March 2022 marks 50 years since Meals on Wheels, the nation’s premier nutrition program for seniors, was funded. And for Vermont’s aging population, it has become a lifeline for many — a lifeline that begins with a bustle of activity around the state. About 12:30 p.m. more than a dozen volunteers filed into the Bugbee…

By Brett Yates Chittenden’s village center could get a new look. At a Select Board meeting on March 14, the Chittenden Planning Commission presented a trio of landscape renderings whose designs would change the way drivers and pedestrians experience a pair of adjacent intersections in the heart of the town. Last year, Chittenden sought to…

Staff report After the Slate Valley Unified Union District budget failed 861-853 on Town Meeting Day, a budget revote is scheduled for Wednesday, April 13. Voters will be asked to approve a $26,236,547 budget — $33,500 less than the proposed budget narrowly defeated on Town Meeting Day, March 1. Superintendent Brooke Olsen-Farrell said she was…

By Karen D. Lorentz The season-pass landscape has erupted with many options that can be perplexing to skiers and riders trying to decide which pass to take advantage of for an upcoming season. Multi-mountain passes have driven down the cost of skiing for people who ski or ride more than a few days each winter.…

By Victoria Gaither How long has Beth Roberts, the owner and founder of Killington Boot Camp, been in the fitness business? “My mom will tell you that it goes back to when I was 5 years old. I would invite the neighborhood kids over to run obstacle courses in my backyard,” smiled Roberts. Little did…

By Katy Savage Like most business owners, Chris Karr has struggled to find employees in the aftermath of the pandemic. Karr, the owner of six restaurants in Killington, usually employs up to 150 people in the peak season, but when the pandemic hit, he cut his staff by about half. Now he’s hiring those people…

Schools attempt to fill academic, social and emotional cracks  By Victoria Gaither Who would have ever imagined on March 18, 2020, when Governor Phil Scott ordered all Vermont schools to shut down, that two years later educators would still be fixing the cracks inside of them — the lingering academic, social and emotional effect of…

By Peter D’Auria/VTDigger and Polly Mikula When Vermont Gov. Phil Scott announced that the state would no longer recommend that students wear masks in schools after March 14, a variety of responses flooded through school districts and communities.  Among about 50 superintendents, more than a dozen said their districts and supervisory unions have already made masking…

By Katy Savage While Covid restrictions are easing and a sense of normalcy is returning, hospitals are far away from “normal.” “We still have patients in the hospital, we still have patients in the ICU that have Covid,” said Rick Hildebrant, the chief medical information officer at Rutland Regional Medical Center. “We’re still dealing with…

Paul Kenneth Kraby of Rutland, 79, passed away peacefully with family in Lakeland, Florida on Dec. 22, 2021. Born in Decorah, Iowa on June 27, 1942 to Kenneth and Katherine Kraby, nee Heaton. Paul is survived by his sons, Jason and Christopher Kraby, daughter, Jeanne Steinberg- Bolinger, grandsons, Marlon and Jaxson, and sister, Kathleen (Curt)…

The old makes way for larger, modern K-1 lodge By Karen D. Lorentz From a bare bones pre-fab CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) hut that served as a base lodge during Killington’s first year of ski operations (1958-59) and the debut of the state built “ski shelter” in 1959, the Killington Base Lodge has come a…

The 2021-2022 season is proving to be a first for the city of Rutland and the sport of gymnastics. On March 19 and 20, the Rutland Community Center will host almost 300 gymnasts in the Vermont Gymnastics State Championships. After almost a decade of this championship meet being held in Bellows Falls, pandemic rules prevented…

By Katy Savage After an initial search for candidates was unsuccessful, the Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union board found its next superintendent within. Kristin Hubert, who has been the district’s director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for the past three years, will take the helm of the supervisory union on July 1. Hubert, who said she…

By Victoria Gaither Harley Ruffle has done it again. The Killington snowboarding star, known locally as “Li'l Homie,” made the 100-Day Club at Killington Ski Resort. “He scanned his card, and he has over 100 days of snowboarding,” said his mother, Jill Ruffle. It wouldn’t be a big deal to some, but at 4 years…

Rutland County Audubon Society has received word of approval for its 2022 Collaborative Grant from National Audubon to help establish pollinator friendly gardens in the backyard of the Chaffee Art Center on South Main Street in Rutland, Vermont. Pollinator gardens are comprised of only native trees, plants, and shrubs which are most beneficial to sustaining…