By Curt Peterson Dr. Josh White, chief medical officer at Gifford Medical Center, told the Mountain Times costs attributable to Covid total “well into millions.” The financial expense of the virus is important, but isn’t the only significant toll on providers. Located in Randolph, Gifford is part of a network of six healthcare facilities throughout…

By Ethan Weinstein When I first met Oke, he rolled up to the Mountain Times in his 90s Saab. I thought the sedan was a Porsche, black and angular. It looked like the past’s version of the future. Oke walked inside dressed in his usual: the straw hat he dons and doffs with neurotic regularity,…

State says Afghan refugees will start to resettle in Rutland over the next few weeks By Ethan Weinstein Several families of Afghan refugees will settle in Rutland next month, according to the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). USCRI has been coordinating with Rutland organizations, such as Rutland Welcomes and the school system, to…

  Editor’s note: Karen D. Lorentz is an ambassador herself at Killington Resort. This is her first year with the program. Regular visitors to Killington may spy something new on the green-jacketed Killington Ambassadors this year. The new Mammut uniforms include shell jackets with the familiar “i” on the back, but the new word “Host”…

By Ethan Weinstein Amidst the year’s pandemic tumult, business is thriving in Rutland’s downtown. “We’re beginning to see a revived vibrancy,” said Lyle Jepson, executive director of the Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region (CEDRR). “What’s exciting to me as someone who would call himself no longer young, is that there are young…

Sunday, Jan. 2 — RUTLAND — Rutland County Audubon’s annual Christmas bird count will take place this year on Jan. 2. Birds spotted within a 7.5 mile radius of Mead’s Falls in Center Rutland will be counted by teams of field birders and feeder-watchers in this count circle. Results will be tallied and posted on…

By Karen D. Lorentz When you talk with skier Karl Thomas Acker, he readily admits that he got the ski bug from his Pico experiences. Lots of people can lay claim to that, but Acker’s experiences were truly unique. And there may have even been a “ski gene” thrown into the mix along with a…

By Anita Lobel William Edward Giles, a country gentleman, an adventurous world traveler and entrepreneur, an easy New Yorker, was born in Windsor on July 31, 1946. He died at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City on Sept. 25, 2021 after an eight year struggle with progressive anti-MAG peripheral neuropathy, a disease that chips…

A Woodstock Vermont Film Series feature documentary Saturday, Jan. 1 at 3 and 5:30 p.m. — WOODSTOCK — Billings Farm & Museum’s 12th annual Woodstock Vermont film series returns to the Billings Farm Theater with the feature “Kedi,” a sophisticated, artful documentary exploring the profound relationship between man and cat in the metropolis of Istanbul, Turkey. There will be…

Program supports hungry Vermonters and local restaurants, farmers, food producers The state of Vermont has granted an extension through April 1, 2022, for Vermont Everyone Eats (VEE), the innova- tive Covid-19 response program that provides meal assistance to Vermonters while supporting local restaurants, farmers, and food producers. Rutland County Vermont Farmers Food Center, Rutland County’s…

By Liora Engel-Smith/VTDigger As Vermont braces for the Omicron variant of Covid-19, influenza appears to be making a comeback. Roughly 1 in 10 people tested for respiratory symptoms in Vermont had the flu in mid-December up from about 3 in 100 people the first week of the month, according to the Vermont Dept. of Health.…

Bernard L. Pierce, 81, born in Pittsfield and grew up in Woronoco, Massachusetts, and was a long time Killington resident died peacefully on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021. Bernie loved to golf, travel, spend time with family and especially his grandchildren. He always stayed current with the news and stock market. He enjoyed a good joke…

Staff report Vermonters across the state have waited in long lines to pick up take-home Covid tests ahead of holiday get-togethers — only to be told, in many cases, that the tests were all gone. State officials had announced on Tuesday, Dec. 21, that tens of thousands of test kits would be available at 16…

Emerge Vermont, a statewide organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for office, announced Dec. 15 that it has selected its 2022 class. This year’s chosen group of 26 future women political leaders is Emerge Vermont’s largest and most diverse class, with women from all parts of the Green Mountain State who come…

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…