RUTLAND—With opening day of the Gift-of-Life Marathon–12 Days of Giving barely a week away, organizers today issued an urgent appeal for blood donors. “Appointments are lagging, with well less than half the number of appointments we’d like for the first several days of the event, which starts next week,” said Green Mountain Power Vice President…

Rutland City makes a new green move The lighting of this year’s decorated Christmas tree in Depot Park marks what may be an ecologically significant change to the community’s holiday traditions. In previous years, the city searched for a large tree that a local homeowner would donate, most likely one that had outgrown its site…

College and beyond Castleton alumni Natalie Sargeant and Joshua Levandowski, 2012 and 2014 graduates, have undertaken travel nursing, working with the agency Advantage RN, applying to hospitals that have need of both their skillsets. Assignments are 13 weeks long with occasional options for contract extension. Last summer they worked in North Carolina, then spent the…

Tips to heed to stay safe By Karen D. Lorentz “Computers are commodity items. They are inexpensive and it’s easy to use them to commit cyber fraud,” noted Elliott Greenblott, Vermont’s AARP Fraud Coordinator and Volunteer at a recent presentation in Rutland. What makes cyber fraud work so well, he explained, is that “most computer…

Calling all filmmakers ages 10-30 who live or go to school in Vermont: Win cash prizes and share your work on Vermont PBS and at film festivals statewide in the 2017 Freedom & Unity TV Vermont Youth Film Contest. The deadline for the third annual competition, which accepts short films with a Vermont focus, is…

On Friday, Nov. 18 at the Lost Nation Theater in Montpelier, members of the Stafford Technical Center’s culinary arts class competed in the eighth annual Culinary Classic competition against teams from other Vermont tech centers. The student competitors were Eric Morton, a senior second year culinary student from Rutland High School; Noah Hamilton, a junior…

Tyke Skate time is for ages 6 and under with parent/guardian and provides an opportunity to introduce skating to young children. Grab your little ones and join us on Wednesday mornings from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Carrying children in arms, slings or packs is not allowed. Fee is $6 per family with skate rentals available…

RUTLAND—The Bowse Health Trust Committee has announced funding approval for two new projects. Each project will receive up to three years of funding starting in 2017. In the past 20 years, the Bowse Health Trust has funded a total of 58 programs, which target residents of all ages in the Rutland County community. With the…

RUTLAND—Greg Cox of Boardman Hill Farm, Vermont Farmers Food Center and Vermont Farmers Market was honored as the chamber’s 2016 Business Person of the Year at the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce annual meeting Nov. 15, at the Paramount Theatre. Cox has been a farmer for 40 years and in 2007 helped to transform the…

The best weapon to stop fraud is you By Karen D. Lorentz Here’s a sample of a recent email (exactly as it appeared, with off-spacing), just one of several received that threatened something unless I responded: Dear Client, This is formal notice to you that your last month Invoice no: KT321U is already overdue and…

By Karen D. Lorentz The well-attended AARP Scam Jam was held at the Rutland Country Club, Nov. 15. Attendees said the event was informative, tremendously educational, and even shocking at times. Fraud is a huge multi-billion-dollar per year crime with seniors the most targeted cohort, noted Greg Machildon, AARP’s state director. Education is the way…

By Evan Johnson KILLINGTON—Town officials say details regarding liability and insurance are upholding progress on fixing a leaky roof over the Killington town library. Library director Jane Ramos said the need is dire. “The shingles have failed,” she said. “If you look at the back of the building, you’ll see the shingles are falling off…

By Adam Federman, VTDigger.org The first prong of a major marketing campaign designed to rebrand the region and reverse years of demographic decline is scheduled to be unveiled this Friday, Nov. 25. The website, Killingtonvalley.com, is one small part of a multi-year effort that local business leaders, including the Rutland Economic Development Corporation and the…

By Julia Purdy “Gig economy” is a term relatively unknown in Rutland. Musicians and performers used the term “gig” to mean engagements from one-night stands in concerts or coffee houses to theater runs that had to be supplemented by the “day job” waiting table or driving taxi—something that would not impinge on one’s true career…

LUDLOW—The staff of Black River Good Neighbor Services has announced that they are accepting applications for the 2016 holiday food basket program. They ask that completed applications be submitted by Dec. 1. Food Program Administrator Krey Kellington and the entire BRGNS staff are eager to see that no person or family goes without food, and…