Willie Dunn’s Grille at golf club featured for summer LUDLOW—Okemo Mountain Resort welcomes Ashley Elicker as its new director of culinary services. She will oversee all aspects of the resort’s culinary operations on a year-round basis. Originally from New Canaan, Conn., Elicker graduated from Middlebury College, in Vermont. She earned her MBA from the University…

On Monday, May 15, the state police were notified by the Department of Children and Family Services that Richard E. Piper, Jr., age 62 from Pittsford, had exposed himself while in the Jacuzzi at the Holiday Inn located at 476 Holiday Drive in the town of Rutland. It was unknown if the children that were…

BRATTLEBORO—On May 24 at 4 p.m., the state police conducted a motor vehicle stop on a New York-registered vehicle on Putney Road in Brattleboro for a traffic infraction. The operator, Jalil Freitag, 28, of Wells, failed to produce a valid license and his DMV records showed a criminal suspension in Vermont, according to Trooper Max…

RUTLAND—Christopher C. Shaddock Jr. has been named the Director of Business Development for the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce. Shaddock comes with over 40 years of experience in service, sales and marketing in the health and fitness industry along with a decade of sales leadership in resort development including the Killington Grand Hotel project and…

Teacher negotiations prove unproductive Rutland City School Board President Dick Courcelle said the board recognized that negotiations with the teachers’ union were not being productive and declared an impasse at its May 23 meeting. A series of eight meetings with the Rutland Education Association that began Jan. 13 left most issues unresolved or unaddressed, according…

Wells working on land use for two parcels With the help of the Vermont Land Trust, the town of Wells acquired two portions of the farm once belonging to Joan and Charlotte Delaney, one of the last large, undeveloped properties that lies alongside Lake St. Catherine. Ken Makepeace heads the Delaney Committee, working to find…

CASTLETON—Castleton University recently received word from the office of Senator Patrick Leahy that its TRiO Upward Bound program has been funded for five more years, according to a May 26 news release. The grant will serve 63 high school students in Rutland County attending the target schools of Fair Haven Union High School, Mill River…

On May 27 at 7:30 p.m., troopers from the Royalton barracks were informed of an illegal dumping site, on Mt. Cushman Road in Rochester. The complainant advised that approximately 6 p.m. individuals operating a white U-Haul-type box truck with red lettering, dumped 100-200 tires at the end of the roadway. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone…

Memorial Day weekend through June 4, the Vermont State Police (VSP) will be increasing enforcement efforts to promote safe, responsible driving in support of Operation C.A.R.E. (Crash Awareness and Reduction Effort) and Click It Or Ticket. Operation C.A.R.E. is a national campaign by state police agencies across the country to decrease human suffering on our…

By Jasper Craven, VTDigger Rob Quist, a Democratic poet cowboy from Montana strongly supported by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., lost in a special election for the state’s sole House seat, Thursday, May 25. Quist’s Republican challenger, Greg Gianforte, won roughly 50 percent of the vote despite being charged with misdemeanor assault Wednesday after allegedly…

By Julia Purdy RUTLAND  TOWN—Vermont has dozens of explored ancient sites that date as far back as 10,000-13,000 years and feature cookfires, refuse dumps, implements and workshops, points, pottery, charcoal and bones, shells, petroglyphs and even burials. Many more lie undisturbed beneath the surface on glacial plateaus, high in the mountains or alongside lowland creeks…

George Vincent Lyons, 92, died Wednesday, May 24, 2017, at Rutland Regional Medical Center. George Lyons was born in Troy, N.Y., May 25, 1924, son of Emma C. Ahearn and William J. Lyons. He was a 1941 graduate of St. Joseph’s High School, Troy, N.Y., a 1950 graduate of Siena College, Albany, N.Y., and went…

Phoenix Books funds sculpture, honoring Vt. author Rudyard Kipling RUTLAND—Work on the first carving announced in a planned series of historical stone sculptures in downtown Rutland will begin in August—but organizers say the “second” sculpture will be completed before the first. The second planned project, a tribute to “The Jungle Book” and famed Vermont author…

By Elizabeth Hewitt, VTDigger Gov. Phil Scott became the first governor in the country to veto a bill that would legalize marijuana. Scott announced Wednesday, May 24, he will send the bill, S.22, back to the Legislature. However, the governor said he is “offering a path forward.” If lawmakers make certain changes to the legislation,…

By Erin Mansfield, VTDigger RUTLAND—Sen. Kevin Mullin, R-Rutland, is stepping down from his position as state senator to become the top health care regulator in the state. Mullin, 58, of Rutland Town, will be the chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, which regulates health insurance prices and hospital budgets, among other things. The chair…