By Mark Johnson, Jasper Craven and Anne Galloway, VTDigger.org Republican Phil Scott won the race for Vermont governor Tuesday night, defeating Democrat Sue Minter by a wide margin. He cruised to victory despite the state’s left-leaning electorate and a controversial candidate at the top of his party’s ticket. Scott won the state’s more rural areas…

KILLINGTON – Killington resident Gary Roth recently won gold in advanced eight-way formation skydiving at the 2016 U.S. Parachute Association National Skydiving Championships at Skydive, Arizona, held Oct. 20-29, according to a Nov. 8 press release. Roth won the event with his team, affectionately named Sugar Free Haribo Gummi Bears. The National Championships drew nearly…

By Angelo Lynn In Vermont, the news was only slightly better, with Democrat incumbents winning the statewide seats as expected, but Republican Phil Scott beat Democrat Sue Minter, 53 percent to 44 percent, with 3 percent going to Liberty Union candidate Bill Lee in the governor’s race following six years of Democrat Peter Shumlin in…

MENDON—Vermont’s Wheels for Warmth program is ready to roll out heating assistance funds for this winter, thanks to its 12th consecutive year of strong community support. Preliminary numbers for 2016 show the program collected a total of $52,000 for emergency fuel assistance programs, sold 2,250 safe tires, and recycled 2,500 donated, unusable tires. Two sale locations at Dubois Construction in Middlesex…

By Stephen Seitz KILLINGTON—Once again, the gaming event Carnage Con came to Killington Mountain Resort  the first weekend in November. “We’ve been coming here for four years now,” said Robert Rousse of Springfield, one of the convention’s organizers. “We were at the Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, and we loved it there, but we simply…

On Tuesday, Nov. 1, the Killington Selectboard held a regularly scheduled meeting. Here are a few of the highlights, per the meeting minutes reported. Library Roof update Town Manager Debby Schwartz reported that the contract for the library roof  has been reviewed by counsel who discovered some things that it would be in the town’s best…

By Adam Federman, VTDigger.org RUTLAND — The onus is on the Board of Aldermen to cut municipal spending in order to avoid a tax rate increase, Mayor Chris Louras told the Board in a letter Tuesday, Nov. 1, accompanying his fiscal 2018 budget proposal. The Board’s decision in July to effectively double the city’s annual…

RUTLAND—On Thursday, Oct. 13, the Stafford Technical Center chapter of Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) elected and installed officers for the school year. The results of the election are as follows: President, Kira Simonds from Otter Valley Union High School;Vice President/Parliamentarian, Alexa Moyer from Otter Valley Union High School; Secretary/Treasurer, Brittney Parker…

RUTLAND— On Oct. 26, Stafford Technical Center completed its sixth annual leaf raking event. The school sent all of the students out in the community to rake leaves for community members who need a helping hand. In addition to raking leaves, the culinary arts program sent along a studentmade pie to the residents whose leaves…

CASTLETON—This summer Castleton University was awarded $85,000 for year one of a three-year, $275,000 grant from the Davis Educational Foundation to enhance integrative learning on campus, according to an Oct. 19 news release. Labeled the Integrative Learning Project, the endeavor aims to amplify Castleton’s approach to relationship-based learning by creating a signature program that will…

3D modeling competition FAIR HAVEN—Fair Haven Union H. S. librarian Deborah Ehler-Hansen is looking for team members to participate in the annual Vermont: Town History in 3D competition. Participants will use 3D modeling software Sketchup and 3D printing technology as they research and create models of historical buildings in their area. They will explore and…

Look up! Downtown murals brighten workaday Rutland RUTLAND—If you’ve enjoyed the butterflies in flight, goldfish streaming through a wall, flowers planted on the side of a building side, Batman contending with a griffon, rural Vermont being depicted by a pair of artists, or a larger-than-life African elephant depicted on downtown building exteriors, you have been…

On Oct. 26, Hunger Free Vermont announced that it had been awarded a $30,000 grant from Newman’s Own Foundation, the independent foundation created by the late actor and philanthropist Paul Newman. Newman’s Own Foundation made the award to Hunger Free Vermont as part of a broader commitment to support programs that increase access to fresh…

LONDONDERRY—A lone Canada lynx was photographed in the southern Vermont town of Londonderry this past June, marking the first confirmed evidence of lynx in Vermont outside the Northeast Kingdom in decades. Lynx are listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act and “endangered” in Vermont. The lynx was photographed in the back yard of…

By Gaen Murphree Apples being harvested in central Vermont this fall are smaller and overall yield is down, following trends throughout the Northeast, say local growers. But local consumers can expect plenty of beautiful apples with some added zing, as the lack of rain and hotter temperatures have intensified flavor and sweetness. “Weather’s been a…