Karen Bowles (Riggs) 85, of Killington passed away on December 12, 2022. She was predeceased by her husband, George. She is survived by her brother Peter, sisters-in-law Margaret Powers and Lucy Bowles, brother-in-law Raymond Bowles and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. Karen was born in 1937 to Irene Manning Riggs and Oliver Riggs and…

By Brett Yates As Pittsfield officials prepare the annual budget for Town Meeting Day, they expect to use surplus monies – labeled “undesignated funds” — to pay for various capital expenditures, including a new grader for the highway department and improvements to the Town Hall, instead of raising additional taxes to cover them. “We have…

By Katy Savage Luce Farm Wellness, the certified organic CBD company, has a new store in Killington.  After about a year of renovations to the building on Route 4, Luce Farm is open and selling everything from CBD-infused honey, to gumdrops, to dog treats. All the products are made on location and it’s one of…

By Katy Savage Plymouth Artisan Cheese has a new pop-up shop in the Bridgewater Mill Mall in an effort to restore new life into the old building.  Plymouth Cheese owners Jesse and Sarit Werner became majority owners of the building in March 2022 after a multi-year legal battle with previous owners Andrea Curutchet and Jireh…

The Rotary Club of Rutland’s yearly Santa Raffle raised $500 for the benefit of school literacy programs. Club members Will Gormly and Chuck Rose delivered $250 checks to both Northwest Elementary School and Northeast Elementary School in Rutland recently. January is Rotary Awareness Month and basic education and literacy is one of Rotary’s seven areas…

By Liz DiMarco Weinmann After a two-year pause, Rutland South Rotary Club’s fundraising raffle has returned, with the grand prize winner getting to choose between $8,500 in cash or a brand-new 18’ Bushwhacker Plus Teardrop Travel Trailer from Dan Kearney’s RV Center, valued at $17,000. Only a limited number of tickets will be sold, so…

Mike Solimano of Killington Resort & Pico Mountain, and Bill Cahill of Vermont Mutual Insurance Group have been named to the The Vermont Futures Project board of directors. The Vermont Futures Project board of directors is dedicated to positioning the economy in the center of a statewide discussion about Vermont’s future, enriching that discussion with…

Administrative complexity, staff turnover, and poor recordkeeping contributed to millions of dollars in mistakes  State Auditor Doug Hoffer released a new audit Jan. 23 of Burlington’s Waterfront TIF district. TIF districts allow municipalities to designate an area for public infrastructure improvements, incur debt to pay for the work, and use a portion of the area’s…

By Curt Peterson Vocal resistance to the proposed reconfiguration of the Three Corners intersection in Hartland dominated the local listserv since Select Board member Jim Reilley responded to public comment to make a motion to delay sending out requests for proposals to contractors regarding the project. It was a last minute opportunity for the democratic…

By Ethan Weinstein/VTDigger Two-thirds of Vermont’s 254 municipalities can expect a reappraisal order this year, according to the state’s Department of Taxes. And with so many townwide reappraisals in order, the state faces another issue: a lack of resources to handle the demand. “There’re not enough firms to go around to do this; that’s a huge…

By Tiffany Tan/VTDigger A Rutland housing organization plans to build dozens of housing units at the former College of St. Joseph and possibly convert an existing campus building into a child care center. The Housing Trust of Rutland County moved closer to implementing those plans last week, when it secured an option to buy the…

Can you tell readers a little bit about the history of Killington’s desire to develop a ski village? Mike Solimano: In 2001, I was hired as the director of finance, and there was already conversation about developing a village. And, I thought—there’s a lot going on in Killington and this is going to be really…

By Emma Cotton/VTDigger and Polly Mikula The start of the winter season has been difficult for snow sport enthusiasts across Vermont— and the Northeast. Save for one big storm in December in the south-central mountains — when Killington logged 2 feet of snow in one storm — the state (and entire Northeast) has remained mostly shades…

By Katy Savage Gilmore Home Center, which has been part of the Castleton community for more than 60 years, was destroyed in a fire on Sunday night. Castleton Fire Chief Heath Goyette said the building is a total loss. “They’re a staple operation in this community,” he said. “It’s going to be missed.”  Goyette first…

The World Cup is returning to Killington for the seventh time next year. The resort announced Jan. 17 that a new one-year contract had been signed. The race features the fastest female alpine ski racers in the world. Part of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup Circuit, the Killington Cup…