By Julia Purdy “Nearly 1 in 500 Americans is homeless, mostly on the West Coast and in the Northeast, according to estimates. Homeless advocates say people without permanent housing are chronically undercounted,” USAToday reports. One temporary albeit less-than-ideal solution can be seen in the explosion of older model RVs as primary residences. ... if you…

Will create additional outdoor gathering areas The village of Ludlow was recently selected as a recipient of a Better Places program grant for its "Gathering Spot Project." This project was one of  eight place-making grant award winners selected statewide.  These funds were provided to improve the vitality of state-designated downtowns and village centers. Grants award…

By Brett Yates Amid a statewide push for broadband expansion, Mendon has become the 12th municipality in the Otter Creek Communications Union District (CUD), thanks to a 3-0 vote by the town’s select board on March 23. CUDs are municipal entities that allow Vermont’s cities, towns, and villages to band together to create financeable plans…

Resort will close April 4 to facilitate construction By Karen D. Lorentz Skiers and riders at Okemo Mountain Resort will benefit from a new six-seat chairlift and a highspeed bubble quad replacement of the Green Ridge Triple for the 2021-22 season. The new Leitner-Poma detachable six-pack, manufactured in Colorado, will replace the current Quantum Four…

By Brooke Geery In May 2020, Vermont Adaptive made the decision to delay the start of creating its new adaptive sports facility at Sugarbush’s Mt. Ellen due to the global pandemic. “I am excited to announce that this project is back on track, and we will be breaking ground for the new building this spring — Our…

Reinforces strategy to boost skier market By Karen D. Lorentz Vail Resorts announced an epic decrease in the prices for its 2021-22 season pass products on March 24, a day later than anticipated due to the tragic shootings in Boulder near the company’s corporate headquarters. The 20% decrease applies to the various iterations of Epic…

By Katy Savage Elizabeth Bailey was in Publications class at West Rutland High School on Tuesday, March 23, when she got a phone call that she needed to gather all her belongings and go to the art room. When she got to the room around 11:45 a.m., Bailey saw her basketball coach, principal,  guidance counselor…

After five months of closure and 12 months without a competition, the Cobra Gymnastics team was thrilled to participate in their 9th annual Cobra gymnastics meet on Sunday, March 28. Masked and socially-distanced, 40 girls performed their routines, competing to earn a spot on the state team. “This season, we chose to host only the…

By Curt Peterson In the eyes of the Select Board, Killington’s short-term rental (STR) registration program seemed to be stuck — at least not moving very fast. Selectman Jim Haff said at a March 13 meeting, that the town has paid taxpayer dollars to LodgingRevs.com, but he felt the firm had not delivered as promised.…

‘Move’ favored by six to one over ‘stay’ The Rutland Free Library released the results of its public input work around a possible relocation on Wednesday, March 17. Results from some 660 responses ran more than six to one in favor of relocating from the current site at 10 Court St. in Rutland City. The…

By Emma Cotton, VTDigger CASTLETON — In Rutland County, a plan to merge Castleton University with two other institutions in the state college system has people worried about losing the identity of the school, which provides an economic boost to the area. Locals have continued to express disapproval of the plan  trustees of the Vermont State Colleges System…

By Katy Savage Hannah Soar got to Boston from a red eye flight out of Kazakhstan at 5:30 a.m. Saturday, March 20 after being named the third best mogul skier in the world at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships. Soar was home in Killington by 10 a.m. At noon, she was skiing. “It’s just…

By Polly Mikula “We plan to keep Base Camp going and add in the bike piece,” said Ben Colona of his plans for Base Camp Outfitters in Killington, which he purchased last week with co-owner Phil Back. Colona is the current president of the Killington Mountain Bike Club (KMBC) and Black is the vice president.…

Castleton Community Center volunteers Laurie Knauer, Gretiena Johnson, Ceil Hunt and Claire Park packaged 69 St. Patrick’s Day “dinners to-go” on Wednesday, March 17. The meal included a traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner with chocolate cake, and a Marie’s Cookie Kitchen handmade chocolate and mint truffle.  

Mike and Diane Miller reflect on 32 years in business By Polly Mikula Despite spending 32 years specializing in Telemark, Nordic and Alpine touring (AT), Mike Miller, said the sale of Base Camp Outfitters last week all came down to mountain biking. “It was kind of funny and ironic, the way it all worked out,”…