LUDLOW—After advertising its availability at no cost for six months on social media, Front Porch Forum and news releases, the Friends of Ludlow Auditorium (FOLA) decided it was time to dismantle a very old and somewhat out-of-tune piano stored back stage in the Ludlow Town Hall Auditorium last week. So, armed with hammers, saws, screw drivers,…

PROCTOR—Police say a Proctor woman attempted to use a motor vehicle as a weapon last week and in doing so placed her two juvenile children in harm’s way. On the evening of Tuesday, July 18, state police with the Rutland Barracks responded to a family fight on Market Street in the town of Proctor. Investigation…

POULTNEY—State police have charged a Mendon woman with burglarizing a building at Green Mountain College. Police said they went to the college at 4 a.m. on July 15, after campus security advised them they had detained a woman they suspected had committed a burglary on the campus. Police identified the woman as Hilary Dernier, age…

Hickory Street affordable housing enters final phase Rutland City’s Forest Park neighborhood will be no more, once current demolition is complete, Rutland Housing Authority Executive Director Kevin Loso told the Rutland Herald. The demolition signals the beginning of the third and final phase of removing the aging housing project in favor of a development that…

RUTLAND—Chris Heintz, president of Habitat for Humanity’s Rutland County affiliate, announced last week that Jenna Watson and John Braun have recently accepted the Rutland board’s invitation to join. “We look forward to working with Jenna and John and know they will contribute a lot to their community through their work with our affiliate,” he said.…

LUDLOW—After serving the Black River Valley and the Okemo region for the past 16 years as LPCTV (Ludlow-Plymouth-Cavendish TV), the community TV station and media education center has decided to re-brand itself as Okemo Valley TV, in order to better reflect its mission and strengthen its identity. At its annual meeting on June 22, Board…

RUTLAND—Rutland Mental Health Services is relocating its Evergreen Substance Abuse Center this fall to unoccupied space in the administration building of BROC Community Action in Southwestern Vermont, adjacent to downtown Rutland on 45 Union St. Both organizations say the move, in addition to providing Evergreen with more space for programming and expansion, creates opportunities to…

CASTLETON—Castleton University partnered with the Vermont Early Childhood Consortium to offer the Early Childhood Summer Institute, July 24-27. The institute consisted of 10 graduate and undergraduate courses classes offered by 14 diverse institutions of higher education and early childhood. The courses were designed to promote Vermont’s core values for early education and to meet the…

Poultney archer scores state’s top buck POULTNEY—Brett Kelley, 21, of Poultney harvested the highest scoring “typical” buck deer taken with a bow and arrow in the state during 2016. The 9-point buck scored 123 6/8 in the Boone & Crockett scoring system, as reported in the Rutland Herald. In recognition of bagging the highest Vermont…

RUTLAND—In addition to the varsity eSports program, the College of St. Joseph will add cross-country, cheerleading and dance, and bowling to its intercollegiate athletic offerings this fall. The new programs will begin play in the Northeastern Intercollegiate Athletics Conference under the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics beginning this fall. The college has named Cara Gauvin…

CASTLETON—Last week, Heritage Family Credit Union announced it will locate its 10th branch in Castleton. The credit union will occupy a building on Main Street owned by John Rehlen. The building was previously the location of Citizen Bank, whose departure in May 2017 left the town without a financial institution. The new HFCU branch will…

TUNBRIDGE—The Agency of Natural Resources last week fined Blakeman Towing and Recovery in Tunbridge for violations of state salvage yard land use and hazardous waste management regulation. The fine is the result of an investigation that began in 2013 in response to complaints that oil was being dumped. The Natural Resources Board (NRB) and the…

GOSHEN—A Goshen resident was fined $9,750 for altering a dam on her property. According to the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, Suzanne Reider of Goshen received the fine for making alterations to the Stewart Pond dam on her property before receiving the necessary authorization from the state. Reider owns property in Goshen that contains the…

By Lani Duke PTSD support center opening in Rutland Lani Preston recently announced the PTSD Resource Center of Vermont has relocated to 187 West St. in Rutland. It provides “education and awareness” of what post-traumatic stress disorder is and support for individuals who have been diagnosed with the malady. Currently subgroups address the concerns of…

By Lani Duke Fair Haven restaurant opening FAIR HAVEN—Michele Witherbee plans to open the Johnny B restaurant in Fair Haven early in August. In addition to her current career as special educator with Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union, she has a far-reaching background in the restaurant business, working most recently for Fire and Ice restaurant in…