Discover More from This Category: Local News

Musical chairs: four dems vie for state House

July 22, 2020
By Curt Peterson Four residents of legislative district Windsor-1 (Windsor, Hartland and West Windsor) hope to win the Democratic Primary on Aug. 11. There are two open House seats: John Bartholomew is seeking his sixth term while Representative Zacharia Ralph is leaving the district. Their seats are “in play.” Paul Belaski of Windsor, Elizabeth Burrows…

Diana Williams, 56

July 22, 2020
Former KMS director of freestyle skiing loved life and it showed Diana Millichamp Williams, 56, founder of Hidden France, a boutique travel and tour service, died in her home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on June 18, 2020. The cause was complications from colon cancer, her husband Alex Gambal said. Williams was a resident of Jackson…

Humane society spent over $30,000 on animals seized from Brandon farm

July 22, 2020
By Lee J. Kahrs PITTSFORD — The story of the animals seized from a farm on Kimball Road in Brandon five months ago is heartbreaking, inspiring and expensive. The Rutland County Humane Society knows that all too well, having spent roughly $35,000 to care for and re-home the animals it took in from the farm.…

CU to welcome students back, but offer classes online

July 22, 2020
Castleton University announced Wednesday, July 15, that it will offer students and families the option of a residential campus experience for the fall 2020 semester and deliver its academic courses online. Interim President Jonathan Spiro said moving the university’s courses from in-person to remote delivery required careful consideration of many factors. “Vermonters are doing a…

Welch outlines $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill in Rutland

July 22, 2020
By Katy Savage As trucks beeped and concrete was dug up on Library Avenue to install pipe that would reduce wastewater overflows into Otter Creek, Congressman Peter Welch outlined a plan to federally fund similar infrastructure needs on July 16. Welch’s $1.5 trillion Moving Forward Act passed the House on July 1. The bill includes…

Hannaford to snuff out tobacco products from all stores

July 22, 2020
All 183 Hannaford grocery stores are expected to stop selling tobacco products by this fall, according to Hannaford spokesman Eric Blom. Specific dates will vary for each store, Blom said. Hannaford Supermarkets is the latest in a series of major retailers that have announced that they’re phasing out tobacco products. “We have been moving away…

Woodstock raises half a million dollars to help neighbors in need

July 22, 2020
The Woodstock Area Relief Fund (WARF) has raised half a million dollars from almost 500 donors. Donations have ranged from $1 to $50,000 — almost 40% of the donors are second-home owners. Relief grants totaling more than $310,000 have already been provided to 496 local residents—adults and children from Barnard, Bridgewater, Killington, Plymouth, Pomfret, Reading, and Woodstock. That…

Rochester/Stockbridge proposes new school budget

July 22, 2020
By Katy Savage After the proposed Rochester Stockbridge Unified School District budget failed 141-110 on June 30, the board is proposing a new budget for the Aug. 11 vote. The new $4.37 million budget is down about $20,000 from the previously proposed budget. It reflects a $13,000 cut in fuel costs and another $7,000 cut…

Road construction projects scheduled for the week of July 20

July 22, 2020
Here is a list of road construction projects happening throughout Central Vermont. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it. Rutland and Windsor counties Bethel – The bridge replacement along VT 12 continues. The traffic pattern will require vehicles to navigate different lanes to get around the work zone. Expect gravel…

Rutland Young Professionals welcomes five new board members

July 22, 2020
Rutland Young Professionals (RYP) recently welcomed five new members to its board of directors, led by board president Kim Rupe. The Rutland Young Professionals board of directors leads the nonprofit organization, which began in 2013 and currently serves more than 300 paid members and friends of RYP across the greater Rutland region. New board members…

Rutland Police shooting leads to brief car chase, injuries

July 15, 2020
RUTLAND—The Vermont state police continue to investigate a shooting by Rutland City police officers that occurred just after midnight, Wednesday, July 8. Preliminary investigation indicated that Rutland City Police had been conducting a narcotics investigation on Terrill Street when the incident escalated and two Rutland men were injured. The victims, Michael Goodnough, 45, and Robert…

Rutland High School students, alumni push to change Raider mascot

July 15, 2020
By Emma Cotton/VTDigger About 200 Rutland High School alumni, students and community members are drafting a petition calling on school officials to remove the name and arrowhead imagery of the school’s sports team, the Rutland Raiders. The group, led by RHS 2010 alumna Amanda Gokee, cites appropriation of Native American culture. Gokee, who identifies as Ojibwe,…

Artist paints new mural in downtown Rutland to amplify Black Lives Matter Movement

July 15, 2020
Artist/Activist Lopi LaRoe (a.k.a. LMNOPI) created a nearly four-story mural facing Rutland’s new Center Street Marketplace Park on the back wall of the former Strand Theater adjacent to Roots –The Restaurant. This new public artwork imagines a world where all children are nurtured and cherished equally, and it is dedicated to uplifting the Black, Indigenous,…

Auction set for Green Mountain College

July 15, 2020
Staff report Green Mountain College in Poultney will be auctioned off on Aug. 18, according to Maltz Auctions of Central Islip, New York, who will preside over the sale. A press release from the company states that “a well-qualified, interested party” has placed a stalking-horse bid of $3 million for the property. So the auction…

Does the camp at the Holiday Inn exceed capacity? Depends on classification

July 15, 2020
By Emma Cotton/VTDigger and Polly Mikula The Holiday Inn in Rutland Town has been cited by the state for being over the allowable 50% capacity for hotels permitted under Vermont’s Covid-19 restrictions, but the hotel says it is simply the venue for a summer camp and therefore should be allowed to occupy 75% of capacity, per…