Healthcare workers have such a need for facemasks that the the Agency of Commerce and Community Development is reaching out to manufacturers and construction companies with a supply of N95 facemasks to consider assisting in the state’s response to the COVID-19 virus by making these masks available to healthcare providers immediately. N95 facemasks are a…

DMV to close  -The Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will suspend all in-person transactions effective 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, to reduce the risk and spread of COVID-19. The DMV will continue to process registration and license renewals and various other services online, by mail, or via telephone. In-person transactions that cannot be…

By Colin Mein/VT Digger Gov. Phil Scott said on Wednesday that he has enlisted the help of senior aides in previous administrations to help lead the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Liz Miller, who was chief of staff to former Gov. Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, and Neale Lunderville, who was secretary of administration for…

By Curt Peterson As growth of COVID-19 is expected to be exponential, Gov. Phil Scott ordered all schools to close March 18 through at least April 6. “The orderly dismissal of schools is essential to support both the state’s response to COVID-19 and the needs of children and families across Vermont,” Gov. Phil Scott said.…

Staff report On Monday, March 16, Governor Phil Scott ordered an end to dine-in service at restaurants and bars starting 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 17. The day prior, Sunday, Scott ordered schools to close by Wednesday, and the day prior to that, Saturday, all ski areas in the state had announced they would closed, too.…

by Merisa Sherman Like all of you, this past weekend threw my life into turmoil. Two of my four jobs have disappeared in the blink of an email and our beloved ski resort has turned off the lifts. As the threat of COVID-19 virus grows stronger, increasing numbers of our community are withdrawing to the safety of…

By Aidan Quigley and Anne Wallace Allen/VTDigger On Monday, March 16, Gov. Phil Scott ordered bars and restaurants to stop offering dine-in service across the state effective 2 p.m. on Tuesday. It is his administration’s latest effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus in Vermont. Establishments can only offer take-out and delivery services through April 6. The…

By Anne Galloway/VTDigger Gov. Phil Scott has announced a plan for the dismissal of all schools in Vermont and cancellation of all school related activities no later than Wednesday. The decision was made amid fears that keeping schools open could help to spread the coronavirus. The directive will last until April 6, according to a…

Resort follows Vail in closing until March 22. Will reassess then. Update from Killington Resort March 14 (11:45 p.m.) Our top priority—the health and safety of our staff, guests and local community—remains at the forefront for us and, with this in mind, we are suspending all resort operations starting March 15, 2020, through March 22,…

By Royal Barnard RUTLAND—There are lots of energetic and creative people in our region. Many were born here and many were attracted here for the beauty, the people, and the way of life. Many more would love to be here if they had a suitable vocation. Dave Tibbs came to Rutland about 14 years ago, met his…

Demand up, inventory low, prices best in state By Karen D. Lorentz Nationally, a homebuyer is looking at higher prices and more competition this spring with greater demand from Millennials as well as lower inventories and low mortgage rates, contributing to a tight market that will price some would-be buyers out. But in Rutland County,…

By Virginia Dean After an initial delay to the Rutland community of its all-new aircraft, the Tecnam P2012 Traveller, Cape Air airline continues to work on validating policies and procedures for the new prop plane. “This is typical for a newly certified aircraft,” said Cape Air spokesperson Trish Lorino. The delay in the Tecnam’s introduction…

Staff report People from all over New England flocked to Woodstock last week to catch a glimpse of a rare South American bird. The bird, a crested caracara, which is native to Cuba, South America and Mexico, was affectionately named “Carl” on the Vermont Birding Facebook group. It’s unclear what brought the caracara so far…

Living the Dream by Merisa Sherman Megan was 4 when I took her up the K-1 Gondola for the first time. She was absolutely bursting at the seams. She wanted to show me everything that she knew, where this was, where that was. She wanted me to know that she knew what I knew about skiing and…

By Anne Wallace Allen/VTDigger Veterinarian Susan Johnson used to work with 15 large alpaca farms. Now Vermont’s down to just a few. But an Ascutney farm, Cas-Cad-Nac, is doing the alpaca business in a big way. It has 250 super-premium alpacas, half-ownership in a fiber mill, and a mail-order alpaca meat business. And this autumn, it…