By Katy Savage Rutland School Board members settled the mascot debate on Jan. 10 and decided Rutland High School will simply be called “Rutland.”  The approval of the name came after three years of contentious debate and community divide about what the mascot should be. The former Raiders mascot, deemed racist, was retired in August…

By Katy Savage When a dog went missing in the woods after a car crash in Killington, about 40 people teamed up to find him.  They printed fliers, organized search teams, hiked day and night and flew drones. They found the dog two days later.  Arlo, a 1-year-old pit bull mixed breed, was found near…

Since Nadia Comaneci set the precedent in 1976 with her first score of a perfect 10.0, it’s been the dream achievement of most gymnasts in the sport. This past weekend, Jan. 14-15, Hazel Mabey, an 8-year-old from Wallingford, scored Cobra’s first ever 10.0 on balance beam at the Royal Regal Classic in Essex, Vermont. Hazel…

By Victoria Gaither The calendar says it is the winter season, but mother nature is acting fickle. You never know what to expect from one day to the next. Rain, snow, and a drop in temperature, anything is possible.  Some visitors to Killington were experiencing this up-and-down crazy weather.  Donald Cossack of New Jersey said,…

Traffic was blocked for two hours on Route 4 in Killington due to a head-on collision after a car collided with a  tractor trailer around 4:30 p.m.on Jan. 13  Police said Joseph Ceccacci of Killington was traveling west on Route in the passing lane near Winterberry Road in a 2005 Dodge Ram pickup. Witnesses report…

By Karen D. Lorentz Every once in a while, you meet someone who was destined to work in the ski industry. That was the case in spades for Killington Snowmaking Manager Greg Gleason.  Because he grew up directly across the street from Song Mountain, in Tully, New York, he had a view of the snowmakers…

By Katy Savage Plymouth has a new retail cannabis shop.  Al Baram, the owner of the Salt Ash Inn, opened his new retail store, Green Union, beside the Salt Ash last weekend.  The building was a residential apartment, which Baram spent four weeks converting into a retail store before Christmas.   “Everyone really went above…

Gary Frank Salmon, (also known as “The Tree Guy,” “Forest Recreation Guru,” “The Answer Man”) 75, of Shrewsbury, Vermont, died Jan. 1, 2023 at his home.  He was born June 8, 1947, in Utica, New York, the son of Warren Kenneth and Mildred Eleanor (Brant) Salmon and was predeceased by his brother Bradley Warren Salmon.…

James (Jim) R. Ruth, 82, passed away, with his family by his side, on Dec. 28 at the Rutland Regional Medical Center after a short illness. Born in Easton Pennsylvania March 20, 1940, Jim Ruth was the son of Francis “Jack” Ruth and Gilma (Sinclair), of Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated from Easton High School in 1958…

Pico Mountain has new snowmaking capabilities on A Slope ski trail. This project is part of continued improvements to the snowmaking system at Pico Mountain and was made possible in large part by community contributions facilitated by the Pico Ski Education Foundation, a nonprofit with a goal to help maintain an affordable organized ski racing…

By Brett Yates Local musicians will soon have a new opportunity to get together and play songs with their neighbors at the Pittsfield Town Hall. At last week’s meeting of the Pittsfield Select Board, officials gave permission to resident Dan Webb to organize acoustic jam sessions – free and open to all – inside the…

By Katy Savage Ludlow police dispatch receives up to 10 automated crash notifications from skiers’ iPhones and Apple watches a day. The problem is, most of them aren’t emergencies.  Each of the non-emergency calls takes time to process and respond to.   “They have to call every single one of them back and basically treat…

                            By Karen D. Lorentz Okemo Mountain has introduced a Mountain Safety Team to augment the services provided by the ski patrol and to increase mountain safety awareness among skiers and riders. “The mountain safety team’s goal is to build a community…

By Brooke Geery The next generation of ski and snowboard superstars showed off their stuff in the Lil' stash at Killington Resort on Saturday, Jan 7. At Mini Shred Madness, kids get a feel for the rules and navigation of the park and are rewarded with great prizes from sponsors such as Mammut, Burton, Yeti,…

By Ethan Weinstein/VTDigger In what he called his “first day” as a U.S. senator, Peter Welch, D-Vt., returned to Vermont to discuss the opioid epidemic and substance use disorder at Rutland Regional Medical Center. “This has been an area of enormous bipartisan cooperation in Congress,” Welch said at an event at Rutland Regional Medical Center, Monday,…