers helped complete the move into the new space last weekend. They transported equipment such as 3D printers, a laser…

State creates a roadmap to full reopening, starts Friday By Polly Mikula “We have roughly 90 to go, 90 days to stay united so we can get back to normal,” Gov. Phil Scott said at the press conference, Tuesday, April 6. After July 4 Scott said he anticipates the state will only issue guidance —…

Kahliq Richardson By Alan J. Keays/VTDigger A teenager told police a handgun accidentally went off as he handed it to a friend (another teenager), killing the latter early Saturday morning, April 3, in a Rutland motel room. Kahliq Richardson, 18, of Rutland pleaded not guilty Monday, April 5, in Rutland Superior Court to a charge of…

By Katy Savage When Killington Resort replaced its 26-year-old K-1 gondolas in 2018, Dominique Bastien bought all 57 of them. Bastien, who owns The Gondola Shop, a small gondola repair shop in Fruita, Colorado, had worked on Killington’s gondolas for 15 years. The Montreal native spent a month in Killington every few years to work. She…

Vermont nets second most in nation Staff report From the beginning of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, to civil unrest and catastrophic wildfires in the summer, to election drama in the fall, 2020 was historically difficult… and yet, statistically fascinating. Data shows that by several accounts, 2020 has somehow been a year of…

By Karen D. Lorentz An application has been filed by Killington/Pico Ski Resort Partners (KPSRP) for its master planned unit development (PUD) approval for the Base Camp at Bear Mountain project, the first development of slopeside units at Killington since 2006. The proposed community consists of  156 residential units. Application #21-011 seeks specific site plan…

Vermont lifestyle sought By Polly Mikula “It’s a seller’s market with way more buyers than you have inventory available for them to buy. It’s the true textbook definition, the power is in the seller,” said Nathan R. Mastroeni, MBA, Sotheby’s regional manager of offices in Rutland, Stowe, Middlebury and Burlington, with about 50 real estate…