Friday, April 21, 8 a.m.—POULTNEY—The world needs all hands on deck to combat climate change! To empower individuals and local communities to create climate solutions, Green Mountain College will host the third annual North Country Climate Reality Conference. Presented with SUNY Plattsburgh at Queensbury, the event will take place Friday, April 21, 8 a.m.- 4:45 p.m. in Withey…

By Julia Purdy On a recent early spring day, with snow still blanketing the woods, no green shoots were poking through just yet, but meltwater was trickling across the old woods road along the east flank of Birdseye, where deer and turkey had left recent tracks. At the top of the hike, a winter-beaten field…

By Mike Polhamus, VTDigger Nearly 1,400 students descended on the state capitol  Wednesday, April 12, for a rally against climate change. High school students organized the event, which was conceived three years ago by students in a civics class at Harwood Union High School. Several of the students provided testimony to legislators on the importance…

KILLINGTON—With this summer right around the corner, Vermont Adaptive announced its new adaptive mountain bike program, one of the first in New England. The program offers limited adaptive mountain bikes plus special dates for outings in various locations. The program quietly began last summer. This year multiple locations, outings and events are planned for all…

RUTLAND—Kindred Spirit, Rutland’s unique downtown furniture and home goods store, is moving around the corner and tripling in size, owners Stephen Willoughby and Allison Thompson announced Thursday, April 13. The store, located at 53 Merchants Row, will move to 116 West Street (former home to Small Dog Electronics). With the change in location comes a…

By Stephen Seitz LUDLOW — On May 30, voters in Ludlow and Mount Holly will decide whether to close Black River High School and send its students to Mill River High School in North Clarendon. On Thursday, April 13, a committee of Ludlow and Mount Holly school officials and School Board members met to hash…

By Alan J. Keays, VTDigger Four more Syrian refugee families are set to come to Rutland by the end of September. They will join two other Syrian refugee families who arrived in the city at the beginning of the year, before President Donald Trump issued an executive order that suspended the program for 120 days…

By Evan Johnson Vermonters serving in the Vermont Air National Guard and the Vermont National Guard will see a ramping up of trainings in advance of a possible deployment in 2020, Vermont’s Adjutant General Steven Cray announced on April 13. The announcement on Thursday morning was part of a town hall meeting presented by the…

By Evan Johnson RUTLAND—Vermont Congressman Peter Welch got an inside look at the Rutland Regional Chamber of Commerce’s efforts to increase the visibility of the Rutland area while on a statewide swing through the state last week. Welch sat down with business and community leaders on the steering committee on Thursday afternoon, April 13. Green…

By Polly Mikula KILLINGTON—The Killington Arts Guild, founded in 1998, will close its doors after an unsuccessful search for a president of the guild. The state of Vermont requires at least three directors to qualify as an active nonprofit organization. The stipulation will forced the organization to lose its non-profit status, according to Alice Sciore,…

Royalton voted “no”; a “yes” vote was necessary for school board merger to pass By Evan Johnson School district officials and community members are looking for a way forward after a plan to unify seven towns into three “side-by-side” districts in central Vermont failed last week. Royalton was the only one to vote down the…

New signage for Pawlet Town Hall proposed PAWLET—The Pawlet Historical Society intends to erect a roadside historical sign near the Pawlet Town Hall, bearing the following language: “Third Century of Service. The Pawlet Town Hall, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is an 1881 High Victorian Italianate style structure. It was built in…

West Rutland school budget up for third vote following tie on Town Meeting Day WEST RUTLAND—Voters rejected their school budget with a 159-159 tie vote on Town Meeting Day, March 7. They turned out again in nearly the same numbers and turned the budget down again, 157-153, said Rutland Central Supervisory Union Superintendent Debra Taylor.…

DANBY—Police arrested a 21-year-old Danby man on multiple counts of selling drugs last week. Cory Munger was arrested Thursday, April 6, on three counts of selling heroin and one count of selling crack cocaine. The arrest was the result of an investigation by the Vermont Drug Taskforce, during which detectives completed a number of controlled…

Last week, Vermont State Police arrested 65 individuals as part of a coordinated statewide arrest warrant sweep. All of these individuals have pending criminal charges in Superior Court (felonies and misdemeanors) and failed to uphold their court obligations, which resulted in warrants being issued for their arrest. Troopers from all 10  state police field stations…